On The Origin And Early Development Of Quotation And Its Historical Significance

"Quotation",referring to the use of existing music in new works,is a long standing western compositional techniques.With classifying and analyzing on the origin and development of the quotation,this paper puts forward that quotation stems from the addition to the Gregorian chant and the chant becomes the quotation-materials constructing the polyphonic music when the composition of addition turn into real subject,varying increasingly later.In this historical process,quotation gradually transforms from symbolic function to structural function,However,with the use of quotation being replaced by the new imitation and development techniques of the theme,a kind of composing thinking which develops vertically and horizontally based on a set theme is maturing,quotation becomes an important logical starting point of the western composing thinking,having a profound influence on the morphological feature and acoustics appearance of western music's.Further discussion shows that the origin,development and the functional transformation of quotation are closely related to the western social environment in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,and are the product of the confliction and compromise between the external environment and the inner will of musicians.