Music history

This article is about the academic field of music history. For an overview of music, see history of music.

A famous Tang Dynasty guqin "Jiu Xiao Huan Pei". The guqin has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement.

Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is the highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time. Historical studies of music are for example concerned with a composer's life and works, the developments of styles and genres (such as baroque concertos), the social function of music for a particular group of people (such as music at the court), or the modes of performance at a particular place and time (such as the performance forces of Johann Sebastian Bach's choir in Leipzig).
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history of any type or genre of music (e.g., the history of Indian music or the history of rock). In practice, these research topics are nearly always categorized as part of ethnomusicology or cultural studies, whether or not they are ethnographically based.
The methods of music history include source studies (esp. manuscript studies), paleography, philology (especially textual criticism), style criticism, historiography (the choice of historical method), musical analysis, and iconography. The application of musical analysis to further these goals is often a part of music history, though pure analysis or the development of new tools of music analysis is more likely to be seen in the field of music theory. (For a more detailed discussion of the methods see the section on "Research in Music History" below) Some of the intellectual products of music historians include editions of musical works, biography of composers and other musicians, studies of the relationship between words and music, and the reflections upon the place of music in society.

History

[edit] Before 1800

The first studies of Western musical history date back to the middle of the 18th century. G.B. Martini published a three volume history titled Storia della musica (History of Music) between 1757 and 1781. Martin Gerbert published a two volume history of sacred music titled De cantu de musica sacra in 1774. Gerbert followed this work with a three volume work Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra containing significant writings on sacred music from the 3rd century onwards in 1784.

[edit] 1800-1950

Ludwig van Beethoven's manuscript sketch for Piano Sonata No. 28, Movement IV, Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit Entschlossenheit (Allegro), in his own handwriting. The piece was completed in 1816.

In the 20th century, the work of Johannes Wolf and others developed studies in Medieval music and early Renaissance music. Wolf's writings on the history of musical notation are considered to be particularly notable by musicologists. Historical musicology has played a critical role in renewed interest in Baroque music as well as medieval and Renaissance music. In particular, the authentic performance movement owes much to historical musicological scholarship. Towards the middle of the 20th century, musicology (and its largest subfield of historical musicology) expanded significantly as a field of study. Concurrently the number of musicological and music journals increased to create further outlets for the publication of research. The domination of German language scholarship ebbed as significant journals sprang up throughout the West, especially America.

OVERVIEW OF INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

The music of India is said to be one of the oldest unbroken musical traditions in the world.  It is said that the origins of this system go back to the Vedas (ancient scripts of the Hindus).  Many different legends have grown up concerning the origins and development of Indian classical music.  Such legends go a long way in showing the importance that music has in defining Indian culture.
However the advent of modern historical and cultural research has also given us a good perspective on the field.  This has shown that Indian music has developed within a very complex interaction between different peoples of different races and cultures.  It appears that the ethnic diversity of present day India has been there from the earliest of times.
The basis for Indian music is "sangeet".  Sangeet is a combination of three artforms: vocal music, instrumental music and dance.  Although these three artforms were originally derived from the single field of stagecraft.  Today these three forms have differentiated into complex and highly refined individual artforms.
The present system of Indian music is based upon two important pillars: rag and tal.  Rag is the melodic form while tal is the rhythmic.
Rag may be roughly equated with the Western term mode or scale.  There is a system of seven notes which are arranged in a means not unlike Western scales.  However when we look closely we see that it is quite different what we are familiar with.
The tal (rhythmic forms) are also very complex.  Many common rhythmic patterns exist.  They revolve around repeating patterns of beats.
The interpretation of the rag and the tal is not the same all over India.  Today there are two major traditions of classical music.  There is the north Indian and the south Indian tradition.  The North Indian tradition is known as Hindustani sangeet and the south Indian is called Carnatic sangeet.  Both systems are fundamentally similar but differ in nomenclature and performance practice.
Many musical instruments are peculiar to India.  The most famous are the sitar and tabla.  However there are many more that the average person may not be familiar with.
All of this makes up the complex and exciting field of Indian classical music.  Its understanding easily consumes an entire lifetime.

Pages for "Indian Classical music"

Fundamentals of Rag - Introduction to the North Indian concept of the rag. Swar (Sur) - The "note". Saptak (The Scale) - Introduction to the scale. Scales and Modes - More advanced material on scales. That - The modes. Jati - The number of notes in the rag. Arohana / Avarohana - Ascending and descending structures. Vadi & Samvadi - Important notes of the rag. Pakad (Swarup) - Characteristic phrases. Samay - Timings Raga / Ragini - The old way of visualising relationships between rags Saptak - The Register Index of Rags - A few common North Indian rags discussed in Chandrakantha.com.   Laharas - A collection of laharas for tabla / pakhawaj solos as well as Kathak dance performances.   Fundamentals of Tal - An introduction to the North Indian approach to rhythm. Avartan - The cycle. Bol - mnemonic syllables Bollywood Film Songs - A breakdown of many popular songs organised by their tals Index of Tals - The common rhythmic patterns in North Indian music. Khali - Waving of the hands. Lay - Tempo. Matra - The Beat Sam - First beat of the cycle. Tali - The claps. Theka - The "Groove". Vibhagh - The measure (bar). Genre - A breakdown of the styles of North Indian music.   Film Songs in Rags - An index of classical based film songs indexed by rag.   Notation - A discussion of the North Indian approach to musical notation