| Musical eras | |
| Prehistoric | |
| Ancient | (before AD 500) |
| Early | (500 - 1760) |
| Common practice | (1600 - 1900) |
| Modern and contemporary | (1900 - present) |
Early music is commonly defined as European classical music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque. In the History of music, prehistoric music (previously called primitive music) is all Music produced in preliterate cultures ( Prehistory Ancient music is Music that developed in literate Cultures replacing Prehistoric music. The common practice period, in the history of European Art music (broadly called Classical music) spanning the Baroque, Classical, and At the turn of the 20th century classical music was characteristically late Romantic in style while at the same time the Impressionist movement spearheaded by Claude Debussy Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to a period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750.
The Early Music Movement as a trend in history is the study and performance of music from composers before our own era and began in 1829 when Felix Mendelssohn conducted Bach's St Matthew Passion. Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3 1809 &ndash November 4 1847 was a German Composer WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" The St Matthew Passion (Matthäuspassion (also Matthæus Passion) BWV 244 is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach for solo voices
Contents |
Performance practice
The early music movement of the 20th century has been closely associated with the concept of performance practice. The historically informed performance, period performance, or authentic performance movement is an approach by musicians and scholars to research and perform works With the renewed interest in early music came an interest in using period instruments and historically aware playing techniques.
| History of European art music | |
| Early | |
|---|---|
| Medieval | (500 – 1400) |
| Renaissance | (1400 – 1600) |
| Common practice | |
| Baroque | (1600 – 1760) |
| Classical | (1730 – 1820) |
| Romantic | (1815 – 1910) |
| Modern and contemporary | |
| 20th century classical | (1900 – 2000) |
| Contemporary classical | (1975 – present) |
Notation and performance
According to Margaret Bent (1998), Early music notation, "is under-prescriptive by our standards; when translated into modern form it acquires a prescriptive weight that overspecifies and distorts its original openness. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 The common practice period, in the history of European Art music (broadly called Classical music) spanning the Baroque, Classical, and Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as 1750 to 1810 Romantic Music is a Musicological term referring to a particular period theory compositional practice and canon in European music history from about 1815 to 1910 At the turn of the 20th century classical music was characteristically late Romantic in style while at the same time the Impressionist movement spearheaded by Claude Debussy Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to a period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. See also Modern musical symbols Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived Music through the use " Before about 1600, written music did not consistently state which instruments are used when. A century earlier, people who wrote down music did not always specify whether lines of polyphony were to be sung or played on an instrument. In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony Similarly, the notation frequently does not indicate what key to play the music in, if any. Accidentals were not necessary. Notations for rhythm go back only to about 1200. There is thus a speculative element to all modern performances of Medieval and Renaissance music. However, Renaissance musicians would have been highly trained in dyadic counterpoint and thus possessed this and other information necessary to read a score, "what modern notation [now] requires [accidentals] would then have been perfectly apparent without notation to a singer versed in counterpoint" (ibid). In Music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent Melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice ( Monophony See the article on Renaissance music and its section on notation and performance. Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600
In the early music revival of the 20th century, the concept of historically informed performance--that is, using available documentation and other contextual evidence to recreate as closely as possible the original ways of playing the instruments used in early music--became an important facet of the performance of early music. The historically informed performance, period performance, or authentic performance movement is an approach by musicians and scholars to research and perform works
See also
- List of early music ensembles
- Neo-medieval music
- Historically informed performance
- Early Music Revival
Sources
- Judd, Cristle Collins. An Early music ensemble is one that specializes in performing music of the European classical tradition from the Baroque era and before i Neo-Medieval music is a term used to describe a variety of styles within modern Popular music. The historically informed performance, period performance, or authentic performance movement is an approach by musicians and scholars to research and perform works See Early music and Historically informed performance for a more detailed explanation of this topic "Introduction: Analyzing Early Music" in Judd, Cristle Collins (ed. ) (1998). Tonal Structures of Early Music. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-2388-3.
- Bent, Margaret. "The Grammar of Early Music: Preconditions for Analysis" in Judd, Cristle Collins (ed. ) (1998). Tonal Structures of Early Music. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-2388-3.
External links
- Early Music FAQ
- Ancient Tunes, Young Ears: Teaching Early Music to Kids
- Early MusiChicago - Early Music in Chicago and Beyond, with many links and resources of general interest
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