Discuss the characteristics of the so-called style galant with appropriate musical examples
4. Discuss the characteristics of the so-called style galant with appropriate musical examples.
In the common practice of Western classical music, there are four periods, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century and modern. Music is classified into different periods because of their different music style. In the Classical period, one of the most significant music styles was style galant, which will be discussed below.
During the third quarter of the 18th century, style galant become a popular music style (Heartz, 2003). At that time, music was composed in a light and elegant style, being a great contrast with the serious music style back in the Baroque period (Gjerdingen, 2007). The differences were that music was a lot simpler, the most recognising characteristic was the change of texture. According to Levy (1982), homophonic texture was the most common texture at that time. A lot of works were composed homophony, a lot of Haydn and Mozart’s sonatas can be listed as examples. Baroque music was in polyphonic texture and counterpoint (Owen, 1992). Compare to the polyphonic texture in Baroque, music was having less restrictions. For example, Scarlatti's Fugue in G minor “The Cat Fugue”, Kp.30 (L.499), there was strict rules about counterpoint and voices imitation. But in Classical period, music was simpler. Melody was focused, led by one voice only, rather than many, which were imitating each other or having their own melodic lines.
In homophonic texture, accompaniment was less important, and less complicated. Take Mozart’s piano sonata in A minor, K.310 as an example, melody was played in the upper part and the lower part was playing simple accompaniment such as repeating chords and broken chords. To compare, J.S.Bach’s Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV827, the accompaniment had its own melody line, not only providing harmony and written in contrapuntal. Moreover, chords used were also simple, mainly tonic and dominant chords (Chaplin, 1998). Also, the
In the common practice of Western classical music, there are four periods, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century and modern. Music is classified into different periods because of their different music style. In the Classical period, one of the most significant music styles was style galant, which will be discussed below.
During the third quarter of the 18th century, style galant become a popular music style (Heartz, 2003). At that time, music was composed in a light and elegant style, being a great contrast with the serious music style back in the Baroque period (Gjerdingen, 2007). The differences were that music was a lot simpler, the most recognising characteristic was the change of texture. According to Levy (1982), homophonic texture was the most common texture at that time. A lot of works were composed homophony, a lot of Haydn and Mozart’s sonatas can be listed as examples. Baroque music was in polyphonic texture and counterpoint (Owen, 1992). Compare to the polyphonic texture in Baroque, music was having less restrictions. For example, Scarlatti's Fugue in G minor “The Cat Fugue”, Kp.30 (L.499), there was strict rules about counterpoint and voices imitation. But in Classical period, music was simpler. Melody was focused, led by one voice only, rather than many, which were imitating each other or having their own melodic lines.
In homophonic texture, accompaniment was less important, and less complicated. Take Mozart’s piano sonata in A minor, K.310 as an example, melody was played in the upper part and the lower part was playing simple accompaniment such as repeating chords and broken chords. To compare, J.S.Bach’s Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV827, the accompaniment had its own melody line, not only providing harmony and written in contrapuntal. Moreover, chords used were also simple, mainly tonic and dominant chords (Chaplin, 1998). Also, the