The Evolution Of Western Music
Music is the fine art of arranging musical sounds in harmony through the components of harmony, melody, pitch, tone, and rhythmic rhythm. It is also one of the most universal aesthetic aspects of human cultures. General definitions of music generally include common musical elements like rhythm, melody, tonal harmony, and timbral qualities of texture and timbre. Musical notation refers to a system by which the performers or listeners can keep track of where and when certain notes occur, the way it should be played, the names of the notes, and other parameters. This information is commonly used for teaching and for comparing two different compositions or for analyzing the nuances in sounds.
The term ‘classical music’ refers to a wide range of styles of music developed before 1500 that frequently include the forms and melodies of scales, modes, key signatures, and polyphonic harmony. Examples of classical music include Beethoven’s ” Ninth Symphony”, Mozart’s “Requiem”, and Jean Sibelius’ “Songs of Paradise”. While many classical composers wrote very meaningful works of music, others developed pieces with minimalism and structure that achieved less-than-perfect harmony and result in difficult listening. Examples of this include the work of fugues composed by Robert Rauschenberg or the relatively primitive ‘august’ melodies ofworks by Richard Wagner. While modernists such as Alexander Borodin and John Cage made significant contributions to and innovated on the basic concepts of this genre, the majority of contemporary classical music shares many of its characteristics with popular music.
With the exception of some late twentieth century Russian avant-garde artistic forms, most of Western music throughout the history of the West has been dominated by melodic or rhythmic harmony. Western music, in particular, has seen its greatest artistic expression in forms such as jazz, pop, folk, heavy metal, rock, rap, country, and classical music. While earlier works might have had major deviations from Western standards, such changes occurred over time as the music developed with the progression of time and changed as new musical cultures emerged.