1600: Historical And Musical Events Before The 1600

Many people believe that music and dancing are good for the soul and a great stress reliever. Well, back in the Elizabethan Times, music and dance played a bigger role in the people’s lives. Dance and music had brought people together and brought joyous times all because of one strong, creative leader. In the Elizabethan times, the ruler was Queen Elizabeth I. She had brought and gave music and dance a new meaning to the lives of everyone. The events brought people together to relax and to just have fun. If it wasn’t for Queen Elizabeth, I don’t think music and dance would have been the same in this time period.

Blanche Gangwere, Music History During the Renaissance Period, 1520–1550. Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers. 2004, Pg. 52

Music is present in every culture’s past, present, and future. It has been around since 500 B.C. and was especially important in the Elizabethan Era. There were reinventions of music as it was widespread and popular. Without this essential time in history, modern music may have been completely different from what we have today. This era brought new uses for music, styles of compositions, new instruments, and the uprising of popular composers.

The Baroque Era and the Classical Era are two critical time periods in observing music. Some of the most famous composers have written pieces that are popular in the world today. The two periods share many similar characteristics, however new genres and forms developed throughout each period because of new ideas and knowledge spreading. My personal favorite is the Baroque period because of the abundance of new musical knowledge that was introduced, particularly in Vivaldi’s famous piece La Primavera, Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 8, No. 1, I.

Music during the Baroque period was diverse and composers began to rebel against the styles that were popular during the Renaissance. In the Baroque era music was driven by the text and the emotions behind it. Vocal and sacred music developed greatly during the Baroque period. During the mid-17th century the Italian phenomenon opera dominated most of the theatres in Europe. Sacred music was deeply influenced by the opera, contributing to the development of the oratorio and cantata genre. The opera, oratorio, and cantata contain musical similarities; among all three genres they feature recitative, soloist orchestras, and duet arias.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the archetypal classical composers, along with Franz Haydn. He composed over 600 works, including choral, symphonic,

New ideas and art was being introduced everywhere. It was a time of personal expression and drama. There was controversy between Catholics and Protestants which caused long periods of religious war. It was also a time of scientific research and astronomical studies.

The Baroque period stretched across half of European history. It began shortly before 1600 and ended with the death of Bach in 1750. During this time, there were change and

        The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries were distinguished times, in which new thoughts and great legends were being born and Europe was changing. People were seeing their world in a new, dazzling light. Humanity's greatest writers, scientists, and composers were beginning to share their gifts. However, underneath these artistic overtones were the political changes, too. There was a New World out there, and its potential was undefined and many countries overlooked its capabilities. England, on the other hand, had placed its foot firmly into the foundation of the New World, and the footprint left behind influenced both the countries' possibilities, and the artists' works.

The Renaissance period then bled into the Baroque period where we see few small changes were made. During this time Dance dictation is taken for the first time, which is still used

ReferencesClassical music. (2007, April 11). Retrieved April 15, 2007, from wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_musicClassical period (music). (2007, April 13). Retrieved April 14, 2007, from wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_eraLogan, J., & Swann, J. (n.d.). Classical Music and Romantic Music - Part 1. Retrieved April 7, 2007, from http://trumpet.sdsu.edu/m345/Romantic_Music1.htmlRomantic music. (2007, April 12). Retrieved April 13, 2007, fr

The scientific revolution is traditionally considered to be framed between 1543—the year of On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres by Nicolaus

3. Medieval and Renaissance culture varied in many ways, aside from the differing music. In the Medieval age (the time between the 5th and 15th century), the church controlled many things, not only music. The church was in charge of education, the church also dominated politics. People very much feared God. Whereas in the Renaissance (15th and 17th century) the state ruled over the church. People in the Renaissance believed that God wasn’t some fearsome being, instead they believed more in logical and practical thinking.

The Baroque Period (1600-1750) was mainly a period of newly discovered ideas. From major new innovations in science, to vivid changes in geography, people were exploring more of the world around them. The music of the baroque period was just as extreme as the new changes. Newly recognized composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi were writing entirely new musical ideas and giving a chance for new voices to be heard that were normally not thought of sounds. Their musical legacy is still recognized today, and is a treasured discovery of outstanding compositions being reiterated with every performance of them.

The three most well-known, and arguably most important, musical eras in western civilizations would be the; medieval, Renaissance and Baroque time periods. With the basics of music with Gregorian chant and organum from the medieval era to the newfound polyphony texture from the Renaissance and the equal temperament and major-minor tonality of the baroque era; Each time period brings a part of the foundation that most past, present, and future music is and will be based on. While it may seem that these three eras or completely different, they do contain several underlying similarities.