MO on Music Theory Print

Mobb music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Production#

Mobb music, often shortened to Mobb, is characterized by a heavy, deliberate sonic profile that typically operates within a tempo range of 80 to 100 BPM, representing an evolutionary shift away from early West Coast electro-hop. Structurally, the genre favors extended, long-form arrangement s driven by an intricate, heavily layered texture. This framework is anchored by analog drum machine s, most notably the Roland TR-808, which makes that elctronic sound rather then acoutic drum sound. A core structural element is the prominent placement of sharp claps on the second and fourth beats of each measure, creating a pounding, deliberate cadence. Layered over this percussion are signature low-end frequencies, distinguished by the frequent use of “fat” resonant bass synth s and complex melodies that create a raw, performance-based, and organic sound. While sharing a historical foundation in West Coast hip-hop, Mobb features major compositional differences from mainstream Southern California G-funk. While G-funk typically replayed or interpolated a single, recognizable P-Funk sample with minor melodic embellishments to achieve a polished, fluid sound, the Mobb production method relies on an extensive mixture of multiple samples. Producers blend fragments from various musical sources, utilizing live-in-the-studio instrumentation to heavily alter, expand, and reshape these combined elements into entirely new, original compositions. This approach gives the genre a more rigid, electronic, and pounding framework. Production within the genre generally has two distinct styles: * One style is a brighter, more festive, and more upbeat soundscape that relies on infectious, rolling funk grooves intended to create an energetic, feel-good party atmosphere. * In contrast, the other style explores a much darker, ominous, and menacing soundscape. The genre is also often lumped into the hardcore hip hop genre due to its raw production values and aggressive thematic focus.

Mod revival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings#

The late 1970s mod revival combined musical and cultural elements of the 1970s pub rock, punk rock and new wave music genres with influences from 1960s mod jazz and power pop bands such as the Who, Small Faces and the Kinks. The mod revival was largely set in motion by the Jam and their fans. The band had adopted a stark mod look and mixed the energy of punk with the sound of 1960s mod bands. Their debut album In the City (1977), mixed R&B standards with originals modelled on the Who’s early singles. They confirmed their status as the leading mod revival band with their third album All Mod Cons (1978), on which Paul Weller’s song-writing drew heavily on the British-focused narratives of the Kinks. The revival was also spurred on by small concerts at venues such as the Cambridge Hotel, Edmonton, Hop Poles Hotel and Howard Hall both in Enfield, the Wellington, Waterloo Road, London, and the Bridge House in Canning Town. In 1979, the film Quadrophenia, which romanticised the original 1960s mod subculture, widened the impact and popularity of the mod revival across the UK. The original mod revival fanzine, Maximum Speed started in 1979 and spawned other home-produced fanzines from then until the mid-to-late 1980s. Bands grew up to feed the desire for mod music, often combining the music of 1960s mod groups with elements of punk music, including the Chords, Secret Affair, Purple Hearts and the Lambrettas. These acts managed to develop cult followings and some had pop hits, before the revival petered out in the early 1980s. More R’n’B based bands such as the Little Roosters, the Inmates and Nine Below Zero also became key acts in the growing mod revival scene in London. In 1979 the mod scene in Australia began and took off particularly in Sydney & Melbourne, led by bands such as The Sets, Little Murders, Division 4, The Introverts & The Go. There was a documentary made in early 1981 called The Go-Set about the mod revival scene in Sydney & Melbourne. There was also a book published about the mod scene in Australia from 1979 to 1986.

Modal jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In bebop as well as in hard bop, musicians use chords to provide the background for solos. A piece starts out with a theme that introduces a series of chords for the solos. These chords repeat throughout the whole piece, while the soloists play new, improvised themes over the repeated chord progression. By the 1950s, improvising over chords had become such a dominant part of jazz that sidemen at recording dates were sometimes given nothing more than a list of chords to play from. Mercer Ellington has stated that Juan Tizol conceived the melody to “Caravan” in 1936 as a result of his days studying music in Puerto Rico, where they could not afford much sheet music so the teacher would turn the music upside down after they had learned to play it right-side up. This “inversion” technique led to a modal sound throughout Tizol’s work. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter has noted that the 1953 composition “Glass Enclosure” by pianist Bud Powell was one of the earliest jazz compositions to make use of Lydian chords, based on the Lydian mode that was not widely used in jazz until about a decade later. Powell’s 1951 Un Poco Loco uses the Lydian chords and even uses Lydian chords stacked on top of each implying a polytonality (D major 7 over C major 7: CEGBDF#AC#) with the improvisation based on alternating Lydian-ish polytonality and an altered dominant chord. Towards the end of the 1950s, spurred by the experiments of composer and bandleader George Russell, musicians began using a modal approach. They chose not to write their pieces using conventional chord changes, but instead using modes. Musicians employing this technique include Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter. Among the significant compositions of modal jazz were “So What” by Miles Davis and “Impressions” by John Coltrane. “So What” and “Impressions” follow the same AABA structure and were in D Dorian for the A sections and modulated a half step up to E-flat Dorian for the B section. The Dorian mode is the natural minor scale with a raised sixth. Other compositions include Davis’s “Flamenco Sketches”, Bill Evans’s “Peace Piece”, and Shorter’s “Footprints”. Although his explorations of modal jazz were sporadic throughout the 1960s, he included several of the tunes from Kind of Blue in the repertoire of his second quintet. Coltrane took the lead in extensively exploring the limits of modal improvisation and composition with his quartet, featuring Elvin Jones (drums), McCoy Tyner (piano), and Reggie Workman and Jimmy Garrison (bass). Several of Coltrane’s albums from the period are recognized as examples of modal jazz: Africa/Brass (1961), Live! at the Village Vanguard (1962), Crescent (1964), A Love Supreme (1964), and Meditations (1965). Coltrane’s compositions from this period such as “India”, “Chasin’ the Trane”, “Crescent”, and “Impressions” have entered the jazz repertoire, along with his interpretations of standards like Richard Rodgers’s “My Favorite Things”, and the traditional “Greensleeves”.

Modern pagan music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Interwar period#

The Latvian neopagan movement Dievturība developed a musical life in the 1930s, focused on the instruments kokles and trīdeksnis, choir music and Latvian folk music. In a 1937 article, the movement’s chief ideologue Ernests Brastiņš wrote about the religion’s sermons, which included music that “should create solemn and harmonious feelings”. This was initially handled by the organist, composer and conductor Valdemārs Ozoliņš (1896–1973). The other main contributors were Jānis Norvilis (1906–1994) and Artūrs Salaks (1891–1984). Norvilis created choral arrangements of folk songs for calendar celebrations. Salaks, a composer and folklorist, became the movement’s musical leader in 1936. His own music was characterized by diatonic scale and drones, and combined archaic and new elements in what he dubbed “the Latvian style”. In 1938, Salaks released a collection of choral songs titled Latviešu dievestīgās dziesmas (“Latvian songs of adoration”). Also in the 1930s, the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt (1908–1981) became affiliated with the Germanic neopaganism of the National Socialist journal Ragnarok and its publisher Hans S. Jacobsen. Jacobsen drew heavily from Jakob Wilhelm Hauer’s theories and promoted the adoration of the Norse gods. This influenced Tveitt’s musical compositions, notably the ballet Baldurs draumar (1938). Tveitt maintains a high status as a composer in Norway, but his affiliation with this milieu is controversial.

Modern rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Radio format#

Modern rock (also known as alternative radio) is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; consisting primarily of the alternative rock genre. Generally beginning with hardcore punk but referring especially to alternative rock music since the 1980s, the phrase “modern rock” is used in the US to differentiate the music from classic rock, which focuses on music recorded in the 1960s through to the early 1990s. A few modern rock radio stations existed during the 1980s, such as KROQ-FM in Los Angeles, XETRA-FM in San Diego, WHTG-FM (now WKMK) on the Jersey Shore, WLIR on Long Island, and WFNX in Boston. Radio & Records, a US trade publication, began tracking airplay from several of these stations on their New Rock weekly track chart beginning in January 1989, calling them “radio’s most successfully adventurous current-intensive stations” that would serve as “the proving ground for many of tomorrow’s stars”. The 1988 episode of the VH1 show I Love the ’80s discussed INXS, the Cure, Morrissey, Depeche Mode, and Erasure as modern rock artists representative of that year. In, the breakthrough success of the grunge bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam resulted in many American radio stations switching to the format. The format has gone through two distinct periods, dividing the line from classic modern rock and the current alternative rock format used today. Up until grunge went mainstream, the format featured a wide variety of up-tempo danceable music from a diverse group of artists that were being played in rock discos and clubs. This was a legacy from new wave music and the Second British Invasion that immediately preceded it. Of all the artists who had songs hit the top 30 in the first modern rock chart, only seven of them were American. Between 1992 and 1994, most of the female, foreign and dance music had largely disappeared from the chart. While the chart still featured a variety of alternative rock music, it was largely guitar rock created by male Americans. By 1996, the modern rock chart was largely identical to the mainstream rock chart; it was therefore surveying what was then mainstream rock music.

Modernism (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definitions#

Carl Dahlhaus describes modernism as: an obvious point of historical discontinuity … The “breakthrough” of Mahler, Strauss, and Debussy implies a profound historical transformation … If we were to search for a name to convey the breakaway mood of the 1890s (a mood symbolized musically by the opening bars of Strauss’s Don Juan) but without imposing a fictitious unity of style on the age, we could do worse than revert to Hermann Bahr’s term “modernism” and speak of a stylistically open-ended “modernist music” extending (with some latitude) from 1890 to the beginnings of our own twentieth-century modern music in 1910. Eero Tarasti defines musical modernism directly in terms of “the dissolution of the traditional tonality and transformation of the very foundations of tonal language, searching for new models in atonalism, polytonalism or other forms of altered tonality”, which took place around the turn of the century. Other scholars such as James Hepokoski, J. P. E. Harper-Scott, Daniel Grimley, Annika Forkert, Laurenz Lütteken and Sebastian Wedler have argued for a broader understanding of turn-of-the-century musical modernism, one that is not predominantly defined by the historiographical narrative of the emancipation of dissonance. Daniel Albright proposes a definition of musical modernism as, “a testing of the limits of aesthetic construction” and presents the following modernist techniques or styles: Expressionism, the New Objectivity, Hyperrealism, Abstractionism, Neoclassicism, Neobarbarism, Futurism, and the Mythic Method. Conductor and scholar Leon Botstein describes musical modernism as “…a consequence of the fundamental conviction among successive generations of composers since 1900 that the means of musical expression in the 20th century must be adequate to the unique and radical character of the age”, which led to a reflection in the arts of the progress of science, technology and industry, mechanization, urbanization, mass culture and nationalism. Similarly, Eric Pietro defines Modernism in his narrative Listening In: Music, Mind, and the Modernist as, “…a desire to find ‘ever more accurate representations of psychological states and processes’ by virtue of its links with the ‘historical crisis of the nineteenth century.’” From what we can understand with this information, there are two distinguishable concepts emphasizing Modernism: the first being music mirroring narrative depictions of the mind; and the second being music as a vocabulary that faces the possibility of describing psychological behaviors in language.

Modinha

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mongolian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Motivations and independence#

The communist regime for some time sought to ban access to Western popular music, wary of its ideological message. However, from the mid-1960s, it began to penetrate Mongolia from Mongolians returning to the country, spreading covertly among young people, first in the capital Ulaanbaatar. The Mongolian government then chose to support this musical movement by appropriating it and creating tightly controlled pop music groups. In the mid-1980s, these groups began to emancipate themselves, taking advantage of the political decline. Some of their songs were taken up by young demonstrators who, in 1990, in the midst of the collapse of the USSR, obtained the resignation of the communist authorities without violence. The transition to a democratic nation with a free market economy began. Government control over migration eased considerably and a significant part of the rural population invested in Mongolian cities, notably Ulaanbaatar, profiting from the employment opportunities offered by the new economic system. In 2010, more than two-thirds of Mongolians were urban and almost half the population lived in the capital. Youth quickly took on these influences, moving from consumers of the global popular music scene to producers, experimenting with numerous musical styles, playing with these means of expression while adapting them to local contexts. Around 1990, some artists produced covers of popular Western songs in Mongolian or English. Others have integrated political and societal messages into their songs, such as the defense of democracy and freedom, or cultural ones such as the life of Genghis Khan. The opening of Mongolia to the West has led to the appearance of musical scenes creating a hybrid between foreign influences and typically Mongolian sounds, themes and styles. Foreign languages, notably English, and Mongolian are used together. The economic difficulties resulting from the transition from a centralized and planned economy to a market economy, which notably made musical instruments very expensive, led to the disappearance of many groups in the early 1990s. At the end of this decade, the situation of artists previously dependent on Ulaanbaatar – rural communities not having the means to pay the ticket for a concert – improved with the emergence of computers, cable television, urban radios and the Internet. In addition, many companies have begun sponsoring artists, benefiting in return from association with these artists.

Monodrama

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In opera#

In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Pygmalion, which was written in 1762 and first staged in Lyon in 1770, and Georg Benda’s work of the same name (1779). The term monodrama (sometimes mono-opera) is also applied to modern works with a single soloist, such as Arnold Schoenberg’s Die glückliche Hand (1924), which besides the protagonist has two additional silent roles as well as a choral prologue and epilogue. Erwartung (1909) and La voix humaine (1959) closely follow the traditional definition, while in Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) by Peter Maxwell Davies, the instrumentalists are brought to the stage to participate in the action. Twenty-first century examples can be found in Émilie (2008) by Kaija Saariaho and Four Sad Seasons Over Madrid (2008) or God’s Sketches (2011) both of them by Jorge Grundman.

Monody

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Musical monody, which developed out of an attempt by the Florentine Camerata in the 1580s to restore ancient Greek practices of melody and declamation (probably with little historical accuracy), one solo voice sings a melodic part, usually with considerable ornamentation, over a rhythmically independent bass line. Accompanying instruments could be lute, chitarrone, theorbo, harpsichord, organ, and even on occasion guitar. While some monodies were arrangements for smaller forces of the music for large ensembles which was common at the end of the 16th century, especially in the Venetian School, most monodies were composed independently. The development of monody was one of the defining characteristics of early Baroque practice, as opposed to late Renaissance style, in which groups of voices sang independently and with a greater balance between parts. Contrasting passages in monodies could be for the most part melodic or for the most part declamatory and the two styles of presentation developed into the aria and the recitative respectively, both of which came to be incorporated into the cantata by about 1635. The parallel development of solo song with accompaniment in France was called the air de cour: the term monody is not normally applied to these more conservative songs, however, which retained many musical characteristics of the Renaissance chanson. An important early treatise on monody is contained in Giulio Caccini’s song collection, Le nuove musiche (Florence, 1601).

Monophony

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Western singing#

According to the modern medieval scholar Ardis Butterfield, monophony “is the dominant mode of the European vernacular genres as well as of Latin song … in polyphonic works, it remains a central compositional principle.”

Plainchant#

The earliest recorded Christian monophony was plainchant or plainsong (of which one well-known style was called Gregorian chant) a single unaccompanied vocal melody sung by monks. Sung by multiple voices in unison (i.e. the same pitch and rhythm), this music is still considered monophonic. Plainsong was the first and foremost musical style of Italy, Ireland, Spain, and France. In the early 9th century, the organum tradition developed by adding voices in parallel to plainchant melodies. The earliest organum merely augmented the texture of the melody by adding a second voice in parallel octaves or parallel fifths, which could still be considered monophonic; however, by the 11th century the organum had developed a style called “free organum” in which the voices were more independent, evolving into a polyphonic tradition.

Montreal DIY music scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background and early history#

In 2007, many artists including Sebastian Cowan, Alexander Cowan, Ezra Gray and Jeff Boyd, as well as video director Emily Kai Bock, formed the artist collective and venue space Lab Synthese in Mile End, Montreal, Quebec. In 2008, Sebastian Cowan was influenced by the concept of Constellation Records to form Arbutus Records as part of the Lab Synthese art collective; the intention of the label was to release music by artists that each had their own individual style of music instead of focusing on issuing records of only one type. In the words of Dazed, the music that has been distributed by Arbutus include the “luminous lullaby techno” works of Blue Hawaii, the “provocative cabaret confessionals” by singer-songwriter Sean Nicholas Savage, energetic sample-heavy music by Airick Woodhead’s project Doldrums, and indie group TOPS’ “hazy” dream pop; however, they all feel “enchantingly disparate.” Silly Kissers, a defunct group whose members included Savage and all the people who would later form TOPS, were labeled by Dazed as an inspiration for the Arbutus acts to experiment with pop music, as well as the ethos of the Montreal scene.

Moombahton

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Identifying characteristics of moombahton include a thick and spread-out bass line, dramatic builds, and a two-step pulse with quick drum fills. Occasionally moombahton includes rave music synthesizers and a cappella rap samples. Musically, moombahton mixes the rhythmic origins of Dutch house or house music, the slow tempo of reggaeton, usually between 100-110bpm, accompanied by bouncy percussions from reggaeton.

History#

Moombahton was created by Dave Nada in late 2009 while DJing his cousin’s high school cut party in Washington, D.C. He blended the house and club music which he had planned to play with the reggaeton and bachata the guests were previously listening to by slowing down Afrojack’s remix of Silvio Ecomo and Chuckie’s song “Moombah!” from 128 bpm to 108 bpm, to create the basis of the genre. Between late 2009 and early 2010, Nada worked on a five track extended play of moombahton that was released in March 2010, with the support of the DJ Ayres and the DJ Tittsworth at T&A Records.

Mor lam

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Appellation#

In Laos, morlam / mor lam/ molam /mo lam refers to the traditional folk music genre and also the singer, and when referencing the subgenre, the word ລຳ, lam is used followed by the specific genre/beat/region name, ex: lam salavan. In northern Laos, the regional folk music styles are referred to as ຂັບ, khap , and signifies ’to sing’ or a ‘song’. The Lao-speaking people across the river in Isan call the music หมอลำ, mo lam, , Laos, the equivalent term ໝໍລຳ, molam Lao ໝໍ and Isan หมอ, both mo , (as well as Thai หมอ, mo ) refers specifically to an ’expert’, ‘shaman’, or ‘doctor’. The northern Lao terms ขับ, khap and mokhap , are not used in Isan, but are likely still used in some Lao-speaking parts of Loei, Uttaradit, and Phitsanulok that were settled by people originally from northern Laos, however, khap is understood as a rarer word for ’to sing’ or ‘song’ and in reference to specifically northern styles of lam. Northern Lao areas refer to the khène/khaen player as the mokhène/mokhaen just as in the rest of Laos and Isan. In standard Thai, the music and the singer, as adopted from Isan usage, is also known as หมอลำ, molam, but because of the tone differences is generally pronounced . It is also common to “correct” or “translate” the Isan term into standard Thai as หมอรำ, mo ram , as Thai รำ, ram , is cognate to Lao ລຳ and Isan ลำ and shares the same meaning. Although Thai ขับ khap

Moravian Church music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

From its very beginning the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian Church, kept and preserved careful and meticulous records of church, community, and commercial life. Along with this emphasis on record-keeping, the Moravians maintained active communication with other Moravian centers in Europe and throughout the world. This dedication to sharing and receiving information continues today through the worldwide Moravian Unity, including Africa and the Caribbean. Along with their rich devotional life and their missionary fervor, the Moravians maintained their high regard for education and their love of music as an essential part of life. Moravian composers – also serving as teachers, pastors, and church administrators – were well versed in the European Classical tradition of music, and wrote thousands of anthems, solo arias, duets, and the like for their worship services, for voices accompanied not only by organ but also by string orchestras supplemented by woodwinds and brasses. In addition, these musicians copied thousands of works by the best-known and loved European composers of their day – Carl Stamitz, Haydn, Carl Friedrich Abel, Adalbert Gyrowetz, Mozart, the Bach family, and many whose names have descended into relative obscurity. This rich collection of music manuscripts and early imprints comprises nearly 10,000 manuscripts and printed works, with some works appearing in several individual collections. The collections originating in North Carolina are housed in the Moravian Music Foundation headquarters in Winston-Salem, NC; those originating in Moravian centers in Pennsylvania and Ohio are housed in the Moravian Archives, Northern Province in Bethlehem, PA. The musical life in the Moravian settlements was rich and became respected by many in the young country. This musical life included sacred vocal music for worship services, including, of course, hymns; brass ensembles, especially trombones, serving specific sociological and liturgical functions; and instrumental ensemble music for recreation, ranging from works for unaccompanied solo instrument to symphonies and large oratorios. A musicologist who knows nothing of the Moravian Church or of its theology and life in the 18th and 19th centuries can analyze and certainly appreciate Moravian music. However, the more one knows of the Moravian Church, its life and worship, the more adequate and helpful is the appreciation and understanding of the music. Nearly all of the sacred vocal music written by Moravian composers was for use in worship services. Because of the Moravian penchant for recording the crucial factors in their lives, and for preserving these records in their archives, there is ample means of knowing in depth the context in which the early Moravian composers lived, wrote, and performed. In the thought of Zinzendorf, and of the Moravians of his time, all life was seen as “liturgical”. That is, every aspect of life, even the most mundane, was a sort of worship to be offered to God, after the example of Christ himself. For this reason, such normally “secular” matters as beginning a new business or reaping the fields had a religious connotation. To give this ideal of life concrete expression and to nurture the soul of those who would live it, practical realities naturally led to the development of various worship services and devotions which gave the Moravian communities a character of their own. Each day began and ended with worship, both in smaller groups within the community (divided by age and condition of life) and with the community as a whole. A significant addition to Moravian worship materials was made with the introduction of the Losungen, or Daily Texts, in 1728. This could be a private devotional, but it assumed corporate congregational importance as well. From the time of the first printed Text Book (1731), Moravians throughout the world have used these texts as a daily devotional guide, either in private devotions or in the brief morning or evening services for the whole congregation or a specific part of it. While the 18th century Losungen were generally drawn from Scripture texts, they might also consist of a hymn stanza or a portion thereof. This was characteristic of the Moravian Church, for it was in its hymnody and music that it expressed its theology most frequently and visibly. Zinzendorf encouraged the development of hymn singing. In the early days of Herrnhut, when the community did not yet enjoy a large repertoire of hymns, he conducted singing classes in which not only the hymns, but something of the life and purpose of the author was learned. A large hymnal was produced in 1735 and many more texts were added in its numerous appendices. A slightly more manageable collection was made in 1754 and 1767. In 1778 there appeared the extremely influential hymnbook of Christian Gregor, which remained in use among the German-speaking congregations for about a century. This contained 1750 hymns, 308 of them written or recast by Gregor himself. Gregor’s procedure in compiling these hymns is also instructive: he often took familiar stanzas from originally different hymns and put them together into one hymn, sometimes weaving them together with new stanzas of his own. In 1784, Gregor edited a Choralbuch which contained the most-frequently-used tunes for these hymns. In this book he cleaned up and added to a tune numbering system developed earlier in the century – a system by which tunes of the same meter share a number and are distinguished from one another by a letter. For instance, all the “tune 22s” are long-meter tunes with 8 syllables in each of their four lines. Tunes with the same number are interchangeable with regard to their meter, although the selection of which particular tune to use with which text is a choice requiring care and experience. The church bands still use this system today, with tunes called by number rather than name. Gregor’s procedure of recombining and adding to the stanzas of hymns may sound a bit unusual. In fact, that is a very Moravian thing to do, and indeed this sort of approach, which combined new and old hymn stanzas in creative ways, was central to that most characteristic of Moravian services, the Singstunde. In a Singstunde, the person in charge selects with care individual stanzas from various hymns in such a manner that they will develop some Christian truth or theme as the singing progresses. In the 18th century, the congregation, which possessed an unusual command of the hymnal, would fall in with the leader before he reached the end of the first line of each stanza, singing by heart. No address was given on such occasions as none was needed. And even now, the first-line index to the Moravian Book of Worship includes first lines of all stanzas, not just the first.

Moravian folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Moravia, today a part of the Czech Republic, was settled by Slavic tribes in the 6th century. Today, however, little is known about this period. Following the decline of Great Moravia in the 9th and 10th centuries, Moravia was captured by the Přemyslid dynasty and became a part of the Bohemian Kingdom. During the medieval war-invasions, exotic armies of Turks and Tatars came to the region. Echoes of these dramatic events can be found in the lyrics of Moravian folk songs. Distinct styles of folk music began to emerge during the Wallachian colonization of the 16th and 17th centuries, separating Bohemian and Moravian traditional music. The “new Hungarian” style has influenced the music of the area in the past three centuries, especially in Southern Moravia. This influence has left a deep imprint on the unusual melodic variegation of Moravian traditional music providing an inspirational source for subsequent Classical, Jazz and Pop music composers. The Czech National Revival in the 19th century represented an important turning point for traditional music. The “Gubernial Collecting Action” at the beginning of the 19th century was responsible for documenting folk music of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire. Later, in 1835, the priest František Sušil (1804–1868) published Moravské národní písně (Moravian National Songs), the founding collection of Moravian folk songs. The second important collector of folk songs was the dialectologist and folklorist František Bartoš (1837–1906), who published his collection Nové národní písně moravské s nápěvy do textu vřaděnými (New Moravian National Songs with Melodies Integrated to Text) in 1882. He closely collaborated with Czech composer Leoš Janáček who later became the leader of the Moravian folklore movement and organized the first phonograph recordings of Moravian folk music; these represent the oldest documentation of Moravian folk music. Janáček’s written collection of Moravian love-songs (Moravské písně milostné) was published in 1930, after his death. Many other valuable regional folk-song collections were also published during this time and collecting activities continued through the second half of the 20th century. Today tens of thousands of folk songs from Moravia are archived in the Ethnographic Division of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Morenada

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Theories about the origin of the dance#

Dance whose origin dates back to the colonial era and is inspired by the slave trade, from the transfer of black people brought by the Spanish conquerors to work as workers in the silver mines in the Viceroyalty of Peru, recently initiated by the Aymara dressed up as black people and representing characters like the caporal and the black troop. The “morenos” dance evokes the days of the colony. This dance born precisely in the brotherhoods of slaves from Africa who mocked the dances of the white majority of settlers, inclusive of those involved in the mining industry and related sectors. Then, the dance of the “morenos”, changes its name in a historical process of acceptance of it, towards all social classes in Oruro, Bolivia. Such is the case of the “Comparsa de Morenos de los Veleros” born in 1913 and “Comparsa de los Morenos” of 1924 founded by Aymara migrant families and that come from the ancient dancers of the “comparsa de morenos” of the mid-century XIX, finally adopted the name of Morenada in 1950 and 1954, respectively.

Moresca

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term is ultimately derived from the name of the Moors (from the Spanish Moros), a historic people in the western Mediterranean. Other similarly derived words include Blackamoor, Kammermohr, Matamoros, Maure, Mohr im Hemd, Moresche, Moresque, Moreška, Morianbron, Morisco, Moros y cristianos, and Morris dance.

Morin khuur

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Name#

In Mongolian, the instrument is usually called morin khuur or “horse fiddle”. The full Classical Mongolian name for the morin khuur is morin toloğay’ta quğur, (which in modern Khalkh cyrillic is Морин толгойтой хуур) meaning fiddle with a horse’s head. Usually it is abbreviated as “Морин хуур”, Latin transcription “Morin huur”. In western Mongolia it is known as ikil (—not to be confused with the similar Tuvan igil)—while in eastern Mongolia it is known as shoor ().

Mormon folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History of Mormon folk music#

In 1847 Brigham Young led the first company of Mormon pioneers into what became Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Great Basin area became steadily populated by Latter-day Saints. The traditional folk ballad played an important role in the lives of Mormon pioneers and early settlers. Songs detail the life of saints from the organization of the church in New York in 1830, through life in Kirtland and Nauvoo, to the trip across the plains and life in the Salt Lake Valley. Additionally, cultural and religious themes unique to the LDS Church in some songs made Mormon folk music distinct from larger folk music in the United States, and many songs herald church leaders and promote obedience to the church’s teachings. Songs typically had simple tunes, easy-to-recall lyrics, and broad enough appeal to be sung by contemporary Mormons. Mormon folk music mainly consisted of adaptations of popular songs, as well as of traditional folk songs from the United States and Europe. Given that many early Mormon converts came from different countries and spoke different languages, music became a way of sharing and preserving one’s cultural heritage, as well as a means of communication with others. Historical Latter-day Saint attitudes and beliefs can generally be inferred from the types and lyrics of songs they sang. During the first generation of pioneers, instruments were limited to violins, banjos, and guitars, and so many songs would have been sung with accompaniment from these instruments or were sung a capella. The first piano was brought to Utah in 1851, and piano arrangements of many popular folk songs were written.

Mormon music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mormon folk music#

Mormon folk music constituted some of the earliest European-American music in the boundaries of modern Utah. These songs, simple and easy to remember, were usually sung without accompaniment because of the scarcity of musical instruments in territorial Utah. Although they often employed the same tunes as folk music elsewhere, Mormon folk music is distinctively Utahn. The songs often include unique pioneer-era Latter-Day Saint culture references to crossing the plains, LDS ecclesiastical leaders, and LDS religious convictions. Hymns and other folk music were used to lift the spirits of all the saints along their treacherous journey known as the Mormon Trail. They are still used as praises or prayers to their Heavenly Father as well as a way to welcome comfort, peace and guidance from the Holy Ghost whom they try to keep as a constant companion.

Morna (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

As a music genre#

As a music genre, the morna is characterized by having a lento tempo, a 2-beat bar (sometimes 4) and in its most traditional form by having a harmonic structure based on a cycle of fifths, while the lyrics structure is organized by musical strophes that alternate with a refrain. The morna is almost always monotonic, i.e., it is composed in just one tonality. Compositions that use more than one tonality are rare and generally they are cases of passing from a minor to major tonality or vice versa.

Moroccan hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginnings (mid 1980s – late 1990s)#

Hip hop culture was introduced to Morocco in the mid-1980s, primarily through Moroccans living in Europe and the US, who returned home in the early 1980s and brought the new musicla style with them. Shams Dinn is widely cited as the first Moroccan rapper to perform in Darija, with an appearance recorded in 1985. Early pioneers spent subsequent years adapting the Western rap format to a local sound, developing a unique style that blended foreign influences with Moroccan linguistic and musical sensibilities. The group Double A (Aminoffice and Ahmad), formed in Salé in 1995, is widely credited with releasing the first official Moroccan rap album, Wa9i3 (Reality), in 1996. Other foundational groups from this era include H-Kayne, formed in 1996 in Meknes, and Zanka Flow (Muslim and L3arbe), formed in 1998 in Tangier. The genre’s expansion was facilitated by a political liberalization in the late 1990s with King Mohamed VI, which allowed new musical forms to flourish.

Motet

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

In the early 20th century, it was generally believed motet came from the Latin movere (to move), though a derivation from the French (“word”, or “phrase”) had also been suggested. The Medieval Latin for “motet” is motectum, and the Italian was also used. If the word is from Latin, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another. Today, however, the French etymology is favoured by reference books, as the word “motet” in 13th-century French had the sense of “little word”. The troped clausulas that were the forerunner of the motet were originally called motelli (from the French mot, “word”), soon replaced by the term .

Motswako

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Title and traits#

The genre’s name originates from Setswana translating to “blend”, “fusion” or simply, “mix” and in context this word refers to the amalgamation of English alongside Setswana or other indigenous languages in the production of motswako. The musical characteristics of motswako typically encompass smooth yet laid-back rap delivery, a consistent beat, occasionally employing a four-on-the-floor rhythm and incorporating reggae-influenced Afro-centric or drum and bass beats. Minimalistic electronic elements serve to maintain a backdrop for the rap vocals to take center stage. In its early stages, motswako utilized rap lyrics primarily in Setswana alongside American vernacular. Additionally, other South African languages such as Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans were incorporated. Lyrical themes range from spoken word poetry performed without accompaniment to localized socio-political or economic commentary, drug culture, unity, pride in local culture, romance, objectification of women, pursuit of wealth, aspirations and celebration.

Mozambique (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cuban-style mozambique#

Mozambique (pron.: mo.sam.‘βi.ke) is a vigorous style of Cuban music and dance derived, like the conga, from music of Cuban street carnivals or comparsas. It was invented or developed by Pello el Afrokan (Pedro Izquierdo) in 1963.

Music#

Although the rhythm shares many characteristics with Sub-Saharan African music traditions, it does not have anything to do with music from the African nation of Mozambique. The Cuban mozambique features conga drums, bombos (bass drums), cowbells and trombones. See: “Mozambique Lesson in Cuba, 1985” (Pello el Afrokan), and “Mozambique Rhythm from Cuba” (Kim Atkinson). Izquierdo’s composition “María Caracoles” was later recorded by Santana on their 1977 album Festival. Izquierdo’s rhythm made its début in 1963 in Havana on the television programme Ritmos de Juventud, with the presenter surrounded by drummers so in tune with each other that they created a piano-like sound, while simultaneously performing the Mozambique dance.

Mozarabic chant

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

Confusion caused by the Arabic term “Mozarabic chant” has led to the use of several competing names for the music to which it refers. The Islamic term Mozarabic was used by the Islamic rulers of Hispania (Al Andalus) to refer to the Mozarabs, that is, the Christians of the formerly Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal) living under Muslim rule. However, the chant existed before the Muslim occupation began in 711. Visigothic refers to the Visigoths who dominated the Iberian peninsula in the centuries prior to the Muslim invasion and converted from Arian Christianity to Roman Catholic Christianity in 587. However, this Catholic rite already existed in Hispania prior to their conversion, and the chant was not limited to the Visigoths, so “Old Spanish” can also be seen as an inaccurate alternative. Because the chant was found in Portugal as well as Spain, the term “Hispanic” has also been used by scholars. Because of the ambiguity and vagueness of the terms “Visigothic”, “Hispanic”, and “Mozarabic”, “scholars have come to favour the term ‘Old Hispanic’ for this repertory” .

MO on Music Theory Print

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Production#

Mod revival

Beginnings#

Modal jazz

History#

Modern pagan music

Interwar period#

Modern rock

Radio format#

Modernism (music)

Definitions#

Modinha

Mongolian hip-hop

Motivations and independence#

Monodrama

In opera#

Monody

History#

Monophony

Western singing#

Plainchant#

Montreal DIY music scene

Background and early history#

Moombahton

Characteristics#

History#

Mor lam

Appellation#

Moravian Church music

History#

Moravian folk music

History#

Morenada

Theories about the origin of the dance#

Moresca

Etymology#

See also#

Further reading#

Morin khuur

Name#

Mormon folk music

History of Mormon folk music#

Mormon music

Mormon folk music#

Morna (music)

As a music genre#

Moroccan hip-hop

Beginnings (mid 1980s – late 1990s)#

Motet

Etymology#

Motswako

Title and traits#

Mozambique (music)

Cuban-style mozambique#

Music#

Mozarabic chant

Terminology#