History of Music: a brief history from prehistoric origins to today

Music and science are more closely related than we can imagine. In fact, Music is science from a technical point of view as regards the structure of music theory. Art for all aspects concerning the uniqueness and emotionality of the individual who performs it and of the listener. Put simply, how many of us can say that we have never been excited by listening to a certain song or melody? I believe none. Here, this is beyond any technical definition, Music. Unique emotion, vibration, magic.

Music is everywhere: in arithmetic, in metaphysics, in nature. We are surrounded by music even when we are not fully aware of it. Try to think about the early moments of your childhood. You certainly have no memory of facts or events that occurred when you were too young to remember. But I bet that if you close your eyes a whistle, a melody, something that acts as a common thread between the present and the first moments of your life enters your head.

History of music

The history of music is a branch of musicology and history that studies the chronological development of musical ideas and traditions belonging to different peoples. In particular, he deals with talking about Western-style art music. And this is why it is a widespread subject both in schools and universities around the world.

Studying the history of music is just as important as studying an instrument. In fact, his knowledge allows us to know how to place a musical style over time and therefore recognize it. In fact, everything you hear is the result of an evolution and the context in which it developed.

Sounds, melodies, grooves, current musical genres are by definition a consequence of the past. It is therefore deduced that knowing as much as possible the historical cultural context and the aesthetics in which a music has developed is fundamental for understanding the music itself.

When Bartolomeo Cristofori in the early 1700s conceived the first piano, capable of intervening on the dynamics of sound, he probably did not think about how this would completely revolutionize the approach to the entire Western musical language. Everything is a consequence of something else.

Think of the tragedy of the Second World War. So, at first glance, with the history of music it would seem to have little to do. Instead, the arrival of the Americans on European soil is one of the main causes of the musical revolution of the 50s and 60s.

In Italy, this changed the structure and the classical approach of bel canto of operatic derivation (Verdi, Rossini, Puccini, Donizetti). This music was in fact contaminated with swing, jazz, and rock’n’roll transforming it into the so-called light music better defined as modern.

Only the knowledge of history can help us understand the meaning and aesthetics of what we hear.

History of prehistoric music

Music, in fact, has very ancient origins and to find out more you have to take a leap into the past up to the distant Paleolithic. But where and especially when does the music come from? Sources attest to its existence starting at least 55,000 years ago with the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Some scholars speculate its birth in Africa, when the first known human communities began to spread across the globe.

The definition of the first musical forms are strictly connected to the definition that we want to give to the word Music. The first voluntary production of sounds by man, even if through the use of rudimentary instruments, dates back to the Paleolithic. If, on the other hand, you think of a more organized and theoretical system, then you have to wait for Ancient Greece.

The first finds both in bone and stone, interpreted as musical instruments, are for example the Magdalenian flasks of Roc de Mercamps or the Neolithic lithophones discovered in the vicinity of Dalat (Vietnam).

There is no direct or documented evidence about the ways of musical expression of prehistoric civilization. For this reason, some hypotheses can be formulated on the form assumed by primitive music by observing the behavior of some peoples whose development is similar to that of current prehistoric civilizations, such as the Brazilian Indians, the Australian aborigines or some African populations.

Birth of the Rhythm

From the study of some finds related to the History of Music , it can be assumed that the earliest forms of music were born from rhythm. For example, to imitate the beating heart, the rhythmic rhythm of running feet or gallop by clapping the hands or feet. Sometimes even altering spontaneous phonations for fun or boredom during a tiring and monotonous work in the fields. For this reason it is very likely that the first musical instruments were percussion instruments and presumably some variant of the drum.

In fact, one of the oldest instruments found is the slit drum. It is a hollow cylinder with a longitudinal slot along the external surface. It was played by striking the slot itself with the sticks. The oldest and most primitive versions found consist of a hollow trunk without a crack. By placing it transversely over a hole in the ground, it was played by hitting it with the feet.

History of Ancient Music

The music of antiquity, historically speaking, replaced prehistoric music in the different civilizations of ancient history. It refers to the various musical systems that were developed in various geographical regions such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, India and China. It is also found in vast basins of influence of the Mediterranean, such as the Greek and Roman ones.

The music of antiquity will lead to the development of the fundamental elements such as notes and scales.

The standard subdivision of music is based on historical, cultural and artistic eras. Let’s see them below.

Egyptian Music

It is said that the god Thot was the first to give music to men. By the ancient Egyptians he was considered god of the moon and of wisdom, of mathematics and geometry. This is what we have been able to deduce through the finds of the Egyptian civilization. Music in ancient Egypt in fact had a very important role. She was represented by a deity known by the name of HATOR, goddess of joy, music and dance.

Unlike the civilizations that preceded them, the Egyptians played a crucial role in the birth of musical instruments. In fact, the members of this civilization used real wind or percussion musical instruments. Among these we find the rattlesnakes, a type of battacio or castanets used mainly in religious dances. The sistrum, another characteristic instrument linked to Hator, the trumpet, the drums, the lute and the flute, sacred to Amon.

As you will surely have seen in graphic representations or films, the harp was also a tool widely used by the Egyptians. The latter is often characterized by a large harmonic case able to make the sweet sound of its strings resonate at best. However, stringed instruments are certainly not among the first to be used. In fact, the first instruments are percussion ones (sticks and clappers). These were followed by wind instruments (flute) and string instruments (lyre and zither). There are various Greek, Egyptian and Mesopotamian testimonies prior to the 11th century BC regarding the most used instruments.

The really interesting aspect related to the musical knowledge of this civilization is related to the theoretical part of music. The Egyptians in fact knew the intervals between sounds (fifths, fourths, octaves) and used them as bases for some systems of scales. The ethnomusicologist Sach, starting from a study on the tuning of harps, discovered that the Egyptians used both a descending pentatonic scale and a heptaphonic scale.

Oriental Music

When it comes to the History of Music, one cannot but think of Mesopotamia. The land bathed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and which gave rise to the East as we all know it today. Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Hittites. These are the peoples who inhabited it, and who had different artistic traditions. Music was certainly the most important of all.

Lyre harps, lutes, flutes and drums were the most used instruments. Their characteristics were very similar to those of neighboring cultures such as the African culture. The tools were mainly used to accompany sacred rituals especially in the Sumerian civilization. This information is known today thanks to the findings brought to light by excavations in the royal cemetery of Ur, a Sumerian city, and also thanks to the musical iconography that decorates all the architecture of early Mesopotamia.

In Ugarit, on the other hand, an ancient city in the Near East, now Ras Shamra in Syria, the oldest examples of Hurrian music dating back to around 1400 BC have been found among some ancient texts.

Greek Music

Surely you have studied some Greek myth at least once in your life. Or at least you’ve heard of it. Well, in fact there are a lot of those told and handed down, from which we can deduce the extraordinary importance of music for this people. Music, in fact, was considered an all-round art that also included poetry, dance, medicine and magical practices.

Not everyone could practice Music. The Aedi and the Rhapsodes were the privileged elite who could play. In fact, they were those who sang the myths accompanying themselves with an instrument in order to pass on the music orally. Therefore, in the History of Music, there are not many finds of musical writing, an exclusive heritage of professionals.

Something changed during the classical period, we are talking about the period that goes from the sixth to the fourth century BC. In this era, in fact, music was introduced into the educational system, facilitating its dissemination. Also in the classical period the tragedy developed which was one of the first forms of theatrical representation.

Generally they sang the exploits of literary myths played by almost always male actors. These wore a mask and recited dialogues to two or more people accompanied by a choir. The actors performed on stage in front of the audience sitting on a semicircular staircase, a sort of arena so to speak.

What tools were used most by the Greeks? Well, among the best known are the lira or zither and the aulos. The strings of the lyre were plucked using a pick. The aulos, on the other hand, was a wind instrument sacred to the god Dionysus. The Greeks did not use only stringed or wind instruments, but also percussion instruments such as cymbals better known as cymbals and drums.

Mathematical Music and Philosophy

So far we have associated Music with Arithmetic, Metaphysics and Nature but what do you think of philosophy? Do you know that there is a real branch of philosophy that has as its object the study of music? If I have intrigued you then you are in the right place.

The philosophy of music has as its object of study music understood both as a science and as an art. An abstract and non-visual art which, however, has its own profound meaning that can also influence the spirit and behavior of the listener. It can also be considered an aspect of aesthetics, that is, that sector of philosophy that deals with knowledge, natural or artistic beauty. Music as an art poses some particular problems to aesthetics with ethical and social connections, including:

• What is the definition of Music?
• How can meaning be produced in music?
• What is the nature of musical beauty?
• What is the relationship between text and music?
• How is it possible to distinguish between form and content in musical expression?
• How is society reflected in musical art?
• Which component of music is intrinsic and which is cultural?
• In what sense is music a formative means of spirituality and human behavior?

Surely I cannot answer all these questions below, also because each of them undoubtedly deserves a dedicated article that allows you to plumb in depth the true meaning of this wonderful discipline. However, this demonstrates the many facets of the History of Music and how vast this topic is to explore and rich in content.

Music and Mathematics

Have you ever wondered what the relationship between Music and Mathematics is? In this article on the History of Music you can find out. Edouard Herriot says: “Music is a sonorous mathematics. Mathematics a Silent Music “. Let’s try to reflect … maybe he’s not completely wrong.

The Greeks were the first to approach Music to Mathematics and for this you have to thank the genius of Pythagoras. Do you still have school reminiscences of the famous Pythagorean tables, or philosophical tables of thought and the Pythagorean school? Very good! Pythagoras also thought of associating Music with the movement of the planets and thus understood that it too was governed by precise mathematical laws.

So, he took his intuition and demonstrated it using the monochord. He therefore discovered that if a string produced a sound of a certain pitch, to obtain a sound of an octave higher it was necessary to vibrate only half of the string. To get the fifth, however, it was enough to vibrate two thirds of the string and so on. Spectacular right?

The Greek Music System: What Kind of Notation Was It Based on

The Greek music system was based on the tetrachord. If you know a little of this language you will immediately understand that tetra means “FOUR” and cordo means “ROPE”. Hence, tetrachord indicates a system based on four strings.

Why exactly four strings? The Greeks used the lyre, as I wrote above, an instrument played with a plectrum like our guitar and, between the highest and lowest string there was an interval of the perfect fourth. The two intermediate strings were mobile, that is, tuned differently. This allowed the performance of always different melodies.

Following the traces of the History of Music, we discover that in Greek music there were three types of tetrachord. The classification was based on the different width of the three existing intervals between the strings:

Diatonic : A diatonic tetrachord is exactly half of a whole tetrachord. In simple terms it is an interval formed by two pitch intervals and a semitone.

Chromatic : A chromatic tetrachord has a range that is larger than half of the entire tetrachord. The other two intervals are one semitone each.

Enharmonic : An enharmonic tetrachord has a range that is larger than 4/5 of a tetrachord. In short, it corresponds to an interval of a major third. While the other two intervals are quarter tones.

These therefore are the series of intervals that can occur in the succession of the four strings forming the tetrachord. Thus, the tetrachord represents in Greek music what is called the octave in Modern music.

The scales built on chromatic and enharmonic tetrachords are still used in oriental music and in India. In Europe, however, they remain only in some types of popular music. The scale built on two diatonic tetrachords is the one used throughout the Western world.

Educational Function of Music from Prehistory to Today

The Greeks were one of the first civilizations to give music an educational significance. In fact, they considered it an art capable of enriching people’s souls. Plato, a famous Greek philosopher, dedicated a large space to Music in his dialogues, considering it fundamental in the explanation of the laws on the harmony of the universe just as Pythagoras also said.

In the “Republic” and in the “Laws”, Plato affirms the importance of music as a model of organization in the educational process of the citizen. Not only that, but in his works he highlights the importance of including music in the education of young people. In fact, it had the power to enrich the human soul just as gymnastics strengthened the body.

Music had to be an obligatory presence in the life of every citizen, and it was thus that it became a subject of study.

In the “Symposium”, Plato began to approach the practice of music intended as rhythm and harmony with ethos intended as an educational function. The word ethos means “beginning”, “appearing”, but also “character” and “temperament”. It is therefore easy to understand how with this term the Greeks referred to the behavior / cultural character of a given population.

But what do laws, the state and ethos have to do with music? According to the doctrine of ethos, every mode, and I mean musical mode, is capable of positively or negatively influencing the soul of people. When I talk to you about modes I am referring, in Greek music and also in contemporary music, to a series of 8 descending scales to which a specific denomination was attributed. Thinking about the diatonic scale, there are 7 modes, each built on each degree of the scale. I will elaborate on the matter in a separate article.

The premise, however, was only necessary to say that, according to Plato, the modes of the Doric or Phrygian species have a positive effect on the soul of the people, while those of the Lydian species can disturb the rational equilibrium.

Aristotle further deepened the thought of Plato and held, unlike the latter, that all ways are for the benefit of the spirit. Indeed, he recognized four functions to Music: not only educational , but also of entertainment , of noble intellectual recreation and a therapeutic function, as capable of purifying the soul of dangerous and excessive emotions.

History of Roman Music

As the documents of the history of music teach us, in Roman civilization Music represented an important phenomenon from ancient times until the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. It was used for funerals as well as sacrifices to ward off negative influences. The song was an important part of many social functions. It was called Carmen and was sung according to the occasion even by children’s choirs.

Roman music is affected in various ways by the influence of the Greeks through the “contaminatio”. Music and theater, in fact, underwent an enormous transformation giving life to a tragic and comic theater at the same time, played in Latin but modeled on the Greek style.

In the first part of the Republican age the first forms of monodic and choral singing developed in Rome, of which however there are not many finds. What is known is that they were commonly called Palliate, from Pallio the dress worn by the Romans. The compositions mainly concerned sacral poems, convivial poems of an epic-historical topic and poems in honor of victorious generals also called carmina triumphalia. All these songs were always accompanied by an instrument widely used in Roman civilization, called the tibia.

In addition to the tibia, the Romans also used other tools made of metal. These were the circular shaped whelk, the lituus a sort of curved stick at the top and the straight-barreled bronze tuba. The spread of these instruments derives from the influence of Etruscan music combined with some indigenous performances such as the atellana and the fescennino.

Once Rome conquered Greece, it brought a large number of musicians, intellectuals, artists and philosophers to Italy. The entire Roman musical system was therefore conditioned by the Greek one. Rome mainly used the musical system, uses, forms and theory but gave a much more lively aspect to the performance of the pieces. The Romans, in fact, considered the musical show a moment of fun and conviviality rather than an educational moment.

Pieces were performed with large ensembles in which the presence of wind instruments must have been massive: tuba, buccina, lituus, tibia. Not only that, the hydraulic organ and various percussion instruments were also used. The shows were performed mainly in theaters and arenas and took the name of pantomimus: a sort of narrative ballet that combined expressive dance, instrumental music and sung libretto.

Chinese music

Following in the footsteps of the history of music, you can explore the origins of sound in all the most ancient civilizations. Now you will see how music was viewed and interpreted in Ancient China.

In this people the Music was already quite evolved both in the Zhou dynasty and in the ethnic minorities present in the Chinese territory.

The succession of dynasties has however brought a continuous evolution in the Chinese musical repertoire, creating a very rich repertoire that today belongs to the Chinese cultural panorama.

The tools used were divided into eight groups classified according to the material of construction: clay, stone, wood, bamboo, silk, metal, gourd and leather.

Medieval Music

Medieval music is characterized by two different strands: one sacred and one secular. The sacred one is better known as Gregorian chant, while the secular one is characterized by troubadours and troubadours. With the term Gregorian chant we mean the whole complex of music born during the Middle Ages within the church. This period extends from the origins of Christianity to the birth of polyphony. The Gregorian term is codified by Saint Gregory the Great who also founded the Cantorum school. This type of monodic vocal music spread very quickly in European countries, especially England, France, and Switzerland. Precisely in this country both preachers and sovereigns such as Charlemagne, for example, welcomed Gregorian chant to show their belonging to the Christian religion.

Alongside church music, and in antithesis to it, a popular musical genre was also born. It developed in particular in the early Middle Ages and unfortunately only indirect evidence of it is preserved. In fact, it was customary to improvise songs that generally accompanied daily activities, work, a battle, an important moment. Being improvised music, and not destined to last over time, there is evidence of it only through the texts of condemnation by the ecclesiastical world. This popular music was sung by acrobats, probably descendants of the histriones of the Latin world.

For the first time in the history of music, Latin begins to become the main language used for the song. An example are the Carmina Burana, a collection of goliardic songs in which Latin is already mixed with elements of the nascent vulgar languages. It is in this context that the profane songs were born and totally written in the vernacular. An example of this is those born in northern France in the language of oil and sung by the troubadours.

The main theme was no longer the divinity and its worship but the woman. The song expressed chivalrous homage to the woman, beyond the courteous manners of the time. They were spread by the acrobat, the jester or the minstrel who typically accompanied themselves with stringed instruments such as the zither.

A mixture of secular and religious character was the laude. Laudi are religious songs sung in the vernacular popular in Italy among the popular masses thanks to the poetry of the troubadours, Franciscanism and flagellant movements. Towards the end of the Middle Ages the first type of polyphonic music was born, of which we have examples in the form of counterpoints, ballads and madrigals.

Renaissance Music

When we talk about the Renaissance we mean the historical period between the end of the fourteenth and the first half of the fifteenth century. This was truly a happy time for the art of music. In fact, in 500 the arts and sciences had a real period of rebirth and renewal. Secular music, with L’ars Nova, had finally achieved its own dignity by freeing itself from a state of awe towards religious music. It was precisely in this historical period that vocal polyphony developed.

Italy itself in the Renaissance was at the center of major renovations regarding the history of music. The musicians, in fact, moved from one church to another, from one court to another, and brought with them ideas, fantasies and musical motifs. In several cities, real centers of musical activity developed.

How was the music expressed? There were no real songs as we understand them today. The most common musical forms were two: the madrigal and the frottola.

Baroque Music

The late Renaissance gave rise to the so-called Baroque music. In reality, the Baroque is not a real musical style, but a historical era that extends from about 1600 to 1750. In this period different musical trends developed which in jargon are defined as baroque. But only to place them in their developmental period.

Florence, Rome, Venice and Naples were the most important Italian cities for music during this period. The birth of  melodrama , a theatrical representation in which the characters do not speak, but sing accompanied by musical instruments, is due in particular to the Baroque era.

The melodrama was born in Florence from a group of intellectuals, the so-called  Florentine Camerata . These people used to gather at the residence of Count De Bardi. Melodrama is initially known as  recitar cantando .

Venice, on the other hand, is important for the birth of the theater. The first was inaugurated in 1637, the San Cassiano. This is how we move from private to paid public theater.

One of the most important musicians of this period was  Claudio Monteverdi , author of numerous madrigals and operas ( Orfeo ,  Arianna ,  The return of Ulysses to his homeland  and  The coronation of Poppea ).

The  Neapolitan school  was born and developed thanks to the conservatories of the city, in which many great composers and instrumentalists are trained. We begin to distinguish two types of melodrama: serious and funny. Among the great composers of the time there are Giovanni Pergolesi, Nicolò Piccini, Giovanni Paisiello, Domenico Cimarosa, Alessandro Scarlatti.

In the seventeenth century not only theater but also instrumental music developed in its various forms.

The big concert:  in which the concertino contrasts with the rest of the orchestra;

The solo concert:  a single instrument “dialogues” with the rest of the orchestra;

The fugue:  an instrumental form of accounting – imitative mainly for keyboard instruments;

Vivaldi, Haendel, Bach, are just some of the great composers who have left their mark in this historical period. A real prelude to the history of classical music as we know it today.

Classical Music

In the history of music , classical music or classical period or classical period is the music composed in the period of musical classicism from the second half of the eighteenth century, up to the years immediately following the Congress of Vienna.

With the term classical music, we also mean the  musical genre  that includes different classical musical currents. By extension it can be said that the genre of classical music includes cultured, sacred and secular music, composed or having roots in the context of Western culture from the 11th century to the present.

According to composer and conductor  Leonard Bernstein , classical music would be the exact music, as it is written exactly as it is to be performed.

So what is classical music? First of all, it is a definition of the market that after the invention of musical media needed to define musical genres to direct listeners to the consumption of records. In the collective imagination, on the other hand, it is a genre of ancient works played by orchestras or orchestral ensembles that belong to a more or less distant past. If we look at the musical language, on the other hand, classical music is a set of forms and styles that from 1500 go up to the present day.

Classicism is the musical period that extends from 1750 to 1820. The main exponents of the period are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart together with Franz Joseph Haydn. Ludwig van Beethoven follows the pianist and composer most in demand in Vienna. During the Romantic period (1815-1910) the inspiration came from the nature and history of their country. Niccolò Paganini, Franz Schubert, Fryderyk Chopin, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, George Bizet and Richard Strauss define the era of continuous exploration.

Romantic Music

In the first half of the nineteenth century a new cultural movement spread in Europe: Romanticism. This took the place of the Enlightenment, a movement in which reason was central and free thought was exalted. The thought of Romanticism changes according to the nations in which it develops, and more than as a way of life it manifests itself as ” a way of feeling “.

This definition already suggests how things were changing radically. The feeling that prevails over reason leaves free rein to feelings, emotions and therefore pass me the term more “passionate” and less reasoned to a music.

Musicians became free artists and sought to enrich themselves by publishing their works written on commission. They did not have to submit to the orders of the nobles thus becoming free to express their feelings and their thoughts. But having no protection from any noble, many musicians ended up in misery along with their families. In the second half of the century a new type of music was spread, much more danceable and popular, which was practiced in the “concert cafes”, where comic actors almost always performed.

Italian instrumental music did not have much importance if not only for  Nicolò Paganini  who was one of the greatest violin virtuosos of all time. The inclusion of the piano as the main instrument radically changed the way of composing music because, especially in Germany, numerous composers such as Franz Liszt, Robert Shumann, Fran Schuber, began to compose magnificent works for this new instrument. The first romantic exponent in France was Hector Berlioz who was then followed by Fryderik Chopin, a Pole by birth who, however, spent almost his entire life in Paris.

The apex of romanticism is touched by the greatness of the composer Richard Wagner, author of a new conception of opera as a combination of poetry, theater, music and art (musical drama). Popular music becomes fundamental in Antonin Dvorak’s compositions while Claude Debussy focuses on pieces that evoke dreamy moods and moods up to contemporary musicians who continue to innovate the so-called classical genre.

Modern Music

The term Modern Music indicates the cultured music composed in the first half of the twentieth century. Historically it is placed between Romantic music and contemporary music. Therefore it is not difficult to understand how very different composers are enclosed in this period of time. These are Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Leoš Janáček, the Group of Six, Igor ‘Fëdorovič Stravinskij, Béla Bartók, George Enescu, Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, the Second School of Vienna and Jean Sibelius.

The forerunners of this movement were undoubtedly Wagner in the second half of the 19th century together with Brahms and Debussy. Each of these artists, in fact, has brought something new in the compositions that have made history. The first stands out for the harmonic complexity of his works, the second for the formal richness, while the third for the new harmonic, melodic and rhythmic concepts.

Continuing the speech of Wagner and Brahms are Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. In this way a line of continuity is formed between German Romanticism and the Second School of Vienna. Its most prominent exponents are: Arnold Schonberg and his pupils Alban Berg and Anton Webern. The introduction of stylistic elements of considerable importance such as atonality and dodecaphony are attributed to this school.

Parallel to the ongoing reflection in the German world on harmony and the tonal system, new trends are developing in Italy, France and America. Futurist thought increasingly insinuates itself into the musical experiences of the time, bringing changes and reflections. The influence of Igor ‘Stravinskij and Béla Bartók on the new generations will be fundamental, both for the revolutionary concepts of rhythm exhibited in  the Spring Festival of  the first, and for the acquisition of the popular musical heritage to the cultured music in the entire production of the second. .

Contemporary Music

In the history of music,  contemporary classical music, or more simply  contemporary music, is the music composed from the end of the Second World War to today. It can be considered as a genre of cultured music, in turn divided into different sub-genres and currents that have developed from the 40s to the present day, in search of ways outside the tonal system in use in the West since the seventeenth. century.

It has its roots in romantic music, to which it contrasts, and in modern music of the early twentieth century (atonality, twelve-tone, Second Vienna school, etc.), of which it constitutes a development.

Numerous specialized festivals are dedicated to contemporary music, such as the Donaueschingen Contemporary Music Festival, the concert season of the InterContemporain Ensemble, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the  Wien Modern review, the  Oslo Ultima Festival  , the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Sydney Symphony Contemporary Music Festival, the International Society for Contemporary Music ( SIMC ) Festival, the  Venice Music  Biennale, the   Forlì Italian Contemporary Music Festival , the  Milano Musica  and  Traiettorie  di Parma reviews, the Pontino Festival  in Latina, the  Tempo Reale festival  in Florence and the  Nuovi Spazi Musicali festival  originally from Rome, recently moved to Ascoli Piceno.

History of Music – Conclusion

The history of classical and modern music does not speak only of musical language but provides the tools to understand the evolution of man within society. From the primordial forms of organized noises to today’s rap songs, sounds are not a simple phenomenon of perception but are intimately part of human nature from a cultural, social and economic point of view.

The history of music, before that of musical genres, deals with the set of events that each historical period has gone through at the level of musical methodologies, sensitivity, ideas and technological progress. From a supernatural conception of sounds to aesthetic awareness, notes and harmonies flow parallel to new instruments and listening methods, up to the current possibility of using computers and smartphones to produce songs or listen to millions of songs in streaming.

The History of Music is a rich, vast and fascinating subject. We would have to discuss for days and days without ever getting tired of learning. Because studying the history of music means studying our origins and understanding the world around us. But, to start learning more about this topic and more, I warmly invite you to read my book on music with the utmost attention.