HMU225 Midterm

Please complete this midterm alone, aided only by your textbook, anthology, supplemental
Quercus materials, lecture slides, and lecture notes. Type your answers directly into this file.
Upload the completed document to Quercus by the end of the day, 11:59pm, 20 October 2023.

Take the time you need to complete the exam. Please do not discuss your answers with your
classmates before submitting the exam. Answer sharing is an academic offense and we will look
for unusual similarities across the body of submissions. You are welcome to type your answers
directly into the file. Quotations from textbooks should be indicated as such with quotation
marks and bracketed citations indicating chapter and subsection, and should be limited to two or
three brief phrases per answer.

1. Identify three of the regional varieties of early medieval sacred chant, and explain what led to
its standardisation, referencing both political motives and the propagandistic myth that led to the
consolidated “Gregorian” repertoire. (10 points)

2. Define tropes/troping, and identify the relationship of troping to early polyphony. (10 points)

3. Describe the earliest notated polyphonic practices, and the relationship of notated polyphony
to polyphonic improvisation, as evidenced in the Musica enchiriadis. (10 points)

4. It is often said that medieval music theory moved away from abstract thinking and closer to
actual musical practice with the innovations of Guido of Arezzo, who was, after Boethius, the
most important medieval theorist of music. Describe two of his innovations, and explain their
usefulness. (10 points)

5. Why is the Notre Dame Cathedral important to the history of western notated medieval music?
What historical circumstances contributed to its importance? (10 points)

6. Describe the Roman de Fauvel, making detailed reference to its story, medium/media, and
modes of symbolism. How does it reflect the sociopolitical context in which it was created? (15
points)

7. Sketch the evolution of the motet, from discant clausula (which you should define) through to
Dunstable’s “Quam Pulchra Es,” mentioning key figures, examples, and stylistic traits. (20
points)

8. What is the English style? Why is Burgundy the first place its influence is heard in continental
Europe, and how specifically can the influence of English composers be heard in this music?
Name specific figures and pieces. (15 points)