A Short History Of Western Music

1
A Short History Of Western Music

• By
• The Hong Kong Wild Cats

2
The Beginning Of Music

• In fact, music has been around since the
  beginning of time.
• Many prehistoric-era instruments have been found
  by archaelogists, including some made by the
  Ancient Egyptians and even Neanderthals.
• This proves that man has always had an innate
  ability to create beautiful music.
• In this presentation, we will focus on Western
  Music starting from the period that musical
  notation first occurred The Middle Ages.

3
The Medieval Period

• Notable composer and piece
• Dies Irae by Thomas of Celano
• Musical features
• Chants with unison
• Parallel motion
• Simple monophonic melodies

4
The Renaissance Period

• Notable composer and piece
• Calenda Maia by Saltarello
• Musical features
• Elaborate harmonies
• Simple vocal melodies
• Often religious

5
The Baroque Period

• Notable composer and piece
• Toccata and Fugue in D Minor J.S. Bach
• Musical features Interchanging harmonies
• Intricate melodies
  Figured bass

6
The Classical Period

• Notable composer and piece
• Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by W.A.Mozart
• Musical features
• Complex and emotional
• Highly technical
• Highly instrumental
  

7
The Romantic Period

• Notable composer and piece
• Die Forelle by Franz Schubert
• Musical features
• Flowing and dissonant
• Often descriptive of nature
• Greater fluidity
• Use of thematic melodies
  

8
20th Century Music

• Notable composer and piece
• Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
• Musical features
• Atonal (no fixed key)
• More experimental
  Unusual tonality
  

9
Popular Music Of Today

• However nowadays people rarely listen to
  classical music.
• Popular and newer genres of music include
• Hip-Hop Pop Jazz
• Soft Rock Country RnB
• Heavy Metal Techno Drum and Bass
• You can see some examples of these genres in our
• Different Genres of Music page.

10
Citations

• Illustrations (in order of appearance)
• Microsoft, clip art. 1 May 2009
• Kugland, "http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileA
  men_break_notation.png." http//commons.wikimedia.
  org/. 5 February 2009. 1 May 2009
• Unknown, "http//home.earthlink.net/curtis_c_bout
  erse/id2.html." 25 October 2008. 1 May 2009
• Estemon, "http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileM
  usica_renacimiento.png." 2006 December 12. 1 May
  2009
• Unknown, "http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileC
  orelli.jpg." 8 April 2005. 1 May 2009
• Unknown, "http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileM
  ozart-small.jpg." 28 May 2007. 1 May 2009
• Blechen,Carl. Der gesprengte Turm des
  Heidelberger SchlossesThe Yorck Project 10.000
  Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN
  3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA
  Publishing GmbH.   1830. 1 May 2009
• Van Vechten, Carl. George Gershwin Source
  Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
  Division, Van Vechten Collection, reproduction
  number LC-USZ62-42534 DLC (bw film copy neg.).
  28 March 1937. 1 May 2009.

11
Information Paraphrased from

• www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music
• www.essentialsofmusic.com

12
The End