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-Something more- in Style
by Silvia Francesca Maglione
Styles in Music do not occur in a linear fashion, but happen to be in cycles. This occurs in architecture, fashion and art, where styles alternate between highly decorated and severely plain ones.
When Bach died in 1750 his music was already considered as being out of fashion. His sons deemed composing fugues as obsolete and therefore broke away from the rigorous harmonic counterpoint. They were hired by princes and rich landowners to entertain their illustrious guests daily. Unlike church authorities, these connoisseurs were seeking for refined formality in their music. They asked for elegantly tranquil and “galant” music. For this reason String Quartets were invented, by Haydn. He implemented the new sonata form as well, which required the use of contrasting tunes broke up into fragments and the creation of a climax or suspense then returning with a coda to its original simple form.
Styles in music are considered as either the well-defined characteristics designing a period, or as the something more in compositions. This something more has since always charmed musicologists and critics trying to discern intrinsic characteristics defining exceptional “style”. Perception of this talent varies with different tastes. This latter definition of style is fundamentally a technique of expression able to communicate rare sensations to the listener.
However the exact definition of “style” remains unknown, since it’s determined by each one’s different tastes.
Is it possible to give a name to that something more? Will it ever be possible to label and measure the nameless powerful beauty overwhelming the listener?
…Its name is encoded among the notes singing to you its culminating pulchritude.
The views and opinions in this blog post are those of its author.
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