Music
From Ibstudy
IB Music is one of the Group 6 subjects for the IB Diploma.
Contents |
Requirements
External Assesments
- 2000-word musical investigation
- Listening paper (IB Exam)
Higher Level Internal Assessments
- 20 minutes of solo performance on primary instrument or voice (one performance with a small group, such as a chamber ensemble, is allowed)
- Portfolio of 3 original compositions
Standard Level Internal Assessments
Choice between:
- Group performance (performance in a large ensemble such as a orchestra, band, choir, etc.)
- Solo performance (solo on primary instrument or voice with one small group work allowed)
- Composition portfolio
Musical Terminology
Texture
- Monophony: One line of music, unaccompanied. The main form is the plainsong (or plainchant).
- Time period of prevalence: Early Medieval
- Polyphony: Multiple lines of music, in separate motion. Often consists of the presentation of an idea that is then repeated in the other voices, as in a canon.
- Time periods of prevalence: High and Late Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque
- Homophony: Multiple lines of music, moving together. Usually organized in the form of melodic and harmonic lines with a rhythmic or bass line to tie them together.
- Time periods of prevalence: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern
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Periods of Western Music
Middle Ages (300-1400)
The history of Western music can be drawn back to the ancient Greeks (or even further), but the development of Western music as we know it begins with the church music of the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages and Renaissance can be drawn into one extended period because they both used modal harmonic structure and either monophonic or polyphonic development of lines. In addition, the transition between them is hard to define, and largely dependant on region. Music that developed at this time was primarily religious music, and usually consisted of a cappella vocals (there were secular musicians, who often played instruments, but their works were usually improvised, so there is no record of them). It was modal, meaning rather than being based on a major or minor scale like most of today’s music, it was based on one of the modes that were adopted by the church beginning in the early Middle Ages, and later by Pope Gregory in the 6th century. Two of the modes, the Ionian and Aeolian modes, became the major and natural minor scales.
Table of the common diatonic modes. (The scale degree included is the one that each mode begins if you are using the standard major scale.)
- I - Ionian - ex. CDEFGAB (C major scale)
- II - Dorian - ex. DEFGABC (D Dorian)
- III - Phrygian - ex. EFGABCD (E Phrygian)
- IV - Lydian - ex. FGABCDE (F Lydian)
- V - Mixolydian - ex. GABCDEF (G Mixolydian)
- VI - Aeolian - ex. ABCDEFG (A natural minor scale)
Note: There is also a Locrian mode that begins on the seventh degree of a major scale, but due to its dissonance it was not common in medieval music.
Music from the early Middle Ages was in the form of plainchant or plainsong, one line of music unaccompanied, following free rhythm. There were a variety of plainchant traditions used in the church, the most common being the Gregorian chant (named for Pope Gregory). This music was thus monophonic. Polyphony first began to develop in the late 9th century C.E. with the advent of organum, where another line was added to the original plainchant by transposing the original melody, so that there would be harmony in perfect fourths or fifths. Organum later developed to the point where more than just two lines could be used, and the different voices were more than just mere transpositions of the original line. This was the beginning of modern polyphony. In the High Middle Ages (1150-1300), polyphony developed further with the invention of the motet, and the advent of formal musical notation. Members of the Ars antiqua school in France began to notate the rhythm of music as well as the notes. This was also the era of the troubadours and trouvères, secular musicians and composers in France who wrote a number of single-line vocal songs, often with instrumental accompaniment. In the late Middle Ages (1300-1400), the Ars nova school adapted the polyphony of church music to secular music, and in Italy early forms of the madrigal were born. Late medieval music was often known for great rhythmic complexity, a trend lost in the transition to the Renaissance. Because of the scarcity of medieval manuscripts, it is hard to know who the most important composers of the medieval period are. Some of the notable ones we are know are the German nun Hildegard of Bingen, who wrote plainchant, and the Notre Dame School of organum composers. Guillaume de Machaut was an important member of the ars nova movement, and Gullaume Dufay was a 15th century composer who formed a part of the Medieval-Renaissance transition.
Renaissance (1400-1600)
In Renaissance music, polyphony became the norm. While music was still centered in the church and composers were expected to write some sacred music, secular music by now followed many of the same forms as sacred music. Music in both realms by this time was largely polyphonic, often using four or more lines. However, in the latter part of the Renaissance this began to simplify, with more emphasis on a strong melody. Like the music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance music was modal, although that began to break down with the advent of tonality towards the end of the 16th century. Sacred Renaissance music consisted mostly of motets and masses. Towards the end of the Renaissance, secular and sacred music began to blend, and it became common for composers to copy secular forms into sacred music, such as the popular madrigal. A great deal more secular music survives from the Renaissance than the medieval periods with the advent of the printing press. Some of the more prevalent secular music forms include the frottola, canzonetta, and villanella in Italy; the chanson in France; and the villancico in Spain. The madrigal was an extremely popular form that had separate schools of composers in Italy and England. As spiritual music often borrowed from the secular, so secular music borrowed from the spiritual, with the motet-chanson as a form of secular music based on sacred genres. There were also songs that were performed with instrumental accompaniment, such as the lute song. Instrumental music began to develop into a genre of its own beginning in the Renaissance. Renaissance ensembles were called consorts, and usually consisted of a group of similar instruments (such as a recorder consort or a viol consort). These ensembles usually performed dance suites, consisting of several popular dances at the time such as the basse danse, pavane, courante, allemande, saltarello, and galliard. There were also the beginnings of instrumental solo music, usually written for a keyboard or plucked stringed instrument. Examples include the toccata, ricercar, and prelude. These works were often written using tablature. During the late Renaissance, music began to move in the direction of the Baroque with the invention of monody, a work that followed a homophonic structure. Musical drama began to develop, precursing opera, and the rules of tonality began to become standard. Important composers from the Renaissance period include the Flemish composers Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin des Prez, and Orlande de Lessus; the Italians Giovanni da Palestrina and Carlo Gesualdo; the Spanish Tomás Luis de Victoria; and the English Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.
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Classical (1700-1820)
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Romantic (1800-1900)
Major Composers
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France
- Hector Berlioz
- Charles Gounod
- Giacomo Meyerbeer (German, but considered a part of the French School)
- Jacques Offenbach
- Camille Saint-Saens
- Georges Bizet
- Gabriel Faure
- Cesar Franck
Italy
- Gioacchino Rossini
- Gaetano Donizetti
- Vincenzo Bellini
- Giuseppe Verdi
- Giacomo Puccini
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Other Countries
- Edvard Grieg (Norway)
- Edward Elgar (England)
- Arthur Sullivan (England)
- Isaac Albeniz (Spain)
- Enrique Granados (Spain)
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Forms of Western Art Music
- Orchestral music
- Chamber music
- Piano music
- Choral music
- Opera and musical drama
Other Forms of Music
Other Western Music
- Jazz
- Popular Music
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