Music throughout the Ages

Medieval Period

900

900-1360 CE
Gregorian Chant
Mood-calm, spiritual quality
Rhythm-flexible, little sense of a beat, no meter
Melody-composers based compositions on chant melodies, can occasionally sound hollow, based on church modes rather than major and minor scales
Texture-basically monophonic, starting around 1200, polyphonic music was written in three and four voice parts

Renaissance Period

1450

1450-1600 CE
Mood-vocal music was written to enhance the meaning and emotion of a text Rhythm- more of a gentle flow than a sharply defined beat Dynamics- not indicated in manuscripts or printed music Tone Color- instruments may or may not accompany vocal music Melody- sounds mild and relaxed Texture- polyphonic with a typical choral piece having four to six parts of nearly equal melodic interest, homophonic texture is used in light music

Baroque Period

1600

1600-1750 CE
Mood- a section or entire movement will express one basic mood throughout Rhythm- patterns heard at the beginning of a piece are often repeated throughout, pulse is regular and strong typically featuring a moving bass line Dynamics- change suddenly rather than gradually Tone Color- basso continuo, consist of a bass melodic instrument Melody- often complex and not easy to remember on one hearing Texture- polyphonic with an emphasis on the lowest and highest melodic lines

Classical Period

1750

1750-1820 CE
Mood- fluctuations of mood within a movement Rhythm- rhythmic changes occur suddenly or gradually Dynamics- enable the expression of highly varied emotional nuances within one movement Tone Color- characteristic sound of an orchestra with four families of instruments became the standard Melody- tuneful and easily remembered, harmonies based on major and minor scales Texture- predominantly homophonic, fluctuations of texture occur to provide contrasts

Early Romantic Period

1820

1820-1850
Mood- music is closely related to the other arts particularly literature, exhibited extreme interest in subjects related to nature, death, fantastic, macabre, and diabolical Rhythm- extremely diverse Dynamics- change can be sudden or gradual Tone Color- wide range of expressive tone color and sensuous sound Melody- often long, complex and highly expressive, recurring melodies and thematic transformation unify works Texture-generally homophonic

Late Romantic Period

1850

1850-1900
Mood- music explored a universe of feeling such as flamboyance and intimacy, unpredictability and melancholy Rhythm- flexible and may change frequently Dynamics- extremely wide ranges, very soft to very loud and add considerably to emotional excitement and intensity, Tone Color- new instruments and larger orchestra led to new and varied timbres Melody- dissonance used freely Texture- a piece may shift gradually or suddenly from one texture to another

Twentieth Century

1900

1900-1945
Mood- wide range Tone Color- noiselike and percussive sounds often used, instruments play at the extremes of their ranges Melody- no longer tied to traditional chords, major or minor keys, or tonal center Dynamics-used to generate power and drive Rhythm- rapidly changing polyrhythms, meters, and ostinatos are featured

Jazz

1917

1917-1950
Mood- blended elements from many sources Tone Color- instruments include brasses, woodwinds, and percussion, easily recognizable but hard to describe Improvisation- based on melody or harmonic pattern Rhythm- syncopation and rhythmic swing Melody- flexible in pitch and rhythm Texture- monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, or heterophonic Jazz Music

Musical Theatre

1920

1920-1960
Golden Era for musical theatre was created Mood- does not always match that of synchronized visual image Tone Color- can convey unspoken thoughts and emotional implications Dynamics- enhance the excitement of action Texture- Songs traditionally consist of an introductory section called the verse and a main section called the chorus in thirty-two-bar A A B A form

Popular Music

1950

1950-Current
Different genres of music have occurred in this time period. They are classified as Verse-Chorus form, Folk Music, Urban Folk Music, Country, Rhythm and Blues, Rock, Soul, Rap, and Hip Hop. These music styles range dramatically in tone color, dynamics, rhythm, mood, and texture.