Instrumental Music Through the Eras

Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.

During the Renaissance Era musical instruments were used primarily to accompany dance. The most famous court dance style in the Renaissance Era was the basse danse, where couples would gracefully and quietly move across the dance floor. The couples used a gliding motion as they gracefully moved across the floor. This style was popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Another famous style is the Calata, a 16th century Italian line dance in the measure of 3/4. With this style, couples would move across the floor using quick and elaborate movements. The last style which will be covered in our program is the ronde, also famous in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, the ronde took place outdoors and participants moved in a circular pattern.

There are two pieces in our Renaissance Era musical feature this evening, the first by Pierre Phalèse called Passamezzo d'Italye - Reprise – Gaillarde. Phalèse began as a bookseller in 1545 and not long after he set up a publishing house. By 1575 he had around 189 music books. Much of his work was devoted to sacred music but there was a small amount of Flemish songs and instrumental works. Phalèse borrowed work from many composers and did not hesitate to include other composer’s music in his works. The sec...

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...cal and romantic eras. He is one of the most well-known composers of all time. By the last decade of his life, Beethoven was almost completely deaf. He gave up conducing and peforming for audiences, and instead took to composing.

That brings us to the last segment of our concert, the Modern Era. Traditoinal musical instruments in the modern period have not changed nearly as much as they have in the 18th and 19th centuries. There have been gradual iterations of musical instruments within the 1900’s, such as updates to the violin family. There were many new instruments created in the Modern Era, all of which focused around electricity. This evening’s selections do not include any such selections with electronic instruments; however, there are arrangements available for the electric instruments such as the organ, keyboard or syntehsizer, or electric guitar.