Questions tagged [history]
The study of how music has developed and changed over time.
267
questions
5
votes
2answers
85 views
Anotations in Beethoven original score of the 9th symphony
I once heard that in the original handwritten score of the first movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony there are references to the creation myth as annotations. However, these were not replicated in ...
4
votes
1answer
84 views
What was the shortest note length commonly used during baroque period?
Eighth and sixteenth notes were obviously common enough. I've also seen some examples of 1/32 and 1/64 (link). Were 1/32 and 1/64 used frequently? And what was the shortest note length commonly used ...
1
vote
1answer
137 views
What's the biological purpose of music? If music serves no purpose for survival? [closed]
What's the biological purpose of music? If music serves no purpose for survival?
It's intuitive that people mey develop to do certain things, but in order for them to be "of fundamental type", I ...
19
votes
4answers
4k views
Is counterpoint still used today?
I was wondering if counterpoint is still used today or was it something that was just used by Bach? Does modern music like pop songs use it?
8
votes
5answers
3k views
How did students remember what to practise between lessons without any sheet music?
Before the time when sheet music was popular people were good at playing keyboard instruments. I am referring to the time when printing books was expensive.
How did the students remember what to ...
0
votes
1answer
50 views
Less known composers [closed]
As a personal hobby, I try to write about a new composer each week. ( nothing major just a short 2 page bio ) it helps round my knowledge of classical music. I'm looking to expand to less known ...
0
votes
1answer
115 views
what do you mean with the “common practice period?” [closed]
Does anybody know a German equivalent term?
Now I have read some articles but nowhere found an answer (translation) in German.
Looking up "Klassische Musik" - whereby I know this term is used for ...
3
votes
1answer
62 views
Was tube screamer designed to run into already distorted tone
Many guitar gear reviewers (one example) claim that tube screamer was designed to run into dirty amp. While it's definitely common application for all mid humped overdrive pedals (especially ones with ...
13
votes
2answers
2k views
What is the oldest instrument ever?
What is the oldest musical instrument played other than the human voice, but body parts are acceptable? Did Neanderthals use instruments to play music?
11
votes
1answer
991 views
2
votes
2answers
213 views
Are there fewer rhymes in contemporary popular music? If so, why?
Vsauce mentions a study by Joan Serra showed contemporary pop music is less complex in its musical motives than it was, which he explains by a wider diversity in form and genres.
While complexity of ...
4
votes
1answer
96 views
was the 12/16 measure usual in the time of Bach?
We met today this work by Bach with this strange time - strange to me as I've never met before this meter. Of course it is possible ... but I ask if someone knows another composition with this meter, ...
8
votes
1answer
609 views
On The Origin of Dissonant Chords
Without relying upon French harmonic theory (Rameau for instance), can you explain how the emergence of “freely” (by freely, I refer to such harmonies not being the result non-harmonic tones, or ...
-8
votes
1answer
161 views
Jaws vs. Dvorak [closed]
There is a worldwide-viral debate involving the Jaws theme as if it is a "rip-off" of the finale of Dvorak's Ninth Symphony. Some say if the theme is sampled from Dvorak. Did John Williams really ...
4
votes
1answer
110 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 ...
4
votes
1answer
67 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
1answer
109 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
votes
1answer
131 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'...
6
votes
1answer
66 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
votes
1answer
101 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
votes
1answer
340 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 ...
6
votes
2answers
800 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
109 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
169 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
71 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 ...
25
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
819 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
1answer
80 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
73 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
61 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
236 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
90 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
103 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
45 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
211 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
123 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?
...
11
votes
4answers
5k views
Is the tritone (A4 / d5 / DA3 / Dd6) still banned in Roman Catholic music?
The tritone is one of the most dissonant intervals in music. It is also known as the "Augmented 4th", "Diminished 5th", "Doubly Augmented 3rd" or "Doubly Diminished 6th", and it is composed of three ...
10
votes
4answers
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 ...
11
votes
2answers
102 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
132 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
69 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
81 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
271 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
90 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
109 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
votes
1answer
196 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
73 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
126 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
votes
3answers
50 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.
5
votes
4answers
513 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 ...
