The Classical Music Book

Romanticism was essentially

a Germanic movement, yet its

emphasis on the individual

provoked a wave of nationalist

composers who wanted to

distance themselves from Austro-

German dominance of the musical

ancien régime and champion

the music of individual nations.

Russian and Czech composers

began to integrate elements of folk

music and themes into their work,

a trend later explored by composers

in other parts of Europe.

By the end of the 19th century,

the excesses of German Romanticism

also precipitated a breakdown of

the very foundations of Western

music—a structure based on the

harmonies of the major and minor

keys. What followed was a century

of composers seeking not just a

fresh style but a completely new

musical language. Two of the

many strands that emerged were

particularly influential: 12-note

“serialism,” pioneered by Arnold

Schoenberg and refined by Pierre

Boulez, and “aleatoricism”—in

which chance played a role in the

composition or performance of music.

New influences

These musical experiments

coincided with the evolution of jazz

and later the explosion of pop and

rock music, whose rhythmic

beats had instant appeal, causing

audiences to turn away from the

unfamiliar sounds of new classical

music, and even classical music

in general. Nonetheless, popular

music also influenced and inspired

classical composers, producing

a cross-fertilization of ideas that

brought new life to classical forms,

as did the harnessing of modern

technology. Composers such as

Karlheinz Stockhausen exploited

the potential of the electronic

studio and the huge advances

in recording equipment.

Today, some composers, more

conscious of public tastes, are

writing in a more accessible style

than was the case 50 years ago, but

composers continue to experiment,

producing music incorporating

video, theater, and global influences.

The elements of music

In order to understand the ideas

and innovations described in this

book, it is useful to be familiar

with the “building blocks” of

Western classical music, many

of which were devised by medieval

monks, drawing on concepts

formulated by the Ancient Greeks.

Notes are the fundamental

material of all music, either sung

or played on an instrument. The

pitch of an individual note, how

high or low the sound is, especially

in relation to others, is represented

by a letter (A, B, C, and so forth),

sometimes modified by “accidentals”

(sharp or flat) that raise or lower the

note by a half step. For much of the

history of classical music, melodies

(patterns of notes) were composed

using the notes of the major and

minor scales, or keys, which help

to determine the mood of a piece

of music. The key also governs

the harmony, when two or more

notes are played at the same time.

Certain combinations of notes—

chords—are consonant, or

harmonious, and others more

dissonant, harsher; major chords

tend to sound brighter, while minor

chords are more mournful.

INTRODUCTION

Rhythm and harmony find

their way into the inward

places of the soul.

Plato

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