Music Period (History)

male vocal singing, unaccompanied;

single melodic line, or combination of single melodic lines;

fluid tempo, seeming absence of rhythm; and,

Latin text.

foreign text (Italian/Latin);

inclusion of stringed instruments, harpsichord;

monody, single melodic line with choral accompaniment;

solo and choral singing, unaccompanied and accompanied; and

stringed accompaniment without vibrato, both modal and pre-tonal harmony.

tonality established, for example, abundance of very clear triads, seventh

chords, diminished seventh chords;

continuo (harpsichord) present, almost always accompanying string instruments;

abundance of polyphony, often dense musical textures; and,

occasional use of brass and timpani.

simplification of ornamentation (simple turns);

tonality 'simplified'; lesser dense textures;

often symmetrical phrasing; clearly stated incomplete and complete cadences

non-English text if vocal; and,

harpsichord.

lush, full stringed section in orchestra;

thicker harmonic texture; expanded harmonic vocabulary;

expressive use of voice, accompanied by piano or orchestra; and,

estbablishment of instrumental music as primary mode of music performance.

The period since the Great War is undoubtedly the most bewildering of all, as composers have pulled in various apparently contradictory and opposing directions. Typical of the dilemma during the inter-war years, for example, were the Austrians, Webern and Lehar, the former was experimenting with the highly compressed and advanced form known as 'serial structure', while simultaneously Lehar was still indulging in an operetta style which would not have seemed out of place over half a century beforehand.