Apt for Voices or Viols

The Inexorable Rise of Instrumental Music

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture
Cover of the book Apt for Voices or Viols by Michael Regan, GRIN Verlag
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Michael Regan ISBN: 9783656215875
Publisher: GRIN Verlag Publication: June 13, 2012
Imprint: GRIN Verlag Language: English
Author: Michael Regan
ISBN: 9783656215875
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Publication: June 13, 2012
Imprint: GRIN Verlag
Language: English

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Sociology - Media, Art, Music, , language: English, abstract: '...music grew too proud to be the garment of words.' (W.B. Yeats) This, by a poet who was, allegedly, tone deaf, is nevertheless a concise but very astute summing up of what has happened to music since about the end of the 16th century. Yeats' definition of music as 'the garment' of words suggests admirably an earlier relationship of music to text- both adorning it and taking its form from it, as we can observe in the mass, motet, madrigal and other Medieval and Renaissance vocal forms in which the musical structures are largely determined by the words set. But after about 1600 music began to dissociate itself from words in earnest and go its own way, and the main cause of this was the rise in popularity of music purely for instruments. Of course there was instrumental music before 1600- lute and keyboard pieces for example, but it had been subsidiary and had never taken the chief place in the output of composers as it was increasingly to do in later times. Also it was very much bound up with the dances of the period- pavanes, galliards and so on- and therefore not so much music for listening to as for directing and co-ordinating bodily movements. What was new in the history of Western music after 1600 was the rapid rise of what another profound thinker about music, Ernst Krenek refers to as 'autonomous music'- symphonies, concertos, string quartets, sonatas and fantasies etc., expressly written to be listened to and appreciated as things of beauty and value in their own right, and serving no extra- musical purpose.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Sociology - Media, Art, Music, , language: English, abstract: '...music grew too proud to be the garment of words.' (W.B. Yeats) This, by a poet who was, allegedly, tone deaf, is nevertheless a concise but very astute summing up of what has happened to music since about the end of the 16th century. Yeats' definition of music as 'the garment' of words suggests admirably an earlier relationship of music to text- both adorning it and taking its form from it, as we can observe in the mass, motet, madrigal and other Medieval and Renaissance vocal forms in which the musical structures are largely determined by the words set. But after about 1600 music began to dissociate itself from words in earnest and go its own way, and the main cause of this was the rise in popularity of music purely for instruments. Of course there was instrumental music before 1600- lute and keyboard pieces for example, but it had been subsidiary and had never taken the chief place in the output of composers as it was increasingly to do in later times. Also it was very much bound up with the dances of the period- pavanes, galliards and so on- and therefore not so much music for listening to as for directing and co-ordinating bodily movements. What was new in the history of Western music after 1600 was the rapid rise of what another profound thinker about music, Ernst Krenek refers to as 'autonomous music'- symphonies, concertos, string quartets, sonatas and fantasies etc., expressly written to be listened to and appreciated as things of beauty and value in their own right, and serving no extra- musical purpose.

More books from GRIN Verlag

Cover of the book Entwicklungen in der Politik und der Verwaltung Vietnams und Mosambiks - Ein Vergleich by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Unterrichtsstunde: My favourite star by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Antisemitismus von Links by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Sportmedizinische Probleme im Schulsportunterricht: Asthma bronchiale by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Why Students are Punished in Schools: Missing Learning Link by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Die Versorgungslage der Leprakranken im St. Georg Hospital nach dem Rezess von 1410 by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Das mentale Lexikon und die Beachtung seiner Funktionalität in spanischen Lehrwerken für die Sekundarstufe by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Entbettung multinationaler Unternehmen aus nationalen Institutionen und die daraus verstärkte globale Ungleichheit by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Judo. Stoffverteilungsplan Judo 9.-12. Klasse by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Eventmanagement. Ein Leitfaden zur professionellen Umsetzung von Events by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Listening, Europäisches Sprachenportfolio, Binnendifferenzierung by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Mythische Reliquien: Sparta by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Die Demokratieeinbettung in Japan by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Der 'Home Bias' internationaler Investoren: Eine Untersuchung von Aktienportfolios by Michael Regan
Cover of the book Das Diffusionsverhalten von Wasserstoff in einem niedriglegierten Stahl unter Berücksichtigung des Verformungsgrades by Michael Regan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy