Year 7/8 Music Through the Ages - Ako Plan

       Music. Such a unique and intriguing topic. Did you know that the first musical instrument ever made was a flute made out of bird bones? Interesting, right? Since then, music has evolved from flutes made out of bird bones to electric guitars made out of many different, advanced materials. In this essay, we will explore music through the ages, composers during these ages and the type of music produced during those periods.

Music throughout the ages. Beginning with the invention of the first instrument, the flute, music has evolved from medieval music to modern pop music. Medieval music was a unique type of music. People refer to 500 A.D to 1400 as the ‘medieval period’. During this period music tended to be monophonic, meaning that it only has one melody line. An example of this are Gregorian chants. These are sacred vocal music pieces that were translated to Latin and sung unaccompanied in churches.

The period after the Medieval period was the Renaissance period. This was from 1400 to 1600 A.D. Renaissance period music tended to have a richer texture than Medieval period music, with four or more independent melodic lines being performed simultaneously. This style is called polyphony.

Baroque music is a period of music lasting from approximately 1600 to 1750 A.D. Baroque music makes up a large portion of the ‘classical music’ genre. During this period of music, many famous composers arose. Among these are Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, Claudio Monteverdi and many others. During this era, music also began to get more complicated. Music tended to have a blend of both homophonic (melody lines with some harmony) and polyphonic textures.

The Classical music period is perhaps the most famous Western music period. An example of this being that the term ‘classical music’ referring to all music played by orchestras, pianos, etc. The official ‘classical’ period, though, lasted from 1750 to 1820. During this era, the texture of music was actually considerably simpler than that of the Baroque period. It mostly focused on homophonic textures instead a combination of both this and polyphonic textures, unlike in the Baroque period. Music during this period also tended to be more in-depth, with more varied ties, instruments, key, tempo, mood, etc. Composers during this era include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini and Franz Joseph Haydn. Ludwig Van Beethoven was both a classical era and romantic era composer, being a critical figure in the transfer from the these two periods.

The Romantic period lasted from 1820 to 1900. Romantic period music was quite emotional, personal, energetic and passionate, unlike the pieces of the Baroque and Classical periods. During this era, operas also also came into the spotlight. These dramatic pieces were the highlight of the Romantic period. Song like melodies, called lyrical songs, also started up. Symphonies, concertos and chromatic harmonies and discords were widely considered popular as well. Composers during this era include Frédéric Chopin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The Impressionist period followed in turn after the Romantic period. Tone colour, atmosphere and fluidity are important aspects of Impressionist music. These characteristics are usually represented in short and lyrical pieces of music. A master of this kind of music, also known as the starter of Impressionism, was Claude Debussy. Interestingly enough, Debussy actually dejected this term, instead choosing to say that he just wanted to start a ‘new style of music’.

The next period after Impressionism was Modernism. This period reigned from 1900 to 1960. This period is the last Western music period. During this period, music focused more on rhythm, texture and tone colour, instead of the traditional characteristics of melody and harmony. Modernism also had strong characteristics of minimalism. As the name says, you could tell that minimalism music pieces, were, in fact, very simplified. Simple and prolonged rhythms and patterns create an atmosphere of, well, minimalism. Masters of these styles were composers such as Olivier Messiaen, John Adams, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley and John Cage.

So that’s the end of our music through the ages journey. From the medieval period all the way down to the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist and finally Modern period. This essay omits pop, folk, rock, rap, jazz and other genre songs of the same sort as it only focuses on classical and non-lyrical pieces. ‘Western music periods’ only apply to music pieces written by ‘composers’, not ‘artists’. This is the reason that Justin Bieber or Ed Sheeran isn’t mentioned in this essay.