How to Listen to and Understand Great Music Part I The Ancient World Through the Early Baroque Professor Robert Greenberg Robert Greenberg, Ph.D. San Francisco Conservatory of Music Robert Greenberg has composed over forty works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles. Recent performances of Greenberg’s work have taken place in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, England, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and The Netherlands, where his Child’s Play for String Quartet was performed at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam in 1993. Greenberg holds degrees from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, where he received a Ph.D. in music composition in 1984. His principal teachers were Edward Cone, Claudio Spies, Andrew Imbrie, and Olly Wilson. Professor Greenberg’s awards include three Nicola De Lorenzo Prizes in composition, three Meet the Composer grants, and commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation of the Library of Congress, the Alexander String Quartet, XTET, and the Dancer’s Stage Ballet Company. He is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he is chair of the department of music history and literature and director of curriculum of the Adult Extension Division. Greenberg is creator, host, and lecturer for the San Francisco Symphony’s “Discovery Series.” Greenberg has taught and lectured extensively across North America and Europe, speaking to such corporations and musical institutions as the Van Cliburn Foundation, Arthur Andersen, Bechtel Investments, the Shaklee Corporation, the University of California/Haas School of Business Executive Seminar, the Association of California Symphony Orchestras, the Texas Association of Symphony Orchestras, and the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Greenberg’s work as a teacher and lecturer has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Greenberg is an artistic co-director and board member of COMPOSERS INC. His music is published by Fallen Leaf Press and CPP/Belwin and is recorded on the Innova label. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, send complete description of intended use to The Teaching Company/Rights and Permissions, 4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100, Chantilly, VA 20151-1232, USA 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership i Table of Contents How to Listen to and Understand Great Music Part I The Ancient World Through the Early Baroque Professor Biography....................................................................................i Course Scope ..........................................................................................1 Lecture One Introduction........................................................2 Lecture Two Sources—The Ancient World and the Early Church......................................................4 Lecture Three The Middle Ages—Darkness, Change, and Diversity.............................................................8 Lecture Four Introduction to the Renaissance.......................12 Lecture Five The Renaissance Mass—Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, and the Counter-Reformation.......................................16 Lecture Six Secular Music in the Late Renaissance and the Search for Expression—The Madrigal.......19 Lecture Seven Introduction to the Baroque.............................23 Lecture Eight Style Features of Baroque Music and a Brief Tutorial on Pitch, Motive, Melody, and Texture......................................................26 Timeline ........................................................................................29 Glossary ........................................................................................34 Biographical Notes....................................................................................39 Bibliography ........................................................................................46 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership ii How to Listen to and Understand Great Music Part I The Ancient World Through the Early Baroque Scope: Part I introduces the series and outlines its basic premises, the most important of which is the concept of Western music as a mirror of the social, political, and religious events and aesthetic ideals of its time. You will examine the ancient sources of Western music, paying special attention to the humanistic view of music held by the ancient Greeks. Also discussed at length are the religious and ceremonial roles played by music in the medieval Church; the rise of secularism in the High Middle Ages; the rebirth of Greek-style humanism during the Renaissance; and a detailed discussion of the expressive and syntactical developments of music leading up to and including the beginnings of the Baroque era. You will study and listen to the music of Euripides, Seikelos, Leonin, Machaut, Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, Gesualdo, Weelkes, Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, and others as the course seeks to observe the ongoing evolution of the musical language and style. 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 1 Lecture One Introduction Scope: This opening lecture introduces themes, concepts, and terminology that will be followed and used throughout the series. The nature of concert music as a living, breathing entity and not a fossil of the past is introduced. Important definitions and distinctions are introduced and discussed, including: “concert” music, “classical” music, “popular” music, and “Western” music. The concept of “music as a mirror” is introduced, as are the four basic tenets of music as a mirror. The three-pronged approach to the music under study during the course is discussed, as is the importance of building a descriptive vocabulary for describing that music. Heartfelt apologies are offered for the limitations of such a survey course as well as for the overstatements that will be necessary in a course like this one. Lastly, using Ludwig van Beethoven as an example, the “composer” is discussed, not as idiot savant or Godhead, but as a person describing some aspect or aspects of his life and world in his music. Outline I. Why should we seek to understand concert music? A. Music—the most sublime and abstract of all arts—provides incredible amounts of expressive, historical, and even philosophical information to those who know what to listen for. B. Music is a universal, non-verbal language that provides access to social, cultural, and aesthetic traditions of different times and places. C. An understanding of music can free our imaginations, making us more intellectually flexible and better at problem-solving. D. Not all concert music is “entertainment”; some of the best music is cutting-edge and even disturbing! II. We begin with some key definitions and distinctions. A. This course examines Western (European-based) music, although many non-Western cultures also have ancient and substantial musical traditions. B. “Concert music” is the music most likely to be heard in a concert hall or other “reanimation facility.” Concert music is not synonymous with “classical music”; the latter refers either to the music of ancient Greece or to Western music composed between 1750 and 1827. C. It is problematic to distinguish between “concert music” and “popular music.” However, concert works will generally have greater melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic content than so-called “popular” works. III. Professor Greenberg proposes four tenets of western music. A. Western music has been characterized by constant stylistic change. Musical Comparison: Thomas of Celano, Dies Irae (ca. 1225) 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 2 W.A. Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, 2nd movement (1786) Arnold Schönberg, Pierrot Lunaire, Song No. 1 (1912) B. Music is a mirror of its society. As a society changes, so does its music. C. Composers search constantly for new modes of expression. D. The rate of stylistic change has increased as the rate of change in society has increased. Musical Comparison: Ave Maris Stella, plainchant hymn (ca. 700) Thomas of Celano, Dies Irae (ca. 1225) Musical Comparison: N. Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Eastern Overture, opening (1888) Igor Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, “Dance of the Adolescents” (1912) IV. We will launch a three-pronged attack on our subject matter in this series. A. We will examine the historical, social, political, and religious circumstances that shaped the composers’ world and the style (or styles) of music that mirrored that world. B. We will study selected compositions as examples of their times and as objects of art unto themselves. C. We will develop listening skills and a musical vocabulary adequate to observe and describe musical events of various kinds. Musical Comparison: W.A. Mozart, Symphony in G Minor, K. 550, 4th movement (1788)— an example of disjunct melody. Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No 9, Op. 125, 4th movement, “Ode to Joy” (1824)—an example of conjunct melody. V. A few apologies are in order. A. Unfortunately, this is a course of exclusion, not inclusion. B. The use of many overstatements is inevitable and necessary in presenting essential concepts. C. This series will provide only an historic and aesthetic “outline” of western music. VI. Finally, let us consider the composer as person rather than as icon. A little depedestalization is good for us! Musical Comparison: Beethoven, Symphony No 5 in C Minor, first movement, versus Beethoven, Symphony No 2 in D Major, fourth movement. 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 3 Lecture Two Sources— The Ancient World and the Early Church Scope: This lecture introduces the ancient world as a 4,000-year period of extraordinary cultural richness and variety. From this long ancient era only forty or so fragments of music have survived. In this lecture we discuss the cyclical, rather than linear, nature of art and music. Ultimately, this lecture focuses on the role of music in the ancient Greek and Roman world, and it concludes with a brief examination of the role of music in the early Christian Church. Outline I. Our search for the sources of Western music will carry us back to ancient Greece. A. The “ancient world” encompasses a huge span of time. B. From this long and rich ancient tradition, only 40 or so fragments of music have survived. C. When viewed in proper historical perspective, the music that we will examine in this course—that of the past 250 years—is really quite recent. D. We must avoid the temptation to think that music develops linearly and progressively, and that today’s music is somehow “better” than yesterday’s. Instead, think of music history as cyclical rather than linear. II. The musical culture of ancient Greece is as relevant to us today as it was to the ancient Greeks. A. What we today refer to as the ancient Greek world was geographically and culturally diverse. B. Following are some important dates in the history of ancient Greece: 1. The traditional date of the Trojan War was c. 1100 B.C.E. 2. The Greek city-states appeared between c. 800 and 460 B.C.E. 3. The first Olympic games were held c. 700 B.C.E. 4. Pythagoras died in 497 B.C.E. 5. Plato’s Republic was written in 380 B.C.E. 6. Aristotle’s Politics was written in 330 B.C.E. 7. Aristoxenus discovered harmonic elements in 320 B.C.E. 8. Alexander the Great conquered and Hellenized the known world in 331–323 B.C.E. C. The Greek culture was essentially humanistic. Greek art, philosophy, and ideals ultimately put humankind at the center of all things. D. The Greeks viewed music as something magical and capable of changing the face of nature and human hearts and souls. 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 4 E. The heart of the Greek view of music was the “Doctrine of Ethos,” which viewed music as a microcosm. 1. As a system of pitch and rhythm, music is ruled by the same mathematical laws that govern the rest of the universe. 2. However, music is by no means reducible to mathematics, or vice versa. F. The Greeks recognized the power of music to heighten the expressive meaning of words. Large parts of many Greek dramas were apparently sung. Featured Music: Euripides, Stasimon Chorus from Orestes (408 B.C.E.) III. The ancient Romans adopted Greek music (and art) as their own. A. The Epitaph of Seikelos is a skolion or drinking song of great brilliance, beauty, and humanism. Featured Music: Seikelos, Epitaph, 1st century C.E. B. These drinking songs became a convention in 18th and 19th century Italian opera. Musical Comparison: Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata, First Act (1853) Seikilos, Epitaph, 1st century C.E. C. Following are some important dates in the history of ancient Rome: 1. Julius Caesar became dictator in 46 B.C.E. and was assassinated in 44 B.C.E. 2. Jesus Christ was born in 4 B.C.E. and died c. 33 C.E. 3. Nero became emperor in 54 C.E. 4. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E. 5. In 313 C.E. Constantine issued the Edict of Milan granting Christianity equal rights along with other religions in the Roman Empire. 6. The conventional date for the fall of the Roman Empire in the West is 476 C.E. IV. The void created by the decline of Roman municipal authority during the fifth and sixth centuries was filled, to a degree, by the Roman Catholic Church. A. The Church became the last bastion against barbarism and the preserver of culture and learning in an increasingly hostile world. B. By c. 600, the “age of theocracy” had begun. It would last until c. 1400. C. The early Church developed three guidelines for the use of music in Christian worship. 1. Music must remind the listener of divine and perfect beauty. 2. Music is a servant of religion. Since non-vocal music cannot teach Christian thoughts, instrumental music must be rejected. 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 5 3. Pagan influences—such as large choruses, “majorish” melodies, and dancing—must be rejected. Stasimon Chorus from Orestes, c. 408 C.E. –Euripides You wild goddesses who dart across the skies seeking vengeance for murder, we beg you to free Agamemnon’s son from his raging fury.... We grieve for this boy. Happiness is brief among mortals. Sorrow and anguish sweep down on it like a swift gust of wind on a sail boat, and it sinks under the tossing seas. Epitaph of Seikelos As long as you live, be lighthearted. Let nothing trouble you. Life is only too short, and time takes its toll. 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 6 1998 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership 7