MUSIC, HISTORY OF: THE TONAL ERA AND AFTER

The tonal era and after: 1600 to the present The beginning of the 17th century was one of the most dramatic turning points in the history of music, even more so than the beginning of the Ars Nova and almost as revolutionary as the beginning of the 20th century. The winds of change had been felt several decades earlier, and the establishment of the new style required several decades after the turn of the century, but the year 1600 saw the performance of several works destined to change the course of music. The Baroque era Originally used in a derogatory sense of referring to something bizarre, degenerate, and abnormal, the term Baroque gradually acquired a positive connotation for the grandiose, dramatic, energetic spirit in art that prevailed during the period from about 1600 to about 1750. The new spirit required a vastly expanded musical vocabulary, and a rapid evolution of new techniques occurred, particularly in vocal music. Two distinct musical styles were recognized. One, the prima prattica (or stile antico), was the universal style of the 16th century, the culmination of two centuries of adherence to Flemish models. The other, called seconda prattica, or stile moderno, referred to the new theatrical style emanating from Italy. The expanded vocabulary allowed for a clearer distinction between sacred and secular music as well as between vocal and instrumental idioms, and national differences became more pronounced. The tonal organization of music evolved also, as the medieval modes that had previously served as the basis of melody and harmony were gradually replaced, during the 17th century, by the system of tonality dominating Western music until about 1900: a system based on contrasting keys, or sets of interrelated notes and chords deriving from a major or minor scale. Viewing the period as a whole, two additional innovations most clearly distinguish it from the preceding Renaissance: concertato, or the contrast, combination, and alternation of voices and instruments, and basso continuo (thorough bass, figured bass), an accompaniment consisting of a low-pitched instrument, such as a violoncello or a bassoon, combined with a keyboard instrument or lute capable of harmonic elaboration.