The Hamlyn Hitory of Classical Music

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Part I : The Origin of Western Music
Music has formed an important play of human life since the earliest recorded history. There are many theories about how it began : as a means of communication , as an accompaniment to religious ceremonies ỏ to the rhythmical pattern of work in the fields , or as an adjunct to singing and dancing and other social activities . Music played a significant role in the early civilisations of the Indian subcontinent and China . However , the origins of Western music are to be found in Mesopotamia in the fourth millenium BC.

3500BC-200AD
The earliest civilisation began in the fertile land beyond the shore of the eastern Me***erranean about 3500BC with the foundation of the Sumerian city-states . Music appears to have had an important role in the lives of the Sumerian people from the very earliest times . Illustrations on lay tablets from around 2800BC depict a three-stringed harp . Later examples have 6 or 7 strings of equal importance was the lyre and there are many representations on cylinder seals of lyres . The only other instruments from this early period were simple percussion ones. Religious was a dominat force in Sumerican society and music was chiefly associated with the worship -proffesional musicans sang and played in temples . There is also -during the Akadian period , evidence of the use of antiphonal music , in which two groups sang alternate parts . From about 2350 BC , Sumer came under t he rule of a succession ò powerful dynasties but its culture was to have a profound influence on later civilisations of the region . The Babylonians introduced a smaller , more portable lyre and the angled harp , an instrument resembling a lute , drums of various sizes and a variety of wind instruments . The Assyrians were also renowned for their use of music as an accompaniment to festive occassions and celebrations . Reliefs show muicans , both men and women , playing instruments -including double-pipes -frame drums harps and trumpets. The new peoples who conquered Mesopotamia absorded the musical tra***ions of those before them and introduced their own . Yet during a period of 3000 years , it remained primarily a religious activity .

The Egyptian contribution .
Civilisation in Egypt began 500 years after the founding of Sumer . Reliefs , paintings and illustrations on pottery and utensils provide a precise description of the types of musical instruments employed and their evolution . During the period of the Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC) musicans were depicted playing harps and flutes to accompany the chanting of priests , and also for dancing . The period of the MIddle KIngdom (2050-1750BC) saw refinement of instruments and introduction of new ones ., notably the sistrum , a kind of rattle , and cylindrical drum . The New Kingdom (1550-1050BC) witnessed a remarkable expansion of Egyptian power , and was an era of cultural achivement in which music played an important part . New forms of harps and lyre appeared and a lutelike stringed instrument was introđuce frrom Mesopotamia . Wallpaintings illustrate the variety of musical intruments available , including the trumpet . Music had an important role in religious ceremonies , but was alsso played at funerals and banquets , where female musicans were prominent . There is evidence of ensemble playing , with pictures depicting a singer . perhaps leading a group of instrumentalists using hand signals . This aid to performance seems to disappear later , suggesting the existênc of notation , although there is no conclusive evidence . The specifics of tuning systems and melodic patterns also remains mysterious . At the end of the New Kingdom Egypt bacame subject to foreign invasions , creating a climate in which the arts could no longer flourish .

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