3 ms·

There is a point of view that all the western music is divided by Bach. The before era when music is mostly based on intuition and imitation, and the after era

There is a point of view that all the western music is divided by Bach. The before era when music is mostly based on intuition and imitation, and the after era when music is strongly based on elementary theory. Bach himself, interestingly, belongs to the "before" era and as such is a pinnacle of intuitive pre-elementary music. Just yesterday I found an album of Elizabethian remakes of Nick Drake's songs mixed with John Dowland's. The difference in composition is staggering. And Nick Drake was not a typical songwriter himself. Yet a 50 years old song is principally different from a 500 years old even when played by the same people on the same instruments.

Tainnor 2y ago
> The before era when music is mostly based on intuition and imitation, There's a lot of music theory in pre-Baroque compositions, e.g. counterpoint theory or isorhythm.
- okaleniuk 2y ago
  Of course. Fun fact, the father of Galileo Galilei, Vincenzo Galilei was a musical theorist who, long before Bach, established the idea of equal temperament. I myself don't believe in before/after thing. It's not that one day all the composers in the world agreed to write music by the book. I think things shifted slowly but steadily along with the technological progress. Compared to Galilei's time, in Bach's era there were more books to learn from, more and better developed instruments, and with the rise of bourgeoisie, more listeners (and musicians). Bach is just a convenient milestone.