A Musical Window to our World: Europe

The ancient Greeks believed that music was a gift from the gods and they incorporated music in all parts of society including weddings, funerals, theatre, folk music and epic poetry. They believed that musical instruments were the inventions of the gods: Hermes created the lyre, Athena created the flute, Pan created the panpipes and Apollo was celebrated as the god of music. Pythagoras (the famous mathematician and astronomer) believed that music was a mathematical expression and both Plato and Aristotle believed that music disciplined the mind.

To the Romans, music was a natural part of private and public ceremonies, education and entertainment. Boethius, a Roman philosopher who published ‘The Principles of Music’ wrote that music could be characterised into:

1. ‘Music of the Universe’ – the music of the planets and stars, which could not be heard by the human ear.
2. ‘Music of the Human Being’ – the music played by the body e.g. voice or clapping.
3. ‘Instrumental Music’ – the music played with instruments such as the harp or lyre.

The Roman Catholic Church unified music and served as a focal point during this time. The only music to survive is the Gregorian Chants. Most chants were anonymously composed between the times of Pope Gregory and Charlemagne (768 – 814 AD). During this time several musical instruments such as the violin were adopted from the medieval Islamic world.

This era also saw wandering troubadours who composed and performed songs of chivalry and courtly love.

Renaissance music did not begin in Italy - rather it began in the regions of Northern France, the Netherlands and Belgium. These compositions could be adapted to sacred events such as Mass or secular events such as the madrigal.

The Renaissance period also saw the incorporation of brass instruments for the first time.

The invention of the printing press in 1440 had an enormous influence in spreading written compositions and by the end of the 16^th century, most parts of Europe had well-differentiated musical traditions. For example, in Italy, composers like Vincenzo Galilei (son of the great astronomer Galileo Galilei) saw and despised the ‘musical depravity’ of the day and began to write a new form of composition – the opera.

Palestrina is the most famous composer of this time. He composed sacred music for the Catholic Church Mass. Most of his compositions contain the 4 recognisable voice parts:  soprano, alto, tenor and bass.

The term ‘baroque’ comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning ‘misshapen pearl’. The term was coined by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was a musician and composer as well as a philosopher.

Baroque music had strict forms and very complex details. It was a maths-based artistic style with a very clear structure, for example:

• Minuet: a French social dance that was danced with small steps to a simple 3/4 time.
• Gavotte: a French folk dance played at a moderate pace.
• Gigue: a quick, social dance that originated from the British jig.

Johann Sebastian Bach is the most famous Baroque composer. He wrote over 1,000 pieces of music for various instruments. Bach believed that musical phrases were very important and that they were like sentences in a paragraph. “I believe that phrases should be long and pauses should be short”. Some of his most famous works are Toccata and Fugue in D minor and the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat, or Heart and Mouth and Deed. One section of this cantata, called Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring in English, is especially famous.

Other famous Baroque composers include:

• Antonio Vivaldi (e.g. The Four Seasons).
• George Frideric Handel (e.g. Messiah of which the Hallelujah chorus is the most famous).

Classical music was lighter, clearer and simpler than Baroque music. During this time, the piano replaced the harpsichord as the main keyboard instrument and the musician was now able to play louder (crescendo) or softer (decrescendo) for the first time.

The most famous composer during this time was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He learned to play the keyboard when he was 3 and composed his first piece at the age of 5. At the age of 14, he published his first opera The Magic Flute. He composed music for all types of instruments and in several genres. Some of his most famous operas are The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Jupiter Symphony. He even composed Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Other famous composers during the Classical era include:

• Franz Joseph Haydn (e.g. Symphony no.94)
• Johann Stamitz (e.g. Flute Concerto in G, Op.29)

The vast array Romantic composers aimed to compose music that was individualistic, emotional and dramatic. They explored the ideas of surrender to nature and a longing for the mystical or spiritual experience and this was reflected in the broader trends of Romantic literature, poetry, art and philosophy of the time.

The most famous composer of this time was Ludwig van Beethoven. He was a pupil of Haydn and while his first compositions were quite classical, elegant and gentle, he began to write more emotional pieces. He stated that “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. Music should reflect emotions. It is alive and full of passion”.

One of the most important changes that Beethoven made was to expand the size of the orchestra and in some pieces he even extended the choir. Two of his most famous works are:

• Eroica (Op.55) means Heroic in Italian. This piece was originally dedicated to Napoleon, but when Napoleon announced himself as the new emperor of France, Beethoven crossed out his dedication and in anger, tore out the page from the composition.
• Ode to Joy was a choral piece that Beethoven composed based on a German poem. Sadly, Beethoven was almost completely deaf by the time he completed this piece.

Towards the end of his life, he struggled with illness and this is reflected in his sad compositions e.g. Op.131 String Quartet No.14.

Other Romantic composers who looked to nature to describe their emotions were:

• Franz Schubert (e.g. the Trout Quintet).
• Polish composer Frederic Chopin who created elaborate piano pieces that required rapid finger movement (e.g. Fantasie Impromptu, Op.66)

Impressionist music, like Impressionist art, originated in France and focused on the mood or atmosphere that the music created. Often the composition was based on a story, experience or an impression of an event.

The most famous Impressionist composer was Claude Debussy. His Little Shepherd from Children’s Corner (Suite) was incredibly peaceful and solitary as it described the experience of a little shepherd boy, all alone, tending his sheep and playing his flute.

The 20th century saw music evolve with the invention of the radio and then the television. The visual part of the performance became increasingly important and this led to a wide range of genres being celebrated from classical to 80s, folk music to electronic and world music to pop.

Opera and classical concerts continued to be enjoyed across Europe and orchestras expanded to include new instruments such as the saxophone. The inventions of amplification and electronic instruments, especially the synthesizer accelerated new experimentation with different styles.

In the 1960s British music exploded onto the world stage spearheaded by The Beatles, who are often regarded as the most influential band of all time. The UK now has one of the largest ‘world music’ industries and is also home to the largest number of musical genres, including Indie Rock (also called Independent Rock), Grime and Drum & Bass.

From the classical world, there are some fantastic pianists including:

• Alfred Brendel (Germany)
• Jan Lisiecki (Polish-Canadian)
• Olga Schepa (German-Russian)
• Krystian Zimerman (Poland)
• Radu Lupu (Romania)
• Maria João Pires (Portuguese-Swiss)
• Daumants Liepins (Latvia)
• Isata Kanneh-Mason (UK)
• Arthur Rubenstein (Poland)
• Daniel Barenboim (Germany).

And from the world of jazz:

• Alexander Hawkins (UK)
• Eve Risser (France)
• Elias Stemeseder (Austria)
• Joachim Kühn, (Germany)
• Enrico Pieranunzi (Italy)
• Jacky Terrasson (Germany)
• Vladan Mijatovic (Serbia)
• Adam Makowicz (Poland)
• Leszek Mozdzer (Poland)
• Marco Marconi (Italy)

… to name but a few.

Hélène Grimaud was born in 1969, in Aix-en-Provence, France. As a child she “was often agitated” but at the age of 7, she discovered a love for the piano. At the age of 13, she was offered a place at the Paris Conservatory and at 16 she won 1^st prize for her recording of Rachmaninoff at a piano competition there. When she plays she experiences an altered state of consciousness call synesthesia where one physical sense blends into another. In Grimaud’s case, she sees music as colour.

In 1987 she launched her professional career with a debut recital in Tokyo and during the same year, she was invited to perform with the Orchestra de Paris under famous conductor Daniel Barenboim.

Alice Sara Ott was born in 1988 to German-Japanese parents. At the age of 3, she was taken to a classical music concert and it was then that she decided to be a pianist. She realised that "music was the language that goes much beyond any words". She began lessons at the age of 4, and a year later she reached the final stage of a youth competition in Munich.

When she was 7 she won the Jugend Musiziert competition in Germany and in 2002 she was the youngest finalist at the Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition in Japan, where she won the Most Promising Artist award. In 2004 she won first prize at the Pianello Val Tidone Competition in Italy.

Sunna Gunnlaugs is an Icelandic Jazz pianist and the release of her album ‘Mindful’ in 2000 was chosen as one of the Top Ten albums of the year by The Washington Post.

Gunnlaugs was born in 1970 and grew up near Reykjavik. She began learning the organ after being encouraged by her mother. "The idea of playing the piano didn't appeal to me as a kid. I associated it with classical pianists who seemed to have no fun. But on the organ you could play anything, the Beatles, polkas, Strauss and that seemed like more fun." Then as a teenager, she was given a Bill Evans trio record called You’re Gonna Hear From Me and her love of jazz was born.

In 1993 she moved the USA to study and develop her improvising and composing skills. After graduating in 1996 she moved to Brooklyn, New York and recorded her debut album Far, Far Away with her trio. Over the next few years, she expanded to a quartet and released a 2 further albums: Mindful, and Songs from Iceland.