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When did Chinese music start? This question is quite difficult to determine. According to ancient books, during the time of Fuxi and Nuwa, the "qin", "harp" and "xiao" had been invented. The "qin" at this time was the predecessor of the "guqin" we talk about now. There are countless stories surrounding the poems written on the guqin. One poem says, "A fair lady is a friend of the guqin." There is a story like "Bo Ya was good at playing the harp, and Zhong Ziqi was good at listening. When Zi Qi died, Bo Ya broke the qin and cut off the strings, and never played the harp again for the rest of his life." It can be seen that the sound of the harp is the voice of the heart. Guqin occupies a very high position in Chinese music. The origin of "zither" comes from "harp", which has the same purpose as "qin". Because it was popular in the Qin Dynasty during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was called "Qin Zheng" in history. The sound of "Zheng" is gorgeous and graceful, bright and lyrical, and is good at expressing the artistic conception of flowing clouds and flowing water. Today we will juxtapose "qin" and "zither" and present them in front of your eyes. We hope that you can appreciate the profound cultural origins and profound artistic heritage of the Chinese nation in the long and gentle sound of the piano. Guqin, also known as lyre, or silk tung, green Qi, etc., is also called "lyre" because of the seven strings tied to it. The body of the piano is made of a glued panel and bottom plate, and has a long and narrow shape. The panel outside the string is embedded with a thirteen-dot "emblem". Liu Changqing, a poet from the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem: "On the seven strings of the cold string, listen quietly to the cold wind in the pines." The "seven strings" refer to the guqin, and "Lingling" refers to the timbre of the guqin.

When talking to people today about Chinese classical music and Western classical music, some people think that in the past two or three hundred years, Chinese music, especially classical music, has been declining. Not only It is the lack of development of various musical instruments. Even composers did not appear until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, not to mention all kinds of music scores (it is even said that China has no real music scores at all).

As far as the piano is concerned, as early as the BAROQUE era, there was already a prototype of development, and then through classical, romantic, modern, and even later generations, its industry has developed to a considerable extent. The timbre and tone are already quite perfect and precise, while Chinese classical musical instruments have indeed been stagnant.

But I think that China’s traditional classical music has industrial factors in it, and it also has Chinese traditional thoughts in it. First of all, China has a discriminatory attitude towards artists; secondly, traditional thinking strives for simplicity, inaction, purity and leisure, unlike the West which strives for rigor and meticulousness: Chinese music scores such as Guangling Sanyuefu Shijing, Song lyrics and Yuan music are relatively strong, but now The so-called music score part has been lost, and only the literary part is left... Wait, I didn't say that there is no music score in China. Like you, I am opposed to saying that there is no music score in China. I know the ancient Chinese notation. The method is to use the words Gong Shang Jiao Ziyu to notate musical notation, including the Book of Songs, Chu Ci, Yuefu, Tang poetry, Song poetry, and Yuan music, all of which are notated. However, in ancient times when Confucianism ruled, artists were always at the bottom of the three religions and nine streams, just like prostitutes. A bit taller than Hanako, so the various classical Chinese art forms are only handed down in the form of literature (everyone in the class is poor, but only those who study well). That's why those so-called sinologists who are only half-experienced think that there is no classical music in China at all.

As for classical music, one of my views is that Chinese art is higher than Western art. The reason why it is not accepted by Westerners, or people who only admire Western culture and have no research on their own culture, is that Chinese art is superior to Western art. , because Chinese culture is a comprehensive and all-encompassing culture and art. It is a synthesis of subjects divided by the West into politics, philosophy, art, social sciences, astronomy, etc. For example, an ancient poem is also a reflection of a philosophical point of view, and It is an artistic expression (the singing method of ancient poems is said to have been lost), etc.: Similarly, if a scholar in ancient times relied on fame and achieved success in his career, he might be a politician, writer, military strategist and reformer at the same time. (The original literati in China were all well-read. In fact, just one article originally contained many aspects of knowledge and principles) astronomers, geographers, etc.; if he fails in officialdom, he may become an artist, chess player, or even a doctor. (Many ancient literati throughout history were good at the art of discriminating yellow).

Taoist thought in Guqin aesthetics

Taoism has a profound influence on Guqin aesthetics. "Laozi" advocates nature as beauty, rejects artificial music and music with sound, advocates a music style that is "bland and tasteless", and advocates "big music and sound" that are natural, inactive and embody the spirit of Tao.

Zhuangzi inherited the view of nature from "Laozi", advocated "Dharma and Heaven value truth", and ruthlessly criticized the Confucian etiquette and music thoughts that restrained human nature and violated nature (see "Parallel Thumb", "Horse Hoof", etc.). However, Zhuangzi did not completely deny the sound of music. Instead, he put forward the proposition that "pure and real, contrary to emotion, is music", requiring music to express people's natural emotions and should not be limited to artificial etiquette. Based on this, Zi Sang's tragic song "Father is evil, mother is evil? Heaven or man" recorded in "Zhuangzi: The Great Master" not only realizes the affirmation of love, but also realizes the affirmation of sorrow and joy in the aesthetics of Guqin. The proposition put forward in "Zhuangzi Rang Wang" that "the drum and qin are enough to entertain oneself" emphasizes the entertainment and aesthetic functions of guqin music.

The above thoughts of Lao and Zhuang penetrated into all aspects of subsequent Guqin aesthetic thoughts. "Laozi"'s "light and tasteless" thought was absorbed and developed by Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Bai Juyi, Zhou Dunyi, Xu Shangying and others, forming an advocating for "light and harmonious" music in music aesthetics, limiting the diversity of guqin music styles Nature has had a great negative impact on the development of guqin; "Laozi"'s idea of ??"great sound and sound" was inherited by Tao Yuanming, Bai Juyi, Xue Yijian and others, making advocating "xisheng" a realm pursued by many qin players The goal of Guqin; Zhuangzi's idea of ??"forgetting words when one is proud" was inherited by Tao Yuanming and other qin players, making the pursuit of implication and subtext an important feature of the aesthetics of guqin music; Lao and Zhuang's admiration for the beauty of nature was promoted by Ji Kang, Tao Yuanming, Li Zhi and many other people inherited it, making Guqin aesthetics attach importance to the connection between man and nature, and pursue the unity of man and nature; Zhuangzi's idea that freedom is beauty and music can freely express emotions was developed by Ji Kang, Li Zhi and others, who advocated the importance of music. Become an art for people to express their voices, rather than a tool for feudal rule. In addition, Lao and Zhuang Mingzhe's thoughts of protecting themselves and retiring from the world also had a certain influence on Guqin aesthetics.

The views of "Laozi" that "the sound is light and tasteless" and "the loud sound has no sound" are unanimously praised by qin players and have had a significant impact on the aesthetics of guqin music. "Bland" comes from "Laozi? Chapter Thirty-Five" "The way of speaking is bland and tasteless". Documents show that after "Laozi" proposed the category of "light", it did not cause a big response before the Han Dynasty. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Confucian classics suffered a setback, metaphysics became popular, and the aesthetics of "blandness" was valued. Therefore, Ruan Ji said that "morality is bland, so the five sounds are tasteless", advocating tranquil music and rejecting beautiful music and sad music. In the Tang Dynasty, "dan" began to be used more often to describe the style of qin music, "clear and calm according to nature, tranquil and indifferent to people's hearts", "the music is light and the festival is rare, and there are not many sounds", "the ancient sounds are bland and tasteless, and they are not suitable for today's people" Guqin poems such as "It is tasteless to the ears, but there is emotion in the heart when it is comfortable", "A calm heart means the sound is light, and there is nothing between ancient and modern times". It shows that the tranquil sound has been respected by the Tang people as a symbol of ancient music and elegant music, and it occupies a position in the aesthetics of Guqin music. important position. During the Song and Zhou Dynasties, Dunyi supported Taoism and entered Confucianism. Based on Confucianism, he absorbed and integrated the thoughts of Laozi and put forward the theory of "lightness and harmony" that "lightness makes desire calm and peace calms the restlessness", thus making "lightness" It became the musical aesthetic respected by Confucianism and Taoism. The "tranquility" aesthetic is consistent with the Taoist idea of ??tranquility and the Confucian idea of ??harmony, so it is accepted by many qin players. Zhen Dexiu of the Song Dynasty tried his best to praise the "Xiwei" and "Liao" style of the guqin in his "Preface to Xiao Changfu". Mingyan Tianchi also said: "Only the guqin can separate the palace and businessmen, and make them clear and distinct, and they can be vigorous and virtuous." The meaning is clear, the desire is to calm it down, and the impatience is to explain it" ("Qinchuan Huipu"). Xu Shangying believes that "the vowels of the qin are inherently light" and "the sound of the qin is light, which is beneficial to the taste", and said that "light" means "making the listener's thoughts wander and entertain, and he does not know where to go" ( "Xishan Qinqing"). Qing Wang also developed "light and harmonious" to the extreme, believing that "the music of the ancestors was only light and harmonious. It is light, so the desire is calm; harmonious, so the restless heart is relieved" ("Luxue Zhai Qin Pu"), and "light" "As an important aesthetic criterion above "harmony". He defined the standard of "lightness" as "moderate, orderly, no rhyme, no complicated sounds, not pleasing to the ear", which is based on Confucianism and Taoism: "moderate, orderly" is what Confucianism advocates "Middle voice"; "no rhymes, no complicated sounds" are obviously consistent with the Confucian thought of prohibiting "annoying masturbation sounds"; "not enough to please the ears" is a reference to the Confucian advocating for the joy of "three sighs in one voice" and rejecting "?堙" The development of the idea of ??"heart and ears" completely negates the artistry of Guqin music. Compared with "neutral" and "peace", "light harmony" emphasizes that music should quench people's desires and relieve restlessness, and even more excludes the artistry of music and the expression of emotions in music, so it has a greater negative impact on the free development of the guqin. effect.

"Laozi"'s proposition of "being bland and tasteless" is combined with Confucianism to form a "bland and harmonious" aesthetic. This is not only the result of transforming Taoist thought with Confucian thought, but also due to the limitations of Taoist thought itself. The purpose of "Laozi" is to negate action with inaction, and to deny sound music with "great sound and sound", so it will eventually develop from "bland and tasteless" to "bland and harmonious", which will have a negative impact on musical aesthetics. .

"Laozi" "Great Sound and Sound" takes vocal music as a reference and fully affirms the eternal beauty of silent music. It was later incorporated into the theory of guqin by "Zhuangzi", saying "There are successes and losses, so The Zhao family plays the drum and the harp; there is no success or failure, so the Zhao family does not play the drum and the harp" (Qi Wu Lun). This idea is highly praised by literati and has had a huge impact on traditional Guqin aesthetics. Qin players in the past dynasties all regard "Xi Sheng" as the ultimate state of performance, in order to pursue the implicit beauty of Qin music. In "Xishan Qin Kuang", Xu Shangying has a detailed description of "Xi Sheng" from the perspective of performance aesthetics, and a new interpretation of the thoughts of "Laozi". As "Jing" Kuang said, "The so-called Xi sound is the most tranquil Extremely, it is connected to the dim sky, coming in and out, and the spirit is wandering above Emperor Xi." "Chi" Kuang said, "It is as sparse as an outline. If it is ancient, you can travel on the string carefully, control the climate, and wait for the arrival. Next, with the rhythm of Ye Jue, this is the beginning of Xisheng; some chapters are slow and slow, some are slow and urgent, some are interrupted and then continued, some are quiet and far-reaching, adapting to the situation, adjusting the ancient sound and gradually entering the origin. The long-awaited mind is an extension of the sound of hope; if we look into the meaning of the lateness, it is like the mountains are still and autumn is singing, the moon is high outside the forest, the wind blows from far away in the pines, and the cold flows in the stone streams, but the sun does not know how to feed (morning), and the evening does not wake up Dawn is the place where the sound of hope comes from." It is worth noting that Xu Shangying's explanation of "Xisheng" here is based on the sound of music, which is different from the original intention of Lao and Zhuang. Xu's words represent the views of most qin theory. The "xi" in "xisheng" in classical qin theory mostly has a sparse meaning, which means "playing slowly and slowly, dozens of sounds late at night" (Bai Juyi "Ye Qin"), "the music is sparse and there are not many sounds" (Bai Juyi's "Wuxian Tan"), and the "Xi" in "Laozi" "big sound Xisheng" means "hearing it is not famous, it is called Xi" ” means silent music. The positive impact of "big sound and sound" on the aesthetics of guqin is reflected in the fact that people use it to pursue the implicit beauty of "light and understanding", request to create the profound artistic conception of music, and pursue the charm of music beyond the strings; its negative impact is reflected in the People take "Xi Sheng" as the standard and reject the "annoying masturbation sound" and "Multiple annoying sound" in Guqin playing. Chen Youci, Zhu Fengjie and others have similar theories on the piano.

"Zhuangzi" puts forward that "the speaker cares about it, and forgets what he said when he is satisfied" ("External Things"), and also proposes "Xinzhai" - "If you don't listen with your ears, listen with your heart. Not listening with the heart, but listening with the breath... being empty and treating things" ("Human World"), "sitting and forgetting" - "falling limbs, dethroning intelligence, leaving the form to know, the same as transforming through communication" ("Human World") "Grand Master") requires aesthetic subjects to forget about themselves and utilitarianism, transcend personal physical senses, get rid of personal motives, use their hearts to feel, experience, and imagine, and achieve a free aesthetic realm of integrating with nature and the unity of things and myself. . This also has a profound impact on the aesthetics of the guqin, so Tao Yuanming proposed, "If you only know the interest in the qin, why bother playing with the strings?" He believed that the true meaning of music is not the sound itself, but lies outside the sound, and playing the qin is to obtain the interest beyond the strings. Later qin theory also attached great importance to the relationship between sound and meaning, with the ultimate goal of forgetting the mind and hand, returning to nature, and the unity of nature and man. The pursuit of unexpected things. For example, the music creations of "Zhuang Zhou Dreams of Butterflies" and "Zi Wang" express this pursuit of forgetfulness of things and myself, while the qin theory of Cheng Yu?, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Zhuang Zhenfeng and others express the qin players' When performing and appreciating, we particularly pursue the expression of implicit meaning and the experience of beauty beyond the strings. We believe that the intention is more important than the sound when playing, and the heart is more important than the ears when appreciating. Having the heart and mind, and forgetting the form and body, is the perfect state of music. Liu Ji said, "When you encounter an object, you make a sound and imagine it into a song. The mountains and rivers are reflected, and the falling moon is held in the strings. The wind is blowing in the pines, and the breeze is blowing under your fingers" ("Qin Yi"); The towering shadow appears; it is moist with the water, and the ocean is wandering; the summer can change, and the empty hall is suspicious of snow; the cold can return, and the spring flows in the thatched pavilion" ("Xishan Qin Kuang"); Zhu Fengjie said, "Ning Hu Mastering the mysteries, following the desire appropriately, not just one mind and one hand, forgetting each other from the environment to the strings and fingers, the sound and light changing, misty and misty, it is like ascending to the fairyland" ("Yugu Zhai Qin Pu" and "Supplementary Meanings"). What they described was exactly this kind of state, so Yan Yuan simply listed "forgetting the heart and hands, and forgetting the hands and strings" as one of the important criteria for playing the piano in "Si Cun Pian".

Li Zhi inherited and developed Zhuangzi’s spirit of “faith of Heaven and noble truth”, opposition to restraint, and pursuit of freedom. He based his theory of “childlike innocence” on his musical aesthetics and expressed his appreciation for the “qin” which represents typical Confucian aesthetics. The proposition "the instrument is forbidden" was sharply criticized, and it was proposed that "the person playing the piano is the heart, and the person playing the instrument is the one who sings, so the person who sings the piano is also the heart." This proposition comes from "Qin Fu" in Volume 5 of "Burning Book". Its aesthetic significance is threefold: first, "the player of the qin is the heart" regards qin music as an art that expresses people's inner feelings, breaking through the thought of "the player of the qin is the forbidden one" of bondage. Confucianism regards the guqin as a tool for a gentleman to cultivate his character and govern his family and country, and advocates the aesthetics of "peace" and "tranquility", from rejecting changes in music melody and rhythm to denying the entertainment function of music, and even prohibiting the expression of emotions in music. It seriously restricted the development of Guqin art. Due to the dominance of Confucian musical thoughts in traditional musical thoughts, these thoughts have always become the mainstream of Guqin aesthetics and are highly praised by feudal literati. Li Zhi was the first thinker in history to explicitly challenge this, "The player of the guqin has a heart." ” is the only bold expression of non-mainstream ideas that have been nurtured for thousands of years. Secondly, when Li Zhi discussed the proposition that "the player of the piano has the same heart", he broke through the traditional thinking since the Wei and Jin Dynasties that "silk is not as good as bamboo, bamboo is not as good as meat, and is gradually closer to nature", and proposed that "the same heart, the same chanting", "the heart If the same chant is the same, then the nature is also the same." If the heart is different, the hands will be different, and if the hands are different, the sound will be different. Although the hands cannot sing, they "cannot sing, so those who are good at listening can only understand the depth of the music by understanding its heart." He believes that the music of the piano is It is closer to nature than the human voice, showing his deep understanding of the rich expressive power of pure music. Mencius once said, "The words of benevolence are not as profound as the sound of benevolence." Although the two people have different starting points for their arguments, they are consistent in recognizing that music can move people's hearts more than words. Thirdly, the proposition that "the qin player is the heart" is based on "taking nature as the beauty", which means taking nature as the beauty and the most beautiful recently, which is the embodiment of Li Zhi's "childlike innocence" theory in the field of guqin aesthetics. Li Zhi believes that "the childlike heart of a man is absolutely pure and pure, and is the original intention of the first thought. If you lose your childlike heart, you will lose your true heart, and you will lose your real person" ("Book Burning? The Theory of Childlike Heart"). This childish heart is the natural heart at the beginning of life. If you lose your childlike heart, you are not a real person. Starting from this, Li Zhi placed special emphasis on people's natural temperament, proposing that "the sounds and colors come from the temperament and are due to nature. Can they be combined and strengthened? Therefore, naturally arising from the temperament, it naturally ends with etiquette." Righteousness, there is no such thing as etiquette and righteousness. However, it is lost if it is strengthened. Therefore, naturalness is regarded as a beautiful voice, and there is no such thing as naturalness. The tone of the soothing one is naturally slow, the broad-minded one is naturally majestic, the majestic one is naturally heroic, the melancholy one is naturally sad, and the weird one is naturally strange. ?Read the Law Skin Theory"). Since music originates from emotions and comes from nature, it should express people's natural emotions and should not be bound by artificial etiquette, because "there is no etiquette and justice besides non-emotion". This view of taking nature as beauty and pursuing the guqin to freely express various human emotions is the inheritance and development of Taoist thought of "Fa Tian Guizhen" and a breakthrough in Confucian ethics.

“The player of the guqin is the heart” is an important proposition of Taoist guqin aesthetics. Its proposal brings the Taoist guqin aesthetics into a more reasonable stage. This proposition affirms that music is an art that freely expresses people's thoughts and feelings. Its fundamental value is the expression of emotions, not a tool of feudal rule. Since music has free expression, it should not be restricted. It should only use "peace" and "mildness" as its beauty and exclude other music. Instead, it should be free to express "emotional emotions" and "shouting madly, crying and crying" Feelings of injustice. "The qin player is the heart" and the Confucian "qin player is forbidden" form a sharp opposition. It is a fierce collision between Confucian and Taoist musical thoughts on the guqin forum, and is of great significance to the free development of guqin music. Influenced by Li Zhi, propositions such as "sound takes emotion as its mother" emerged in guqin aesthetics. Li Yu, a native of the Qing Dynasty, also said in "Xian Qing Ou Ji": "'Wives are good together, like drums, harp and harp', 'A graceful lady, harp and harp are friends'. The harp and harp are not others. They glue the men and women to make them one, and connect them with affection." There is no distinction." Although these ideas did not receive due attention at the time, and some were even besieged by feudal defenders, their emphasis on emotional value was of great significance to the development of guqin music.

Music History

Chapter 1 The Origin of Music

The origin of music in human society can be traced back to the very ancient prehistoric times.

Before humans had language, they already knew how to use the pitch, strength, etc. of sounds to express their thoughts and feelings. With the development of human labor, chants to unify the rhythm of labor and shouts to convey information to each other gradually emerged. This is the most primitive prototype of music. When people celebrate harvests and share the fruits of labor, they often beat stone and wooden tools to express their feelings. Joy, joy, this is the prototype of the original musical instrument.

a. The legend of the origin of stringed instruments

Mercury is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. One day he was walking along the Nile River and accidentally stepped on something that made a wonderful sound. He picked it up and saw that it was an empty turtle shell with a dry tendon attached to the inside. So Mercury was inspired by it and invented the stringed instrument. Later generations have verified that string instruments appeared before Mercury, but the invention of string instruments may have been inspired by this.

b. The legend of the origin of wind instruments

In ancient China, during the Yellow Emperor period five thousand years ago, there was a musician named Ling Lun. Legend has it that he once entered the Kunlun Mountains in the west. Pick bamboos to make flutes. At that time, there happened to be five phoenixes flying in the sky, and he made laws according to their sounds. Although this legend is not completely credible, it is not a bad idea to regard it as the origin of wind instruments. It can be said that the working life of human beings in the primitive era developed and developed in the company of music, and the two are closely linked. In this sense, music is produced directly from human labor life.

Chapter 2 Music of Primitive Man

The ancient Mesopotamia (Tigris River and Euphrates River) was one of the important cradles of human culture. The prosperous Mesopotamia region (today's Iran and Iraq) had relatively developed music in the fourth millennium BC. At that time, the Sumerians living in this area already had harp-like instruments and several orchestral instruments. At that time, professional singers and larger bands had emerged in the court. Later, these more advanced musical cultures gradually spread to ancient countries such as Egypt, Greece, India and China, and received further development in these areas in different forms with national colors. Although the development of music varies among ethnic groups and regions, its basic development direction is gradually moving from secular music to religious music.

Chapter 3 Music in the Middle Ages

1. Ancient Chinese Music

The Yellow Emperor was the earliest king in Chinese history. He created music five thousand years ago Calendar and writing. At that time, in addition to the aforementioned Ling Lun, there was also a musician named "Fuxi". It is said that Fuxi had the head of a human and the body of a snake. He was conceived in his mother's womb for twelve years. The harp he played originally had fifty strings, but because the tone was too sad, Huang Di cut off half of his harp and changed it to twenty-five strings.

In the legend of the Yellow Emperor's time, there is also a musician named Shen Nong, who is said to have the head of an ox and the body of a snake. Shennong once taught people to cultivate grains, tasted all kinds of herbs and discovered medicine, and also created the five-stringed qin. Therefore, it can be naturally assumed that the music at that time used the pentatonic scale.

In ancient China, there were no fewer than 300 books on music. Confucius was a famous educator in the Spring and Autumn Period and a musician. He wrote many essays on music. We can see some of his comments on music in the Analects. Confucius was very accomplished in the guqin. He could compose his own music and put sorrow and joy into the music of the guqin. Confucius personally taught the art of piano to his disciples. Among his three thousand disciples, there were seventy-two who were proficient in the six arts. The content of his teaching can be called "poetry, calligraphy, etiquette, and music". "Li" refers to the order of yin and yang in heaven and earth, and "joy" means achieving harmony. In Confucius' philosophy, morality and music are on the same footing, and he advocated using music to improve moral character. On the other hand, most of the court music in ancient China was dance music, which integrated poetry, dance, and music, which is completely different from today's dance.

2. Ancient Egyptian and Arabic music

The ancient Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. On the carvings on the stone walls inside the pyramid, we can see the procession of music players, thus imagining the grand occasion of playing music at that time. The carvings include harp-like string instruments played with fingers, as well as various flute-like instruments. Instrumental music in areas such as Arabia is also quite developed. A long time ago, they began to use a special scale divided into seventeen note names within an octave.

3. Ancient Greek and Roman Music

The origin of Greek music is also shrouded in mystery. According to legend, the god Apollo is in charge of music and has nine Muses under his jurisdiction, so music is also called Music or Musik. Among the Greek musical instruments, there is a V-shaped double-pipe flute called auros, a hurdy-gurdy called a lyra, and a kithara, a stringed instrument similar to a guitar. These instruments are Introduced from Egypt or Arabia. In the lives of ancient Greeks, music played a very prominent role. Based on the oriental music spread from Egypt and Arabia, they gradually developed and changed it and formed their own music. Music in ancient Greece was closely linked to poetry and drama. The importance of music is reflected in their two charming Homeric epics and many famous dramatic works. The songs sung by some famous folk singers in society at that time were also of great significance to the formation and development of ancient Greek music.

Ancient Greek music has made significant achievements in many aspects. In the sixth century BC, Pythagoras, the great ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician, used a single-stringed instrument called the Monochord to first explain the theory of pure temperament and calculate the time based on the length of the string. All intervals used. The invention and application of Pythagorean temperament was a major breakthrough in music theory. Secondly, the ancient Greeks also invented alphabetical notation. There were also many bold innovations and creations in the production of musical instruments, and a number of unprecedented musical instruments were invented. Ancient Greek music not only included solo lyrics with instrumental accompaniment, but also drama music and dance music. This music is generally based on monophonic music, and most of its content is religious.

The music of ancient Rome mainly followed the great achievements of ancient Greek music. Music at that time was mainly played during sacrifices to gods, wedding banquets and military triumphs. Since the third century AD, ancient Rome has expanded its power outwards and carried out barbaric invasion and plunder of neighboring city-states. Many of the outstanding musicians and singers of ancient Greece became servants of ancient Roman emperors, nobles and slave owners, so music became a tool specifically for the entertainment of the ruling class. However, the music culture of ancient Rome did not stagnate after ancient Greece. Some folk songs, wedding songs, soldier songs, and music and dances have developed to a certain extent. In the process of continuous development, ancient dramas sung in Latin appeared. In addition, the emergence of brass instruments in the army is also one of the main features of ancient Roman music.

Chapter 4 Medieval Music

1. Christianity and Medieval Music

In medieval Europe, the power of the church was higher than that of the state and other social groups. At that time, all social ideologies, including various arts and philosophy, had to serve the church. Therefore, medieval music achieved unusual development with the help of Christianity. It can be said that everything from music theory to notation, from chorus and ensemble to the rise and teaching of keyboard instruments, are all closely related to the medieval church. Although most of today's symphonies and operas are secular in content, they are also inextricably linked to the medieval church. Church music initially adopted the form transmitted from the Jewish kingdom intact, that is, singing hymns and reciting the Bible, which was purely vocal music. Religious music has always been dominated by vocal music, because vocal music has lyrics. In contrast, instrumental music developed primarily as secular music.

The transition from primitive monophonic music to polyphonic music is an important feature of medieval music. In addition, medieval music also developed greatly in theory, completing counterpoint and line notation. The invention and production of musical instruments also made considerable progress. Instruments such as trombones, trumpets, and French horns were widely popular at that time, and bowed string instruments (such as viols) were also widely used.

2. Roman style

The term "Roman style" comes from the architectural terminology of the time. Romanesque music is one of the greatest monumental legacies in the history of world art. This kind of music has neither harmony nor accompaniment. It is characterized by the form of unison singing, which produces a solemn sense of harmony through the echo of the church patio. Its simple and beautiful religious feelings are exactly the same as those of Roman-style church architecture.

Romanesque music was one of the important musical forms in the Middle Ages. Its representative is Gregorian Chant, a typical Catholic music that is purely single-melody singing. Gregorian chant made an important contribution to music throughout the long Middle Ages. In Gregorian Psalm, there are already four ecclesiastical modes and their modifications: Doric mode, Phrygian mode, Lydian mode, and mixed Lydian mode. In the 16th century, the Ionian mode and the Dorian mode appeared, which evolved into today's major and minor scales. During the time of Gregory I, a school called the "Singing Class" was established in Rome to teach chants. This can be said to be one of the earliest music schools in the world. The Psalms of Ambrosius (340-397) collected songs sung in the church, formulated four church modes of seven-tone scales for church music, and also created antiphonal and other forms. In the psalms, the lyrics are extremely perfectly combined with the language momentum, pitch and rhythm. They perfectly express religious feelings and can be used as a summary of the music art of this era.

3. Secular Music in the Middle Ages

Medieval music was mainly religious music, and music activities at that time were limited to churches, while popular secular music among the people Music is prohibited. Despite this, there are still many wandering singers and troubadours among the people. These poor folk artists with extremely low social status were very dissatisfied with the shackles of religious music on musical art. They used various methods to widely spread secular music among the people. This kind of music (including hymns, love songs, pastoral songs and satirical songs) is closer to folk customs in form and content and is full of folk feelings. This kind of folk secular music had begun to brew into a potential music trend at that time. By the "Renaissance" period, with the development and transformation of social forms, this music trend gradually replaced religious music and became the mainstream of music art.