Categories: Continue
      Date: Nov 13, 2008
     Title: The Importance of Music Appreciation In The Home part 1

As I sit and prepare to write for this issue, I am enveloped with the sound of Debussy as my son prepares for his upcoming piano competition. It’s funny, but our household is full of music all the time, yet I am often so busy “doing” music that I’m just not in the habit of appreciating what we “do”. My husband Lance will sit for hours transported into his musical haven. Joe, my son, will sit at the piano and glory in all that is pianistic; and my daughter Hannah is addicted to any music that comes from the 1930s. Yet, lately it’s not very often that I actually take the time to sit and revel in the glory of sound and all its wonders. So I guess this article falls in the line of “Physician, heal thyself.”    {$pullquote}

I remember well the first classical piece that touched my soul (actually it ripped my soul apart)—Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor. I think I was in sixth grade when my mother bought me the cassette tape. I felt as if I was transported to another time and place. I played it over and over again. The music expressed love, longing, despair, euphoria, and a depth of emotions I had never quite experienced at that young an age. Today I have many teenagers in my choir who claim to experience emotion when listening to their rock music. Yeah, sure. My mission is to open their ears to Monteverdi, Brahms, Mozart, and Poulenc. Now there’s some real emotional meat!

The most daunting sound in our quest for the perfect sound is…silence. Musically it makes the biggest statement. A rest in music is not actually a place to rest, but a place in which the music continues regardless of actual sound. In a past article (“Oh, Sing a New Song!”, Homeschooling Today, May/June 2007) I stated that silence is the best of all musical states. When we experience silence, we automatically listen a little closer, a little deeper, and we might even expect something to happen. Silence can calm the spirit, soothe the soul, or stir expectation. It is in silence that we often hear God’s voice. It may be a quiet time, but there is so much happening! I believe that if we teach our children that old adage “silence is golden”, we actually will be preparing their ears and cleansing their palates to experience the rich sounds and textures of music. That is why when we enter our church, pre-service silence is a time to prepare the heart and mind for worship. When we enter a symphonic theatre or concert hall, silence is also a time for preparation, a cleansing of the palate for what is about to transpire. In focusing attention on listening, don’t underestimate the importance of silence. It is a powerful tool.

The next best thing is to actually experience the sound of music. My musical taste is not necessarily that of my family. I love Bach, but my husband would sooner have his teeth pulled out than to sit through a Bach concert. We are both accomplished musicians and have had extensive training in music history, theory, and composition. Yet we have very different musical palates. We’ve formed definite opinions about what we like due to our exposure to all kinds of venues. I like choral music, and he loves opera. But the only way for a family to actually discern their taste is to dig a little deeper and discover all different genres and maybe even a little history behind the music. Basically, there are five major musical eras that have very definite feels and tastes: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classic, and Modern periods. Let’s take our shovels and scrape the surface of what’s out there to explore.

There are hundreds of different kinds of musical styles, but the eras most common to today’s musicians come from the European continent beginning with the Medieval period. This era takes place from the year 475 through 1400. The majority of music recorded in this period is liturgical in nature, since the church was likely to have the funding for expensive parchment on which it was written. Medieval music is basic in nature, featuring Gregorian chant (one line of music), and two part music written in intervals of fourths and fifths. For those who revel in liturgical roots, medieval music can be uplifting— especially when one hears Gregorian chant in a grand cathedral. It is truly awe-inspiring!

The Renaissance era is noted to be approximately 1400 through 1600, and in many ways its music sounds very similar to music of the Medieval time period. Although the church still reigned supreme in recording musical notation, there was a diversion to more secular works as well. Renaissance music ushered in the development of the madrigal as a common choral work, using many voice parts coming together to create a more difficult, yet perfectly crafted piece. Many madrigals sang of love, life, and the pursuit of earthly happiness. Excellent examples of choral, vocal, and instrumental Medieval and Renaissance music can be heard here: www.homeschooltoday.com

Baroque music, which ranges from approximately 1600 to 1750, is more widely known and more common to the average classical listener. In this period we find more household names such as J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel (of the famous work, The Messiah). The actual meaning of the word “Baroque” is “irregular pearl” which is a fitting name for this era. Music is done on a grand scale with larger orchestras and choirs. We also see the introduction of opera as a more common musical venue. Works were much more complex than ever before. I have found a terrific source for some sample baroque music listening. If you like what you hear, you can purchase the piece for continued enjoyment. www.Homeschooltoday.com

As we move on in our historical quest for beautiful music, we can’t dismiss the Classical period. Oh I know, you thought it was all classical music, but there’s actually an era in musical history called the “Classic Period”. Music in this category ranges from roughly 1750 to 1820 and we get to composers such as Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. Many love this era because the melodies are simple and easy to distinguish, even though the orchestras continue to grow larger. One might call it the “easy listening” of the music eras. There is a great site you might want to visit with your children called “Classics for Kids”, which features all of the above composers’ works and more.

And then for those adventurous sorts, we usher in music of the twentieth century. I don’t mean the pop drivel that somehow makes its way to radios, but music in which modern composers continue to reach beyond the norm of our musical boundaries and explore uncharted territory. Music of the twentieth century causes the listener to think in more abstract terms and sometimes challenges our senses. Often it includes technology and synthesized sounds not common previously to the classical music scene. From this we get our jazz, blues, and modern-day sounds (including rock ‘n roll).

As you venture through the musical history in your quest for the ultimate listening experience, remember that sometimes what you hear at first might not interest you right off the bat. It might be that a little more “digging” into more examples would make the genre grow on you. Many times I will introduce a piece to my students and they don’t appreciate the music at all… at first! But after living with the music for a while, they really learn to love the piece, the composer, and the style of the music, and hunger for more. Keep yourself open to new sounds and different kinds of music. You’ll find it’s absolutely worth the endeavor.

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