THE CONCEPT OF STYLE:
Style may be defined as the characteristic way an artwork is presented. We distinguish between the style of a novel and that of an essay, between the style of a cathedral and that of a palace. The word may also indicate the creator´s personal manner of expression- the distinctive flavour that sets one artist apart from all others. Thus we speak of the literary style of Cervantes or Shakespeare, the painting style of Picasso o Goya, the musical style of Bach or Mozart. We often identify style with nationality, as when we refer to French, Italian or German style; or with an entire culture, as when we cantrast a western musical style with one of China, India, or some other region.
MUSICAL STYLES IN HISTORY
The arts change from one age to the next, and each historical period has its own stylistic characteristics. No matter how greatly the artists, writers and composers of a particular era may vary in personality and outlook, when seen in the perspective of time, they turn out to have certain qualities in common. Because of this, we can tell at once that a work of art –weather music, poetry, painting, sculpture, or architecture- dates from the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, from the eighteen century or the nineteenth. The style of a period, then, is the total art language of all its artists as they react to the artistic, political, economic, religious, and philosophical forces that shape their environment. We will find that a knowledge of historical styles will help us place a musical work within the context (time and place) in which it was created.
Scholars always disagree to define precisely when one style period ends and the next begins. Each period leads by imperceptible degrees into de following one; dates and labels are merely convenient signposts. The outline below shows the generally accepted style periods in the history of Western music. Each represents a conception of form and technique, an ideal of beauty, a manner of expression and performance attuned to the cultural climate of the period –in a word, a style!
400-1450: Middle Ages
400-600: Early Christian Period
600-850: Early Middle Ages- Gregorian chant
850-1150: Romanesque period- development of polyphony.
1150-1450: Late Middle Ages (Gothic Period)
1450-1600: Renaissance period.
1600-1750: Baroque period.
1750-1800 Classical period.
1800-1900: Romantic period.
1900-2000: Twentieth century
-Impressionism
-Expressionism
-New Classicism
-Jazz
-Rock.
-Others