Tillsonburg District High School - Tatler Yearbook (Tillsonburg, Ontario Canada)

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The cultivation of modern music as an art was begun by the mediaeval priests of the Roman Catholic Church, in en- deavoring to arrange a Liturgy for their service. It is owing to this fact that for several centuries the chief artistic music was that of the church. In the beginning the Chants of the Christian Church, from which the mediaeval chant developed, were without system. The Psalms were chanted responsively by priest and congregation. There was no fixed system in the church until its various branches were unified by Constantine C306-337 A.D.J under whom art and architecture began to serve the church. With the Middle Ages there came a great awakening along the lines of re- ligious music. Singing of hymns was in- troduced by Ambrosius in the 4th century. At first popular melodies were adapted to German words. In England composers took the form of the motet and wrote their music to English words. Thus arose the Anthem By decree of Elizabeth in 1559, the anthem became an essential part of the Anglican ritual. In Germany, Bach's predecessors devel- oped the anthem into the Church Can- tata. Independent of church services arose the Oratorio. Catholic composers originated this form in 1575, and German and English Protestant masters adopted it. Aside from Church Music a vast deal of influence was brought to bear on the future of secular music by the Trouba- dours, who were wandering minstrels who chanted the stories and legends of the people and their times. These were the first to cultivate music from a pure love of the art. In the theoretical school, music was an accessory to the church, but with these minstrels of the people, it was used as a means of earning a livelihood. In the ninth and twelfth centuries there appeared for the first time what is known as part music. Instrumental music was enriched by the rapid development of stringed instruments, organs, and other keyboard instruments. We have today, however, no existing examples of any instrumental music of that period. In the tenth century, came the innovation of calling notes by the first seven letters of the alphabet, as it is done today. The most flourishing period was that between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. During that time much was done in developing counterpoint, the art of placing 46 notes in music so as to indicate the harmony of parts. The hundred years between 1600 and 1700 was the century of reforms. The old habit of over-elaborating was laid aside and a return was made to the simpler style of the Greeks. Music and poetry were given an equal importance side by side. Then came what is known as the Classical Period between the years 1700 and 1827. Here music reached the highest point of perfection in its history. In general terms Classical Music, like Classical Literature, is that which has been recognized by the ages as of the best and highest class. Thus, in common accepta- tion, ClG,S8'IlCl1.l is the antithesis of popular. Under Classical Music may be included symphonies, symphonic poems, overtures, and other best recognized forms of com- position of the masters. In its stricter sense, a classical pro- duction is one that has stood the test of be acknowledged time, and has come to by students and teachers of the art of music as a model of purity of style and form, and most worthy of emulation. In the modern world Bach stands out promi- nently as one of the greatest exponents of Classical Music. The Sonata may be looked upon as one of the most important forms of classical composition. The Symphony is only a sonata written for the orchestra, and in this sonata form are found some of the grandest, most inspired and inspiring works of the masters. It includes also chamber music, such as trios, quartettes and quintettes, for strings, or for piano and strings. Even symphonic poems and overtures, consisting of but one piece. are looked upon by musicians as simply differ- ent expressions of the idea summed up in the word Sonata. There are many compositions written today, which in the course of years may become the Classics because of their purity of form, universality of idea and permanent value to the musical art. Aside from Bach, there are many works of other masters which have stood these tests. Among them are a number of Beethoven's Symphonies, Sonatas and chamber music, also various compositions of Gluck, Mozart, Handel and Brahms. The present period Ci.e. from about 18301 is known as the Romantic Period. The tendency of these times is for tone- paintingng in other words, making music THE TATLER

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x THE HISTORY OF MUSIC by Richard Jones, XIA Senior Oraforicnl Confcst Prize-W'i11.ni1lg Sp0CCh Mr. Kirkwood, honourable judges, ladies and gentlemen: is there anyone here who can honestly say he dislikes music? I doubt it, for everyone has a certain appreciation of that art. Therefore, I should like to present briefly The History of Music. Music is regarded as one of the Fine Arts. To the regret of the student, re- search only reveals the obscurity in which its early history is shrouded. In the works of ancient writers are to be found incidental comments on music, but from them no definite knowledge may be ob- tained with regard to the character of music itself. Upon the monuments of ancient Egypt are discovered harps, lutes and other musical instruments, together with groups of musicians, evidently sing- ing, however crude the performance may have been. Whether harmony was known to the ancients is still an unsettled question with historians. Many incline to the belief that the stringed instruments, as well'as the double pipes blown by one mouthpiece, evidence a certain degree of harmonic perception. Pythagoras, the noted Greek theorist who lived around 600 B.C., origi- nated the notion of the Music of the Spheres , which was supposed to be the sound given out by the heavenly bodies as they passed one another in space, a sound so delicate as to be inaudible to the human ear. In Greece. too, we find Ter- pander of Lesbos C670 B.C.J, who invented the stringed citharag Olympus, who intro- duced the art of fiute-playing, an accom- nlishment much practiced in Greece: and Tyrtaeus, who was the ancestor of the modern troubadour or minstrel. While the Egyptians appeared to have enjoyed the music of their solo instruments alone, the Greeks preferred vocal music, using their instruments as accompaniments to the voice, or to a chorus of voices. In the ability of the flute players of Greece, how- ever, originated their ruin, for the tests in which they competed resulted in the sacrifice of their musicianship to technical feats alone. Given over to the military spirit, Rome had no love for the gentler art of music until Nero gave it an impetus by affecting a high regard for its charm. Greek slaves, as singers and players, were employed by THE TATLER the Romans, an evidence of the small re- gard in which the latter held the art. It was not until the fourth century, when Ambrose formulated the then existent scales into the Authentic Modes that the definite history of music begins. From that time until the present day, a central idea in its progress is discernible to those who follow its development. With Rome's decay, all the beauties of mythology and of the classics became dimmed. For a long period the hope of the progress of humanity was indeed dark. As the Christian Era dawned, there came a new factor in human progress and civil- ization, at first feeble in its influences, and slow in working out its mission. To none of the refined arts was the inculcation of the new religion destined to give more sympathetic or higher impulse than to the art of music. In early Judaism the Psalms of David offered the chief themes for sacred music. From the very earliest days music has played an important part in the religious cult of all nations. In the Catacombs of Rome, the early Christians chanted, in secret, their hymns of sorrow, in memory of St. Cecelia, the patron saint of music. Then, music was not only important as an essential part of worship, but it was the consolation of captives and the persecuted. R . Z Mr. D. F. Gibson, K.C., R. Jones. 45

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to represent distinct phases of emotion, even actual scenes and events. Today, one may observe on the programme of an orchestral concert a complete story of the composition to be perf0I'm6d, HUG SVGFY detail of that story will be represented either in the instrumental combinations of the orchestra, or brought vividly before the imagination by the music. .Instru- mental composers are today working out freer forms, so that the barriers to the imagination which existed in the older styles of music are now removed. Chief among the illustrious names of this period are Weber, Schubert, Schu- mann, Mendelssohn, Liszt. Brahms, Chopin, Rubinstein, Grieg, Tschaikowsky, Wagner and Strauss. In point of productiveness and number of talented composers, Russia at the present time stands foremost among the nations of Europe. In closing, I should like to say some- thing for popular music. In general terms, the popular music is that which makes an easy appeal to the masses. There can be no definition of popular music that will apply equally to the music of all nation- alities, for the reason that standards of taste differ in various countries. In Italy, the home of melody, the peasant and his family will know complete arias from the grand operas by heart, and hear much of the music of the masters with a critical appreciation. In Germany, intelligence with respect to music has had its influence in populariz- ing the works of great composers. Music is one of the fundamental subjects taught in the public schools. America's musical development is not in keeping with her advance in other spheres. This general want of taste in music may be partially accounted for by the fact that there are few folk songs, loved because of universal familiarity. Considered typical of American popular music are Negro spirituals and various forms and degrees of jazz. Jazz had its beginnings in the low surroundings of the Southern States and for many years it was frowned upon by America's concert- going public. Probably the most important figure in American music was George Gershwin, who raised jazz to a level worthy of Carnegie Hall and the Metro- politan Opera House, through his Rhap- sody in Blue, his jazz concertos and his folk opera Porgy and Bess. Already Gershwin's works have gained immense THE TATLER popularity and are regularly performed by leading concert artists. As he said himself jazz uses the same notes as Bach used and even Bach's was at one time con- sidered popular musicf' It is evident that in the course of years jazz compositions will be numbered among the great classics of the world. K-.J' 1 H. Foreman, M. Scanlan, A. Gerhurdt, M. Stilwell, B. Leatherdale. I sq-ro S' E EB 1 Q! EE' mu Y 'A' M., jim l-looru-,!Hz's Luilelins us anew .sels.,l., ' nqso L .. 53' IQ, L, 3. fi R llfgglzy HQ,5 .diff Guifcfinj! by A. Budra, XA 47