Precursor: Music from Ancient Sumeria (1400-4000 BC?, Iraq).

A history of Western art music

Composer list from Kac, Michael. Spring 2010. Lecture notes. PHIL 4510: Philosophy of the Individual Arts. University of Minnesota. Musical excerpts selected by Nancy Hedberg

Medieval:

(Sung in unison: monophonic)

Gregorian Chant: Kyrie eleison.

(Polyphonic music: more than one sung line; sung in church modes—giving that foreign sound)

Léonin (c.1135-1201): Dulce lignum.

Pérotin (fl.ca. 1200): Sederunt principes.

Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1372): Puis qu’en oubil. Quant en moy.

Gilles Binchois (1400-1460): Triste plaisir et douloureuse joye. Amours mercy.

Guillaume Dufay (1400-1474): Ave Maris Stella. Ma belle dame souveraine.

Renaissance:

(Still polyphonic and primarily sung music, but no longer as foreign sounding, as if our major and minor scales are now used)

Josquin Des Prez (1440-1521): Stabat Mater. Mille Regretz. El Grillo.

Giovanni Palestrina (1525-1594): Sicut Cervus. Agnus Dei.

Baroque:

(Opera bursts onto the scene with L’Orfeo, familiar major and minor scales—our tonality; and instrumental music featured. The instrumental music is still polyphonic, but modern harmony is developing and becomes fully developed. Harpischord is the keyboard instrument.)

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643): Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti. L’Orfeo

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643): Canzona Quarta. Cente Partite sopra Passacagli.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Toccata and fugue in D minor. The Well-Temprered Clavier, Book I: No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847. Flute sonata in E-flat major.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759): The arrival of the Queen of Sheba. Hallelujia chorus.

Classical:

(Somehow, it sounds to me like there is less polyphony and more melody + harmony. To me, the pieces are written with cleaner lines, perhaps bringing out melody. Emphasis on solo melodies by individual instruments or sections, or even groups of sections in Beethoven’s 5th. Development of our major and minor scale tonality system. The pieces seem well organized in terms of timing. But the Moonlight Sonata veers into expressiveness, which is Romantic in style. Beethoven is on the cusp of classicism/romanticism.)

Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809): Trumpet concerto – 3^rd mvmt.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Allegro – Eine Kleine Natchtmusik. Andante in C for flute.

Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827): 5^th symphony – 1^st movement. Moonlight sonata – 1^st mvmt

Romantic:

(Seems very expressive to me, more emphasis on expressivity than exact timing, and lots of dynamics concerning loud and soft, as well as slow and fast. Piano is the keyboard instrument par excellence. Great concentration on particular instruments. Still emphasis on melody, even in the ensemble playing. Romanticism is also known for incorporation of folk melodies from different areas of Europe, e.g. Hungary.)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Impromptu Opus 90/3. Ave Maria.

Felix Mendelsohn (1809-1847): Piano concerto no.1. Wedding March.

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849): Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2. Polonaise Heroic op. 53 in A-flat major.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Traumerei.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883): The ride of the Valkyries.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Hungarian dance no. 5 in G minor. Lullaby.

Richard Strauss (1864-1849): Also Sprach Zarathustra. Wiegenlied.

Modern:

(More experimentation concerning melody and atonality. Experimentation with different scales and perhaps with timbre—different instruments making up the pattern.)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Claire de Lune.

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951): Fantasia Op. 47 2.

Bela Bartók (1881-1945): Romanian Folk Dances.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Symphonies of Wind Instruments.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Dance of the Knights. Peter and the Wolf.

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Romance.

(Some basic web articles about how to distinguish different “classical” styles.)

http://www.ehow.com/how_8068008_distinguish-between-baroque-classical-romantic.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_7829532_differ-playing-baroque-classical-music.html

(A cognitive psychology article that uses the measure of nPVI (temporal variability) to show that ordinary people can distinguish baroque from classical from romantic “classical” music.)

Dalla Bella, Simone and Isabelle Peretz. 2005. Differentiation of classical music requires little learning but rhythm. Cognition 96. B65-B78.

Musical style stimulus samples:

http://www.brams.umontreal.ca/plab/research/Stimuli/dalla_bella_styles/auditory%20examples.html

(Goldfish can distinguish blues from baroque.)

Chase, Ava R. 2001. “Music Discriminations by Carp”. Animal Learning and Behavior 29(4). 336-353.

John Lee Hooker “Boom boom”

Vivaldi Guitar Concerto in D second movement