While I wait to have a good idea for a new Music 101 post—and remember, ask me your questions about music and I'll answer them!—it seems a good time to start getting into some of the preliminary research I'm doing for my dissertation. I'm in the proposal stage, so what I'm doing now is reviewing... Continue Reading →
The L’Homme Arme Tradition
L'Homme arme is one of the best known songs of the Renaissance. BBC Radio did a documentary about it called "The Smash Hit of 1453," alluding to the date Constantinople was seized by the Ottoman Turks. (1) It is a short, catchy song about how one must fear the man at arms. In the context... Continue Reading →
Wrapping up Notation, Moving into Dissertation
Greetings, music enthusiasts! I took my exams and since then I've been hard at work on a dissertation prospectus, which is almost done. I've done a lot of reading, so I figured I might begin sharing some of my work toward my dissertation. Let's tie up some loose ends first, and then we'll mosey on.... Continue Reading →
Music 101: A History of Notation (part 2)
In part 1 of this history of notation, we covered the earliest medieval notation up to the birth of mensural (measured) notation, c. 1260. In part 2, we'll proceed through the development of mensural notation, up to about 1400. The 14th century has the most challenging repertory in Western history, barring some of the most... Continue Reading →
Music 101: A History of Notation (part 1)
I'm in the midst of preparing for my comprehensive exams (the last hurdle before dissertation writing), and that brings us to today's topic: the history of notation! You will not need to be able to read music in order to follow, but, it goes without saying that we're going to be talking about a lot... Continue Reading →
Music 101: How is Music Written?
Much as life finds a way on Isla Nublar, so life finds a way in New York. A way of hurling surprises at you, at any rate. (I wonder: would a velociraptor epidemic be less traumatizing than a bed bug one?) Maintaining this poor old blog has simply not been possible over the last year,... Continue Reading →
The oldest music in the world
I got two similar questions -- "What is the oldest composition I know of," and "What is the earliest form of music and which civilization was the first to use it as a form of entertainment?" Unfortunately, both of these questions are difficult to answer, because of the ephemeral nature of music and the inevitable... Continue Reading →
Katarina von Sporken
Violent Brain Fever 