Howard Goodall's The Story Of Music Episode One

Episode 1 – The Age of Discovery

It’s hard to believe now, in an age where we have instant music streaming services such as Spotify, CD’s, mp3’s and YouTube that there once was a time when people would only hear their favourite symphony 4 or 5 times in their lifetime.

Ancient whistles and flutes have been found made from bone, but in prehistoric times music was more than entertainment. It is thought that people used a type of singing as a kind of sonar to navigate around the complex cave-systems in which they lived. Instruments from the Bronze Age called Lures have been excavated perfectly preserved in peat bogs. As there was no way to write down or record it, we have no way of knowing how the music on this instrument would have sounded, but we do know that it was used for military purposes, and at funerals.

The ancient Greek’s took music very seriously, and was one of the seven essential subjects in schools. They also held singing contests in front of panels of judges, and they invented the musical drama. This musical influence was passed to the Romans and spread throughout the Mediterranean. However again, because there was no way to record it, it was lost.

In the 3rd Century A.D, Christian plainchant originated. It was called ‘Gregorian’ plainchant, after its alleged inventor Pope Gregory I, though we now know that Pope Gregory didn't invent it. This plainchant had no discernible rhythm or harmony, with the melody being sung in unison. It stayed this way for centuries.

Sometime before the 8th Century, young boy’s voices were added, and octave higher. This combination of higher and lower voices created a richer sound. In the 9th Century were the first experiments in harmony, where voices were smaller than an octave apart although still sung in parallel. This was called ‘organum’ as the result was said to sound like an organ.

Later, a different type of organum was developed, where one voice stays on one note. This task was sometimes carried out by an instrument like an organ, or now extinct ones such as hurdy-gurdy, psaltery and symphony. This constant note was called a ‘drone’, and can still be heard today played by bagpipes. Afterwards, these two types of organum – parallel and drone, began to combine.

Harmony was music’s biggest innovation as the year 1000 drew near. Kassia of Constantinople is one of the first medieval composers who music still survives and is interpretable by modern scholars. Her music is renowned for its simple but unpredictable harmonies.

The next biggest break through was the invention of sheet music.  Previously, monks and nuns would only have the text in front of them, but would have to memorize the vast amount of melodies which would take years. Examples have been found from the 3rd Century of fledgling attempts to write down melodies, but no one can agree on what they should sound like. Hundreds of years later, there was a basic attempt to show whether each note went up or down over each syllable. This was useful for jogging the memory of someone who already knows the melody, but wasn't helpful for learning a piece from scratch, as it’s not clear on exactly how high or low the notes should be.

In the year 1000 a monk named Guido of Arezzo is regarded as the inventor of modern musical notation. He created four lines resembling today's stave, on which he placed ‘blobs’ to show pitch. One of the lines was red to show pitch relative to other pieces. Before Guido invented this notation, a composer would teach his music to everyone he knew, hoping it would be passed on. After Guido’s method was invented, music could become more complicated, and people could learn from the sheets. With some alterations, Guido’s notation is essentially the same as we use today.

In 12th Century Paris, an adventurous composer called Pérotin was writing music for the newly built Notre Dame. He decided to expand the number of simultaneous voices to four; ordinary now but a revolution in music at that time. He also invented a way of notating rhythm but joining notes together which what he called a ‘ligature’.

Before this time people would rarely hear music except in church, but new secular music was stepping into the limelight. Travelling singer-songwriters called troubadours performing music of chivalry and courtly-love spread across Europe. This phenomenon originated from Al-Andalus - Muslim Spain. More sophisticated instruments would also make their way from there, including predecessors to the violin, flute and zither. Europe also inherited a flair for rhythm. All of this was very influential on Pérotin.

By the end of the 14th Century, most of music’s vital components were discovered: melodic and rhythmic notation, layering of voices and a basic selection of instruments to compliment voices.

After 1400 harmony took a huge leap forward. Previously it had consisted of only octaves, fourth’s and fifth’s; these were known as ‘perfect’ intervals. A composer named John Dunstable introduced the interval of a third. This wasn’t considered ‘perfect’, as it is ambiguous. It has two versions – major and minor. This major/minor tonality is the pivot upon which all western (tonal) music stands.

Combining two thirds together resulted in three notes known as a triad. These triads are the foundation of western music, and provide a ‘home’ key. Travelling between closely related keys within a piece sounds good.

By the 16th Century new instruments were invented bringing a new wave of folk (popular) music. In Tudor England barber shops would have a citturn available that customers could play to accompany their singing while waiting. The lute and viol also made an appearance at this time. By the 1560’s the violin had been developed in Italy. This century also saw advancements in keyboard technology. Virginals were available for your home if you had the money to afford one.

During this expansion of instrumental music was a growth in popular song. Often the same tunes were used for church and secular music, but of course with different words. The first church songs with ‘catchy’ tunes were those associated with Christmas. Some were also derived from folk dances.

The importance of the words in music also developed over time. In 900AD when monks began adding extra voices, the principle tune was at the bottom. When three and four voices were being used the melody ending up being buried inside the texture on the third line down. Thus this line is called the Tenor from the French verb ‘tenir’ which means to hold; this line ‘held’ the main tune. Gradually over time the tune worked its way up through the texture to the top, so you could hear the words clearly.

In 1450 the printing press was invented. Within 50 years sheet music was being printed and could now be spread to a wider audience.

Josquin des Prez in the renaissance period was the first composer where the meaning of the words in his music was paramount. This is evidenced in his composition of motets for the church; motet meaning ‘the words’. Previously the words weren't paid much attention to; people were as likely singing and dancing than listening to the words. Church words were in Latin and sung in a style known as ‘melisma’ where long stretches of melody were sung to one syllable of text. This sounded attractive but it was impossible to tell what the words were. In Josquin’s compositions he would repeat the same words many times in different voices, and highlight important parts by using techniques such as cascading down the melody.

In 1517 was the reformation, and church music changed. In Lutheran churches congregations now took most of the singing, and in their own language. Martin Luther wanted music that everyone could join in. He collected folk melodies and gave them holy words. He also caused  many songs to be written for the purpose. Chorales (protestant hymns) had words that progressed syllable by syllable, note by note, with a  clear tune on top of the texture. Hymns would sound like this for the next 500 years.

As the 16th Century drew to a close, serious church music was no longer the dominant type of new music. In the 1570’s and 80’s a new wave of secular music arrived from Italy. Jacques Arcadelt composed music with lyrics full of human pleasures and sexual allusion. His success inspired other composers such as John Dowland, who wrote of people’s emotions, not Gods and demons.

By 1600 there was a rich mix of sacred and secular, instrumental and vocal music. Everything was on a small scale though, until opera was born. Although Jacopo Peri invented opera, it was Monteverdi with his use of unrelated chords to produce dissonance who composed the first ‘good’ opera.