Wikipedia:Wikipedia for Schools/Welcome/Arts and Music/History of Art and music

What is Art

Art is a diverse range of (and products of) human activities involving creative imagination to express technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.

In the perspective of the history of art, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art; however, some theorists feel that the typical concept of "artistic works" fits less well outside modern Western societies. One early sense of the definition of art is closely related to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft", as associated with words such as "artisan". English words derived from this meaning include artifact, artificial, artifice, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.

History of Art

Over time, philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and Kant, among others, questioned the meaning of art. Several dialogues in Plato tackle questions about art: Socrates says that poetry is inspired by the muses, and is not rational. He speaks approvingly of this, and other forms of divine madness (drunkenness, eroticism, and dreaming) in the Phaedrus (265a–c), and yet in the Republic wants to outlaw Homer's great poetic art, and laughter as well. In Ion, Socrates gives no hint of the disapproval of Homer that he expresses in the Republic. The dialogue Ion suggests that Homer's Iliad functioned in the ancient Greek world as the Bible does today in the modern Christian world: as divinely inspired literary art that can provide moral guidance, if only it can be properly interpreted.

With regards to the literary art and the musical arts, Aristotle considered epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, Dithyrambic poetry and music to be mimetic or imitative art, each varying in imitation by medium, object, and manner. For example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy, for instance, is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average; whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly, the forms differ in their manner of imitation—through narrative or character, through change or no change, and through drama or no drama. Aristotle believed that imitation is natural to mankind and constitutes one of mankind's advantages over animals.

The more recent and specific sense of the word art as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art emerged in the early 17th century. Fine art refers to a skill used to express the artist's creativity, or to engage the audience's aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of more refined or finer work of art.

Within this latter sense, the word art may refer to several things: (i) a study of a creative skill, (ii) a process of using the creative skill, (iii) a product of the creative skill, or (iv) the audience's experience with the creative skill. The creative arts (art as discipline) are a collection of disciplines which produce artworks (art as objects) that are compelled by a personal drive (art as activity) and convey a message, mood, or symbolism for the perceiver to interpret (art as experience). Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses. Works of art can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted on the basis of images or objects. For some scholars, such as Kant, the sciences and the arts could be distinguished by taking science as representing the domain of knowledge and the arts as representing the domain of the freedom of artistic expression.

Art may be characterized in terms of mimesis (its representation of reality), narrative (storytelling), expression, communication of emotion, or other qualities. During the Romantic period, art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".

Types of Art

Art can range in several different categories, which includes

• Visual Arts

• Performing Arts
• Architectural Art
• Technical Arts
• Conceptual Art
• Graphic Art
• Design and Craft
• Film and Photography and
• Music

What is Music

Music is the art of arranging sounds in time to produce a composition through the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. It is one of the universal cultural aspects of all human societies. General definitions of music include common elements such as pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "(art) of the Muses").

In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form or cultural activity include the creation of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music in two parts: melodies, as tones ordered horizontally, and harmonies as tones ordered vertically. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

In many cultures, music is an important part of people's way of life, as it plays a key role in religious rituals, rite of passage ceremonies (e.g., graduation and marriage), social activities (e.g., dancing) and cultural activities ranging from amateur karaoke singing to playing in an amateur funk band or singing in a community choir. People may make music as a hobby, like a teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, or work as a professional musician or singer. The music industry includes the individuals who create new songs and musical pieces (such as songwriters and composers), individuals who perform music (which include orchestra, jazz band and rock band musicians, singers and conductors), individuals who record music (music producers and sound engineers), individuals who organize concert tours, and individuals who sell recordings, sheet music, and scores to customers. Even once a song or piece has been performed, music critics, music journalists, and music scholars may assess and evaluate the piece and its performance.

History of Music

Clockwise, from top left:

• The Seikilos column with the Seikilos epitaph
• Sculptures of musicians on the Jagdish Temple, Udaipur
• Mountain Chief recording on a phonograph for Frances Densmore
• A man playing the gendèr outside of the Embassy of Indonesia, Canberra
• Joseph Haydn playing in a string quartet

The history of music covers the historical development and evolution of music from prehistorical times to present day. Though definitions of music vary wildly throughout the world, every known culture partakes in it, and music is thus considered a cultural universal. The origins of music remain highly contentious; commentators often relate it to the origin of language, with much disagreement surrounding whether music arose before, after or simultaneously with language. The music of prehistoric cultures is first firmly dated to c. 40,000 BP of the Upper Paleolithic by evidence of bone flutes, though it remains unclear whether or not the actual origins lie in the earlier Middle Paleolithic period (300,000 to 50,000 BP). Ancient music was present in the major Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Iranian/Persian societies.

A culture's music is influenced by all other aspects of that culture, including social and economic organization and experience, climate, access to technology and what religion is believed. The emotions and ideas that music expresses, the situations in which music is played and listened to, and the attitudes toward musicians and composers all vary between regions and periods. Music history is the distinct subfield of musicology and history which studies music from a chronological perspective.

It remains debated as to what extent the origin of human cognition—and thus music—will ever be understood, with scholars often taking polarizing positions. The origin of music is regularly discussed as intrinsically linked with the origin of language, with the nature of their connection being a subject of serious debate. However, before the mid-late 20th century, both topics were seldom given substantial attention by scholars. Since recent resurgence in the topic, the principal source of contention is whether music began as a type of proto-language and a product of adaptation that led to language, if music is a spandrel (a phenotypic byproduct of evolution) that was the result of language or if music and language derived from a common antecedent. A well known take on the second is from cognitive psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker; in his How the Mind Works (1997), Pinker famously termed music as merely "auditory cheesecake", an analogy relating to his view of music as a spandrel, arguing that "as far as biological cause and effect is concerned, music is useless", and that "it is a technology, not an adaptation". Music psychologist Sandra Trehub notes that, like Pinker, "much of the larger scientific community is highly skeptical about links between music and biology", in opposition to specialists on the subjects. Scholars such as Joseph Carroll and Anna K. Tirovolas have rejected Pinker's take, citing evolutionary advantages including its use as practice for cognitive flexibility and "indicating to potential mates [one's] cognitive and physical flexibility and fitness".

There is little consensus on any particular theory for the origin of music, which have included contributions from archaeologists, cognitive scientists, ethnomusicologists, evolutionary biologists, linguists, neuroscientists, paleoanthropologists, philosophers and psychologists (developmental and social). Theories on the topic can be differentiated in two ways: structural models, which see music as an outgrowth of preexisting abilities, and functional models which consider its emergence as an adaptive technique. Taking the latter approach is perhaps the first significant theory on the origins of music: Charles Darwin's 1871 book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, where he briefly proposed that music was originally an elaborate form of sexual selection, perhaps arising in mating calls. His theory is difficult to affirm, as there is no evidence that either sex is "more musical" thus no evidence of sexual dimorphism; there are currently no other examples of sexual selection that do not include considerable sexual dimorphism. However, citing music's use in other animals's mating systems, commentators such as Peter J.B. Slater, Katy Payne, Björn Merker, Geoffrey Miller and Peter Todd have promoted developed versions of Darwin's theory. Other theories suggest that music was developed to assist in "coordination, cohesion and cooperation", or as part of parental care, where parents use music to increase communication with—and thus the survivability of—their children. Some commentators propose music arose alongside language, both of which supposably descend from a "shared precursor", which the composer Richard Wagner termed "speech-music".

Many cultures have their own mythical origins on the creation of music. In Chinese mythology, there are various stories, the most prominent being from the Lüshi Chunqiu which says in 2697 BCE, the musician Ling Lun—on the orders of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi)—invented bamboo flute by imitating the song of the mythical fenghuang birds. The invention of music in Ancient Greek mythology is credited to the muses, various goddesses who were daughters of the King of the gods, Zeus. Persian/Iranian mythology holds that Jamshid, a legendary Shah, invented music.

References

• BBC Blast Music For 13- to 19-year-olds interested in learning about, making, performing and talking about music.
• Grove Music Online — online version of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
• The Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary, with definitions, pronunciations, examples, quizzes and simulations
• The Music-Web Music Encyclopedia, for musicians, composers and music lovers
• Dolmetsch free online music dictionary, complete, with references to a list of specialised music dictionaries (by continent, by instrument, by genre, etc.)
• Musical Terms – Glossary of music terms from Naxos
• "On Hermeneutical Ethics and Education: Bach als Erzieher", a paper by Prof. Miguel Ángel Quintana Paz in which he explains the history of the different views hold about music in Western societies, since the Ancient Greece to our days.
• Monthly Online Features From Bloomingdale School of Music, addressing a variety of musical topics for a wide audience
• Arts and Music Uplifting Society towards Transformation and Tolerance Articles meant to stimulate people's awareness about the peace enhancing, transforming, communicative, educational and healing powers of music.
• Scientific American, Musical Chills Related to Brain Dopamine Release
  • Oscar Wilde, Intentions, 1891
  • Stephen Davies, Definitions of Art, 1991
  • Nina Felshin, ed. But is it Art?, 1995
  • Catherine de Zegher (ed.). Inside the Visible. MIT Press, 1996
  • Evelyn Hatcher, ed. Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art, 1999
  • Noel Carroll, Theories of Art Today, 2000
  • John Whitehead. Grasping for the Wind, 2001
  • Michael Ann Holly and Keith Moxey (eds.) Art History Aesthetics Visual Studies. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0300097891
  • Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-226-75342-3
  • Arthur Danto, The Abuse of Beauty: Aesthetics and the Concept of Art. 2003
  • Dana Arnold and Margaret Iverson, eds. Art and Thought. London: Blackwell, 2003. ISBN 0631227156
  • Jean Robertson and Craig McDaniel, Themes of Contemporary Art, Visual Art after 1980, 2005

What is Music

Music is the art of arranging sounds in time to produce a composition through the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.