CONTENTS

Lesson 1

Classical Music and Architecture

A Historical Perspective
Baroque period (1600-1750)
Classical period (1750-1820)
Romantic period (1820-1900)

Lesson 2

Contemporary Music and Architecture

| Classical Music and Architecture |

Lesson 1
Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

Chapter of York Minster, England

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

All religions, arts and sciences are

branches of the same tree. All these
aspirations are directed toward ennobling
mans life, lifting it from the sphere of mere
physical existence and leading the
individual towards freedom.
Albert Einstein, scientist

Ronchamp Chapel, France,

Le Corbusier, 1954

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

Can you think of any examples of how different forms of

art relate to each other and to society?

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

The overlapping terrain of the arts

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective Chloe Lun

I call architecture frozen music.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
author

The Pantheon, Rome

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective Chloe Lun

Music
intangible and ephemeral
the most abstract of all art forms
Architecture
perhaps the least abstract
it plays a vital role in everyday life and can be experienced
with all the senses

The painted dome of St Pauls Cathedral,

London

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

Architecture
is experienced in time
- Architecture is just as abstract as music in that a
space can only be experienced in the moment
structural associations with mathematics
- A piece of music can be divided into a number of
movements of different tempos and rhythms, a
building is likewise structured by repeating elements
and proportional relationships.

Park Gell by Antonio Gaud,

Barcelona
| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

What music to fill a space with?

Play excerpts of the suggested pieces and discuss which piece is more
suitable for each of the places shown in the photos above.
What makes us associate a certain type of music with a certain type of
space?
| Classical Music and Architecture |Lesson 1 Classical Music and Architecture A Historical Perspective

Baroque Period (1600-1750):

Ornaments, theatricality &
formulation

An example of Baroque architecture:

Trevi Fountain, Rome

| Classical Music and Architecture |Lesson 1 Baroque Period

Renaissance (1400-1600)

began in Italy and spread across Europe from the 14th to

17th century
a comprehensive transformation of all aspects of society
including the arts, science, religion, economy and politics
the celebration of human potential and creativity

Courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi, Florence

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Renaissance architecture

Characteristics
Pure geometric forms
Relationship to human
Major building types
Palazzo (Italian palace, a large and imposing urban
residence)
Church

External faade of Palazzo Pitti, Florence

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Renaissance music
Characteristics
Polyphony
Vocal music was more important than instrumental music.
No extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone or rhythm. Calm,
harmonious and blended texture.
Church music and secular music
During the late Renaissance, the music evolved to become
Mannerist in style
Increased chromaticism, establishing the basis for the development
of Baroque music.
Musical instruments
Bowed strings: viol (similar to a cello), hurdy-gurdy (a mechanical
violin-like instrument with valves and a wheel)
Plucked strings: Lute
Wind / brass: trumpet, horn-pipe, recorder, shawm, bagpipe
Percussion: tambourine
| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 1 Baroque Period

External faade of Palazzo Pitti, Florence

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Baroque (1600-1750)

an era of calmness and rationality

Both music and architecture displayed elaborate
ornamentations and strong emotions
rejected the human-centred beliefs and harmonies of the
Renaissance
depict the conflicts between man and the environment.

The curved portico of St. Pauls Cathedral, London

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Baroque architecture
Characteristics
Architects treated buildings as sculptures covered with carved
decorations. Baroque buildings were colossal with bold masses
Buildings incorporated many visual arts like painting and sculpture
Visual illusions and play were popular
Theatrical lighting effects, and strong contrast between light and shadow
Use of oval shapes and creation of a sense of movement with curving
forms
Major building types
Church
Palace

St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City

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Baroque music
Characteristics
Development of the major-minor tonalities still in use today
Formation of the orchestra
Polyphony
One emotion throughout the piece
Sudden and strong contrasts rather than a gradual change in dynamics.
Major forms
Opera
Oratorio
Sonata
Prelude
Fugue
Concerto
Suite (a collection of music for dances)

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Baroque music
Important composers
G. F. Hndel (German-British)
J. S. Bach (German)
Antonio Vivaldi (Italian)
Musical instruments
Violin became a dominant instrument
Harpsichord
Organ

A harpsichord note the elaborate decorations,

small keyboard and the absence of pedals

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St Peters Basilica

St. Peters Basilica at Vatican City

in Rome was mostly designed by
Michelangelo in late Renaissance
style.
The oval-shaped piazza in front
was designed later, in the early
Baroque, by Bernini.

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St Peters Basilica
The dome

The oval-shaped piazza is an

example of how Baroque
architects played with optical
illusions.
As the width of the piazza is
shorter than its depth, a visitor
entering the piazza will
perceive it to be larger than it
really is.
This creates a dramatic,
overwhelming architectural
experience.

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Classical Period (1750-1820):

Balance and elegance

Lglise de la Madeleine (Madeleine Church), Paris

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Classical period:
music and architecture of the Age of Enlightenment

From the 18th century onwards, artists, musicians and architects began to
turn away from the excessive Rococo style and enter into the Classical period
The Classical period in music (1750-1820) roughly corresponded to
Neoclassicism in architecture (1700-1900) and the Age of Enlightenment in
history

United States Capitol, with Roman architectural

elements such as the dome

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Neoclassical architecture
(17001900 or 18thlate 19th century)
Characteristics
Resurgence of interest in classical
(ancient Greek) architecture, reflected
by the use of classical architectural
elements
Emphasis on symmetry, proportion
and geometry
Clean forms
Major building types
Civic buildings

White House, Washington D C, a Neoclassical building

Examples
Lansdown Crescent, Bath, England
by John Palmer (1789-93)
White House, Washington DC, USA
British Museum, London
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Classical VS Neoclassical

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Classical music (17501820)

Characteristics
The size of the orchestra increased while the more intimate form of
chamber music also developed
Homophonic
Texture is less complicated than that of Baroque music.
More variety in dynamics and emotions
Emphasis on balance and control, beauty and elegance
Major forms
Sonata
Opera
Symphony
Concerto (a piece written for a solo instrument)
Royal Crescent (1767-1774), Bath, England, designed by John Wood
Rwendland - Wikipedia User

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Classical music (17501820)

Important composers
Joseph Haydn (Austria)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austria)
Musical instruments
The piano was invented
The harpsichord was gradually abandoned
Brass and woodwind sections grew more important

The Legislative Council Building, Hong Kong

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Romantic Period (1820-1900):

Passion and diversity

Houses of Parliament, London is in the style of the Gothic

Revival

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Romanticism in arts and the Romantic period in music

The Classical period was succeeded by the Romantic

period in the mid-19th century
Romanticism arose as a reaction to industrialization
Beauty of nature and the idyllic past as a revolt
against the encroaching machine age
Sought spirituality in Gothic arts
Musical instruments were improved

Monastery Graveyard in the Snow, painted by the Romantic

artist Caspar David Friedrich in 1817-19, shows a Gothic ruin in
a natural landscape, an image typical of the Romantic ideal.
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Romanticism in architecture
Gothic Revival (1740-1920s)
Characteristics
Return of interest in Medieval antiquities and Gothic castles
Iron used as a structural material to create new Gothic forms material
Unlike carefully proportioned Neoclassical architecture, Neo-Gothic
architecture, like Gothic, was meant to impress and humble men with its
dramatic
Heights and pointed features
Examples
Opra by Charles Garnier, Paris (1862-75)
glise (church of) St Augustin by Victor Baltard, Paris
(1860-71)

Opra, Paris
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Romantic period in music

Characteristics
More personal and emotional than classical
Richer harmonies
Increased use of chromaticism (half tones) and discords
Larger range of pitch and volume due to improvements in instrument design
Incorporation of folk music elements
The soloist became more important
Major forms
Waltz and other music written for dance
tude
Programme music (music that tells a story)
Incidental music (background music for a play)
Suite (a collection of several pieces of music intended for a play)

A Baroque period spinet (a small harpsichord) with only 50 keys

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Romantic period in music

Important composers
Ludwig van Beethoven
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Johannes Brahms
Frederic Chopin
Franz Schubert
Antonin Dvok
Felix Mendelssohn
Examples
Symphony
Waltz
Music for soloists
tude
Inspired by other art forms
A modern piano with 88 keys and 3 pedals
Gryffindor - Wikipedia user
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Lesson 2

Contemporary Music and

Architecture

Philharmonie, Berlin

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Form follows
function.
Louis Sullivan, architect

Art and technology - a new unity

Bauhaus motto, 1923
Unit dHabitation, Marseille, designed by Le Corbusier

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 2 Contemporary Music and Architecture

Contemporary music and architecture (1900present) exploration and evolution

Emerge in the 20th century

In music, new techniques and ideas such as twelve tones and
phasing were explored.
In architecture, modernists sought to create a new spatial
language with the latest technology.
Fusion of ideas: West vs. East, noise vs. music
Architecture began to depart from traditional forms
The motto form follows function, was first coined by American
architect Louis Sullivan
The movement began with Art Nouveau, Art Deco, then evolved
at the Bauhaus and in the International Style to gradually shape
the concrete, glass and steel cities of today.
City Hall, Hong Kong

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| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 2 Contemporary Music and Architecture

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 2 Contemporary Music and Architecture

What is next for music and architecture?

Please share your own experience of enjoying music in a
particular time and space.
Do you go to classical concerts in a concert hall?
Do you listen to your own mp3s while travelling on the MTR?
Do you like singing in the bathroom with the special
acoustics?
Or, like modern composers, do you like listening to the
sounds of the city?
How would you compare space and time in architecture and
music in terms of the following aspects:
Experience
Composition

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 2 Contemporary Music and Architecture

Summary of contemporary music

and architecture
Modernism in architecture
Some of the characteristics:

Use of modern materials: concrete,

glass and steel and new construction
technology

Notably less nonfunctional

ornamentation

Emphasis on form follows function

Clean lines and forms

Freedom in structure and form

Major building types:

Any building type

Classical music of the 20th century

Characteristics or new developments:

Twelve-tone technique (first

developed by Arnold Schoenberg)

Atonality

Dissonance

Elements of folk music

Noise and silence

Chance / indeterminacy
Major forms:

No standard form

CCTV Headquarters, Beijing, OMA, 2012

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 2 Contemporary Music and Architecture

Summary of contemporary music

and architecture
Modernism in architecture
Major trends:

Art Nouveau

Art Deco

Bauhaus/International Style

Minimalism

High-tech/structural expressionism

Postmodernism
Important architects:

Le Corbusier

Louis Kahn

Frank Lloyd Wright

Mies van der Rohe

I. M. Pei

Tadao Ando

Classical music of the 20th century

Influence:

Folk and pop music

Eastern philosophy

World music

Modernisation and city living

Important composers:

Debussy

Stravinsky

Prokofiev

Gershwin

Schoenberg

John Cage

Steve Reich
Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe, 1929
(reconstructed in 1986)

| Classical Music and Architecture | Lesson 2 Contemporary Music and Architecture

Summary

All arts deal with space and time. Music and

architecture have both passed through stages
of tangible and intangible development in
response to their time.
Music and architecture from the Baroque period
(1600-1750) feature elaborate ornamentations
and strong emotions.

| Classical Music and Architecture |

Summary

Classical music and architecture (1750-1820)

display a search for balance and elegance.
Romantic music and architecture described by
Passion and diversity (1850-1900).
In the 20th century, new forms of music and
architecture were tested. Many distinctive styles
have evolved due to new technology and
innovations.

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