Evolution of Music: Part 1 by Dr. Jon K. Loessin
Wharton County Junior College

Gregorian Chants
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*The roots of the Gregorgian music can be found in the third millennium BC.
This is confirmed by archaeological findings, such as three-hole pipe made of swan shin bone. In the ancient period 7 hole-pipes, lyres, bag-pipes, banduras, drums etc. were already in use.
*Gregorgian sacred and secular music has a rich and complex history, relatively little of which is documented in any depth in English. Very strikingly,
Gregorgian music uses an ancient system of polyphony, usually in three parts, and a unique tuning system conceived outside of what the western ear is used to.
It makes a great use of parallel motion and dissonance (and usually ending in a unison pitch). Therefore, you are hearing tone pairings that speak a different musical vocabulary.
Populus Sion

Gothic Era Music
 Gothic—A term often used to refer to the late middle ages (a.d. 1100-1450)
 Examples:
 Organum Viderunt omnes (abt. 1160)
Roman de Fauvel (abt.1250)

Music of the Royal Courts:
The Renaissance Period
 13 th -16 centuries
 Composers include Giovanni Palestrina and
William Byrd
 French, German, Italian, and Spanish courts

The Baroque Period: 17 th
Century
 --Birth of “modern” music for the era
 --Represented an awakening in musical composition
 --Sophistication and repetition of harmony through an aesthetic emotional method
 Composers include Antonio Vivaldi (1678-
1741) , Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-
1750), and Georg Frideric Handel (1685-
1759)

Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
MAJOR COMPOSITIONS: The Brandenburg Concertos ;
Concertos for Violin

George Frideric Handel
(1685-1759)
MAJOR COMPOSITIONS: Messiah; Arrival of the
Queen of Sheba ; Love in Bath ; Water Music

The Classical Period:
18 th Century
 Composers included the great
 master composers like Wolfgang
 Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791
 Austria) and
 Ludwig von
 Beethoven (1770-1827
 Germany)

Beethoven and Mozart
 Beethoven Compositions include:
 Symphony No. 5 , No. 9 , and Für Elise
 Mozart’s works include:
Eine kleine
Nachtmusik and Turkish March

The Romantic Period:
Dominated the 19 th Century
 Divided into the early romantic, romantic, and late romantic periods, but dominated by the music of the German composer Richard
Wagner (1813-1883) with pieces like
The Ride of the Valkyries

Other Romantic Period
Composers
 Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
 Frederik Chopin (1810-49)
 Johann Strauss II (1825-99)
 Johannes Brahms (1833-97)
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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93)
-The Sleeping Beauty…
 The 19 th century also witnessed the Post-
Romantic (like Gustav Mahler), Modern
Romantic (like Sergei Rachmaninov) , and
Expressionist composers (like Maurice Ravel)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
 Ravel became famous for what some say is the most sensual and erotic musical composition of all time: Bolero
 It is so synonymous with Ravel it is usually referred to as Ravel’s Bolero
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
7ZBzIXoJDM