Questions tagged [history]
For questions about how music has developed and changed over time or for questions about concepts and ideas of a historic period of music. Do not use just because the subject of the question is a historic figure or piece.
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Was Bernstein's interpretation of Mahler's 9th Symphony correct?
During his fifth Norton lecture at Harvard University, Leonard Bernstein famously speculated that Mahler's ninth symphony was symbolically prophesying his own death, the death of tonality (the advent ...
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Why the similarity between these sections from Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns?
I noticed that part of Saint-Saëns' Africa (1891) sounds very similar to Tchaikovsky's Concert Fantasia (1884), and was wondering whether they were friends/contemporaries during their lives so would ...
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Were there any automatic timekeeping devices prior to the metronome used for setting and maintaining tempo (BPM) and pulse?
I know there's a decent amount of science that goes into creating a device that can set and maintain time, so this may be a very simple question with "no" being the answer, but I'm just ...
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ii-ii6-I progression
I've heard this progression many times and in many ways over the course of my life, but I can't seem to assign a name to it or find out any further information about it or its history. It goes as ...
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When to use sixth in continuo according to Bianciardi?
From Bianciardi's Breve Regola (http://www.bassus-generalis.org/bianciardi/bianciardi.html): "But because some notes don’t have a fifth above, a sixth
is used in its place; this happens in those ...
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How does one resolve the conflict between Renaissance theory of Cadences and the contradictions against it in Bach Chorales?
A level pupil.
Made the mistake of learning Renaissance cadence voicing way before starting A-level harmony course. There's a conflict of interest between the cadential progressions of the renaissance ...
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What was the appropriate response if an Early Romantic era composer dedicated a composition to you?
What was the expectation of the recipient of a dedication during the early romantic era, if the recipient could perform it?
For example, when Schubert was 22 he composed his Piano Sonata No. 13 in A ...
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History of Tetrachords [duplicate]
I posted a similar question not too long ago and it was suggested that I look into tetrachords and I quickly understood why, but now I have questions about tetrachords.
For what reason are diatonic ...
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Style of Danza Del Viejo Boyero by Alberto Ginastera
I have struggled with understanding the style of this song, and I guess it is open to interpretation, but I was wondering whether to play it like an "old shepherd" as its name suggests, or a ...
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I’m looking for information/references on how we developed the Major Mode (Scale/Key) [closed]
As the title says, I’m looking for some information on the history of how the Major Mode (Scale,Key) was developed/designed. I already know a little bit, that is, I am not completely new to the topic, ...
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Why is the cavaquinho minhoto so different from other cavaquinhos?
For context: cavaquinho
The Brazilian cavaquinho, the cavaquinho de Lisboa, the Cabo Verde cavaquinho, the Madeiran braguinha and its descendant, the ukulele, all seem to have a fretboard that is ...
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What is the earliest we know wire-strung instruments to have existed?
What is the earliest we know wire-strung instruments to have existed? I was reading about gut strings, nylon strings, wire strings used on guitar, and wanted to know, but couldn't find the answer ...
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How did western music label and calibrate around C Major as having no sharps/flats rather than A Major? [duplicate]
This is purely academic/speculative, but wouldn't it have made more sense and been easier to learn if Western music were based on A Maj, rather than C Maj, as having been the one designated to have no ...
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How hard would it have been for a small band to make and sell CDs in the early 90s?
Suppose it's the early 90s and you have three or four high school students that are decent with music, have minimal other skills, but still want to be able to sell CDs of their songs. Nowadays they ...
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How do they know what the frequency of Solfeggio notes
It is hard to find information on how modern day people selling solfeggio tuning forks and the like know which exact frequencies to use.
I liked this article below but as I have just joined I ...
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What is rude jazz?
In a lecture supporting his new book Stomp and Shout, Northwest rock historian Peter Blecha mentioned a genre from the 1940s or 50s called rude jazz. I have never heard of this before, and it might be ...
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relax, jack song [closed]
Anyone know the title of the song with a refrain like " Relax, jack. It's just a simple fact, Jack"?
The recording I recall is ~50 years old and was sung by a black woman, maybe Eartha Kitt.
...
user92938
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Why is the solo/featured instrument in so many Baroque-era concerti silent during the slow movement?
Is the reason the soloist is
often silent during a Baroque-era concerto simply to provide a break from all the virtuosity often required within the outer movements? Or is it to allow a string soloist ...
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When did the 6/4 chord become more commonplace and acceptable?
In the baroque and classical period, 6/4 chords were only voice leading chords, almost exclusively used as passing chords or auxiliary chords. But even as early as Mendelssohn, we see 6/4 chords ...
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What makes the ionian and Aeolian modes different from other modes?
There were initially seven modes back in the era of modal music, but when tonality set in, the use of modes dropped to just two; Ionian and Aeolian, now the major and natural minor scales. Why were ...
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Is this a tenor clef?
My wind band is playing Saint-Saens' Pas Redouble, using the Josneau arrangement published by Evette & Schaeffer. It's on IMSLP. The bassoon part is mostly in bass clef, but occasionally uses a ...
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Consonant vs. Dissonant Major Thirds: Historical Process and Significance of Tuning System
In the comments to the question Why is the fourth against the bass considered a dissonance?, I wrote
A 5:4 third was considered dissonant until musical tastes changed and declared it consonant.
To ...
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What was the earliest equal temperament system used?
What was the earliest equal temperament system used?
I believe it to be 19edo, used by Guillaume Costeley in Seigneur Dieu ta pitié, in 1558. Was any equal temperament used before then?
7edo is ...
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What is the etymology of word "chromatic" (= relating to color) in music?
Regarding "chromatic," I found on Wiktionary:
Latin chrōmaticus, from Ancient Greek χρωματικός (khrōmatikós, “relating to colour; one of the three types of tetrachord in Greek music”)
Then ...
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When and/or how did Western music shift from downward to upward scale concepts?
The ancient Greeks constructed their scales from top to bottom.
For example, Wikipedia:
Note that Greek theorists conceived of scales as descending from higher pitch to lower (the opposite of modern ...
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Is there a specific name for this cadence melody?
The trill or any ornamentation is optional but seems like it is usually there. I am familiar with this melody more generally as part of an authentic cadence, but this particular rhythm seems very ...
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Why is G the lowest note of the Gamut? [duplicate]
The Gamut made use of the seven letters of Saint Gregory: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. It represents the twenty notes of “true music” (musica recta), from low G to high e2.
Why was the lowest note in ...
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Did American drum corps ever utilize the tuning slide of valveless bugles for more notes?
I used to be a member of my school's drum and bugle corps in middle school whose entire brass section is composed of US regulation bugles in G (if I'm not mistaken) which are are valveless. They used ...
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In JS Bach's lifetime who listened to any of his organ preludes and fugues and when? [duplicate]
The related thread from Feb. 1, 2021 initiated by Aaron (Who was listening to Bach's compositions in his lifetime?) was informative, but I have a more precise question. Who heard Bach's preludes and ...
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How did Western music come to embrace metrical rhythm as its primary metric structure?
Western music generally uses a limited set of metrical rhythms — simple and compound meters in accent groupings of 2, 3, or 4.1 With exceptions, of course, this is true in the bulk of classical music, ...
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Shostakovich style (5th, 10th) [closed]
During my music education I was more focused on classical styles of western composers up until times of Beethoven. Namely, I understand the structure and some ideas behind music by Vivaldi, Bach, ...
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Origins of musical stave notations [closed]
I was wondering whether anyone knows the history of how the notations for clefs, sharps, flats, naturals, notes, and pauses, and their locations of the stave, took place.
How were these shapes ...
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The definition, and the origin of this sign notation "x"
Here is an example of the double sharp (within the red mark) from Liszt Les Preludes, see below.
I suppose this notation "x" is called double sharp.
Questions:
What are (1) the definition, ...
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VII-i cadence in a minor key
I have read many people claiming that this cadence is actually a disguised V-vi in the relative major. But as a pianist and composer I do not feel this way at all. For a concrete example, here is a ...
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Does the Scarlatti's 'Cortege' really sound like Gaudeamus Igitur?
Every time I hear https://imslp.org/wiki/Keyboard_Sonata_in_E_major%2C_K.380_(Scarlatti%2C_Domenico), I think I'm hearing the melody for the third and fourth lines of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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How did we move from using syllables (ut, re, etc) to refer to intervals to using syllables to refer to notes?
My understanding of syllables used in solmization is when Guido d'Arezzo created syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, it was a mean to refer to intervals in any hexachord built on :2:2:1:2:2: intervals ...
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what is the oldest use of 9th chords in western music and when did they become popular
From page 752, of Laitz's The Complete Musician 4th edit.
''(...) By continuing the process of stacking thirds, these composers added another third above the seventh, creating a ninth chord; by adding ...
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Why does the ABC song's music differ in China from that of most other countries? [closed]
Why is the Chinese version of the ABC song different to most of the rest of the world?
Most of the world has a fast "LMNOP" and a whole song similar to this:
In Britain, America, France, ...
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Instances of note beams across measures
How rare was it, in classical and romantic periods, for composers to notate eighth note and sixteenth note beams across measures? Are there examples from composers other than Schubert?
In two of ...
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What's the earliest known example of music written for an electronic instrument?
The other day I stumbled upon Joseph Schillinger's First Airphonic Suite, a 1929 orchestral suite that includes a part for theremin. Since this was written 10 years after the invention of the theremin,...
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When did drop voicings (e.g. drop, 2 drop 3 etc.) become codified for guitar?
Nowadays the Drop 2 and Drop 3 7th chord voicings for guitar are well-known, especially in Jazz circles. I don't remember hearing about these when I was reading Metal Solo You Can't Play Monthly back ...
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Did percussion instruments communicate spoken words in click languages?
There are a number of click languages in Africa where 'clicks' function as part of their language. It seems like it would be possible to communicate some words with percussion instruments (maybe a ...
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Why do notes have stems?
How is it that stems became a part of standard music notation?
I was genuinely unable to find an answer to this anywhere on the internet - I couldn't even find an instance of anyone asking the ...
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Historical origin of the raised sixth scale degree in minor
The way I understand the melodic minor scale — with its raised 6 and 7 ascending and lowered 6 and 7 descending — is that it's representative of how composers operated when composing in minor.
However,...
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Why was Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor (Bach) composed?
I'm doing an assignment on a baroque period composition, and I chose Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor by J.S. Bach. One of the things I need to do is explain why it was actually composed. I'm having a ...
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Why are band instruments built in flat keys?
Instruments in a military bands (and similar) are usually built in the keys of B-flat or E-flat.
(Whether these instruments are treated as transposing instruments or not is irrelevant. The key that ...
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When could humans first measure pitch accurately?
This article suggests that accurate measurement of pitch wasn't possible until around 1870. Another source suggested that is was possible around the time of J.S. Bach. Does anyone have more info on ...
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what is a "rhythmic gesture"?
Per Wikipedia, taken originally from Winold, 1975, chapter 3, among the general characteristics of music from the common practice period is "rhythmic gestures of a limited number of rhythmic ...
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Did any pianist in history ever sight-read one of Liszt's Transcendental Études?
Liszt was known to be able to sight-read any piece, even Chopin's Etudes Opus 10 and Grieg's Piano Concerto, both Piano and Orchestral Part.
Since Liszt also composed some Études himself, I was ...
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Who played the solos at the climax of Bill and Ted Face The Music? [closed]
I'm sure this information isn't hard to find if I searched for the right terms, but I have searched and come up with results for how they would have loved to have included Van Halen and about the ...
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