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Concise History of Western Music

This document provides a concise history of Western music. It discusses how singing has been a natural form of human expression since early existence. Vocal music dominated the earliest periods of history through the Renaissance, as it constitutes most of what survives in written form from those eras. The document outlines different cultural attitudes toward singing in ancient Greece, early Christian Rome, and 16th century Italy. It also notes evidence that instrumental music was used alongside vocal music in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt as far back as the 4th millennium BC.

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159 views1 page

Concise History of Western Music

This document provides a concise history of Western music. It discusses how singing has been a natural form of human expression since early existence. Vocal music dominated the earliest periods of history through the Renaissance, as it constitutes most of what survives in written form from those eras. The document outlines different cultural attitudes toward singing in ancient Greece, early Christian Rome, and 16th century Italy. It also notes evidence that instrumental music was used alongside vocal music in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt as far back as the 4th millennium BC.

Uploaded by

nadia_s_carvalho
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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  • The Ancient Greece and Early Christian Rome

A CONCISE HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSIC

BARBARA HANNING

1. The Ancient Greece and Early Christian Rome


From the beginning of human existence, singing has been a
natural outlet for the expression of feelings. Probably even before
the development of language, the utterances of the human voice
gave vent to basic emotions the wails of lament, the howls of
pain, the giggles of joy, the quavering of fear. Once combined with
language, singing became a powerful means of communicating not
only generalized feelings, but also the most personal and subtle
sentiments. By heightening and colouring the words, the singing
voice can render their meaning with a force greater than they
have when merely spoken.
In fact, vocal music dominates the first two parts of history
antiquity, through the Renaissance but not because that is all
there was. Rather, it constitutes most of what survives in written
form. And that music, in turn, is a product almost exclusively of
the elite and literate classes of society, and it is only a tiny fraction
of all the music that was made through these centuries.
Nevertheless, since the advent of recorded history, attitudes
toward singing have reflected the cultural and intellectual
concerns peculiar to a given time and place. For example, the
ancient Greeks stressed vocal music over instrumental music
because they expected from their arts a distinctive character
(ethos) that only words could impart music. All ancient Christian
music was vocal, but during the Middle Ages some church leaders
were troubled by the sensuality of the voice in the performance of
religious plainsong (or chant) and expressed concern about the
potential distractions of song as an aid to worship. In the court
cultures of XVI century Italy, the art of singing was particularly
significant: not only was it a mark for grace and nobility, but it was
also believed to be the link that connected us to the entire cosmos,
putting the individual in touch with the harmony of the universe.
Archaeological remains, images, and early forms of writing all
testify to the use of instrumental as well as vocal music in ancient
Mesopotamia and Egypt in the Near East as far back as the fourth
millennium B.C.E. Physical and pictorial evidence exists of lyres
and harps as well as lutes, pipes, drums, cymbals, rattles and bells.
Written sources suggest that Babylonian musicians used sevennote diatonic scales and created the earliest known musical
notation during the second millennium B.C.E. Even then,
musicians probably did not depend on notation in order to play or
sing, as modern performers do, but instead used

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