The single affect principle is a musicological term describing the idea that contrasting
affects (moods or sentiments) cannot belong in the one and the same musical movement,
the harmonic structure of which would thus be limited by
enharmonic modulations. It was one of the defining characteristics of
pre-Classical period music (
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century ''ars nova'', the mus ...
,
Baroque music
Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...
, etc.), and gradually became obsolete ca. 1800. There has been a resurgence of its use in contemporary
historicist
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...
and
minimalist
In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
music.
References
Musicology
{{music-stub