/r/musichistory

Photograph via snooOG

A place for the discussion of musical history, from Enheduanna to Led Zeppelin, feel free to discuss any important aspects of musical history!

A place for the discussion of music history, the history of theory, and anything else music history related! Feel free to post articles, ask questions, or raise discussions!

Also be sure to check out /r/BattlePaintings for historical art!

Check out /r/inceptions to see how a lot of things got started, including some music!

A History Network Member

/r/musichistory

4,243 Subscribers

0

Hip Hop {Fan Favorite Re-drop #13}

0 Comments
2024/09/20
14:30 UTC

4

Cabaret Card Law in NYC

0 Comments
2024/09/15
23:25 UTC

0

Beyoncé Comic Book

Beyoncé’s Comic Book Biography - http://www.comicbookandmoviereviews.com/2024/09/beyonce-five-page-preview.html #beyonce #comicbook #biography #story #art #music

0 Comments
2024/09/13
18:21 UTC

6

Who was the composer that made a dictator look silly with one of his symphonies?

I heard a story once about a composer that had to work for a dictator and he had to make the army look good when they marched around.

The composer's music was always checked by censors working for the government, but they couldn't hear what it sounded like until it was played.

So the composer wrote something that got past the censors, but when it was played for the troops marching around, it sounded like a circus instead of something that made the government look good.

Who was the composer, who was the dictator, and which symphony was it?

3 Comments
2024/09/13
14:01 UTC

3

What is this style of notation called?

So I saw this in the queue at Tokyo Disneyland and immediately noticed that it wasn't the modern western style we know today. But it looks more advanced than mensural notion so I was wondering if anyone here recognizes it.

5 Comments
2024/09/13
08:03 UTC

4

How true of a statement is it to say that the Beatles are the founders of modern pop and the most influential rock band of all time?

11 Comments
2024/09/07
02:17 UTC

1

What is the significance of the tritone to heavy metal?

The tritone is something that has been used in rock and the blues for a very long time before the advent of heavy metal in the late 60s and early 70s but I keep seeing people use Black Sabbath’s self titled song from their first album of the same name as a definitive turning point that officially gave it a characteristic sound and I can’t help but wonder why if it isn’t new, is it the way it’s used and emphasized or is there something more to it what makes heavy metals use of the tritone unique from other forms of rock blues at the time which also used it?

9 Comments
2024/09/07
02:13 UTC

6

I made a podcast in the history of The California Punk Scene, 1976 to 1994, please take a listen

The history of the Californian Punk Scene from 1976 to 1994; covering the early LA punk scene, the beginnings of hardcore, the influence of hardcore on metal, ska and funk, Westbeach Recorders, Epitaph Records, Gilman Street, Lookout Records and the rise of punk to mainstream pop culture

7 Comments
2024/09/06
14:01 UTC

2

When did epic-orchestral-library-type trailer music become a thing?

At what time did this genre start being so popular? It almost feels like an epidemic nowadays, seemingly endless hordes of generic sounding songs with the ever-same formula by the usual few suspects: 2WEI, Audiomachine, X-Ray Dog etc…

0 Comments
2024/09/05
08:39 UTC

2

Trying to chronologically order music for study... in desperate need of assistance

I took AP Music Theory in high school, and wanted to continue down that track by learning more theory and composing. My piano teacher recommend that I study up on my music history in order to better understand the evolution to more modern sounds as well as where those ideas originally came from. I did some surface level research, but got lost around the true "classical" period. I attatched what I have so far.

As you can see, when I got to classical I just started putting composers I would like to include in my study. Also on my list are:

Liszt
Handel
Scarlatti
Bartok
Brahms
Ravel
Prokofiev
Schoenberg
Alban Berg
Rachmaninoff

If anyone could be of any assisstance, I would be extremely greatful. Thank you all !!

0 Comments
2024/09/05
02:09 UTC

3

Some people pine for a time long passed when classical music was embrace and beloved by a large segment of the population, but did that time ever exist?

It's the common adage of a generation to exclaim that the younger generation just doesn't get it; that their artistic values pale in comparison to the past. But I wonder, as a distinct percentage of the population, how many people listened and valued classical music compared to today?

7 Comments
2024/09/02
15:48 UTC

0

What was the deal with Serge Gainsboug?

Today was the first time I heard about the singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and decided to read his wiki page because his music was so beautiful and his life was clearly full of rich musical history. I was SHOCKED while reading his page to see that he was clearly a predatory figure towards a lot of young woman during his career, including his own daughter. I'll recap: He wrote a song about oral sex for an 18 year old singer that trusted him and seemingly led her to believe the song was innocently only about lollipops, she would later say that she felt "betrayed by the adults around me." He was 18 years older than one of his long-term partners and had written music that he had her sing to which essentially had her simulate an orgasm in the sound-booth. There's also the very misogynistic comments he's made over the years but the worst of it has to be the stuff with his daughter. I can't imagine an artist today writing/directing a music video/film about the incestuous relationship between a father and daughter then casting HIMSELF and his OWN DAUGHTER in it and then go on to continue to become more and more successful because the song was actually really catchy. And this is what really made me feel sick was how all of the his controversies are seemingly overshadowed by his career successes. The outrage you would expect wasn't anywhere to be found until I started a deep dive on the subject. Hell, there are people (myself included) that would liken his antics to pedophilia and child abuse, and yet 2 months ago they named a Paris metro station after him. How does something like this happen? Were the times really that different? I would like to hear what you guys have to say about this.

3 Comments
2024/08/30
23:13 UTC

1

How true of a statement is it to say that Johann Sebastian Bach is the founder of modern music as we know it?

19 Comments
2024/08/29
14:54 UTC

8

r/EarlyMusic is back!

0 Comments
2024/08/27
10:56 UTC

2

History question… hmm…?

Ummm… I’m curious here. I have done plenty of research that always leads to dead ends. Someone asked me, almost in the form of a riddle but there are no tricks it’s just a plain question, “Which composer played viola in his hometown orchestra at age 14 to help his family?” Google leads me to Schubert, but I can’t find anything about playing in a local orchestra I only find that he played viola WITH his family quartet at a similar age. Anyone know what the asker was getting at?

1 Comment
2024/08/24
05:34 UTC

4

Donahue - June 13, 1990 w/ Luther Campbell (2 Live Crew), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Wendy O Williams (Plasmatics), Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies)

0 Comments
2024/08/19
16:22 UTC

2

“Accidentals”

Can anyone point me towards the etymology (?) of how chromatic alteration markings came to be collectively known as “accidentals” in English (and, I suppose, German)? In many languages they’re known as “alterations” which makes sense. I’ve read several music history books, the New Grove article, and Wikipedia; I’m familiar with how the markings and the practice came about. I’m interested in specifically the English term “accidental.” Thanks!

1 Comment
2024/08/17
03:41 UTC

0

Potential misconduct by JS Bach? 🫢

I read in a biography that he would often take “young girls” up to the choir loft alone, and enjoyed having young female students in private in general.

EDIT it has been debunked, it was misinformation authored by people who wanna destroy culture and used an out of context translation. Me-Too of historical figures. It’s very real now.

He also had far more children than the average person of the time, even compared to people of the same income, and he wasn’t necessarily wealthy from what I understand. And half of those children died.

EDIT Chat GPT: “Johann Sebastian Bach had a notably large family by the standards of his time. He fathered 20 children, though not all survived to adulthood. This was relatively unusual compared to many of his contemporaries, who typically had fewer children.”

40 Comments
2024/08/15
08:14 UTC

5

Is there anything such as "russian style guitar"?

I didn't know if this was the proper place to ask this, but I guess my question fits the art history category.

I'm an amateur guitar player and I have a knack for fingerstyle guitar, so I'm always on the lookout for good songs of that kind to learn.

I don't consciously go after russian songs, however, but it just seems like most of the fingerstyle songs that grab my attention are russian. It seems to me like they have something that alludes to waltz, but it's of course possible that my sample's skewed.

I think of army songs like Полюшко поле (Polyushko polye) and Катюша (Katyusha) and classical songs like Shostakovich's Waltz no. 2. They have something in common that I just can't put my finger on it and say what it is.

Am I seeking patterns that just aren't there? If not, does this have a name? I tried looking for that online but I couldn't find keywords.

4 Comments
2024/08/13
13:40 UTC

3

Do you have to take regular history classes in order to get a degree in music history?

Just like art history, the classes for music history seem to be in a section separate from regular history courses in the college pamphlet for this years' offerings from the university. Music history stuff is listed under the music majors instead of the history section.

So is it safe to assume that just like art history, you don't need to take regular history classes in order to get a degree in music history? That its considered a completely different major and field of study from what we deem as history? So for someone interested, they wouldn't have to take courses on World War 2 and the American Civil War and write 20 page essays for a World History finals assignment? That basically a music history major would simply study all completely about music history in addition to music theory and other credits required for a music major and don't have to take unrelated specialized classes that history majors often have to do outside of their chosen specialty like a US history major taking classes on Latin America in the 19th century or someone intending to become a historian on Islamic history having to take read books about the entire known existence of the Aboriginal pople in Australia?

3 Comments
2024/08/04
07:27 UTC

7

Why didn't DVDs replace CDs as storage for music?

As I shift through multiple discs of the Ultimate Elvis Collection because I'm testing the album (which arrived a few days ago), its a bit annoying have to change discs through multiple listens rather than one smooth play-through. The entire collection is less than 4 GB so it can easily fit on one DVD.

So it makes me wonder..... Why didn't DVD ever replace CDs as a storage medium for music? Sure DVDs were expensive early on but they gradually got so cheap that by 2003 that you can already purchase $1 movies at dollar stores and Walmarts from companies like Digiview who made put old movie sand cartoon episodes on discs for the general public. So I'm really surprised DVD releases for albums never became a thing considering a 9 year old can easily buy episodes of Felix the Cat on DVD from somesmall company for $1.

2 Comments
2024/07/27
20:58 UTC

4

History of folk instruments

Can anyone recommend resources that talk about the history of the construction of folk instruments?

Who was building hurdy gurdies in rural France that kept them alive for the aristocracy to discover in the 18th century? Who was building fiddles and bajoes for musicians in rural areas or the American south? Who kept the art of building nyckelharpas alive in Sweden. I vaguely recall reading somewhere of farmers in Northern Europe building instruments with scraps they had lying around in the cold dark winters. The charango was built in the rural Andes from armadillo shells. What about the duduk?

These instruments were never destined for concert halls. What do we know about them and their makers for the last few centuries? What books/papers/publications have dug into this?

1 Comment
2024/07/25
23:41 UTC

4

Was there any music pre 1900 that sounded fairly modern?

10 Comments
2024/07/25
17:04 UTC

2

what was the historical role of the guitar as a folk instrument (pre 20th century)?

hello id like to ask about the history of the guitar as an instrument played by common people.

im aware of rough history of the 6 string guitars spread, originating in the late 1700s in spain, and being helped along the way to popularisation by the french revolution and ensuing napoleonic war (and the mass continental tourism in its wake) which had people and soldiers adopt the guitar as a portable instrument, particularly in the case of England who's only foothold was portugal, then spain leading to cultural exchange. the guitar like its sort of cultural predecessor citterns and cistres was seen as a less serious instrument (though it still had its great composers) and was not gendered or tied to the upper or lower classes.

and yet i cant find many books or papers (i do have access to academic articles) about the history, culture or music of the guitar as a folk instrument, im particularly interested in the uk but would massively appreciate any information on the topic.

id love to know more about the culture and playing styles (i think of just strumming chords as primarily a 20th century development but i dont know if that's historically accurate)

thank you :)

2 Comments
2024/07/23
21:16 UTC

4

Nationalism and Composition

Hey folks, I had a thought about the way that music may have been written differently in the main European powerhouses of music production in the 19th-20th centuries, specifically France, Germany, Russia, and Italy. Most dynamic and stylistic markings in music seem to be originating from the Italian language, but as we know, nationalism ran rampant in Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries, and this obviously influenced composers as well. A good example I can think of is the National Society of Music in France, which was established during the Franco-Prussian war in order to elevate French composers into mainstream status.

My question is this: did this nationalism inspire composers to abandon the use of Italian markings in music in favor of the native language (French, German, Russian), or were these markings kept due to tradition? To my knowledge, I've never encountered music with German markings and have only ever seen a few French ones, and definitely never any Russian markings. Thoughts?

0 Comments
2024/07/17
19:28 UTC

6

David Byrne and the context with which we create art

1 Comment
2024/07/16
17:59 UTC

0

That particular alt-rock infused hop hip made by white dudes with hangovers in the mid 90s. I call it Dude Hop

0 Comments
2024/07/12
20:53 UTC

6

Are there other musicians like Bradley Nowell who never knew they were successful?

It seems like a unique occurrence because of the absolutely terrible timing of his death.

3 Comments
2024/07/10
05:32 UTC

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