Lesson 1

Music in Antiquity

An overview of the earliest forms of music known in the Western world.

Why Are You Here?

Are you a classical music aficionado? Have you always wanted to learn more about it but didn’t know where to start? Have you heard classical music all your life but weren’t sure if you knew how to properly appreciate it? Chances are there’s someone else taking this course who is in the same boat as you. Feel free to use the course message board to introduce yourself and to meet your fellow students as well as your instructor.

Music and the Ancients

Alarmed by the animal impulses stirred by the proliferation of too much music, Aristotle advised limits on the study of the art. For a more in-depth understanding of the way music was practiced, perceived, and transformed in ancient cultures, read “Musical Life and Thought in Ancient Greece and Rome,” the first chapter of A History of Western Music.

Pop, Rock, or Classical?

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Music, classical music — as opposed to popular music — is music “of an orderly nature with qualities of clarity and balance, which emphasizes formal beauty rather than emotional expression.”

Introduction

This course covers the development of Western music and presents an introduction to some of the most important composers and works in classical music. It’s a long road from Pythagoras’ first music theories to the symphonies of Beethoven, but we will try to cover the most important highlights throughout the next eight lessons.

Our primary reference book will be A History of Western Music by Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca. The Fifth Edition updates the canonical history, which has been recognized as one of the finest surveys of Western Music since its original publication in 1960. Another useful reference is Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works by Phil G. Goulding. This text presents an entertaining, comprehensive, and easy-to-read overview of 50 great composers.

If at any time you have questions or comments about this course, please post them on the course’s message board. The more each of you participate, the more we all can learn from each other.

This lesson covers the earliest forms of monophonic (one voice) and polyphonic (more than one voice) music known in the Western world, spanning from around 500 B.C. in the time of the ancient Greeks to around 1400 A.D. during the early part of the European Renaissance.

But first, what exactly do we mean by “classical music?”

“Classical” Versus “classical”

As you begin this course, it’s important to know that “classical music” has more than one definition.

• People often use the term “classical music” to mean all orchestral (and often choral) music, regardless of the form or the period when the music was composed. (Music of this sort is often considered “highbrow.”) Under these terms, Mozart’s “Jupiter” symphony, composed in 1788, is classical music, as are cantatas from the early Renaissance, or more contemporary works from the 20th century.
• “Classical” music (note the capital “C”), is a subset of classical music, and refers exclusively to works composed between the years of 1750 to 1820, by masters such as Haydn and Mozart using musical forms unique to the period (the sonata, for example). In this sense, the Classical period followed the Baroque period, and the Romantic followed the Classical.

I use both terms in this course; however, Classical will refer only to music of the Classical period, 1750 to 1820.

Don’t Know Much about History

Because music notation wasn’t invented until 1500, much of what we know about the music of antiquity comes from our oldest known literature, not from the music itself. In the Old Testament, for example, we learn that David, the young shepherd, played the harp to soothe the spirit of King Saul. The Psalms are an ancient collection of Hebrew songs and poetry that may provide clues about the uses of music in ancient times and the forms such music took.

The richest source of writing about music in antiquity comes from ancient Greece. For even though very little music has survived from ancient Greece, the Greek philosophers nevertheless shaped music and music theory for centuries to come with their ideas about the proper uses and effects of music. Plato, Aristotle, and Ptolemy all referred to music quite frequently, and believed that music possessed a magical power, called ethos, which could influence emotions, affect the morals of a listener, heal the sick, and even work miracles in nature. This notion about the power of music is now a mainstay of our cultural wisdom, most famously expressed in William Congreve’s 1697 observation that “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”

Because of this belief, many of the ancient texts, including Plato’s The Republic, issued warnings about the types of music that should be available to a loyal citizenry. These admonitions had little or nothing to do with lyrics associated with the music, but referred instead to how an individual’s character might be affected, for good or ill, depending upon the mood, style, or mode of the music being played.

And therefore musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful. — The Republic, Book 12

Want to Learn More?

If you’re interested in the ancient Greek ideas about music, consider reading Plato’s The Republic to learn more about his theories of music and art.

Golden Oldies?

The oldest known examples of Western music are Greek, and the oldest known musical notation (though largely indecipherable) is a stone tablet of Hittite music, probably written around 2000 BC.

Music and Math

Another Greek thinker who made a lasting contribution to music theory was Pythagoras of Alexandria, an influential mathematician who was born in 580 B.C. As a matter of modern interest, Pythagoras was said to have defined the mathematical relationship between the principal tones of the first, fourth, and fifth notes (i.e., the tonic, subdominant, and dominant) in the 12-tone scale that is the basis of Western music. This may not seem very important until you understand that the use of the 1-4-5 chord pattern is the basis for many pop music hits, including “Louie, Louie,” “Twist and Shout,” and “Good Lovin’.”

The story is told about Pythagoras walking past a blacksmith’s shop one day. According to the tale, he heard the smithy pounding on an anvil with hammers of various sizes. Intrigued, the mathematician inspected the hammers, and found them to be at a size and ratio to each other that reproduced a very interesting and musically appealing series of sound intervals. Pythagoras returned to his home and fashioned a simple instrument with strings cut to lengths that mimicked the intervals of the hammers.

The string lengths happened to correspond to the numeric equivalents of the 1-4-5 intervals — the same intervals you’ll hear if you hum the opening notes of the Kingsmen’s “Louie, Louie” to yourself. (Come to think of it, humming the tune is probably all you can do. Nobody seems to really know the words.) Thus it can be said without too much tongue in cheek that “Louie, Louie” was hammered out 2,500 years ago!

1,400 Years on the Best Seller List

In 524 A.D., more than a thousand years after Pythagoras discovered the 1-4-5, the Roman statesman Boethius published the first known treatise on music theory, De Institutione Musica Libri V. This five-part work recorded and built upon Greek music theory and was considered the standard music textbook in European educational institutions throughout the Middle Ages and well into the 19th century. Known as the last great Roman student of Greek learning, Boethius also created a system of musical notation that allowed him to refer to various musical pitches in De Institutione Musica Libri V and his other treatises.

Although his treatment of music theory was studied for generations to come, Boethius’ notation never caught on. Another ten centuries would pass before a standard system of notation came into being.

Who Was “Gregorian?”

The Gregorian chant is named after Pope Gregory I, during whose papacy (1590-1604 A.D.) the musical “recipe” for developing religious chants was standardized. Chapter 2 of A History of Western Music offers an in-depth study of “Chant and Secular Song in the Middle Ages.”

The Influence of the Medieval Church

Early music development in Europe cannot be separated from the spread of the Christian faith. The practice of associating music with worship certainly wasn’t new, but the church provided a vehicle for musical development that lasted nearly 1,500 years.

Church music in the first couple of centuries was no doubt influenced by Jewish synagogue services. As time progressed and the Roman Catholic church spread throughout Western Europe, regional influences became manifest. These influences resulted in differing practices, or liturgies, largely between the third and eighth centuries. The various liturgies were eventually homogenized (around the ninth century in Western Europe, by decree of the Pope) into a somewhat uniform practice that became the foremost medium of musical expression and development until the Renaissance. During this time, the responsibility for most music performance and music education (along with most other types of formal education) was placed in the hands of monks. Secular musical forms and venues existed, such as the feudal provisions for educating the knightly class, but were overshadowed by the influence of the sacred liturgy.

Examples of liturgical music from this medieval period are probably best exemplified by the Gregorian chant, a type of plainsong or unadorned melody. No harmony or dissonance, just a very simple melody sung in unison, usually by monks, and usually with a Latin text. Medieval plainsong was born from ancient Greek roots and nurtured within monastic societies. The plainsong form persisted because the music’s reverence and simplicity was perfectly matched to the ascetic lifestyle practiced by devout monks.

But change happened both without and within the church. The Renaissance (approximately 1300-1600) eventually spread throughout all of Europe with a revival of literature and art, and the Reformation (in the 16th century) challenged Rome’s domination of Christian belief and liturgical expression. Needless to say, Western music would never be the same again.

How to Listen to Listen and Learn

Click on the buttons below and in the subsequent lessons to hear RealAudio samples of the music from the lessons. When the Barnes & Noble page opens, simply click on the highlighted song title. The RealPlayer will open on your desktop, automatically download the clip, and begin to play in about 10 to 20 seconds.

You need to have the RealPlayer installed on your computer to be able to listen to these clips. You can download a free RealPlayer at www.realplayer.com. Be sure to contact the help desk if you have problems playing these sound clips.

Sound Bite: Listen to the sample of “Introit for The 1st Sunday In Advent (Mode 8)”. This song is a good example of the plainsong style.

(Don’t forget that after you link to the CD’s page, you must scroll down the page to locate the list of sample songs.)

Gregorian Chant For All Seasons
Catalog Number: 5010
UPC: 47163501029
Format: CD
Release Date: Nov 4 1992
Label: VOX (CLASSICAL)

Have Lute, Will Travel

Troubadours often hired traveling minstrels to perform their compositions for them. Pages 61-66 of History of Western Music discuss troubadours and their songs in greater depth.

Minstrels and Troubadours

The chanson de geste, or song of deeds, is typical of the secular music performed during the Middle Ages and consists mostly of anonymous French epic poems that celebrate heroic feats. These poems incorporated new forms, melodies, and rhythms, borrowed from the informal music of the common people. Similar to sacred chants, at least in their melodic simplicity, these songs were sung in the common language (not the Latin of the Church) by traveling minstrels, who were described by Petrarch (c. 1350) as “people of no great wit, but with amazing memory, very industrious, and impudent beyond measure.”

The Minstrel Tradition

Early European minstrels were, to be sure, a vagabond lot, but they were professional entertainers nonetheless, constantly “on tour,” and always on the lookout for a good paying gig. Minstrelsy, in fact, dates back at least to ancient Roman times when minstrels were called joculators (from the Latin jocus, meaning “joke”) because they used comedy, juggling, and singing to entertain paupers and princes alike.

Sometime near the end of the 13th century, the minstrel tradition experienced what might be called market segmentation, and minstrels had to choose between becoming full-time musicians or jugglers, but not both. The term “minstrel,” however, was reserved thereafter for musicians, many of whom remained itinerant freelancers, but some of whom were employed in the houses of the nobility.

As a result of such specialization, social grading of entertainers became prevalent, with a marked improvement of the social standing of minstrels, who by the 14th century were fairly well accepted near the top of the entertainer class structure (with jugglers or acrobats near the bottom). There were still, however, significant social gaps between the average wandering bard and the minstrel-servant of a local noble. European minstrels eventually organized musician’s guilds in the mid-14th century, which provided the medieval equivalent of professional conservatory training.

French Troubadours

A separate, though short-lived, class of minstrel appeared first in the Provence region of France (which included Northern Spain and Northern Italy), and then in the Danube and Rhine valleys of Germany during the 12th and 13th centuries. Known as troubadours in France and minnesingers in Germany, these entertainers were, for the most part, a knightly class of poet and musician. Melodies (plainsong) were composed to carry their poetry aloft, and the combination was filled with passion. Chivalry and the high praise of women were the subjects of the troubadours’ attention.

Since they were usually of noble or high birth (and not in need of income derived from their poetic enterprise), troubadours were not necessarily the performers of their own works. Traveling minstrels (jongleurs) were often contracted for this purpose. The troubadour would teach his compositions to the jongleur, who would then perform throughout the land, bringing fame (presumably) to the troubadour and fortune (ideally) to the jongleur.

The decreasing significance of the Provencal language, sectarian persecution, and, most important, the decline of chivalry all brought about the end of these lyric poets who composed songs about love.

Check out “Anc No Mori Per Amor Ni Per Al” for a sample of the troubadour style:

Songs of the Troubadours & Trouvères

Catalog Number: 19711
UPC: 97761971120
Format: CD
Release Date: Nov 18 1997
Label: FOLGER CONSORT

Moving Forward

Hopefully this lesson has provided you with a bit of background about the first attempts at music theory and notation, as well as the role religion played in influencing early Western music. Next we’ll look at the transition from monophonic to polyphonic music.

Assignment: Music in Antiquity
Read Chapters 1 and 2 of “A History of Western Music.” Where have you heard chants before? Go to the message board and discuss.