Compare Two Types of Music Eras - Essay Example

When looking back at how far music has come over the ages, it really shows just how expansive the study of music is. Covering everything from the music of the Middle Ages, through the Baroque and Classical time periods, the history of music has been a long tale of changing styles, musicians, and periods. Music has changed many times and taken on many different forms over the centuries, and has eventually developed into the world music culture that we seen in today’s society. It is hard to dismiss any of these periods of musical development as more important or less important than another, however if I had to pick I would say that my favorite period would be the music of the Middle Ages, and that my least favorite period would have to be the Modern time period of music. The Middle Ages were a changing point for many parts of the world, and this was no different for the musical development of the time. Music was an integral part of everyday life, and was especially important in the context of religious worship and church services. This time period gave us a myriad of different lyrical pieces, in the style that we today refer to as the Gregorian chant. Also, because music was so important to the church, the churches were huge supporters of music. We see the beginning of patron-ship towards the development of the arts and music in this period, with Churches throwing their support behind many musicians and artists. In fact, many composers during this time period were actually in some way or shape associated with the church. It is from these church-musician relationships that gave us many interesting church pieces. These pieces are among my favorite, and offer a look into the past. They give us a chance to hear how people in that time period heard, and give us a very interesting look into the past that I feel no other musical time period offers us. However, this time period was not entirely perfect. There was no type of musical notation throughout most of Western civilization, even in the earliest forms. For the most part it was not until centuries later that people began to use musical notation to write everything down. However, there was some minimal notation being done, the process was so difficult and time consuming that it only happened on a small scale; and it was only in churches that this kind of notation could actually happen on any kind of basis. This also led to most of the music of the period being church based songs as well. It is also during this time period that we began to see the birth of polyphony, that will be the main focus of composers for many centuries to come. In was in its early beginning stages here, and was often found to happen during improvisational music. This is also when we began to see a split of the monophonic and polyphonic styles of music. We begin to see the long flowing melodies of the monophonic style, contrasted with the long and asymmetrical melodies of the polyphonic mode. The dissonance that developed in the polyphonic music of the time is another personal favorite of mine, as the sharp and hugely surprising changes in tone and musicality really show off what music is capable of. This development continued through the ages, until we arrived at the modern music age at the turn of the century. This age is perhaps my least favorite of all the musical ages, and is defiantly not anywhere near the creativity and musical growth that was going on in churches during the Middle Ages. It is during this modern century that many different things have begun to happen to music. First of all, we have seen a total disrespect and poor attitude towards the musical past. Many musicians care nothing of the music that has come before them, and are simply trying their best to have nothing to do with the older ages of music. To me, this is cutting yourself from great music, such as that of the Middle Ages, and should never be done. To completely cut yourself off from the past is to do the same for the present, and I feel that artists that do this are losing an integral part of what music is all about. We are also seeing a huge rift in what different people in the world listen to. The popular forms of music have taken over Western Culture, with the more artistic forms of music losing their niche in the world. Orchestra attendance is dropping all around the world due to this widening gap between what people listen to in the world. Also, modern composers have created some very interesting and complex music however the modern audience wants nothing to do with these complex and intricate forms of musical art. Despite this trashing of the past, this new age of technology has allowed music to be recorded and passed around easier than ever. With digital music, any forms of music are now available, and people could get access to the masterpieces of the past if they so chose to. This advancement in technology and the passing of music has helped further spread music’s influence in today’s world, even if it is not the specific influence that I want, it is an influence none the less. We have even begun to see the emergence of a “world Music culture”, with the whole world seeing music as belonging to all of it. This has helped the development of some Western music, as now western artists are starting to mix their ideas with other areas of this world, all mixing together to form this culture that spreads across the ground. The advancements of music recording and the recording industry have also been great. Musical recording is able to do things with the composition and recording of music that would make past generations quake, and the vast possibilities that are possible with this new technology is amazing; even to someone like me who is not a fan of the modern music age. Despite what else the modern age has done, it’s contributions to music recording and technology have really increased the myriad of possibilities for anybody who wants to go into electronic music or the recording or music. We have also seen an emergence of many different types of musical style. In the modern age, all sounds are now possible; it is even possible to see no sound being ironically used in music. New instruments have also been developed, which has helped continue to expand the reach of music throughout the world. All harmonic combinations are now also possible, and many composers have taken advantage of pieces of music that have never been able to be used by anybody before. In conclusion, despite the advancements we have seen in the Modern Age, it has done nothing to compete with the huge musical development of other ages, such as the Middle Age. The rift that has developed has left the art forms of music in the dust, and I cannot advocate this by any means. Hopefully we will see a return to the artier forms of music one day. As I have seen from looking at the different ages of musical history, nobody ever knows what is coming up next, and nobody ever knows what the next musical thing will be; so we very well could see a return to older forms of music. I myself would love to see people listening to Middle Age music on their Ipods, but if I will ever see that happen or not is a mystery. However, I cannot easily dismiss the great things that the advancement of technology have done for music, as those are many. Still, I would rather see the return of the technical and creative pieces of music, compared to the poor excuses of music that flood the air waves today. That being said of course, there are still many modern bands that do respect the past, and many such bands look to their cultural past to try to bring the older folk music into the modern age; and those musicians earn my great respect for what they are doing. Often they do it successfully, and I am amazed when I hear a band trying to bring back an older form of music. It is nice to see that some people still respect the “greats”, and respect how important the past is to all different kinds of music. Read More