If an unlucky noble was picked on and ridiculed by a Troubadour, he could be certain to be famous in every court and castle in Southern Europe, because unfortunately for him he would be a laughing stock. In some cases, he may have to fight to defend himself and his family against marauding neighbours, as had the Lord of Rossilho when Alfonso of Aragon laid waste his territories, as vengeance for the death of the Troubadour Guillem de Cabestanh.
To the Troubadours we owe the existence of various art forms common to music and poetry. Such as the "Pastorela," or "Pastorela" - the shepherd's song, whence the modern Pastoral or Pastorale; the "Alba"- song of the morning, whence the Ambade; the "Serena"- song of the evening, whence the Serenade; the "Ballada"- a song to accompany the dance, from which comes the Ballad.
In Northern France the Trousers, and in Germany the Minnesingers, followed in the footsteps of the Provengal poet-singers, although with modifications of the Provengal aims and methods born of their different surroundings.
More interesting were the Meistersingers of Germany, burgher minstrels, than the courtly Minnesingers and Trouveres. The first Mastersingers belonged to Mayence, and from there the Meistersong spread throughout the length and breadth of Germany. Strasburg, Augsburg, Munich, and Nuremburg, all attained celebrity as centres of the Meistersong. The Meistersinger, with whose name the general public are most familiar, Hans Sachs, was a native of Nuremburg. The Meistersong arose in the fourteenth century, about the time of the decay of the Minnesong, and flourished for nearly four centuries.
It was eminently characteristic of the Middle Ages that, whereas the Troubadours, Trouveres, and German poets, for the most part civilised and unassuming, apparently felt no necessity for any definite union among themselves. The Mastersingers, traders and citizens, safely living within the strong walls of their towns, should have fenced round their pursuit of art with the strong wall of guildery.
Going several steps lower in the social scale than the Meistersingers, we find the travelling musicians, as early as the thirteenth century, seeking such protection and increase of dignity as was to be gained by the formation of associations or guilds.
One of the earliest of these was formed in Vienna in 1288, under the title of the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas. Another was the " Confrerie de St. Julien des Menestriers," established at Paris in 1330. The members of these guilds were generally known as town pipers, and although it is probable that their acquirements, taken on an average, were little above those of the travelling musician of the present day, yet their services to the cause of music, albeit rendered unconsciously, can scarcely be overrated.
At a time when most musical knowledge was church based, the most non-religious composition still had a church based style through the mere process of being written down. The only instrumentalist who was regarded as a respectable member of society was the organist, generally a religious man; these strollers were preserving among themselves the seeds, from which were to spring the secular music and instrumental playing of a time when knowledge would be more evenly distributed.
Jazz music was first used in reference to music from Chicago early in the 20th century. It has evolved in several other subgenres such as New Orleans Dixieland, big band-style swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, Brazilian jazz, jazz-rock fusion, and the more recent acid jazz.
The realm of jazz music was and still is predominantly associated with the American black community. These black musicians transitioning from banjos and tambourines learned to play European instruments such as the violin. Black slaves from early America used to sing and play music as a form of spiritual or ritualistic hymns.
After emancipation, employment opportunities for black slaves were very limited as segregation laws were still in force. Most of these black slaves found themselves in the entertainment industry as piano players and instrumentalists. They became low-cost entertainers as minstrels, vaudeville players, piano bar players, and marching band members. Soon, this kind of jazz music called Ragtime Jazz spread from the southern USA to other areas in the western and northern cities in USA.
Ragtime jazz became very popular in the early part of the century. Musician Jelly Roll Morton published the first ever jazz arrangement in print in 1915 with the title Jelly Roll Blues. This printed arrangement brought forth a new breed of musicians playing ragtime. Ragtime music moved on from red-light district bars and vaudeville shows to major concert locations such as the Carnegie Hall.
The first jazz record was recorded in 1913 by Society Orchestra, the first black group to come out with a record. Another group that came up with their very own jazz music recording is the "Original Dixieland Jazz Band". Other bands followed suit, releasing jazz music recordings starting in 1917. In 1922, the most famous blues singer of the decade, Bessie Smith, also released her first recording. Also in the 1920s, Jelly Roll Morton played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and made history as the first mixed-race recording collaboration. Big bands like those of Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Earl Hines played the more prominent venues and paved the way for the development of big-band-style swing jazz.
Louis Armstrong, a trumpeter, band leader and singer, came to be known as the Ambassador of Jazz, what with his early innovations in jazz music. Swing music is considered to be popular dance music and is played from printed musical arrangements. Then came the bebop which focuses more on small groups and simple arrangements.
Throughout the years jazz music has always been preferred music genre among those who enjoy light and easy listening. There are radio stations that play only jazz music. Jazz music can be heard most everywhere hotel lounges, salons, concert halls, wedding receptions, Jazz music is perhaps also the most unique form of music as there are no two jazz music performances are ever the same.
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