By having a quick and holistic look back at the history of music, we realize that music at the top level has always been considered divine and the means to connect the human soul to the source of all divinity and truth. The prodigies and masterminds that we still remember as great composers, the ones… Read More Two Sides of the Art of Music
Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909) was the influential Spanish composer and guitarist of the romantic era. Back in those days, not everybody believed in the potentials of the guitar and it was more common to compose for instruments like piano and violin. Francisco Tárrega has greatly influenced the development of the “classical” guitar by the etudes, studies… Read More Tárrega, Paco de Lucia & History of the Guitar
In order to explore the various standard types of repertoire for classical guitar, we need to categorize the repertoire into two holistic categories as pieces which are originally written and pieces that are arranged/ adapted for the classical guitar (from piano, violin, etc.). It is also important to consider the changes the the guitar and… Read More The Various Standard Types of Repertoire for Classical Guitar
The third music suggestion is a 15th century (Renaissance) work, called “L’homme armé Mass” (The armed man Mass) written in 1460s by Guillaume Du Fay. “The Story of Music (part 4)” post talks about this era and the composer more. “L’homme armé” was used so widely by the composers of the Renaissance era, and that’s… Read More Music Suggestion No. 3
The second music suggestion is a late 13th century dance song in genre of troubadour dance (as talked about in “The story of music part 2” and “The story of music part 3“), called Kalenda maya (The first of May) by Raimbaut de Vaqueiras. It has a strophic poem text and the familiar ABC musical… Read More Music Suggestion No. 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ol_QffDhE As you may know, I’ve started to write a series of music history posts on the blog called “The story of music”. Here there will be a series of music suggestions to listen to. Though these will be independent posts, these posts will be written by the same order (as the story of music)… Read More Music Suggestion No.1
In 15th century, except for educational system, all of the key elements that were to define humanism were controlled. During the early 15th century, English music became very important. It inspired the development of an international style. Composers who were living in the area ruled by dukes of Burgundy had the greatest influence on this… Read More The Story of Music (Part 4)
The 14th century was an unstable age. The humanism was strengthening and Church authority was being undermined by the move of the papacy to Avignon (1309–1378) and a schism between rival popes (1378–1417). Church control reduced and human reason became an authority on its own. The independence from the church led the human concerns to… Read More The Story of Music (Part 3)
Before the developments of musical notation, Middle-Ages songs (e.g. chants, secular monophony) were passed down from memory to the next generation. At the time, some composers and musicians were active outside the Church. Moreover, eight modes were recognized by medieval theorists which became a great source for later composers. Poet-composers such as Troubadours and Trouverès… Read More The story of Music (Part 2)
Ancient Greece and Rome are somehow the birth places of western music. Not much ancient music has survived but particularly their music theory and ancient writings about music had a great influence on the western music. Mostly, early music was produced in churches for religious and spiritual purposes, though one could find other types of… Read More The Story of Music (part 1)
Pure Musician 