Origins of Chamber Music Neil Thompson Shade Acoustical Design - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010

Origins of Chamber Music

Neil Thompson Shade Acoustical Design Collaborative, Ltd Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010

Ancient Period – Before 500 A.D.

Music – derived from goddess Muse – and had divine origins for Greeks divine origins for Greeks –Music actively performed in Greek culture –Public concerts common between 6th & 4th centuries B.C. Greeks developed formalized music theory Greeks developed formalized music theory –Modes (precursor to scales) –Musical intervals based on frequency ratios Musical intervals based on frequency ratios –Concepts of harmony

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Greek Cults Related to Music

Apollo Apollo

– Apollonian music – lyre (stringed instrument); accompaniment to singing accompaniment to singing

Dionysus

Dionysian music aulos (read instrument); – Dionysian music – aulos (read instrument); accompaniment to choruses in great dramas

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Lyre Aulos Lyre

P f S

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Performance Spaces

Music performed indoors & outdoors Music performed indoors & outdoors

• Amphitheaters
• Residences of wealthy and politicians

Residences of wealthy and politicians

• Legislative chambers (bouleuteria)

– Seated less than 1250 Seated less than 1250 – Column-free spaces – Upper walls had openings for daylight and ventilation pp p g y g – Steeply raked seating – High ceilings

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Bouleuterium at Termessus

• 22 m by 22 m by 12 m high

850 ti it

• 850 seating capacity
• 10 m sightline distance
• Stone walls and timber ceiling
• Occupied T60 – 3 7 s

Occupied T60 3.7 s

Lyre and Voice

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Bouleuterium at Termessus Bouleuterium at Termessus

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Early Christian Period – 100 to 900

M i j d l i i Music rejected as leisure entertainment

– Instrumental music considered pagan

Singing became accepted form of musical expression

Lit i l l – Liturgical purposes only

No written tradition – music passed down orally p y

– 9th century shaped note writing in use

Not known if music a part of secular functions Not known if music a part of secular functions

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Late Medieval Period – 900 to 1400

Period of minstrels and troubadours Period of minstrels and troubadours Minstrels – societal outcasts played to village commoners

– Little known of their music since not written down

Troubadours (France) and Meistersingers (Germany)

– Poet-composers played to landowners and royalty

• Over 4000 poems and 1400 melodies were written down
• Pastourelle – dramatic ballad and estampie – dance tune

Pastourelle dramatic ballad and estampie dance tune

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Musical Instruments

Wide variety of instruments Wide variety of instruments

• Lyre – evolved into harp

Vi ll l d i t i l d i li

• Vielle – evolved into viol and violin
• Psaltery – evolved into clavichord
• Lute, flute, horn, bagpipe, percussion

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Medieval Musicians Medieval Musicians

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Instrumental Ensembles

Organized by loudness not pitch and contrasting tone quality Organized by loudness, not pitch, and contrasting tone quality

• Haut – loud instruments
• Bas – quiet instruments

Bas quiet instruments

Viol, lute, drum, horn, and psaltery common grouping , , , , p y g p g

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010

Performance Spaces

Secular music performed in variety of spaces

• Taverns
• Guildhalls
• Landowner & royal residences
• Landowner & royal residences
• Outdoor fairs and village greens

No extant record of acoustic conditions in these spaces

Medieval Tune

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Renaissance Period – 1400 to 1600

Music more important as art form

• Increase in public and private performances
• Musicians became professional class
• Rise of wealthy amateur players
• Patron – composer relationship

Patron composer relationship

Printing press – major impact on music

“H t ” b k f t hi i

• “How-to” books for teaching music
• Part books for musicians
• Eliminated hand manuscripts – music more available

p

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Ensemble Types

Two common ensembles Two common ensembles

• Sonata da camera (chamber sonata)
• Sonata da chiesa (church sonata)

( )

Ensembles used up to 5 musicians

• Ideal was homogenous sound for ensemble
• Musical consort developed

I l d d ll i t t i th i t t f il f – Included all instruments in the instrument family from bass to soprano – Most popular were recorder and viol consorts p p

Consort of Viols Consort of Viols

Soprano to Bass (left to right)

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Advances in Instruments

Keyboards y

• Clavichord (1300)

– Originally for organ practice; used later as solo and accompaniment instrument

• Origins of harpsichord (1440)

– Replaced clavichord as accompaniment instrument due to greater acoustic power

Woodwind and brass instruments

• Shawm – evolved into oboe and clarinet
• Recorder – evolved into flute
• Sackbutt – evolved into trombone
• Valveless horn – evolved into trumpet and French horn

Valveless horn evolved into trumpet and French horn

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Clavichord Clavichord Harpsichord

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Performance Spaces

Secular music played in variety of places

• Patron’s villas
• Dedicated salons for music performance
• Large rooms with stone and tile finishes; tapestries

common common

Occupied T60 exceeded 2 s Occupied T60 exceeded 2 s

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Medici Music Room Medici House

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Representative Composers

• William Byrd
• William Byrd
• John Dowland
• Michael Praetorius
• Henry Purcell

y

Purcell The Queen's Dolour

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Baroque Period – 1600 to 1730

B i h d i i i I l l Baroque music had origins in Italy – style very ornate

• Patronage system defined musical style

Impro ed m sical skill res lted in more comple compositions Improved musical skill resulted in more complex compositions Two new instruments

• Violin – became prominent solo instrument

Violin became prominent solo instrument

• Pianoforte – became primary composing and accompaniment instrument

Violin development (1530 – 1744)

• Cremona and Brescia home of master makers
• Gasparo da Salò
• Amati
• Guarneri

Guarneri

• Stradivari

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Stradivarius in His Workshop

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Piano Development

Pianoforte (1700)

Pi ( ft) F t (l d)

• Piano (soft) Forte (loud)
• Developed by Bartolomeo Christofori
• Replaced clavichord as main keyboard instrument
• Replaced clavichord as main keyboard instrument

– Greater acoustic power – Wider tonal compass p

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Cristofori’s Pianoforte

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Performance Formats

• Dance suite
• Concerto grosso

Concerto grosso

• Fugue

T i t

• Trio sonata

– 3 or 4 movements – Basso continuo (lower pitched instrument) – Melodic instruments (higher pitched instruments)

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Performance Spaces

Courtly palaces

• Small instrumental room
• Small instrumental room
• Larger instrumental room
• Opera performance room

Small Performance Space Small Performance Space

Handel’s Music Room

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Representative Composers

• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Archangelo Corelli

Archangelo Corelli

• George Frederick Handel

Bach Trio Sonata Bach Trio Sonata Corelli Sonata Handel Oboe Sonata

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Classical Period – 1730 to 1820

Referred to as First Viennese School

Music not as ornate as Baroque period q p

• Style involved repeated (call and response) phrases by different

instruments P t t l i t t f Patronage system less important for many composers Some composers directly employed by wealthy

• Haydn

Count Nikolaus Esterházy

• Haydn – Count Nikolaus Esterházy
• Mozart – Frederick William II
• Beethoven – Count Andry Razumovsky and Price Joseph

Lobkowicz

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Composers

Composers became more self-reliant for livelihood

• Sold music to publishers

P t d th i t

• Promoted their own concerts
• Paid for musician’s rehearsal time

– As a result music became simpler As a result music became simpler

Joseph Haydn “ ” f

• “Father” of string quartet
• Created four movement format
• Wrote 83 string quartets
• Wrote 83 string quartets

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Composers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart E d d iti l f t f

• Expanded on compositional format of

Haydn

• Wrote for larger ensembles
• Included woodwinds notably clarinet

y

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Composers

Ludwig van Beethoven

• 16 string quartets considered pinnacle of
• 16 string quartets considered pinnacle of

the form Di id d i t l iddl d l t i d

• Divided into early, middle, and late period

quartets

• Middle period quartets stretched to

abilities of players

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Musical Instruments

Musical instruments advanced in Classical era

• Larger performance spaces required instruments

ith i with more carrying power

• Violins modified to produce greater acoustic power

– Convex violin bow by François Tourte enabled greater acoustic power Pi l h i h d

• Piano replaces harpsichord

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Performance Spaces

V i f bli d i Variety of public and private spaces

• Taverns – open to public
• Public music rooms – membership only
• Palaces of patrons
• Palaces of patrons
• Public concert halls

Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt Hungary Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, Hungary

• Haydn court composer 1761 to 1791

Empire Hall p

• Small chamber hall
• 10 m by 20 m by 6 m high
• Seats 180
• Occupied T60 1.5 s

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010

Empire Hall Haydnsaal Esterhazy Palace

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010

Performance Spaces

Holywell Music Room in Oxford, UK

• Oldest purpose built public concert hall (1742)
• 10 m by 20 m by 8 5 m high
• 10 m by 20 m by 8.5 m high
• Seats 200
• Occupied T60 1.5 s

Beethoven Archduke Trio Mozart String Quartet Schubert Trout Quintet

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010 Holywell Music Room Holywell Music Room - Interior

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Romantic Period – 1820 to 1910

Music making at amateur and professional levels advanced

• Era of the public concerts
• Music performance societies in major cities
• Music performance societies in major cities
• Professional chamber music touring groups and soloists

Schism between “absolute” and “programmatic” music

• Absolute music did not have a thematic program

Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann – Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann

• Programmatic music needed an extra-musical theme

– Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner

• Chamber music was considered absolute music

P f S

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Performance Spaces

Public symphony halls fixture in major cities Chamber music performed in small halls, lecture rooms, and piano showrooms. Wigmore Hall in London, UK

• Considered to be the finest chamber music hall
• Built in 1901 as a piano performance room

– Bechstein Piano Company (Germany) – Taken over by British during WW I Taken over by British during WW I

• 26 m by 14 m by 12 m high
• Concave ceiling
• Seats 540 on flat floor and balcony

S ll l h d t

• Small alcove shaped stage
• Occupied T60 1.5 s

Dvorak Dumky Piano Trio Franck Piano Quintet Debussy Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010 Wigmore Hall

M d P i d 1910 t t

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Modern Period – 1910 to present

Chamber music became increasingly divergent Five distinct periods p

• New Music (1910-1930)

– Second Viennese School

• Arnold Schoenberg
• Neo-Classicism (1930-1950)

– Igor Stravinsky – Aaron Copeland – Dmitri Shostakovich

• Absolute Serialism (1950-1960)

– Pierre Boulez – Karlheinz Stockhausen – Olivier Messiean

• Indeterminism (1950-1970)

– Charles Ives – John Cage g

• Minimalism (1960 to present)

– Terry Riley – Steve Reich – Philip Glass

• Performance Groups Specializing in 20th Century Music

p p g y – Kronos Quartet (USA) – Arditti Quartet (England) – Ensemble Researche (Germany)

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Performance Spaces

• Coolidge Auditorium at Library of Congress in Washington, DC
• Built in 1924
• Paid for by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge

– Amateur pianist and philanthropist Amateur pianist and philanthropist

• Seats 500
• Steeply raked floor

24 b 24 b 9 hi h

• 24 m by 24 m by 9 m high
• Occupied T60 1.5 s
• Premiered many 20th century chamber pieces

Schoenberg String Trio Shostakovich String Quartet Prokofiev Concertino for Cello

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010 Coolidge Auditorium

Questions?

Concert Hall Research Group Summer 2010

Questions?