![]() Unhelpfully, at least from Figaro’s perspective, the piece accelerates as it goes so that by the time it races towards its grand conclusion, he can only sing nonsense syllables. Rossini wrote it to showcase his lead, and while it’s supposed to be comic, the singer has to work overtime to spit out all those words and be understood by the audience. It’s demanding, it’s show-stopping, and the harmonies are sumptuous.įamously, at least one performer had to sing this aria while riding a bicycle, but even without acrobatic stunts, it’s an impressive song. It’s an excellent example of 19th-century secular music, especially the operatic. In it, Figaro rattles off this tour-de-force patter-song. Rossini wrote his share of sacred music, but he also composed many operas with secular themes. Summer Is Icummen In by the Hilliard Ensemble Here are some examples of secular music through the ages. Secular music, like its musicians, ranges wildly across time and genre. So, to understand what defines secular music beyond its irreligiosity, let’s look at some examples. It has styles and trends that go in and out of favor depending on the period.Īll of these fit our secular music definition, but they also have significantly different characteristics. Pinning down one specific secular music definition that helps give it specific characteristics is complicated by the fact that music is a lot like fashion. What made it secular was that there was no possible way you could perform this music in church. Confused? Sometimes medieval composers wrote secular music that had a religious subject. Secular Music Characteristicsīecause secular music is such an all-encompassing category, it’s hard to talk about its characteristics the same way we can talk about the musical signatures of jazz or the Romantic Era.įor instance, Medieval secular music isn’t always secular. The definition of secular music is anything irreligious. Sacred music is religious, but what is secular music? When talking about music, most musicologists make a distinction between secular and sacred music. Now is the Month of Maying by The King’s Singers. ![]() ![]() Summer Is Icummen In by the Hilliard Ensemble. ![]()
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