ANCIENT MUSIC

A FEW PREHISTORIC POINTS… Early music is thought to mimic naturally occurring sounds and rhythms. Development of “motherese”… a type of communication between mothers and infants. These gestures and sounds are similar across many cultures. Human voice is the “first” instrument. Singing, humming, clicking, whistling, yawning “Rhythm” instruments came next… Clapping hands, hitting stones together, etc. “Wind” instruments are invented once stone tools start being used amongst humans.

LIKELY A LEG BONE FROM A BEAR DIVJE BABE FLUTE … GERMANY

MADE FROM THE BONES OF A RED-CROWNED CRANE ANCIENT CHINESE GUDI (BONE FLUTES)

MOVING RIGHT ALONG… Artifacts found in an Ancient Greek burial site depict a double-flute and a lyre. Possibly religious symbols to ward off evil spirits or depicted figures from Greek mythology.

THE LYRES OF UR Considered to be the oldest surviving stringed instruments. Discovered in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, located in modern-day Iraq. Three separate instruments.

DAMAGED DURING 2 ND IRAQ WAR THE GOLDEN BULL’S LYRE

BELONGS TO UNIV. OF PENNSYLVANIA BOAT-SHAPED LYRE

BELONGS TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM QUEEN’S LYRE

INSTRUMENTS OF ANCIENT GREECE LYRE Strummed or plucked string instrument. 7 strings tuned to the notes of the scale. Used to accompany others or oneself in song. KITHARA Strummed instrument Different from lyre… it has a sounding-box to help resonance. Fully-adjustable strings could tune to any note or scale. AULOS Double pipes, not joined Low, clarinet-like sound Aulos & Lyre

INSTRUMENTS OF ANCIENT GREECE PAN PIPES (Syrinx) A series of pipes gradually increasing in length. Formed by cutting reeds to the correct pitch. Played by blowing across the top of the pipes. HYDRAULIS Grandfather of the modern pipe organ. Used water to provide air pressure in a wind-chest. (Video) CONCH & SALPINX First “brass” instruments. Ensemble Video

KITHARA

AULOS

PAN PIPES

HYDRAULIS & SALPINX

CONCH SHELL

BRONZE & SILVER KING TUT’S TRUMPETS

DETAIL OF KING TUT’S TRUMPETS

JAMES TAPPERN … APRIL 16, 1939 … CAIRO MUSEUM RECORDING KING TUT’S TRUMPETS

“EARLY” MUSIC Medieval Era … CE Similar instruments from “ancient” period – but with improvements. System of notation is developed around 1000 CE Guido D’Arezzo & “Guidonian Hand” Religious music takes center stage. Era of Gregorian Chant and Madrigals Hildegard von Bingen Chant

WITH BETTER TECHNOLOGY CAME DIFFERENT STYLES… LUTES, LUTES & MORE LUTES!

(MODERN REPLICA) ZITHER

OR… “HURDY GURDY” MECHANICAL VIOLIN

INSIDE A “HURDY GURDY”

FATHER OF MODERN NOTATION GUIDO D’AREZZO

NO… “THE SOUND OF MUSIC” DIDN’T CREATE IT. WHERE “DO-RE-MI” CAME FROM…

GUIDONIAN HAND

A LITTLE BETTER VERSION…

GOLIARDS Goliards are roaming poet-musician priests. Roamed the countryside singing and dancing. Often poked fun at church traditions… "Priests and clerks dance in the choir dressed as women. They eat black pudding at the altar itself, while the celebrant is saying Mass. They play dice on the altar. They incense with stinking smoke from the soles of old shoes. They run and leap throughout the church, without shame. Finally they drive about the town in shabby carriages and carts, and rouse the laughter of their fellows and the bystanders in infamous performances, with indecent gestures and with scurrilous and unchaste words."

TROUBADOURS Tradition began in the south of France and spread to Italy, Spain and Germany. Traveling poet-musicians sang about chivalry & love. More than 450 known troubadours worked from CE Gave rise to the royal position of Minstrel who was ordered to provide all kinds of entertainment for the palace. Not just men… there were women troubadours called “trobairitz.” Troubadour Love Song (Spanish) The Frog Galliard

ORNATE DECORATION ON A TROUBADOUR SONG

A TROUPE OF TROUBADOURS

MINSTRELSY

MINSTREL “DOCU-COMEDY” MINSTREL PERFORMING AT A ROYAL DINNER

THE RENAISSANCE

MOVING RIGHT ALONG… Music heavily influenced by the times… Focus on “humanistic” thought Recovery of Greek & Latin literature Trading & Commerce Growth of “middle class” Faster technological changes Changes in the church Printing makes distribution of music easier. Rise of the “virtuoso” musician. Music becomes a way to express personal ideas, beliefs, etc.

GETTING CLOSER TO WHAT WE SEE TODAY… RENAISSANCE NOTATION

RENAISSANCE RECORDERS

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC? Religious-based Mass (literally singing EVERY word of the R-C mass) Cantata/Oratorio (based on Bible stories, etc.) Laude (praise song) Secular (or Not-Religious) Madrigals (poems set to music) Frottola/Chanson/Lied/Villancio Instrumental Prelude Tocatta Pavane Allemande

SOME LIGHT LISTENING… O Magnum Mysterium (Motet) O Magnum Mysterium Ave Verum Corpus (Motet) Ave Verum Corpus Chanson Matona Mia Cara (Madrigal) Matona Mia Cara