The Flowering of Harmony

Overview

With the growth of music from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance came a blending of many voices. Palestrina and Gabrielli are but two of the early composers featured. Yehudi Menuhin traces the development of vocal music and forms of musical notation from the chants of Buddhist monks to the massed choirs of the Renaissance. Also: Ravi Shankar discusses Indian music, in which ornamentation and melodic purity evolved in place of harmony.