Jumping in the deep water of early music, our talk was rather superficial and general, skipping through a few hundred years fairly quickly, but still informative. Becoming too detailed would prevent further necessary discussions of other great topics! We discussed monody, plainchant, plainsong, early notation, Gregorian chant, and church modes. We recited 7 of the modes in order: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Locrian, deliberately avoiding much discussion of the hypo varieties.
A brief talk of tropes, sequences, and conductus explained how music came to be added to the Mass and how composers were needed to develop these additions. Much of the additions were born out of practical necessity to have music during the Mass. Since text was also needed with the music, eventually the motet was developed.
Spending some time on meter and rhythm, we alluded to the rhythmic modes used in sacred and secular music and then looked at how meter signatures developed. It really is a fascinating study and explains where we get the C that most people call "common" time. For an indepth understanding, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensural_notation
Organum is an early type of polyphony that likely resulted from the overtones in a Cathedral. There are different kinds of organum and different approaches to organum including melismatic organum and free organum with varying types of motion used, syllabic, oblique, and contrary. Eventually the voices became more independent, resulting in what we know of as polyphony. Passing through French Ars Nova, the Italian Ars Nova, Trouveres, Troubadours and host of other terms related to early music, we landed on Machaut where we discussed Isorhythm. An understanding of Talea and Color is central to knowing what Isorhythm means and how it is used in music. We looked at an example of this, referencing the amazingly clever piece My end is my beginning by Machaut. I will send a pdf of this piece to you by email.
You may ask what is the value of this kind of clever approach to music? It has to do with unifying the elements of a piece. A piece of music becomes consistent within itself through its unifying elements. Otherwise we simply have a gushing of complex emotions without any consistency. Isorhythm is simply one way, albeit an excellent way, of giving a piece unity.
Another "exciting" day in music 4000. Please read the early music articles in www.lcsproductions.net.
Okay, is Chris Tomlin a great composer? Why is his music successful? What makes some music meaningless and trite, while others seem to speak for centuries?
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Who is Chris Tomlin?
ReplyDeleteMusic is successful if it has great emotional impact in or shortly after its period. But I feel it's longevity is rooted in the music's universal appeal. Possibly in the form of a universal theme (Love, Death, etc.). And I think this is especially important for music with lyrics.
Consider that a good number of songs with lyrics are about love/infatuation in some form or another. The loss of love, love wanted, love gained, love in description. What makes one so much better than the other? The message? The same message no doubt has been conveyed before in other songs. Then it must be the music? But the music in and of itself may not carry as much weight without words.
A good example to me is Brahms Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2. I feel it's a very emotional work and am of the personal opinion that it was a secret way of Brahms emotional outpouring to Clara Schumann. Even though he couldn't be with her since she was married. However I've played a recording of this piece for many people and the best response I've gotten was that it was 'very pretty'. Would it have helped his cause if Brahms had added lyrics? I don't know.
Of course not all music is about love and it would be silly to proclaim it especially when you have songs like Nelly's "Air Force Ones". In our immediate past I wonder why the "YMCA" song has lasted as long as it has. Then again the hand signs are classic, and who wouldn't remember the outrageous looking village people. Maybe music just needs something to make it stand out. I know that I think of something specific when I hear any one of the 'classical hits'
The more I think about it the more I'm convinced of music that stands the test of time adheres to some sort of Chaotic mathematical formula in which our emotional needs serve as the variables.
P.S. The worst response I got to a listening of Brahms Intermezzo was, "Who is Brahms?"
P.S.S. If you want to hear something interesting compare Brahms Intermezzo to Josh Groban's "When you say you love me". Same key as well.
Brahms Intermezzo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFhlIhdNGjg
Josh Groban - When you say you love me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3MIWuMRhQ
Interesting post Pedro. I'll have to take a look at that and see what I hear.
ReplyDeleteI think Chris Tomlin is a person that just speaks from the heart as a Christian and allows God to use Him to proclaim His message through music. I would not necessarily say his composition is the best out there, but it speaks to the people and leads people into worship with God. When the Holy Spirit moves...it moves.
I think to a degree the controversy of some music withstanding time while others do not is just dependent on history and events or even historical figures of the past. Many of the Baroque and even Classical composers that are most popular were in royal courts of some kind, yet we know there had to be several other composers out there. We can obviously say that since music is generally the last of the arts to make shifts and transitions, it is greatly affected by the other arts such as literature and painting. I think this coupled with the effect of historical events makes certain music and even composers stand out more so than others. One goo dexample that comes to mind is Palestrina. This may be a bold statement, but many of our texts and classes on music history will say that Palestrina saved the mass in the Catholic Church. What did he do that was so different compared to other composers of the time? Was it the church that was begging for a reformation in music or the composer just doing something different pushing the envelope?
There are several other composers that we can think of that have these issues of being recognized and not being recognized. We recognize Bach more than we do Telemann, yet Telemann composed many more works than Bach. It's an unknown. I think the common ground amongst all of these issues pertaining to controversy over music that is trite and stands the test of time are the outside factors that have implications and affect the lives of the composers as well as the shift in where music is going in relation to all that is going on in the world.
Very interesting posts guys, and I agree with you both. Chris, you missed our conversation in class about Chris Tomlin and how each of his songs are unique and different. It is.difficult to take one song and lead into another. I believe that Chris Tomlin has a thorough understanding of theory and uses it.
ReplyDeleteOur lifestyle and culture right now is moving so fast and changing practically everyday. If we didn't have so much going on in our lives I'm sure we would have more pieces that would be standing the test of time.