History of Classical Music in the Western World Quiz

Answer: Impossible to state with certainty

It's very difficult to give a definite answer to a question of this nature because of the length of time involved, and the contributing factor of the decay of any instruments which may have been made. What is known, however, is that archaeologists working in Germany and Ireland where early man was known to have lived, discovered instruments made of bone and wood.

The German find was made from the bone of a vulture's wing, had a wedge inserted into one end (an early mouthpiece) and had five holes drilled along its side.

In Ireland, archaeologists discovered several wooden pipes, which were once strapped together to form a very early pan pipe. Both these finds are absolutely amazing. It seems primitive man wasn't quite so primitive after all.

Answer: David

The psalms of course are snatches of song and the word "Psalm" is believed to mean "Songs sung to a harp". Some of the very first mentions of David, long before he became King of Israel, were of his musical skills. In particular he was skilled at the harp, which he played when called to soothe the erratic outbursts of King Saul. The Bible is coloured everywhere with beautiful descriptions of the different instruments choirs and groups of singers used to make music.

Several thousand years ago, groups were also making simple harmonies with their voices and instruments which shows their high level of musical sophistication.

Answer: The Sumerians

Early Sumerians were the first peoples to have invented what we recognise today as writing, with their cuneiform structures for symbols and sounds.

The ancient form of music which was written down in cuneiform consisted of major thirds, which would have produced exquisite harmonies. The octave was also "discovered" in the form of the diatonic scale with its intervals of tone, tone, semi-tone, tone, tone, tone, semi-tone. This has been the basic scale of all western music since, with all other scales developing from it.

Early Sumerians were the first peoples to have invented what we recognise today as writing, with their cuneiform structures for symbols and sounds.

Answer: Suppression by the church

The church played a huge part in controlling and maintaining viable societies during this time. It was a hugely difficult period in the history of the European world, with the onset of invasions by savage tribes from the north and east, the fall of the Roman Empire, and with no efficiently functioning form of government to step into the void thus caused. The complete destruction of society throughout Europe was a very real possibility.

Love or hate what the early church did, it was the one organisation that stepped forward into this void and took charge in what could perhaps be described as a protective dictatorship. Country boundaries were established and protected, centres for the sick and poor were set up, records were maintained, unbending laws were instigated, rigid routines for daily life, and early forms of education began for a small few. Everything, in fact, that a society needed to continue functioning was put into place, and maintained under the all seeing eye of the church. The price paid of course was suppression of many freedoms, including suppression of all but church music for the most part. However, folk music, though not written down, continued to develop and grow on the side. Just as rock and roll would do two thousands years later.

Answer: Gregorian Chants

Named for Pope Gregory I, the monophonic liturgical music of the Gregorian chant celebrated the Mass and other religious ceremonies of the time. Pope Gregory, head of the church from 590 to 604, is believed to be the force behind the simplification of church music, and its cataloguing into sections for each particular period of the church year.

Church choirs, from the mighty and overwhelming to the smaller groups, also played a major role in the music from this period of time, where different voices now began to sing multi-harmonies against the main melodies, thus ushering in musical polyphony. Motets, discants, conductus and clausulae abounded, and with many of course, rather beautiful in nature. Though never with men and women singing together. Either choirs of monks and boys sang during the services, or groups of women, usually nuns, sang sweetly from the seclusion of their convents. I did read, when I was studying music, that some of those early monks were awfully (and amusingly) disrespectful. From the safety of the choir, which was usually on a smaller floor above the heads of the congregation, they were known to drip candle wax down onto the heads of the worshiping parishioners below.

Outside the church by now, secular music was also developing further. Bands of troubadours catered to the aristocracy, while the lower classes, the poor and the peasants were entertained by wandering bands of minstrels, with much of their courtly and romantic music corresponding to the poetry of the time.

Answer: The invention of printing

The simple discovery of printing allowed sheets of beautiful music to be spread far and wide and made accessible to everyone.

Renaissance music is a huge area to cover in a question. Highlights from the Renaissance musical era include clear, easy to sing, melodies and easier harmonies, both of which could be applied to both sacred and secular singing. It also saw the further development of the Mass, motets, chanson, and, perhaps more than any other, the musical form that symbolises this era - the madrigal. This was sung unaccompanied, with beautiful harmonies for two to eight singers. There's some exquisite ones around still.

Orchestration also developed, as did ornamented music for instruments, apart from voice. The two now followed two paths, each equally important. A form of the guitar began to develop, Protestant chorales gradually took over from Catholic Gregorian chants, and German composers raced to the fore with their compositions for organ. The first operas also began to be written with their beautiful songs and music. Then there was the early form of the piano as well, an instrument which would eventually develop from the harpsichord and clavichord, and which would come to fruition in the next musical era.

Answer: Johann Sebastian Bach

Baroque music was complex and ornamented, and had a heavy emphasis on organ music in particular. Though I don't care for it myself, devotees of the history of music throughout the world usually love this period of music, which ranged from the beginning of the 17th century until the mid 18th.

Advances from this era include the sophistication of counterpoint, secular music coming more and more to the fore, and the development of music forms such as the sonata and the concerto. It also saw the development of the figured base and its close relationship with the basso continuo.

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart is several quizzes in his own right. The man was utterly, utterly astonishing, a genius whose like we have never seen before or since. In his all too, bitterly short, lifetime, he gave the world a breathtaking array of compositions in every form and for almost every instrument ever designed, and gave us operas, concertos, symphonies - everything. He was a colossus.

And he has come to symbolise what is known as the Classical period in music, a term that today, is mistakenly applied to all eras of music. The Classical era gave us innovations such as an even greater divergence between individual compositions for instrument alone - and those providing the background to the beautiful voices of the singers. It gave us advances in the sonata, symphony and concerto, operas now being produced in the native tongue of their composers, instead of the traditional language of Italian, a country which had seen the birth of opera. It saw the emergence of other fine composers such as Joseph Haydn (who actually taught Beethoven when he came along) and other brilliant and memorable composers, and, as that era closed, it handed the baton on to Beethoven and Franz Schubert who would both lead the world into the era of Romantic music.

Answer: Franz Peter Schubert

Schubert lived from 1797 and died in 1828. He gave the world nine symphonies, operas, incidental music, chamber and piano solos as well as the 600 lieder. It is, however, for those exquisite lieder that he is most cherished. Interestingly, Schubert was a torchbearer at Beethoven's funeral, a composer he admired wholeheartedly, and is actually buried next to the great composer as well. Music of the Romantic era became more expressive, emotional and passionate as it attempted to bring to the fore all the deeper emotions experienced in the human condition, the striving for higher ideals, and the search for individualism. It also became more complex and difficult to play, as found in the works of composers such as Beethoven and Wagner. Both these gentlemen experimented with increasingly difficult chordal progressions, modulations and forms.

Other great composers from the Romantic era in music included Hector Berlioz, Mahler, poor old Robert Schumann (who went insane), Brahms, the magnificent Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Liszt, Dvorak, Sibelius, the equally magnificent Chopin whose music can break your heart, and a host of others. It was one of the most prolific eras of music ever experienced, with songs and music of exquisite beauty which are both a delight and an honour to play - and to sing.

Answer: Giacomo Puccini

Obviously I'm referring to classical music and not rock and roll and so forth when we speak about the Modern era of classical music, though that too has its niche in the history of music. Rock and roll etc is to modern classical music, as secular music was to sacred music.

"Tosca" made its debut in Rome on the 14 January, 1900. It's a breathtaking and overwhelmingly passionate love story and if you ever get a chance to see it in your lifetime, you should indeed.

The 20th century gave us magnificent works from composers such as Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss, Puccini, Edward Elgar, Debussy, Mahler, Aaron Copland, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Leonard Bernstein, Rogers and Hammerstein, and even Andrew Lloyd Webber. Music, aided by innovations in technology, made its way into films, radio, video, television, internet, and clubs, in addition to its traditional home on the concert hall stage, church, theatre, and parlor.

And so music continues to evolve and change and develop, as fluid as water, and perhaps just as necessity to mankind as that fluid itself. It gives us joy, happiness and consolation, whatever form it takes - and I salute all those thousands of people throughout time who have devoted their lives to its production.