Review of Music History & Elements.

Over the past few weeks, we have learned about many different elements of music, and studied different time periods and styles from those time periods. The elements of a piece of music are texture, melody, rythm, harmony, and form. In our music appreciation/history class we listen to different songs, and analyze these elements in them. It was difficult for me at first, but as time went on, I got better at. There are 3 different types of texture: homophonic, polyphonic, and monophonic. Polyphonic music is when there are many melodic lines weaving together, and creating many things at once. According to Wikipedia, the term polyphony is used "Within the context of Western music tradition the term is usually used in reference to music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance." Monophonic texture is when there is one main part, and not much else. Homophonic texture has more than one part that is almost the same, and sounds similar to polyphonic, but it's not. We've listend to many tipes of music, starting with music from today and all the back to the classical periods. One piece that we listened to that really got to me was the Requiem Mass, or the Mass for the Dead. This mass was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was left unfinished when he died in December, 1791. The band Evanesence used this mass in their song "Lacrymosa". We also listen to the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The Four Seasons was Vivaldi's most famous work. We listened to Winter from the Four Seasons in class, and it was so beautiful. Vivaldi wrote the Four Seasons in the Baroque period.

I definitely have to say that out of all the different types of music that we've listened to and analyzed, classical music has always been my favorite. I love how there are no words, and you are left to feel the music without words there trying to convey one message. When I listen to classical music I love to try and feel how the composer felt when he was writing it. Classical music also changed and progressed so much over time. The composers kept wanting new ways to write something different. That's how all the different periods of classical music happened. There was music before the 9th century, Medieval or Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and finally Modern music. The church also helped play a role in the developement of music. In the Early music period they would sing religious text, and it was called Gregorian Chant. We've listened to those as well. These chants were named after Pope Gregory I. The singing of these often was ased on one note, and a few on either side of it. When we listened to these chants in class, it was kind of hard for me to come up with an opinion about them. The singing was beautiful, but there wasn't much else, obviously. In the Medieval period they developed a better way to actually write music down. They did this mostly for the church, but was an advantage for everyone in the long run. The style of Organum was also found in this period. Many composers from this period were monks. That's just a brief history of a few of the classical periods.

We've listend to so many different things in class so far this year, and I can't wait to see what else is coming. I've learned so much more than I can say really. We've covered everything from textures, form, melisma (which is ONE thing that Jacob DOESN'T know about XD ) and now instead of just listening to a song and saying well "I like it" or "I don't like that" we can give an educated opinion and reasoning of the never-ending question....WHY?