How are the phrases related? (e.g. by means of variation, sequence or imitation.) How is the opening motif used in the rest of the piece? You need to know the main periods of Western music from the 16th to the 20th century. LATE RENAISSANCE (c.1500 - c.1580) BAROQUE period (c.1580 - c.1750) CLASSICAL period (c.1750 - ¢.1820) ROMANTIC period (c.1820 - c.1900} 20TH CENTURY It is dangerous to describe all 20th-century music as modern. The term ‘modern’ is grossly misused, ‘Some people still consider Debussy (who died in 1918) as ‘modern’. The term ‘modern’ is customarily plied to music written after the 2nd World War, i.e. post -1945. Unless you are certain that the iece played by the examiner was really modern, it is best and safer to say it was 20th-century, To be able to recognise the musical style of a certain period, you need to listen to a wide variety of music from different periods and to accumulate experience. When you learn a piece ‘of music, don’t just play the notes; try to appreciate the style as well. Below is a discussion of the main stylistic features of each period. Uae es 1 TONALITY Late Renaissance music stil uses church modes inherited from the Medieval period. So music, and cadences are also modal (Ex: CD-A 27). The concept of major and minor tonal established yet. 2 TEXTURE The melodic line in Renaissance music is smooth, with stepwise movement. Leaps are by small intervals. ‘Much of the music is polyphonic, but its occasionally hamophonic, such as lute song and some of the dances. The majority of church music is polyphonic with much imitative writing and counterpoint. Thislinear texture sometimes results in false relation or cross-relation. This feature was quite popular with English composers of the late Renaissance and the Baroque. Exomple: CD-A 28. The F in one of the voices clashes with the F## in the other voice while both voices are moving together but independently. Example: CD-A 29. The F in the upper voice and F# in an inner voice occur at the same time, For explanation of the terms ‘polyphonic’ and ‘homophonic’ texture, please see the section on ‘Musical Terms. 3 INSTRUMENTS Renaissance instruments were builtin sets or families (from soprano down fo bass), achieving uniform timbre. This corresponded to the preference for a homogeneous sound mass in choral music. A complete set or family of instruments is called a consort. So there are recorder consorts, viol consort, etc. The chief wind instruments included recorders, shawms, crumhorns, flutes, cornets, trumpets and sackbuts (ancestor of trombone). The chief stringed instruments were viols (viola da gamba). Viol is @ bowed string instrument with frets usually played on the lap or between the legs (hence ‘viola da gamba’, meaning ‘leg viol’). There were three main types of keyboard instruments, the harpsichord, clavichord and church pipe organ, The lute was the most popular solo instrument of the Renaissance. It plucking the strings. Lute song was @ popular type of music. like @ guitar, played by fingers The popular dances were Pavane and Galliard. These two were normally paired. The Pavane is slow and sedate and normally in duple time, and the Galliard is fast and in triple time and often has hemiola rhythm (please see full explanation under Baroque Period). If in the exam the examiner plays you a piece of Renaissance music in the style of a dance with melody and accompaniment or chordal texture, and asks you what instrument might have been used to play the music in those days, you should say lute or harpsichord. If the piece is contrapuntal or polyphonic, you should say viols or any of the keyboard instruments, although it could also be performed on a lute, You should also know the names of a few major composers of Late Renaissance. These include: William Byrd 1543 - 1623 English, famous for church music, songs and instrumental music Thomas Morley 1557 - 1602 English, famous for madrigals and church music, Orlando Gibbons | 1583 - 1625 English, important composer of church music and instrumental music John Dowland 1562 - 1626 English, famous for lute songs Palestrina 1525 - 1594 halian, famous for Latin church music Lassus 1532 - 1594 Franco-Flemish, famous for Latin church music.Try to listen to as much Renaissance music as possible, such as lute songs, dances, madrigals, masses, motets, viol consort music, and keyboard music. ‘A SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS OF LATE RENAISSANCE MUSIC Modal melody and harmony Polyphonic texture, occasionally homophonic Cross- or false- relation Dances Different types of musical instruments 00000 1 TONALITY In early Baroque (c.1580 - ¢.1630) the concept of tonality was not yet established, so the music is still modal, and cadences are often embellished. In mid-Baroque (c.1630 - ¢.1680) the concept of tonality was gradually developed, and eventually became firmly established around 1700. Two scale patterns were formed, one major and the other minor. At the same time, a system of key signatures was created, and a desire to exploit fifth: related tonal centres and chord relationships resulted in modulation. So whilst every piece of music has a central tonality in the major or minor key, there is a key scheme like a family tree: the tonic major key has, as its related keys, the dominant major, subdominant major, and relative minor; the tonic minor key has, as its related keys, the dominant minor, subdominant minor, cind relative major. These related keys have also their own related keys, like the branches of the family tree. So the music starts off in a clearly defined tonality and modulates to its related keys. After these excursions it finally returns to its home key. | Baroque key schemes are very well organized. Usually the first modulation is to the dominant; the last modulation tends to be to the subdominant before returning to the home key. Here are some examples of key scheme: € major to G major to D minor or A minor to F major back to C major € minor to G minor to Eb major to F minor back to C minor C minor to Eb major to G minor to F minor to C minor Note that the first modulation from the tonic key is normally to the sharp side. E.g. G major to D major involves one more sharp. Eb major to Bb major involves one less flat, meaning ‘sharpened’. Before returning to the home key baroque composers often visit the flat side of the key. The | ‘examples above illustrate this point: F major has one more flat than C major, and F minor also has ‘one more flat than C minor. | —!HARMONY Baroque harmony is tonal or traditional harmony which is basically diatonic. Circle of fifths progressions (e.g. C-F-B-E-A-D-G-C; I-IV-VII-III-VI- Iib-V-1is the most often used harmonic progression. I) were @ common feature of harmony. VI- There may also be chromaticism in the melody or harmony, but such chromaticism is. tonali il part of the / For instance, in the harmonic progression of II7-V-I in C major, the third of the II7 may be sharpened to become Fit, but its function Is not to modulate to G major, but rather to go to G or F natural as its resolution followed by |, forming a perfect cadence. Thus, far from destroying the tonality, it actually reinforces it. 3 MELODY Baroque melody writing is idiomatic, and the melodic lines tend to be more angular than those of the Renaissance, with octave displacement and big leaps (e.g. @ seventh, octave or ninth to continue ‘an octave higher). Baroque melodies are often extended in sequences or by Imitation, and are often ornamented, particularly at cadences. Cadential till is a typical baroque feature. French music often has embellished melodies, e.g. the clavecin (keyboard) music of Couperin. 4 DYNAMICS Baroque music often has strong contrasts between forte and piano. Echoes (loud-soft) are common. Terrace-dynamics (crescendo or diminuendo by steps or in layers) are typical. Gradual gradation of tone is also found, particularly in string music. 5 TEXTURE The imitative texture of equal parts in the late Renaissance contrasted with the more diverse texture of the Baroque. The outer parts are often most active, with the Inner parts mainly supporting, Sometimes, however, all parts are equally active. Much of baroque music has Inventions and Fugues, Corelli's tive writing and contrapuntal texture, such as Bach's Two-part Sonatas, etc. With the exception of fugues, imitative textures are often less strictly organised than in the Renaissance. Hence people speak of strict counterpoint of the Renaissance and free counterpoint of the Baroque. A hallmark of Baroque music is figured bass, which was essential in supporting the diversity of texture. No matter what the upper parts are playing, the harmony Is always supplied by the harpsichord or organ according to the figured bass. That is why the bass line in baroque music is often continuous. Itis a grave mistake to say that baroque music is all contrapuntal or polyphonic, for there is a lot of homophonic music too, such as some of Handel's choral music, Couperin's clavecin (harpsichord) music, and the majority of Domenico Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas. Another typical baroque texture treble melody with a ‘walking’ or ‘running’ bass underneath.Do not assume that when you hear contrapuntal texture it is either Renaissance or Baroque music, as there is contrapuntal music in every period. © Pedal point (CD-A 31) Pedal point is another musical feature in Baroque music, normally near the end of a piece of con elther the tonic or the dominant and continues for a few bars while the music. Usually it harmony changes in the upper voices. TEMPO Baroque tempo Is regular and constant within a section or movement unless there is a change of tempo mark or time-signature. There is little or no rubato, RHYTHM ‘A typical baroque thythm is hemiola, which is the ratio 3:2 found in early music theory. It means ‘two-in-three! rhythm, e.g. two bars in triple metre played as three bars in duple. (Please see the section on ‘Musical Terms’ and listen to CD-A 30.) Hemiola rhythm is often found in Courantes and Sarabandes. ‘Syncopations and suspensions occur in great profusion in the Baroque. 8 STRUCTURE In music of the late Baroque (c.1700 - c.1750), the doctrine of one basic affection prevails. This can be a basic idea, theme, subject or sentiment. For instance, an aria has a central mood; a movement of instrumental music has a rhythmic figure or motif that is developed in the course of the movement; tative writing based on a subject. This basic affection gives the structure a sense of a fugue has musical unity. Generally speaking, phrases are four bars long and are balanced. 9 FORM The most common forms in baroque music are binary form, rounded binary form, da capo aria, rondeau, ground bass, fugue, French overture and ritornello structure. Binary form or AB form consists of two sections. The first section cadences in a related key and the second section in the tonic. Sometimes the second section is longer than the first. Rounded binary form is derived from the binary form. The second section includes recapitulation of the first phrase of the first section in the tonic key. Da capo aria is literally ABA, like ternary. The B section contains modulations, and A is repeated without alteration, Rondeau is based on the alternation of a main section with subsidiary sections, e.g. ABACA. It is common in French harpsichord music and dance music. Variations are more a textural than formal matter. Do not expect the examiner to play you a set of variations in the exam due to a lack of time. However you may have a theme followed by a