Biographies of musicians of the primitive, non-harmonic, period in the Britannica are: Terpander, 7th century B.C.; Pythagoras, 6th century B.C.; Aristoxenus, 4th century; Alypius, 3rd century B.C.; Aristides, Quintilianus, 3rd century.
HARMONIC ORIGINS
The Greeks found that by doubling the melody at the octave a greater sonority resulted. It was a great step from this to the discovery that two separate tunes could be combined which should be satisfying to the ear. With this discovery modern harmony may be said to have begun.
| Subject | Article |
|---|---|
| Awakening of the harmonic sense. | Music (Vol. 19, p. 74); Harmony (Vol. 13, p. 1). |
| The Grecian modes modified into the ecclesiastical by Ambrose in the 4th century. | Plain Song (Vol. 21, p. 705); see also Ambrose (Vol. 1, p. 798), and Gregory (Vol. 12, p. 567). |
| Following Hucbald, “beatus Guido inventor musicae” in the 11th century, invents names for the notes and improves system of notation. | Guido of Arezzo (Vol. 12, p. 687); see also Hucbald (Vol. 13, p. 847). |
| The Troubadour becomes a learned musician in the 13th century. | Adam de la Hale, 13th century (Vol. 1, p. 171); Machaut (Vol. 17, p. 233). |
| After Dunstable of England and Dufay of the Netherlands had invented counterpoint comes the first great composer, heralding the advent of the “Golden Age.” | Des Prés, Josquin (Vol. 8, p. 103); see also Binchois, Egidius (Vol. 3, p. 948). |
THE GOLDEN AGE
The First Great Climax
Composers were not long content with the simple combination of two tunes. They soon found that three tunes so treated afforded a yet richer texture, and the extension to the elaborate polyphony of 16th century choral music was an inevitable step. An elaborate system of prohibitions, based on the limitations of the human voice, and the difficulty of attacking certain intervals, shackled the composer at every turn and formed the basis of theories of counterpoint which endured almost to our time. Despite the restrictions imposed by their rules, the structure raised by the great composers of the first half of the 16th century was of amazing richness and complexity.
| Subject of Reading | Article |
|---|---|
| The Riot of Choral Polyphony in the 16th century. | Music, The Golden Age (Vol. 19, p. 75); see also Harmony (Vol. 13, p. 2); Instrumentation, Vocal Styles of 16th Century (Vol. 14, p. 651). |
| Musical forms brought to great perfection in this period those in which texture holds first place. | Contrapuntal Forms, Canonic Forms and Devices, Counterpoint on a Canto Fermo (Vol. 7, p. 42); see also Mass, Polyphonic Masses (Vol. 17, p. 849); Madrigal (Vol. 17, p. 295); Motet (Vol. 18, p. 905). |
| Leaders of musical thought in the “Golden Age.” | Lasso, Orlando (Vol. 16, p. 237); Tallis, T. (Vol. 26, p. 377); Palestrina (Vol. 20, p. 627). |
Composer of the Golden Age
Composers of the “Golden Age,” following the polyphonic tradition of the early 16th century, biographies of whom appear in the Britannica, are: Netherlandish: Arcadelt, Jacob, 1514–1556; Lasso, Orlando, c. 1530–1594; German: Finck, Hermann, 1527–1558; Eccard, Johann, 1553–1611; Aichinger, Gregor, leader of Reformation church music, c. 1565–1628; French: Goudimel, C., c. 1510–1572; English: Wilbye, John, 16th century, famous for his madrigals; Merbeck, John, d. 1585; Bennett, John, d.c. 1614; Bateson, T., d. 1630, a composer of madrigals; Tallis, T., c. 1515–1585, “father of English cathedral music”; Farrant, R., c. 1530–1581; Byrd, Wm., 1543–1623; Morley, T., 1557–1603; Gibbons, Orlando, 1583–1625; Italian: Animuccia, Giovanni, c. 1490–1571; Zarlino, Gioseffo, 1517–1590, fixed the diatonic scale as now accepted; Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da, 1526–1594; Banchiere, Adriano, c. 1557–1634, fought against monodist revolt—see below; Anerio (brothers), c. 1560–1620; Artusi, G. M., 16th century, opposed Monteverdi’s innovations—see below; Spanish: Victoria, Tommasso L. da, c. 1540–1613.