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Eras and Movements in Western MusicMusic historians traditionally divide the development of Western music into severalmajor periods and movements.

Medieval (c. 5001400)

The Medieval era was the first time that composers in significant numbers began towrite down music to preserve it and communicate it to others. The earliestexamples of this written music come from the medieval Catholic Church, in theform of Gregorian chant. By the1400s, composers began to write polyphony.Polyphonic writing became more sophisticated as composers changed styles fromthe Ars Antiqua to the Ars Nova. In the 1100s and 1200s, troubadourscomposed the first secular music unaffiliated with the church.

Gregorian chant: A single-line melody sung in unison by one or morepeople. Chant used religious text for its words and was written by monks inthe Catholic Church.

Polyphony: Music that combines two or more lines, which are more orless independent of each other, at the same time.

Ars Antiqua: The earliest movement of written polyphony. It originated inthe cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in the 1200s.

Ars Nova: A French movement of the 1300s that greatly refined notationand polyphonic writing from the era of Ars Antiqua.

Troubadours: Wandering musicians in Medieval France who sang songsof courtly love. The troubadours made important musical innovations andwere the first main source of secular music.

Renaissance (c. 14401600)

The Renaissance heralded a breakthrough of new ideas and techniques toWestern music and brought innovations at a faster rate than ever before. The

printing press enabled easier duplication and distribution of music and musicaltreatises, and the study of music became more common, not only for members ofthe church. Composers began to view music more as an expressive art than as ascience. They further developed and codified the conventions of musical notation,began to write four-part polyphony as standard practice, and began to useimitation regularly. By the end of the Renaissance, composers had mastered theart of counterpoint. Instrumental music rose in prominence relative to vocal music,and the complete Mass was commonly set to music.

Four-part writing: A common configuration of four parts, oftenabbreviated SATB (short for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, the fourstandard voice registers).

Imitation: A device used in polyphony in which one part follows another byrepeating a similar or same passage played first by the other part.

Counterpoint: A device in which two (or more) melodic lines runsimultaneously but neither becomes dominant over the other, so both canbe heard independently.

Baroque (c. 16001750

The 1600s saw the rise of instrumental music as composers explored techniquesand new instrumental forms. The sonata and concerto were born during thisperiod, and growing virtuosity of performance emerged to accompany these forms.Keyboard music flourished, specifically for harpsichord. The Baroque era also sawthe dawning of new vocal forms, including the cantata, opera, and oratorio. Musicbecame a central part of daily life, and composers found new ways to expressthemselves dramatically, sometimes in extreme fashion. In addition, patronsunaffiliated with the church began to support composers in large numbers.

Common practice period: The period in music from the early Baroque tothe end of the Romantic in which composers used a well-defined commonharmonic language. Composers from this period wrote in a style weusually associate with traditional concert music.

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ContentsMusic Theory and Notation

Instruments and Ensembles

Musical Forms and Genres

Eras and Movements in

Western Music

Medieval (c. 5001400)

Renaissance (c. 14401600)

Baroque (c. 16001750

Classical (c. 17501810)

Romantic (c. 18101890)

Modern (c. 18901950)

Contemporary (c. 1950Present)

Notable Composers in WesternMusic

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Classical (c. 17501810)

Although many people use the term classical music to denote a broad categoryof instrumental or vocal music that is different from popular music, this usage canbe confusing because the term also refers more specifically to the Classical era. Inthe Classical era, composers reacted against what they saw as unnatural andexaggerated in the Baroque style. As they sought balance of both expression andform, formal structures grew in sophistication and became more central tocomposition. Music grew increasingly homophonic, and composers reserved useof counterpoint only for specific situations that demanded it. Orchestral andchamber music became more important, and the symphony and string quartetwere born as music grew increasingly secular in nature. The fortepiano theprecursor to the modern pianowas invented shortly before the Classical periodand became very important, for it was capable of greater dynamic expression thanthe harpsichord. Wind instruments that had developed in the Baroque era cameinto more widespread use and prominence.

Homophony: A musical texture distinct from polyphony in that it sets onemelody together with a subordinate melody against an accompanimentalbackground.

Romantic (c. 18101890)

Beethoven opened the door to the Romantic period by defying conventions of theClassical era and expanding possibilities in his own music. The Romanticcomposers were more interested in pure expressive content in their works andused larger dynamic ranges and longer melodic lines. As a result, composers individual voices became more distinct from each other, often strikingly so. Some

composers relied on nonmusical subject matter to write program music in lessrigid forms, like the orchestral tone poem. At the same time, nationalism becamean important factor in composition, as composers began to draw on folk tunes,local dance forms, and other musical material native to their homelands. The sizeand scope of music also expanded: Some composers specialized in very shortchamber works, while others wrote lengthy pieces for massive ensembles.

Program music: Music written to follow a plot or describe a nonmusicalidea. Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique, for instance, follows the course ofa troubled artists life with musical illustrations of people and events.

Nationalism: A turn toward native forms and ideas. Nationalist composersused folk melodies from their native lands and often wrote patriotic music.

Modern (c. 18901950)

At the end of the Romantic period, composers pushed the boundaries of musicaldevelopment so far that they eventually broke and a common harmonic languageno longer existed. Harmonies became more dissonant as chromaticism was usedto a greater degree. Impressionist composers prioritized color and texture. Othersinvented their own rules of counterpoint and harmony, such as serialism. Others,the neoclassicists, turned to music from the past for inspiration. Many composersbroke away from traditional major and minor scales and used other scales, such asthe whole-tone scale and octatonic scale.

Chromaticism: Use of harmonies that do not exist naturally in a key.Chromatic music sounds denser and more dissonant and often modulatesto a number of keys within a single piece.

Impressionism: In music (as opposed to the visual arts), a movementfounded by Debussy, who made color and texture central elements in hismusic

Neoclassicism: A movement, pioneered by Stravinsky in the 1920s, inwhich composers brought a modern perspective to older music.Frequently, composers writing in this style used traditional forms andmusical language and then altered it to create a new sound.Neoromanticism is another movement that came into being a short time

later.

Serialism: A method of composing, invented by Schnberg, in which alltwelve notes of the chromatic scale are used in an ordered succession.Serialism can effectively destroy the feeling of key and tonality. It is alsocalled twelve-tone, dodecaphonic, or atonal music.

Contemporary (c. 1950Present)

As the 20th century progressed, composers took more liberty with form andtechnique and pushed the frontier of music further. Experimentalists triedextended techniques to create new types of sound. The first electronic musicopened a new range of possibilities. Composers introduced graphic notation toachieve new effects like indeterminacy. Although some critics have felt that thesenew methods have distanced composers from their audiences, there are still many

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Previous: Musical Forms and Genres

Next: Notable Composers in Western Music

active contemporary composers all over the world contributing to a living musichistory.

Experimentalism: A movement that sought to explore the very idea ofmusic by seeking new ways to create sounds outside of traditionalinstrumental playing. Experimental composers tried to create newdefinitions of music and redefine the audiences listening experience.

Extended techniques: Unconventional playing techniques (e.g., knockingthe back of a cello, putting an oboe reed in a trombone mouthpiece) thatexperimental composers pioneered in their attempts to create new sounds.

Electronic music: Music created with electronic devices instead ofacoustic instruments. The first electronic instrument was the Theremin, abox that emitted radio waves and produced a unique sound similar to aviolin and human voice combined. In the 1950s, composers experimentedwith audiotape pieces called musique concrte, which often incorporatedsounds from nature with human sounds. Today, nearly any soundimaginable can be simulated electronically. Some composers work inelectroacoustic media (combinations of electronic devices and liveperformers on instruments), while others work in exclusively electronicmeans.

Graphic notation: A new approach to music notation that emerged in themiddle of the 20th century. Graphic notation incorporates images, charts,and shapes not found in traditional music notation to communicate thecomposer s wishes.

Indeterminacy: A technique in which the composer leaves certain choicesto the performer, including what notes, rhythms, or speed to play.Indeterminacy introduces a level of randomness and improvisation inperformance.

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