40
votes
Accepted
Why does Brahms stand next to Bach and Beethoven?
First, a history lesson:
Peter Cornelius originally claimed that these "Three Bs" were Bach, Beethoven, and Berlioz. It was Hans von Bülow that then replaced Berlioz with Brahms, and Bülow did it ...
- 85.1k
38
votes
Why does a 97 / 92 key piano exist by Bösendorfer?
replete's answer is correct that the original reason was to have a bigger range, as needed for some organ music. However, I don't think that's the reason those Imperial models are so sought-for over ...
- 35.8k
38
votes
Accepted
Why did we never simplify key signatures?
Actually, it seems to me that designating the key by a letter instead of the arrangement of sharps or flats is not simplifying the process. Simply stating the intended key by letter and accidental ...
- 7,860
29
votes
Accepted
What happened to Jazz in 1980?
It's a reasonable thought that Metheny was referring to Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis was highly controversial — "polarizing" might be a better word — in the early 1980s. In particular, Marsalis ...
- 94.9k
28
votes
Accepted
"The intervals considered dissonant have changed since the 'Middle Ages'"; How so?
OK, so first a clarification of the contexts:
The quoted materials are mostly concerned with Western European music. The music of the Middle Ages almost certainly refers to the liturgical music of ...
- 18.3k
28
votes
Accepted
What was the motivation for the invention of electric pianos?
A lot of instruments from the analog era were supposed to sound like other "real" instruments, and were as good as technology allowed then, which is not very. But over time, some have become popular ...
- 3,672
27
votes
Accepted
Why is Debussy's remark brilliant (on going out and smoking, at the start of Beethoven's developments)?
In short, the German musical tradition (largely based upon Beethoven's towering presence) is one that prioritizes thematic development. Beethoven was known, for instances, for sometimes introducing ...
- 85.1k
26
votes
Aldous Huxley and 5/4 Meter in Music Predating "Take 5"
Brubeck's exploration of 5-beat and other asymmetrical meters was revolutionary for jazz, but it had been going on for decades in classical music, largely inspired in the late 19th century by the ...
- 26.4k
25
votes
Accepted
What is the oldest instrument ever?
It's probably not possible to tell. Wood and bone can often be inherently musical when struck, so some kind of proto-claves likely existed before recorded history. Rocks may have also been used for ...
- 58.6k
24
votes
Accepted
How did composers "test" their music?
Not all composers nowadays write using computers. Many still write by hand using ink or pencil.
Multi-instrument works (chamber, orchestra, etc) were written as either what's known as "piano-score" ...
- 25.7k
24
votes
What is the rationale of electronic keyboards having the voices that they do?
Yes, MIDI is primarily a communications protocol. But it also includes specifications for the General MIDI sound set. 128 sounds. Here they are, with their Program Change numbers.
https://en....
- 95.6k
23
votes
Accepted
Why is a 440 Hz frequency considered the "standard" pitch for musical instruments?
440 Hz is the standard that has been adopted.
Before it was, an instrument tuned in one country or even city was out of tune in another; confusion reigned. The short version of it is that ...
- 839
23
votes
Accepted
Why didn't more composers who composed violin concertos compose viola concertos?
Various reasons.
The viola is acoustically less well-designed than the violin. It sounds a fifth below the violin and has the same proportions, so it would have to be 50% larger; but because you ...
- 7,828
22
votes
Accepted
Is counterpoint still used today?
Counterpoint is simply the relationship between multiple musical lines. As such, any excerpt of music with more than one line is displaying some sense of counterpoint, whether intentional or not.
...
- 85.1k
20
votes
Accepted
Unusual keyboard in a picture
Let's apply some perspective warping here.
You'll see that the black keys, viewed from the front, come in alternating groups of 2 and 3 after all. Their arrangement does not correspond all that well ...
- 216
20
votes
Accepted
Why is reverb typically called "wet' or "drippy"?
Reverb is actually the effect of playing in confined, walled spaces - the sound bounces off the walls giving a diffused sort of echo. In a wide open space there is zero reverb. (The original, now ...
- 95.6k
19
votes
How did students remember what to practise between lessons without any sheet music?
Besides the copyist mentioned in the other answer, students could simply write on their own! No need to have someone copy it for them. Also it was not uncommon for teachers to write stuff down for ...
- 31.5k
19
votes
Did Beethoven "invent" ragtime with Piano Sonata No 32 Op 111?
No, I think the similarity to ragtime is coincidental, and I believe the principal evidence is in the way Beethoven notated this passage.
Beethoven has notated this section of the piece in 12/32, ...
- 6,496
19
votes
Accepted
How hard would it have been for a small band to make and sell CDs in the early 90s?
There are two scenarios here, a DIY one, and a semi-pro one, which would have been affordable for a band with saturday jobs or middle class parents.
The DIY scenario is: they record and mix their ...
- 206
18
votes
Accepted
At what point in history did the relationship between pitch and frequency become well-known among musicians?
If you have access to a good academic library, then the following article appears to be on point regarding the Western tradition:
S. Dostrovsky, Early Vibration Theory: Physics and Music in the ...
- 3,039
18
votes
Accepted
Why is ra lower than re while la is higher than le?
That's because the solfege syllables for the non-chromatic notes (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si/Ti) were first. They were thoroughly historically anchored in music theory, long before someone thought ...
- 5,148
18
votes
Who was listening to Bach's compositions in his lifetime?
According to Wikipedia:
From 1703 he was back in Thuringia, working as a musician for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen and, for longer stretches of time, at courts in Weimar, where he ...
- 5,630
17
votes
Why did we never simplify key signatures?
I believe it's not simplified for some reasons:
1st: Music notation is an orthodox practice which has kept its standardization globally for common understanding. The Boethian notation (alphabet notes ...
- 335
17
votes
Accepted
How seriously did romantic composers take key characterizations?
In many cases, these key characteristics were the byproduct of various historical tuning systems. Many of these systems were out of date by the time the Romantic era rolled around, and in that sense ...
- 85.1k
17
votes
Accepted
Is "secco" really used in piano music?
I. Examples of secco meaning "dry" or with no (or very little) pedal in piano music:
Last measure of Gottschalk's Le bananier, Op.5
Piano part (m.18 and m.91) in the 4th movement (Tocata)...
- 1,549
16
votes
Accepted
Why is note B marked with H in Scandinavia and Germany?
PhD in music theory specializing in medieval theory here.
M. Cuthbert's answer here is correct, but I thought that I would add some missing details.
Heads up: this is going to be a long explanation, ...
- 316
16
votes
Accepted
What 1968 Moog synthesizer was used in the Movie Apollo 11?
It's a Moog modular Synthesizer IIIc
From Matt Morton - Apollo 11
Matt wrote, orchestrated, performed, recorded, and mixed all of the
original music for the film, as well as the teaser trailer ...
- 28k
16
votes
How did composers "test" their music?
The more you listen to and work with music the more you "hear it in your head". After you become proficient at transcribing, it's perfectly possible to see a melody written out and "hear" it in your ...
- 3,539
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