The Evolution of Acapella Singing : From Renaissance Sacred Music To Modern Pop
Evolution
A cappella singing, which literally means “in the chapel style,” has a long and fascinating history. The term comes from Italian and it originally referred to unaccompanied sacred music performed in European churches. Over time, acapella has evolved into a lively part of pop music culture, incorporating harmony, rhythm, and even vocal percussion.
Acapella arose in the late 15th century and became associated with composers, like Josquin des Prez who wrote "Ave Maria," a piece of music we will be listening to today. During the 16th century, composers such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina refined the church music, making it more vocally balanced. This was in order to enhance worship in the church rather than to better performance.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, acapella continued to grow into folk traditions, chorals, and small vocal ensemble groups. These styles of acapella values strong harmony and group participation.
While acapella began in religious settings, it slowly moved outside of the church and into pop and secular music. By the 20th century, vocal groups began incorporating harmony into popular music. This brought acapella into the mainstream culture. This marked an important shift, acapella was no longer classical or or sacred, it became entertainment
By the late 20th century ensembles began arranging contemporary pop songs for vocal performance. This included base lines, beatboxing, and vocal percussion. Additionally television and film played a huge role in popularizing the genre. Movies like Pitch Perfect, which we'll analyze today, presented acapella as a competitive, high energy performance.
This timeline shows the dramatic shift acapella has taken from being brought up as a spiritual sacred practice of worship, to being a huge part mainstream entertainment.
Musical Examples
To show this evolution, I have chosen two examples:
Point A - Renaissance Sacred Music
Ave Maria
Composer: Josquin des Prez
Year: 1485
Country: France/Italy
https://youtu.be/xGkb5KFwx1I?si=2V0d1OEugpiRzn8V
Point B - Modern Pop Acapella
The Finals Performance
(No specific name, its a remix of pop songs arranged by Beca) (Pitch Perfect Performance)
Performer: Barden Bellas (Pitch Perfect, 2012)
Year: 2012
Country: USA
These selections of music show how acapella transitioned from sacred music to pop-inspired, performance-focused acapella, using both voice and rhythmic techniques.
Musical Analysis
Harmony
In Ave Maria, the harmony is very smooth and balanced. The voices move independently yet blend together in a very controlled manner. It's like each voice swoops in just before the other ends like waves. It creates a hypnotic feel to the song, and you can tell all of the singers are working together to make it work. It's interesting how you can hear each vocal part move, yet they all almost weave together.
In the Pitch Perfect finals performance (2012) the harmony works very differently. There’s a clear lead singer, and the others are supporting and creating harmonies and sounds. The performance begins with Beca singing as the lead "Don't You Forget About Me” and the other singers begin to support her which thickens the sound. The acapella is a lot fuller and brighter compared to Ave Maria. It is attention grabbing and bold rather than meditative. It really shows how acapella has evolved from sacred and balanced to entertaining and upbeat.
Rhythm
Ave Maria does not have a steady beat pushing it forward, but rather it moves freely on its own. It's free and calm and feels as if time slows down. The tempo feels flexible, and this is seen in the beginning where each voice enters and overlaps each other.
In the Pitch Perfect performance, there is a strong consistent beat. You can hear vocal percussion and beatboxing underneath the harmonies which really add to the performance. As this is a mashup, the vocal percussion in the background is strengthened as they enter transitions into a new song.
Personal Reaction
Listening to Ave Maria, I felt very calm and meditative. I enjoyed the way the voices all blended together and created beautiful harmonies with the church making the sound travel through the air. It's crazy to think that this music was written so many years ago, yet it's being sung today.
The final performance given by the Barden Bellas from the movie Pitch Perfect was a big switch. I’ve always loved pitch perfect, and I love to sing myself so I found this music very entertaining and familiar. This performance is especially satisfying as the Bellas haven’t always performed their best throughout the movie, so they are redeeming themselves here.
References
“The History of a Cappella | Superprof.” Www.superprof.com,
www.superprof.com/blog/a-cappella-history/.
When I looked through my (extremely long) classical playlist for examples of your observation that most earlier choral music was sacred in nature, I found it to be exactly as you said; there are some composers who wrote choral pieces about nonreligious subjects, but they tend to be toward the later side, such as Carl Nielsen, who composed around the late 1800s to early 1900s. An exception is John Wilbye, however (d. 1638), who wrote a form of secular choral music called the madrigal. This music form might interest you, as it has a nonreligious nature, despite being so early:
ReplyDeleteMadrigal
-Ethan Bowser
You picked such an interesting topic, I enjoyed reading your blog. Before this course, I didn't really realize that vocals can be considered an instrument, but it is very clear the musical dynamics behind it. First time I heard of Acapella was from the movie Pitch Perfect, just as you mentioned. Harmony and rhythm were good choices to use to analyze acapella music. The way you described the harmony with the Ave Marie piece as the voices being "like waves" was absolutely perfect way to describe their acapella. What I learned from your blog is the history of acapella because I always thought it was (from the beginning) all about making beats with your mouth and I found out, that is not always the case. It is the perfection of the combination of the voices that make it sound so good. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the way you described the musical elements found in both songs, and how much they changed over time. I didn't think that acapella covered this wide variety, since the first time I heard of it was on a video of a group of singers recreating video game music with just their voices. The funny thing is that I actually thought at first that acapella was the name of their group, until I found out it was a form of music.
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