FREE ESSAY ON MUSIC CULTURES

MUSIC CULTURES

Early music is based mainly on the music of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Many
people like to define Early Music as ending in 1750, with the death of J.S. Bach. This is
a handy
date, but it misses the various stylistic changes taking place around that time, i.e. the
emergence of
the gallant and pre-classical idioms in close proximity to the final flowering of the
baroque proper.
To add even more confusion, this is also not clear-cut. As with everything else, Baroque
music
ended gradually and sporadically, if we are to say that it ended all. Perhaps the
significant factor
defining these eras as "early music" is that they do not have a continuous performance
tradition. In
other words, this music ceased to be performed after its time had passed and needed to be
revived
in our own era. This is not true of the "classical' music of Mozart, Beethoven, et al.
Which
possesses a continuous performance tradition. This means that, to some degree, it is this
revival
which dominates EM (that is, early music as a movement), at least in spirit. Of course,
things are not
clear-cut here either. For instance, late Baroque composers like Bach, Handel, Vivaldi,
and etc.
Were revived relatively early and therefore have a fairly long performance tradition
which is not
dependent on the present early music movement. Now we are seeing an increasingly large
number
of performances of Mozart, Beethoven, and others in the content of early music; this
further
muddies the waters. There is the question of pre-Medieval music. While early musicians
would
undoubtedly be happy to claim it as their own, unfortunately there is very little
surviving evidence
about music from earlier times. Indeed, there are no music manuscripts from Western
Europe at all.
However, that doesn't stop some people from trying to recreate what might have been
heard. Since
music has also been a performance tradition, classical concerts represent divergences
from that
tradition, based upon a new look at the original context of a composition. New composers
sometimes talk about capturing the "original intentions" of an early composer. Although
like any
essentially psychological object, these intentions can never be thoroughly concrete. As
such, that
decision rests largely with the artistic intuition of the modern performer, and should be
judged on
their own musical merits. Occurring mainly because society today likes the different
sound. In the
case of pre-Baroque music, there are really little choices but to attempt to recreate the
sound world
of the era, in order to even approach the surviving compositions. Of course, that's what
many "early
music" performers are doing, and they are consequently reviving a vast body of
superlative music,
which had previously been effectively last to us. This is, probably, the core of "early
music." Music
today has been influenced much by early music. From a broader perspective, it is also a
thoroughly
modern idea that the "composer's intentions" should matter more than what a performer
chooses to
do with the music in front of the composer. In fact, it has been somewhat facetiously
suggested that
such an approach is not the composer's intention at all. Music is played very different,
because
people interpret things differently, which is why music has changed so much over time.
Early music
was the start of a great change in sounds. In the beginning, with early music we can tell
that the ideas
were mainly from the composer. Over time, people realized that they can interpret music
in many
different ways also. This was the first movement into new music, and I believe that early
music will
be played for well past my lifetime. "We live in a time of great changes, a time of
transformation
between major eras. Looking into the unsettling, the unfamiliar, the senselessness of a
world taking a
dramatic turn towards the unknown, people get lost and confused. Their fear, their need
for survival
even, urges them to look inside for something big, something dramatic, something
inspiring,
something that gives them courage to face the unknown and the strength to shape it."
(Ewen, David,
pg.40) Along with a great change, there was Jazz. The start of the first real American
music. With
the culture change from Early, classical music. Many things changed during this time, but
mainly was
do to the changing in culture that influenced jazz. Some of the most accomplished
musicians of our
time have devoted themselves to a lifelong study of Jazz or classical music, and few
exceptional
musicians have actually mastered both. A comparison of classical Jazz music will yield
some
interesting results and could also lead to an appreciation of the abilities needed to
perform or
compose there kinds of music. The music called classical, found in stores and performed
regularly
by symphonies around the world, spans a length of time from 1600 up to the present. This
time
frame includes the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and contemporary periods.
The
classical period of music actually spans a time from of 1750 to 1800; thus, the term
Classical is a
misnomer and could more correctly be changed to Early Music or European Art Music.
European
because most of the major composers up till the 20th century were European. Vivaldi was
Italian,
Bach was German, Mozart and Beethoven were Austrian; they are some of the more prominent
composers. Until the twentieth century with Gershwin and a few others did we find
American
composers writing this kind of art music. For the sake of convention, we can refer to
Early Music as
Classical music. Jazz is a distinctively American form of music, and its history occupies
a much
smaller span of time. Its origins are found in the early 1900s as some dance band leaders
in the
southern U.S. began playing music that combined ragtime and blues. Early exponents of
this dance
music were Jelly Roll Martin (a blues player) and Scott Joplin (ragtime). The terms of
"jazz" and
"jazz band" first surfaced in the year 1900. Some say this occurred in New Orleans,
although similar
music was played at the same time in other places. The most prominent exponents of this
early
music, called Dixieland Jazz, included Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet. After World War
I,
Jazz music had evolved and was aided by the development of the recording industry. The
small
dance band ensemble grew into the larger orchestra known as the "Big Band." The music of
the Big
Bands became known as "Swing." Two of the more famous Swing band leaders were Tommy
Dorsey and Harry James. In the late 40s and through the 50s, a different kind of Jazz
became
popular. This music, played by a very small ensemble, was much more sophisticated and
complex .
Its rich harmonic changes and melodic counterpoint were not conducive to dance. It became
known
as Bop, with Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie being the early proponents. In the last
twenty
years there has been a combination of Jazz with popular music of the US and Latin
America. This
modern Jazz music has been called Fusion. Present day exponents include Pat Metheny and
Chic
Corea. There has also been a return to the sound of Bop in the last ten years by such
musicians as
trumpeter Winton Marsalis and his brother Branford, a saxophonist. Let's focus on the
instrumentation of the two kinds of music. In Classical music, both large orchestras and
small
ensembles are used. Generally, the greatest and most prominent compositions are for the
larger
symphony orchestra. The largest part of the orchestra is the string section consisting of
violins,
violas, cellos and string basses. These instruments were invented very early in medieval
times but
really matured into their present form during the late 18th century. The wind
instruments, comprised
of brass and woodwinds, took longer to mature. The brass section in particular did not
posses the
ability to play chromatically (in all keys) until the advent of valves which allowed the
length of the
instrument to be changed while playing. This occurred around the middle to late 19th
century.
Consequently, the brass instruments are less prominent in the music of Bach, Mozart and
Beethoven
along with their contemporaries. Late 19th and early 20th century composers make use of a
very
large orchestra with all the fully developed wind instruments. Some of the master
composers of this
time were: Wagner, Rimskey-Korsakov, Ravel and Stravinsky. Currently, composers also
make
use of the full orchestra but with the addition of increasingly larger percussion
sections that add
many unique and unheard of sounds than in earlier music. While all these changes were
happening,
many other situations changed the aspect of music to the tragedy around them. World War
II also
influenced song, about Love and happiness, which was a major start in rock music, which
will be
brought up later. Early Jazz music was played in small ensembles making use of clarinet,
tuba,
cornet, baritone, drums, and piano. Dixieland groups of New Orleans had similar
instrumentation.
During the Swing era, larger groups were employed to achieve more of an orchestral sound.
The
Big Bands of the this era were predominantly wind orchestras containing alto and tenor
sax sections,
trumpet and trombone sections, along with piano and drums. When Bop music arrived, the
alto
saxophone and trumpet were the preferred instruments of the major soloists who were
backed up
by piano, string bass and drums. With the advent of Fusion, electric instruments such as
the electric
guitar and keyboard synthesizer became prominent. How has each of these kinds of music
been
transmitted to later generations of musicians? Early in the evolution of classical music,
a system of
notation was gradually developed which for the most part remained stable from the
Renaissance on.
This gave the composer control over how his compositions were to be played. Throughout
the
history of Jazz, however, notation was more like a rough sketch. This was because the
syncopated
rhythms of ragtime and the melodic riffs of the blues were not easily notated. Also,
early Jazz
musicians were not formally trained; they usually learned by ear. Some songs were
transcribed and
written down, but not in precise ways. Jazz music became more of a passed on tradition
that a
musician learned through interaction with other players. In a similar way, the modern
Jazz musician
must rely on previous recordings to get a feel for the style and technique that he
desires to learn
from. But in classical music, one composer can learn from an older composer by looking at
and
analyzing the music that the previous composer wrote down. Likewise, classical musicians
can
master the parts they must play by practicing the music that has been written or
published
beforehand. These two approaches to passing on tradition are both valid. However, without
the
recording medium Jazz music might have developed much differently than it has. The major
element
that keeps a musical group together is also an interesting contrast. In Classical music,
the conductor
uses a baton and plays the orchestra as if it were his instrument; he looks at a complete
score of all
the events happening in the composition and interprets these events based on his
knowledge and
intuition of what the composer intended. Jazz groups rarely utilize conductors. The swing
era
employed them for the sake of keeping the larger sized group together but other jazz
styles did not
and do not to this day. The drummer of the Jazz ensemble provides the beat that keeps the
group
together but even he is interacting with the other soloists as the song is performed.
Perhaps the most
interesting point of comparison between the two types of music is in improvisation.
Improvisation is
the ability to play and compose spontaneously on the spot (Christy Max) while the music
is
playing. This has been an important element of Jazz from its inception. Although
improvisation was
less prominent during the swing era, it regained importance with Bop and onward. Early
Jazz was
improvised, using ragtime and blues as a loose structure. In the swing era, an arranger
arranged
popular songs and soloists played improvisations over the repeating sections in order to
lengthen the
song for dancing. With the advent of Bop, improvisation assumed great importance. The
musicians
memorized the chord changes to a song, along with the melody, but then played very
loosely and in
the end substituted new chords along with greatly embellishing the original melody to the
point of
being unrecognizable. These factors, along with the ability to interact with each other,
became
important and remains so in the Fusion music of today. In Classical music, modern
listeners are
mostly unaware of the fact that many of the great composers of the past were not only
excellent
performers but also great improvisers. Starting with J.S. Bach (1685-1750), the greatest
composer
of the Baroque era, he in fact made his living through his great skill as an improviser.
It was common
for the Lutheran Church organist of his day be able to improvise on choral melodies and
Bach was
considered one of the greatest at this. There are written accounts of other composers'
improvisational abilities including Mozart (1756-1791), Beethoven (1770-1829), and Franz
Liszt
(1811-1886). Yet, as time went on, improvising gave way to the composer's desire to
exert
complete control over his music. By the late 19th century, improvising was rare and not
used at all in
public performances of classical music. We can say that Jazz and Classical music
represent two
approaches to Art Music. The Classical composer or performer has a long and rich body of
music
in written form that he uses to learn from while the Jazz musician uses a body of
recorded music to
learn. Because of it's small size, the modern Jazz ensemble allows loose interaction
while the
symphony orchestra's large size and diversity of instruments provides many different
sounds and
wide dynamic range. In classical music the composer strives for control; he uses printed
music to
guide and direct the musicians through the conductor. In Jazz music, the songs are
loosely
composed, thus forming a basis for individual expression within an ensemble, which is
growing in
our society. When you go to hear a symphony, you hear an orchestra conducted by the
conductor
playing a composition. When you go to a Jazz club you hear a small jazz ensemble
interacting and
improvising a song. They take different paths to reach their final form but give a person
equal
opportunities to appreciate the creative output of each. Along with new ideas and changes
in music,
rock bands were the new way to protest against society. Among all of the rock groups, one
will be
remembered for their voices and the songs of power that was a "revolution" in the
changing of
music. The Beatles were very in tune with the world around them and were greatly
influenced by
many ideas, cultures, and religions. In turn, their innovations and music influenced the
world, even
today. Early in their career, The Beatles were strongly influenced by American music.
They
especially idolized artists such as Bill Haley ("Rock Around the Clock Tonite"), Buddy
Holly
("Peggy Sue"), and many Rhythm and Blues artists such as Willie Dixon. It's clear in The
Beatles
evolution that these roots were a strong influence on the music that The Beatles created.
With this
combination of styles and origins, the music that The Beatles played and composed was a
revolution
in itself, something that hadn't been thought of before. Some precise examples of these
earth-shattering compositions are the #1 hit "Please, Please, Me", and also a #1 hit "She
Loves
You". These early Beatles tunes were instrumental in crafting their own musical style. As
The
Beatles matured, they began to be more perceptive to events all throughout the world and
their
tremendous popularity was growing day by day. The exponential growth rate of fans was so
large
that The Beatles were the first rock group permitted to play in, not to mention sell out
the London
Palladium, a grand achievement. The Palladium, until then, was a very exclusive and
elegant concert
hall usually reserved for the likes of the London Symphony Orchestra. Although selling
out the
Palladium was quite a feat, the 15 million viewers that watched the concert on the BBC
was an even
greater one. This was the first time in England that a rock group had established so much
credibility
that The Beatles were invited to play at a Royal Command Performance for the Queen. The
influences of traditional British society, although already evident in their choice of
attire, began to
permeate their music. For example, "Yesterday" began as a heavy rock tune, but the
poetic
influences of Brits such as William Shakespeare turned it into the love ballad it is
today. Another
good example of the London influence on The Beatles in "Yesterday" is the string quartet
from the
London Symphony Orchestra that plays the melody. This was indicative of the influence
that The
Beatles had on the English music, social, and political scenes, as well as the ways in
which traditional
English society influenced The Beatles. 1966 began a new Beatles trend full of
psychedelic drugs.
Their recent release of Revolver marked the beginning of this new trend. Revolver was
strongly
influenced by American Professor Timothy Leary. Leary was an exceptional influence on
The
Beatles, especially John Lennon. Dr. Leary popularized the hallucinogen LSD, and was a
major
American proponent of peace and free will. Interestingly enough, when Timothy Leary
decided that
he was going to run for governor of California, in order to have the influence needed to
truly make
peace in the world, John wrote "Come Together" for Leary's campaign. Leary also sang
"Give
Peace A Chance" with John and Yoko Ono. The strong drug influences are evident
particularly in
"Strawberry Fields Forever"(written by John Lennon), in phrases such as "Nothing is real
and
nothing to get hung about" and "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you
see."
These key phrases are obvious descriptions of their recent experimentation with LSD.
Songs
describing John's trips are great in number on the Magical Mystery Tour album that was
released in
1967. Examples of these are "Penny Lane" and "I Am the Walrus". "Penny Lane" deals with
John's
interpretation of a trip while crossing Penny Lane, and while in the park on Penny Lane.
"I Am the
Walrus" is one of the first true examples of Paul's drug use and identifies with his
fantasy of being a
walrus. Drugs had a strong influence on The Beatles, and their musical interpretations
caused by
drugs helped to influence drug culture in the world, not just among their fans, but among
many
youths. Another Beatles innovation was the utilization of Indian instruments in their
music. They
began to implement use of the sitar and tabla in many songs, especially on the White
Album, which
was released in 1968, a year coinciding with a Beatles visit to India. Cultures and
people influenced
these changes in music. I chose to expand on the Beatles because they are the absolute
best
example of how rock music is different than Classical, but they were just due to changes
in time.
Meditation and finding oneself also became an important part of Beatles life. This Hindu
and
Buddhist ritual appealed to the band because it helped them to write better songs. This
led to the
downfall of The Beatles as they began to argue over songs and styles; their excursions
within
themselves had backfired and turned them against each other. The Beatles were the most
influential
rock group in all of history, but they couldn't have had such a great effect on the world
without their
many inspirations. They seemed to take the best of different cultures and combine them in
their
music to create a diverse and interesting sound. Without The Beatles, the world would be
a much
different place today. Over time we can tell that music changed for many reasons. I am
sure that
there are many other groups, other than the examples above that influenced the change in
music.
From Early music, to Modern Rock and Jazz there is a major difference in the sound, but
it is still
influenced by classical music.
Bibliography
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