On Aesthetic Features Of Harmony And Sublime In Western Classical Chorus

Western classical chorus is one of the genres most characterized by classical aesthetic features. As a classical genre, chorus has the conventional classical features such as harmony, sublimity, tragedy, and gracefulness, among which harmony and sublimity are the most essential and primary features. This dissertation develops around the two categories.The first chapter is diachronic description of chorus. Western chorus is studied and described in terms of the religious and the secular with the endeavor to reach the unity of logic and history. The author of this dissertation believes that chorus was the product of Christianity. But with a development of the productive force, the secular force increased resulting in the intensification of the secular elements in chorus. Finally western classical chorus developed in the complex process of mingling of religious consciousness and secular force and became a duet of religious chant and secular ballad. Medieval chorus, which was an important component of religious ritual, were mainly religious chant and were the product of religion. In the age of Renaissance, science, society and culture provided great impetus for music. Secular chorus such as Italian madrigal and French chanson exhibited strong spirit of humanity. Religious chorus like church polyphony, Mass and Motet flourished into the zenith of chorus of no accompaniment. During the Baroque period, chorus entered a completely new era of growth. Purely religious chorus declined and secular chorus became the mainstream. Chorus like oratorio, cantata and passion chorus in the opera appeared. Although these genres came from religious ritual, their humanistic spirit was easy to notice. Chorus of the classical period now became truly humanistic. Some religious genres of chorus expressed humanity with liberty, equality and fraternity as the key ideas. Continuing the humanistic spirit, the chorus of the romantic period overflowed with the romantic passions. But the passive mood of romanticism also made the composers return to religion. Chorus of the 20th century remained a duet of the religious and the secular. But with people's loss of subjectivity, classical chorus achieved its transformation into the modern.The second chapter explains the aesthetic features of harmony, which is the principle for formal beauty of classical chorus. Among all the classical arts of various forms, music most approximated and attached the greatest importance to harmony. Harmony is embodied as human's perception of music in which the Pythagoras school found harmony. First, this paper explores, in terms of the linguistic forms of western chorus, harmony in interval, in chord, and in poly-contrapuntus and studies the aesthetic nature of harmony in chorus. Secondly, in terms of the dynamic development of harmony in chorus, this paper expounds harmony in chorus in different periods in the history of music: harmony in the structure of contrapuntus in the Renaissance chorus, harmony in contra-structure in Baroque chorus, harmony in chorus of the classical period, harmony in chromaticism the expansion of modes in the romantic period. These dynamic features of harmony display the principle of formal beauty in western chorus. As an aesthetic experience based on beauty and ecstasy, harmony has its sensual aspect. But as far as the art of music is concerned, harmony is rational. On the basis of the sense of beauty and ecstasy, the law of beauty in harmony is discovered and a complete set of methods and theories for the creation of harmony, i.e. harmonielehre, is generalized. Thus harmony enters a world of reason. Harmony in western chorus shows the development from discovery of harmony and change in nature, through the harmony of subject and object between man and nature, to harmony between man and man and between man and nature.Chapter three expounds the aesthetic features of sublimity in classical chorus. The relationship between western chorus and sublimity is based on the relationship between chorus and religion. With the relation of sublimity to Christianity as the starting point, this paper analyzes the inevitable association between western chorus and sublimity from the two perspectives of religion and secularity and expounds the embodiment of sublimity. Western chorus originated from Christian ritual. Overshadowed by the medieval theology, people did not have a real sense of subjectivity, which was not free from religion and not internalized. Therefore the more the religious chorus pursued religious belief, the more expansion toward infinity it displayed. And then it showed aesthetic features of sublimity. As western chorus was never dissociated from religion, then its aesthetic feature was always the sublimity which was closely connected with religious belief. So there was the inevitable connection between western chorus and sublimity. After the Renaissance, god's power was diminished and the age of secularity came. Human's consciousness was internalized and exhibited human's essential power. Western chorus began to free itself from God. Human acquired independent will and sense of subjectivity. Humanistic spirit was highly upheld and there appeared in chorus sublimity of human. After that, a sublimity which was a secular feeling in chorus came into being. So western chorus exhibits a sublimity which is both a religious consciousness and a secular feeling.Chapter four deals with the modern transformation of classical chorus. The transformation is in the form and technique or style. It is part of the modern transformation of the whole western classical aesthetics of arts. Modern transformation of classical chorus is the continuation of classical chorus, with the traditional genres and forms still in use although modified. It is also the rise of modern chorus. It breaks from the tradition, showing modern techniques and styles such as polytonality and atonality. This chapter deals with the modern transformation of western chorus in the aesthetic sense. With the deconstruction of the tone centre, disproportion has become the main feature of modern chorus. Harmony, which is the unity of proportion and disproportion, can no longer be found in modern chorus. Modern chorus can embody neither the religious sublimity nor the humanistic sublimity in the classical chorus. With the violation of the rule of commune writing, the dual structure in classical music is completely broken. So the sublimity based on duel structure can no longer be found in modern chorus. In short, harmony and sublimity, which is the primary feature of western classical chorus, is deconstructed in modern chorus.Conclusion: Classical chorus witnesses the relationship between western music and Christian culture and shows the see-saw between religious culture and secular culture. It became a duet of the religious hymn and the secular ballad in the course of western culture and history. Being an important component of western music, classical chorus bore witness to the development of western culture and history and represented the level of western music culture. It was the embodiment of techniques and styles of western music and the basis of composer's theories such as harmony and contrapuntus. It is the prerequisite for the establishment of the rule of commune writing. As an art of music, chorus reflects, to some degree, the pulsing of western thinking, culture, philosophy, and art, with its ideas in the words, its genre and its style.