Musical Innovations in Ancient Greece Essay

Submitted By kylekub
Words: 1287
Pages: 6
Open Document
Kyle Kubovcik
Music 411
Dr. Baumgartner
October 28, 2014
Musical Innovations in Ancient Greece A musical paradigm shift occurred during the Renaissance era. During this time contemporaries of the era developed a strong influence from the Ancient Greek civilization, specifically the ideal of humanism. Humanism gave a higher interest in people as valued individuals, signifying humans as creators rather than creations. Humanism is expressed in music by creating musical elements that promote expression and themes. During the Middle Ages, music was rather bland and was not relative to human emotion and interaction, this was due to the fact that music was composed for the worship of divine beings, not as an organized form of art. This piece will outline a number of Hellenic thoughts that led to the musical advancements in the Renaissance period going against the sacred outline of Medieval musical practice, as well as why there was a regression in music throughout the Dark Ages.
Previous civilizations had associated music with the gods. The Ancient Mesopotamians had utilized flutes and harps/lyres in the relation to religious rituals regarding Ea (the God of Wisdom and Freshwater), who was the patron god of all music. The god of love and war, Ishtar, was the patron god of singing and pipe playing. Alongside Ishtar, her husband Tammuz and Ramman – the storm god were regarded as patrons of singing and pipe playing (Green). Ancient Egypt and Asian cultures really tie into the Middle Eastern ideal of music being a spiritual entity to represent gods. The Ancient Egyptians credits the invention of music to their god, Thoth, who was the God of Knowledge, Hieroglyphs, and Wisdom. Whereas the music at this time was sacred in the sense of honoring specific deities, these did have a much different theoretical structure than the sacred pieces developed by the monks in the times of the upheaval in Christianity.
Jumping ahead a few years, the Ancient Greek culture really took music to be less of a divine entity and assimilated it into the culture of the citizens. This was when music took on a higher standard as it was combined with art, dance, literature, and poetry, which will be seen later. What makes it hard to identify how much music was utilized in this age is the lack of a true form of documentation. The printing press was the cornerstone of giving historical dating and significance, which the Ancient Greeks greatly predate. It is known that many of the musical practices were handed down orally and taught by ear, which creates a nightmare for musicologists to study the pattern of musical development. The Antiquity Era was the first time that music had developed into a true art form recognized by society – not a utilitarian medium to approach the supernatural. Music was an art that could be appreciated and equally studied. As seen previously, it has been discovered that previous civilizations had used music for various purposes, but the Ancient Greeks were the first people to adopt music as a true art form (Abrams). This was the first time that music was not only a form of art, but also a science. There were two main facets of science in this time – Trivium and Quadrivium. The Trivium was a systematic method of critical thinking, defined by grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Music was adopted as a part of the Quadrivium alongside arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy (Willmann). Both the Trivium and Quadrivium collectively made up the seven points of a liberal arts study. The Trivium was considered the lower tier and was taught first. After a mastering of the Trivium, The Quadrivium was introduced. The Quadrivium outlined the general curriculum that Pythagoras had established. Far before his deep research in mathematics, Pythagoras had a strong background in music and the contextual theory of harmonics that which explains how music works.
Aristotle had expanded upon the Pythagorean model, exposing music to be something much more than a medium
Show More

Related Documents: Musical Innovations in Ancient Greece Essay

HSight Singing Ear TrainingSolfeggio This Is Essay

HSight singing & Ear training（Solfeggio） This is a fundamental training course of music feeling. And this course has a professional name---Solfeggio which is an Italian name. It is a musical skill that a student must master. This course is a two-part course in which the student will acquire sight-singing and ear-training skills. Firstly, the purpose of sight singing is to practice our intonation of music, for instance, if I get a piece of song with five-line staff, I need to recognize the whole…

Words 3199 - Pages 13

The Birth of Civilization Essay

HUMANS AND THEIR CULTURE page 1 WHY IS “culture” considered a defining trait of human beings? EARLY CIVILIZATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO ABOUT 1000 B.C.E. page 5 HOW DID control over water resources influence early Middle Eastern civilizations? ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN EMPIRES page 14 HOW DID conquest and trade…

Words 18945 - Pages 76

Research OB Essay examples

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/china.htm ___ China, 中国 Destination China, a virtual travel guide to mainland China, the most populated country on earth, which in turn is also a controversial nation Background: For centuries China has stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the first half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines, civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists…

Words 4987 - Pages 20

Muslim Spain (711-1492) Essay

Over a thousand years ago, Europe experienced one of its greatest periods of cultural enlightenment.Islam in Spain has had a fundamental presence in the culture and history of the nation. The religion was present inmodern Spanish soil from 711 until 1492 under the rule of the Arabs and Moors of al-Andalus.Islamic Spain was a multi-cultural mix of the people of three great monotheistic religions: Muslims,Christians, and Jews.For more than three centuries in Medieval Spain, Muslims, Jews and Christians…

Words 8947 - Pages 36

Gp Essay Mainpoints

GP NOTES 2010 (ESSAY) Content Page 1. Media a. New vs. Traditional b. New: narcissistic? c. Government Censorship d. Profit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology…

Words 24667 - Pages 99