Jacksonville State University, David L. Walters Department of Music, Eryn Oft, MU-237 !

Prelude 2 and Chapters 14-20, Pgs. 64-109: SKIP ENCOUNTER 1 (world music)

Antiquity: (Greeks)
Ethos: Greek philosophy, mode and tuning affected the morals and character of people
Modes: 8 modes for the 8 planets (No Aeolian or Ionian or Hyper/Hypo equivalents)

Oral Transmission of Religious Texts

Christianity sprung from Judaism
psalm singing- chant
Edict of Milan (313): Christianity became legal under Constantine I
Power: Church (Catholic) and State
Create Unification of Power through Birth Rites
1st son King, 2nd son given to the church: Bishop
Patronage of the church (monasteries and Crusades) financed through trade

Sacred Music: Music for Religious (Catholic) Activities

Mass: a daily reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ (in Latin) with music
1. Proper: Varies from day to day
*Celebrates Saint or Feast
2. Ordinary: No Variation
*Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
To add spice to Mass singers added ornaments:
Trope: a vocal introduction, ornament, or explanation of the chant
Sequence: the repetition of a melody or harmony, in the same voice

Gregorian Chant: Monophonic non metric melodies used to teach scripture

Named for Pope Gregory the Great I (r. 590-604)

! Mythology: Pope Gregory was visited by God in the form of a dove and taught Pope
Gregory the chant melodies

Charlemagne (747-814), King of the Frankish Empire

Uniformity of the liturgy, Unite the land

*Neumes: ascending and descending symbols written above the words to suggest the contours of
the melodies, Pg. 70 of 13th Edition has a Picture of the Manuscript with Illuminations

Chant Performance:
Responsorial: alternating between a choir and a soloist
Antiphonal: alternating between two choirs
Direct: sung without alternation
 Jacksonville State University, David L. Walters Department of Music, Eryn Oft, MU-237 !2

Listening Example: Kyrie: Gregorian Chant: 10th Century

From the Mass Ordinary: Monophonic Chant
Antiphonal Performance

Setting the Text: 3 Types

1. Syllabic: 1 note per syllable
2. Neumatic: small groups or up to 5-6 notes per syllable
3. Melismatic: more than 6 notes per syllable

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Nun, visionary, healer and Catholic composer from Germany
Her chant Does Not Draw on existing repertory

Listening Example: Alleluia, O virga mediatrix: plainchant: 12th Century: Bingen

From the Mass Proper: Monophonic Chant
Imagery: painting a picture with words (poetic)
For Example: the Virgin Mary is described as a blossoming flower
Responsorial: alternating between a choir and a soloist

Notre Dame School in Paris: (circa. 1150-1225)

Polyphonic Chant
Causes rhythm in notation
Organum: Adding a 2nd voice to monophonic chant,
Becomes Polyphonic
Later 3 then 4 voices were added
Magnus Liber Organi: The Great Book of Organum
1. Léonin: (fl. 1150-1201)
Notre Dame composer of Organum
2. Pérotin: (fl. 1200)
Student of Léonin at Notre Dame School
Increased number of voices from 2, 3, and then 4
Rhythmic Mode: long and short notes over a sustained lower note, (like poetry)
Discant Clausulae: use of a rhythmic mode, forces notation of mensuration
Shaped notes indicate duration

Listening Example: Gaude Maria virgo: Organum: 13th Century: Pérotin

The use of rhythm will obscure the words and may sound like laughing

Organum and Polyphony bring about a new genre (style of music)

 Jacksonville State University, David L. Walters Department of Music, Eryn Oft, MU-237 !3

Motet: French “word”

Addition of new texts to organum
Could be Secular (racy) or Sacred
Isorhythmic Motet: 14th Century France compositional technique devised of 2 parts
1. Talea: repeated rhythmic pattern
2. Color: repeated melodic statement

Secular Music: Nonreligious Activities- dancing or entertainment

11th-13th Century Minstrel Poet Musicians:
1. Jongleurs: Actor Singers (traveling) entertainment at court
2. Troubadours: South France
3. Trouvères: North France
*troubador and trouvère: translates to “finders” or “inventors”
4. Minnesingers: Germany
Monophonic songs
Improvised accompaniment
Sang about Courtly Love
Musicians were employed at Court

Musical Developments in France:

Ars Antiqua:
“Old Art”
13th Century
Ars Nova: “Music is a science that would have us
“New Art” laugh and sing and dance.” Machaut
14th Century
More Refined and Complex: Rhythm

Guillaume de Machaut: (c. 1300-77)

Principal Ars Nova composer
Wrote in both sacred and secular genres (cleric and a courtier)

Chanson: French “song”, secular polyphonic work

French Formes Fixes: Fixed Forms
14th-15th Century
Musical Repetition Patterns
Three Types: Rondeau, Ballade and Virelai

Listening Example: Ma fin est mon commencement: Chanson: Rondeau:

mid 14th Century, Machaut
 Jacksonville State University, David L. Walters Department of Music, Eryn Oft, MU-237 !4

Michelangelo (1475-1564), David,

Sculpture from the Renaissance
! !
Renaissance (1450-1600)
Josquin des Prez
(1450-1521)
Composer of over 100 Motets

Motet: Sacred polyphonic work

Used in Mass
Based on a preexisting melody

Listening Example: Ave Maria virgo serena: Motet: 1480’s: Josquin

Homorhythmic: all voices move in the same rhythm
Will appear on 411 Listening List

Cantus Firmus Mass: Sacred Catholic Mass, based on a pre-existing melody. The melody could
be sacred or secular.

Personal Freedom from Religious Authoritarianism

Martin Luther
(1483-1546)
German Religious Reformer, monk and theologian
Sought to move worship into vernacular
Reformation based on the idea:
The Bible is the only infallible source of religious authority Not the Pope

Chorale/Hymn: Congregational Participation

Sung religious text, four part harmony
Melody could be from chant or secular tune

Catholic Reformation: Reaction to Luther and Corrupt Bishops and Priests, selling of
indulgences, and financial abuses

The Council of Trent: Trent, Italy

(1545-63)
No Popular Secular Song in Worship
No Instruments in Worship
No Embellishments to the liturgy
Attempted ban on polyphony, return to monophonic chant
 Jacksonville State University, David L. Walters Department of Music, Eryn Oft, MU-237 !5

Like the chant of Pope Gregory the Great or Hildegard of Bingen

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

(c. 1525-1594)
Referred to only as Palestrina
Organist and choirmaster for the Catholic Church
Wrote the Pope Marcellus Mass
Demonstrates that the text can be audible in polyphony

Listening Example: Pope Marcellus Mass: Gloria (from the ordinary): 1567: Mass: Palestrina
Will appear on 411 Listening List

! 1. Chanson:
15th-16th Century
France
Polyphonic secular song: same as Middle Ages but with less repetition

! 2. Italian Madrigal:
16th Century
Italy
Short poems (politics, humor, court life unrequited love):
Racy (erotic) Text meant to make men and women giggle
Amateur Voice with Accompaniment
Madrigalism: music depicts the text, word painting in a Madrigal
For Example:
Dying- music fades away (forte - piano)
Weeping, sighing- weighted notes, that lift
Trembling- tremolo
Claudio Monteverdi:
(1567-1643)
Composer of Italian Madrigals that use Madrigalisms

Listening Example: Si ch’lo vorrel morire: 17th Century: (Italian) Madrigal: Monteverdi

Musica Transalpine: Music from beyond the Alps, 1588: Italian Madrigals published in England
(with simpler texts)

! 3. English Madrigal:
Late 16th Century
Adapted Italian Madrigals/Madrigalism
 Jacksonville State University, David L. Walters Department of Music, Eryn Oft, MU-237 !6

John Farmer:
(fl. 1591-1601) Irish composer and organist
Moved to London to compose Madrigals

Listening Example: Fair Phyllis: English Madrigal: 16th Century: Farmer

The Importance of the Madrigal: combines music and poetry, will give way to opera

Instruments of the Middle/Renaissance:

Improvisatory Accompaniment, Dance, Announcement

Bas: soft, indoor instruments

Recorder
Lute: plucked string instrument (round back)
Psaltery/harp: plucked string instruments, flat sound board
Vielle: bowed string instruments (early viola and violin)

Haut: loud, outdoor instruments

Shawm: double reed, (early oboe)
Slide trumpet/Sackbut: Medieval Trombone, narrower bell
Crumhorn: double reed, shaped like the letter J
Cornetto: early brass instrument, made from wood

Portative Organ: portable organ

Performer played bellows with the left hand, keyboard with the right hand

Renaissance Instrumental Dance Music:

Music did not specify instruments
Instruments chosen by occasion (Bas: indoor or Haut: outdoor)
Tielman Susato
(c. 1515-1571)
Composer: Dances, Printer, and Instrumentalist

Ronde Dance: Round dance

Similar to Ring Around the Rosie
Two repeated sections AA BB (Binary Form)
On repetition musicians ornament/embellish

Listening Example: Three Dances: Ronde: 1551: Susato