Questions tagged [history]
The study of how music has developed and changed over time.
4
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1answer
76 views
When did the aeolian mode change to the harmonic minor?
Looking for explaining the "transformation" of the minor 7th to a major seventh I found this question by Bart Brush in a Choral net forum.
He asks about the modality of folk songs in the oral ...
3
votes
1answer
59 views
Has there ever been a piano accordion with piano keys on both hands?
It's possible to find a piano accordion with piano keys on the right hand and the triangular arrangement of buttons on the left-hand. It's also possible to find a button accordion with the triangular ...
5
votes
0answers
57 views
Tetrachords in medieval music
Are tetrachords used in medieval/renaissance music the same way as modern chords are used in modern music (as a base for the melody)? And if so... how are the applied?
0
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1answer
110 views
Why wasn't Josef Matthias Hauer credited with inventing dodecaphony? [closed]
Most music history textbooks commence twelve-tone serialism with Schoenberg, but wouldn't commencing with Hauer be more accurate?
Josef Matthias Hauer also developed something akin to Schoenberg'...
7
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1answer
56 views
was the first inversion of triads usual before Renaissance? where there any rules about doubling or not doubling root tone?
We have the music of Palestrina, Gallus, Lassus, Cavalieri, Lechner and others. Most chords are in root position. But some are not. In which period the first inversion of triads came up? Was it right ...
-1
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1answer
89 views
Why did Stuart and Sons invent a 102-key piano?
Stuart and Sons have invented a huge 102-key grand piano. What is the reason behind this?
8
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1answer
149 views
What piano music was played in “wild west” saloons before the ragtime appeared?
The stereotypical saloon scene in most movies about the Wild West often features ragtime being played on a piano. However, ragtime only appeared at the very end of the century (the first known ...
8
votes
2answers
751 views
Are there any thematic similarities between Shostakovichs' Symphony 5th and Beethovens' 7th symphony? [closed]
Taking a look at the opening bars of Shostakovichs' Symphony 5th and Beethovens' 7th symphony 4th movement (bar 136 onwards) see below they sound kind of similar.
Somebody suggested (Radio 3 I think)...
0
votes
1answer
95 views
Locrian mode is not part of standard usage?
I got this answer on one of my questions:
The Locrian mode is mostly a music theory concept in western music
history, and it is very rarely used for music pieces that use western
harmony, but ...
3
votes
1answer
136 views
Why do very old pianos have only 85 keys?
Some extremely old pianos have only 85 keys, ranging from A0 to A7. These pianos are no longer existent today. What's the reason?
2
votes
3answers
63 views
Chromatic note between fourth and fifth degree of the minor scale?
In the first 5 notes of the natural minor scale: C D Eb F G
I often see people add a chromatic note (Gb/F#) between the 4 and 5 degrees of the scale:
so C D Eb F Gb G. Here's one example at 0:22 but ...
24
votes
3answers
4k views
Why does a 97 / 92 key piano exist by Bösendorfer?
Pianos normally have 88 keys, ranging from A0 to C8. One of Bösendorfer's pianos go down to F below the low A. The other model goes down to C. How did this happen?
9
votes
1answer
771 views
What 1968 Moog synthesizer was used in the Movie Apollo 11?
I was watching the short YouTube video How ‘Apollo 11’ Gives the Moon Landing New Life | Anatomy of a Scene and near the end the narrator says:
My music composer, Matt Morton decided to do a period ...
4
votes
0answers
42 views
Ellington's Mood Indigo: clarinet voiced below trombone “never heard before”?
I'm writing a paper on the song 'Mood Indigo' by Duke Ellington, from 1930. It is known for its achingly beautiful sound, which is achieved via three-part harmony of trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. ...
1
vote
0answers
60 views
What did Ligeti mean by 'shimmering effect'?
Stephen A. Taylor, Chopin, Pygmies, and Tempo Fugue: Ligeti's "Automne a Varsovie", Vol 3.3., Online Journal of the Society for Music Theory.
I looked up 'shimmering' on ODO. David Bruce explains ...
6
votes
1answer
57 views
What are the differences between different marching music traditions?
I've often heard of people talking about "prussian marches" or "british marches" in the context of a style of march. It seems that they could tell just by hearing a march as to what tradition it's ...
2
votes
2answers
190 views
Is it true that Bach had no concept of suspended chord?
In an answer to a question in SE I read the sentence with the pretension above.
Chord in the Bach d-minor prelude
I think this can be easily be counter-proofed by many examples of Bach’s music and ...
-1
votes
2answers
77 views
Is it possible that Beethoven (after turning deaf) “heard” all of his symphonies in a different key? [closed]
According to this article on cmuse.org,
Even though Mozart is the only Western musician and composer who was explicitly acknowledged as having perfect pitch, Bach, Händel, Chopin and Beethoven are ...
4
votes
3answers
93 views
Is there a chord containing an augmented and diminished fifth?
What chord is this?
There’s a chord progression often used at the beginning of a new phrase (chorus or interlude) leading from I6 to the ii:
In C-major this would be:
Starting: E-G-(C)
...
0
votes
2answers
44 views
What does the “across the sea” mean in this opera? [closed]
In the book Music in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries (Western Music in Context: A Norton History) I see this line:
Krenek’s opera ends with Jonny standing on top of a globe while a
...
4
votes
2answers
204 views
Are there historical references that show that “diatonic” is a version of 'di-tonic' meaning 'two tonics'?
Wikipedia says that "diatonic" refers to a whole note scale or a scale with seven pitched per octave.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic
But my take is that the major and minor ...
-1
votes
2answers
84 views
How did Rameau's Treatise on Harmony (1722) influence the mass production of musical instruments?
Rameau's Treatise on Harmony (1722) initiated a revolution in music theory but in what ways did that translate into popularizing music ... particularly the mass production of musical instruments?
...
10
votes
3answers
2k views
Why is ra lower than re while la is higher than le?
According to Wikipedia and this answer, the solfège syllables for 2 and ♭2 are re and ra, respectively, while the solfège syllables for 6 and ♭6 are la and le, respectively. Is there a reason for this ...
7
votes
1answer
68 views
Notation of triplets in Bach’s *Orgelbüchlein*
In the following piece from J.S. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein, the nearly constant triplet line seems to be incorrect:
The time signature is 3/2, but there are 9 eighth-note triplets per measure rather than ...
1
vote
3answers
122 views
When was the Ionian scale invented?
The Ionian scale is the major scale, which is one of the two most commonly used scales. (As the remaining five are rare compared to) It is far the most commonly known, and it is being even used in ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
Who did introduce the mediant keys in to music harmony progression?
Which composer(s) introduced as the first time mediant chords and mediant keys in their compositions - or in which period the use of this kind of modulation was coming up?
-2
votes
2answers
76 views
What elementary notation principles are there to provide a “PRE-NOTATION” state of a musical idea? [closed]
How can we help someone who doesn't know reading sheet music to design his own ideas or to interpret a musical score?
I call this graphic design (something of a enhanced neumes of the gregorian ...
0
votes
2answers
147 views
who gave the titles to chopin's etudes op.10? [duplicate]
Chopin's etudes op. 10 are all named related to some features and shapes of the compositions.
Who gave these names - that may also say something about their performing - to the études?
Was it ...
0
votes
3answers
72 views
Usage of “to paraphrase” in music
The term paraphrase in music seems quite clearly defined.
Right coming from searching another term for the fill-ins, echo-ing, answering in a musical dialog of 2 instruments, a singer and piano or ...
4
votes
1answer
76 views
what is a “leitmotif” and by whom has it been introduced into music language?
after debating about Paraphrase in music and whether "paraphrasing" could mind something different I came to the question, that someone has been used the first time the German term of "leitmotif" ...
2
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1answer
179 views
What does the word “Grand” in a title of a piece of music (by e.g. Beethoven or Chopin) mean?
Chopin wrote four "grandes valses brillantes" (Opera 18, 34) and Beethoven wrote a sonata (Opus 13) that the publisher called a "grande sonate pathétique".
What is the sense of the word "grand" in ...
5
votes
1answer
57 views
Dampers in 19c fortepianos
I recently listened to performances at the 1st International Chopin Competition of Period Instruments, and I noticed that the chords in the fortepianos used there (manufactured in the early 19th ...
6
votes
3answers
113 views
To Slash or not to Slash?
In years gone by, when I saw a chord marked, for example, A, I would use any inversion or voicing I felt was appropriate - still do; it doesn't have to be root position. Or does it? Is there an untold ...
0
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3answers
45 views
When did Henri Bertini publish his Etudes, Op. 32?
Can anyone say about when Henri Bertini published his Op. 32 of Etudes? IMSLP doesn't turn anything up.
4
votes
4answers
338 views
Why is Debussy's Clair de Lune not considered a nocturne?
Leaving the title of the piece aside, it sounds evocative of the night, though compared to what I've listened to from Chopin's nocturnes for example, it sounds more descriptive than contemplative.
Is ...
3
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2answers
88 views
What exactly is a Christmas carol?
I looked up differences between Christmas carols and other Christmas songs. Generally about carols being about nativity or some other traditional songs not necessary religious while other Christmas ...
10
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1answer
98 views
When did the practice of exiting-reentering during applause in classical concerts start?
As the title suggests, I'm looking for some information on when the practice (concerning soloists and directors) of exiting and reentering the stage during an applause after a classical performance ...
7
votes
1answer
142 views
How do people measure which tuning freqency were used during Baroque period?
In a website decribing the story of A=415Hz, it points out that
In the Baroque Era, pitch levels as high as A-465 (17th century
Venice) and as low as A-392 (18th century France) are known to ...
0
votes
3answers
337 views
A pianist that used a wooden spacer/tool to artificially increase the length of their fingers
I've once heard a story about a pianist of the past who wrote a music piece that critics told him was impossible to play - the length of any person's fingers wouldn't be sufficient. But he used some ...
2
votes
2answers
158 views
Why are key signatures put in a circle?
Why are key signatures arranged in a circle like it is today, why not a triangle... or a square? Who came up with the idea to arrange the key signatures in a circle?
4
votes
2answers
707 views
Why are some Beethoven works given names like WoO 40 or Hess 238?
Why is it called WoO 40 or Hess 238?
These are names of Beethoven's symphonies.
They have peculiar names.
8
votes
1answer
289 views
Is this entire movement by Bach really only a single measure with just two chords?
I'm spending a lot more time with early music, and as I was studying the score to J. S. Bach's third Brandenburg Concerto, I encountered something unexpected: an entire Adagio movement that's only one ...
11
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6answers
1k views
What Constitutes Theory?
There are many questions here concerning theory. Hardly surprising given the site's title!
What I'm trying to establish is where theory starts and possibly ends. For example, is just knowing a major ...
7
votes
1answer
139 views
When was the dominant ninth chord incorporated in music theory?
The "ninth chord" that Rameau, Kirnberger, Marpurg or Koch (inter alia) discuss during the 18th century is the chord formed by a triad and an added ninth, and its explanation is always through a "...
0
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1answer
26 views
Where to find original song booklets of composers that released in their time [closed]
As I know, as I understand, composers shared new compositions with pressed booklets in their time. Where to find those booklets? Are there any archive? or any information about booklets? Thank you!
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3answers
65 views
What is the generic term for Allegri's Miserere-like music?
What is the word/adjective that could describe music pieces similar to Allegri's "Miserere" or Henry Ley's "A Prayer of King Henry VI"?
This music appears to be be sung a capella, with a four-voice ...
5
votes
3answers
195 views
Need help understanding the difference between diatonic and chromatic semitones
I am writing an essay on musical temperaments for which I was doing some research on the history of tuning and how it evolved over time. I understand the Pythagorean tuning system quite well now but I ...
16
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3answers
184 views
What is the historically informed way of playing the 1/16 notes in Handel's Water Music suite no. 1 overture?
Handel's Water Music suite no. 1 starts with a slow overture with 1/16 notes at the middle and end of each measure:
Some performances play it "as written" [Koopman], but some play the 1/16 notes ...
1
vote
1answer
399 views
When were chords invented?
I'd like to know in what period/year chords were invented and by whom.
Did musicians like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven think in chords to harmonize their melodies or did chords only emerge in the ...
3
votes
2answers
127 views
Why aren't notes and intervals plain numbers?
Beginner question:
If we were to leave the historical context aside and redesign the system of musical notation: would we base this around the 12 steps we've divided octaves in?
What strikes me as ...
