A Review of The Classical Music Pieces and Their Impacts on Society

At the beginning of the semester I only had a vague idea of the kind of impact that classical music had on history. Throughout this course, I was constantly surprised by the things I learned about different eras of music. We talked a lot about how society worked during each of these times and what kind of expectations the musicians had to meet. The pieces that I selected are the few that stirred me emotionally due to their beautiful arrangements and profound impact on society.

My favorite piece of the semester, Josquin’s “Kyrie” for his Missa Pange Lingua, shaped the music produced while under the control of the Catholic church. In early medieval time, this polyphonic piece would have been sung during Mass as part of the regular litanies of the large service. This music is important because the composition of this work marks one of the first times that organum came around and changed the way of the church. Originally, the medieval ecclesial community was greatly annoyed by the vocal impermanence of polyphony and the idea of secular music blending with the sacred and appearing in the church. They thought the harmonies were too frivolous for worship and disrupted the perceptibility of the lyrics. But when important religious leaders started accepting the change, it gave church music a more lighthearted quality and uprooted the serious worship that the church was acclimated to. This piece stands out so much because it demonstrates how beautiful the music of the divine office became once organum was accepted; it’s a great contrast to the dull and monotonous drone of the initial chants.

Another piece that I really came to enjoy was Beethoven’s Symphony #5. Originally, I didn’t like the piece because I had heard Movement 1 so many times over the years, but I really fell in love with it after hearing Movement 2. Listening to the entire work made me appreciate Movement 1 all over again because of the raw emotion that Beethoven sows into his music. Unlike other composers of his time, he really saturated the composition with his thoughts and feelings caused by his true mental state. Beethoven took a good look at society and criticized them by becoming an outcast and creating magnificent music that differed from everyone else’s.

These pieces not only changed the way society viewed music at the time, but the way I view music now – a thousand years later. And it was done by a deaf guy, nonetheless. I mean, really, I can’t even compose something that amazing and I have hearing capability in not only one, but TWO ears. This course has really changed my perspective on music and I actually have some of the pieces on my iPod now because I seriously enjoy them.