Tracing The Origins Of A Contemporary Style?

How can a curious person attempt to locate the birthplace of a certain style if it's not recorded in the books?

A good example is the BraveHeart Style "celtic" music.

Here are examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icq86BRW4WE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whhrh1Lgbs4

Eventually you would notice very similar rhythms, surface vs hypermetric conventions, phrasing and melodic gestures etc... being employed all over the industry. So that means there has to be a coherent effort by someone that kicked off the style. Unfortunately this music is overlooked by the research/historians at present, so I can't find quick and precise answers like "The Opera was born in Italy, its very first composers are Montiverdi and Peri."

Thank you.

Do you wanna know who launched these Celtic-based (or Medievo) styles? Or when did it began?

You must look over a study (or book, or do it yourself) about the history of movie soundtracks. Probably, it started in 40's and 50's epics, when a lot of European composers went to US and were absorbed by Hollywood. These decades were milestones to the forming of what we today know as "soundtrack sound" - and this very clear ambientation is a characteristic of soundtrack, in particular epic (heritage from verismo operas).

Quotations from a past era always had place in music (e.g.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ius8hx63Hso ), but I think you're searching for soundtracks.

More like which school/composers launched the melodic style. Most particularly I'm seeking help on understanding the stylistic origins of their rhythmic characteristics. That includes phrasing, references to physical motions, etc...

Here are the features I have observed:

Their phrases are like stately declamations, and have dynamic in them. Speech based music from the Baroque for example tend to lack forward momentum, and wander around hither tither.

They seem to self-perpetuate, chains of phrases that don't hit cadences.

You get the result of "easy listening", because the melody has inertia within it that carries the listener along. (the listener just "cruises along" like a toboggan ride)

Pieces that largely embody all of the above can be found in scattering frequency from the past, one pavana here and an odd air there. Even then I'm not sure if that is because of accident (i.e they didn't appear that way to their contemporaries)

I'll look up more on the Verismo style that you mentioned above.

Thanks.

and this very clear ambientation is a characteristic of soundtrack, in particular epic (heritage from verismo operas).

 

I looked in to the Verismo repertoire, however they don't completely fit those epic film themes rhythmically. The epic rhythms are without exception based on some kind of hypnotic bodily rhythm, like round dances or the collective flow of a procession/march.

Here are the examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OvsVSWB4TI

v.s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go3u2NncyjY

The Mascagni excerpt is kind of amorphous and lacking in rhythmic definition in comparison.

Can you provide any more help on this?

Thanks.