Music &

Appreciation
1: Aesthetic
& Styles
Unit 3 – Medieval Music
& Aesthetic
Ages of Arts & Music:
• Music is a product of its time.
• To understand music from the past, one must first learn to think like
the people of its age.
• In fact, music is the outward expression of the composers and
cultures that shaped it.
• Hence, a solid understanding of historical context is necessary in
order to appreciate the music of any era other than our own.
 Ages of Arts & Music:
• In the units to come, we will explore the Middle Ages through the
Twenty-First Century.
• As we view the arts samples and listen to the music examples, we will
survey a broad overview of music in history and learn how cultural
contexts can offer the perspective necessary to understand great
music from any era.
• You may find pieces you enjoy and pieces you do not; however, each
unit will help to
➢facilitate listening comprehension and
➢allow you to speak about music in a common language understood by
professionals, enthusiasts, and amateurs alike.
Ages of Western Music: An Overview
• Western music can be divided into 7 ages/periods:
 Music & the Arts:
• The Essential Humanities’ definition of art is
➢“a beautiful human creation”
• Art can be divided into 2 basic types:
➢fine art (aka “pure art”), ➢applied art (aka “decorative art”),
which is simply experienced which is actually used
➢e.g. painting, sculpture, architecture, ➢e.g. pottery, clothing, furniture.
Music & the Arts:
• Q. What about music? Which type does music belong to?
Music & the Arts:
• Fine art (which has always strongly influenced applied art) is the
primary concern of Essential Humanities.
• 5 great fine arts are recognized:
➢painting (flat visual art),
➢sculpture (3-dimensional visual art),
➢architecture (the visual art of building design;
a special branch of sculpture),
➢music (sound art), and
➢literature (word art).
• These 5 media are "great" in that they comprise
➢the most expressive and
➢universally appreciated forms of art.
Music & the Arts:
• It has always been considered obvious, the difference between
➢painting, which one sees and
➢music, which one hears.
• However, as Philippe Sollers (Tel Quel, No. 20, 1965) says about
painting:
• “One will have to admit one day this obvious phenomenon:
that
➢painting is no more nor less thought that one can see…
➢painting in order to be seen, has to start in being thought”
Music & the Arts:
• We need to rethink the process by
which we look at art and apply the
same process to music, which,
➢rendered as a thought process
– notes on a page –
➢comes to life entirely in its
performance.
• The performance of ‘thinking’ the
painting can be related to
the performance of musical
compositions.
Music & the Arts:
• Many writers, such as Baudelaire
(1845), considered music as
➢the highest of the arts in
relation to painting and
literature
➢remains in the realm of
imagination and
➢not tied to a specific
represented reality
➢(the only exception is
programmatic music)
 Music & the Arts:
• For better appreciation of music and its
genres, this course aims to explore
➢the relationship between the ‘arts’
by
➢making a comparison of their
similarities and differences, via
• surveying their aesthetics and styles,
• starting here with the Middle Ages and
moving, in later units, through
➢Renaissance
➢Baroque
➢Neo-Classical
➢Romantic, and
➢Modern periods.
Music & the Arts:
• The Medieval Art period covers an
immense range of time and place,
as it incorporates over 1000 years
of art history within Europe.
 Music & the Arts:

• Having said to begin with the fall of the Roman Empire and coming to a
close by the early 14th century, Medieval Art was an incredibly
influential period of Western art culture at the time.
• Due to its sheer span of time, many innovations and unique artifacts
were made during the Medieval Art movement
 What is Medieval Art? 主要艺术运动
• Medieval Art included some of the most major art movements and
发展时期
periods known to develop within art history.
• Influenced by the artistic heritage of the previous Roman era and the
iconographic customs of the early Christian Church, the Medieval
period existed as an amalgamation of these artistic heritages.
➢c.500-800 – Early Medieval Art
➢c.780-900 – Carolingian Art
➢c.900-1000 – Ottonian Art
➢c.1000-1200 – Romanesque Art
➢c.1200-1400 – Gothic Art
What is Medieval Art?
What is Medieval Art?
 What is Medieval Art?
• Medieval Art was made up of various artistic mediums, such as
➢sculpture,
➢illuminated manuscripts,
➢stained glass,
➢tapestries,
➢mosaics, and
➢metalworks.
• Numerous artworks were made using these different styles, which
went on to have a higher survival rate than other mediums like fresco
wall paintings.
 What is Medieval Art?
But
• What was the Medieval Period like? And,
• What was the lifestyle of
➢the Medieval people in general, and
➢the artists in particular?
 What was the Medieval Period Like?
• The Medieval period was dominated by
feudalism within society.
• Feudalism existed as the dominant social
structure in Medieval society at the time,
➢where nobles effectively held control over
and
➢ruled all of the lands.
• Society was made up of
➢richest members and }
the nobles controlling their land.
➢peasants, who were forced to answer to }
 What was the Medieval Period Like?
• The daily lives between these 2 social groups
were thus vastly different, as
➢the upper-class experienced wealth, power, and
status, while
➢the lower class were expected to serve others.
• Due to this, a distinction existed between the
two, which was only bridged by the presence of
religion.
• As religion played a major part in daily life within
the Medieval period, many individuals of the
early Middle Ages were
• priests and monks in addition to being
• artists.
 Functions of Medieval Art?
• The early Medieval art pieces that were created were used as
➢the main method of communicating accounts of a Biblical nature to
society
➢a rise in illiteracy during this time period was experienced.
• This resulted in the necessity for art to express
➢complicated narratives and
➢symbolism in a way that was accessible to all of society.
• As a result of this, Medieval Art pieces
➢lost the classical naturalism associated with the Graeco-Roman times for
most of the movement, and
➢became more stylized.
Functions of Medieval Art?
• Due to this lack of literacy, printed materials
became increasingly available to monks and nuns
who
➢began to copy illuminated manuscripts, so as to
➢communicate with the masses
• These illuminated manuscripts becoming art forms.
• Narratives of a Biblical nature were predominantly
favoured, as focus shifted
➢from producing naturalistic images
➢to being able to express complex stories.
 Medieval Art History Overview from Phil Hansen
YouTube Link (https://youtu.be/v4zQnNLRW3w )

Functions of Medieval Art?

• This also influenced the style of the movement as a whole, which
began to lean towards
➢the inclusion of abstracted figures
➢within much of early Medieval Art.
• Therefore, art produced within the Medieval period consisted mainly
of
➢architectural designs of
➢churches, castles, and monasteries, in addition to
➢paintings,
➢sculptures, and
➢manuscripts.
Medieval Architecture
• An Overview of Periodic Developments:
Medieval Architecture:
Western vs Eastern Europe
• General Features:
• The great architecture of medieval Europe was predominantly sacred:
• The most prevalent church layouts are
➢the Latin cross church (in Western Europe) and

➢central-plan church (in Eastern Europe).

Medieval Architecture:
Byzantine
• While Western Europe diverged radically
from the architectural style of classical
antiquity,
➢the Byzantines remained relatively
conservative.
• Byzantine architecture
➢retains a sense of balanced classical
proportions and
➢favours plain, unadorned exterior surfaces.
• Nonetheless, the Byzantines developed a
unique architectural style, distinguished
from that of the Romans primarily by
➢complex layouts and
➢an exceptional affinity for domes.
 Medieval Architecture:
Byzantine
• A typical Byzantine church is constructed from
brick and features
➢a great central dome, which may be
➢encircled with smaller domes and half-domes.
• The Byzantines invented the pendentive, an
elegant method of mounting a dome over
➢a square or
➢rectangular chamber
• The foremost work of Byzantine architecture
are:
➢the Hagia Sophia, and
➢the Church of San Vitale in Italy
 Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• The Dark Ages:
• The fall of Rome caused Western Europe to become fragmented
➢politically and
➢culturally
• The unity of Roman art gave way to regional Germanic aesthetics.
• These aesthetics, known as the barbarian styles, flourished throughout the
Early Medieval period (ca. 500-1000)
➢in the form of small-scale visual art (especially metalwork, relief sculpture,
and illuminated manuscripts), but
➢not in the form of architecture.
• As the hitherto migratory Germanic peoples possessed centuries of
tradition
➢in the decoration of practical objects, but
➢none in the erection of permanent structures.
 Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• The Dark Ages:
• The early Dark Ages (ca. 500-750) witnessed the Germanic adoption of
Roman architecture.
• Medieval architecture truly emerged under the Carolingian Empire (ca. 750-
900), which produced many basilica churches and Latin cross churches.
• Up until the Carolingian period, churches featured balanced proportions,
like the original Roman basilica they evolved from.
• The Carolingians broke with classical proportions,
➢increasing the height of their churches relative to their horizontal dimensions,
and
➢establishing towers as a standard element of church design
As the Aachen Cathedral & St Michael's at Hildesheim
Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• The Romanesque Age:
• The Romanesque style emerged as
architects developed upon Carolingian
and Ottonian models.
• One key development was decoration:
➢Romanesque buildings generally feature
a richer abundance of architectural
sculpture than
➢Carolingian or Ottonian churches
(whose walls are mostly blank).
• An especially suitable canvas for
Romanesque sculpture was the
tympanum: the semi-circular area above
an arch-framed door or window.
Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• The Romanesque Age:
• The Romanesque period also marks the rise of
stone vaulting as the standard church
construction method.
• This replaced wooden beams, which had
supported the roofs of most churches since the
Early Christian period (when churches first
appeared).
• With vaulted construction, Romanesque
architects extended the sheer height of
churches farther than ever before.
• An excellent representative masterpiece of
Romanesque architecture is Vézelay Basilica
(France).
Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• Rise of the Gothic Style:
• With the utter mastery of stone
engineering, in which the weight of a
vaulted roof was precisely guided
through networks of arches, piers, and
buttresses, led to the emergence of the
Gothic style.
• 3 structural innovations were crucial to
the Gothic style:
➢the pointed arch,
➢rib vault, and
➢flying buttress.
Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• Rise of the Gothic Style:
• The flying buttress allows the nave
walls of a Gothic church
➢to be relatively thin, and
➢to contain an abundance of large
windows (unlike Carolingian, Ottonian,
or Romanesque churches), which
➢finally allowed the art of stained glass
to flourish.
Medieval Architecture: Latin West
• The Gothic Age (ca. 1200-1500):
• Gothic churches are readily distinguished from the
Romanesque style in
➢their pointed arches,
➢large windows, and
➢generally lighter, taller, more intricate appearance.
• Another common form of Gothic embellishment is the
crocket, a stone nub carved into stylized foliage (e.g. a bud,
flower, or leaf cluster).
• Many Gothic buildings feature tracery, a network of stone
bands that fill the space within a frame. This frame may be
provided by
➢a window,
➢railing,
➢blind arch, or
➢the rose window.
Medieval Architecture:
Latin West
• The Gothic Age (ca. 1200-1500):
• Gothic cathedrals may be divided into 2 groups:
➢those with spires, such as the Chartres Cathedral above, and
➢those with plain towers, such as the Notre Dame below.
Medieval Paintings:
• An Overview of Periodic Developments:
 Medieval Paintings:
• General Features:
• The foremost medium of medieval painting in Western Europe is
illumination (manuscript illustration).
• The term "illuminated" springs from the gleaming effect of gold leaf,
which was often applied to the pages along with ink and paint.
• Though medieval Western artists also painted murals (in the same styles
as manuscript illumination), few have weathered the centuries.
• The Byzantines, who also produced fine illuminated manuscripts and murals,
were primarily devoted to mosaic.
• The Byzantine culture is unique in history for elevating mosaic to its leading
form of visual art, flourished principally in the decoration of church interiors,
as illustrated above - Mosaics at St Mark's Basilica (Venice)
 Medieval Paintings: Byzantine
• Byzantine Icons
• ca. 500-1453
• Apart from architectural decoration, the foremost
medium of Byzantine visual art was the icon:
➢a panel painting of one or more holy figures.
• While most icons are simply portraits, some feature
narrative scenes.
• Icons, which (like their mosaic and mural cousins)
feature the Byzantine style, were intended to help
Christians understand spiritual realities by providing
visual intermediaries.
Medieval Paintings: Latin West
• Dark Age Painting - ca. 500-1000
• As in Eastern Europe, the painting of Western Europe
experienced a shift from ancient realism to medieval
stylization.
• The fractured and chaotic political landscape, however,
prevented Western Europe from being united by a single
aesthetic.
• Instead, a patchwork of regional styles developed, known as
the barbarian styles.
• The barbarian styles are all quite flat and stylized, and focus
on decorative patterns rather than human figures.
• This reflects the unfamiliarity of Germanic artists with either
figures or realism; the primary form of native Germanic art
was intricately-patterned work in metal and wood.
 Medieval Paintings: Latin West
• Carolingian art (ca. 750-900) & Ottonian art (ca. 950 – 1050):
• The human figure was restored as the central focus of Western art by the
Carolingians and Ottonians.
➢"Carolingian art" denotes artworks produced by the Carolingian Empire (ca. 750-
900).
➢"Ottonian art", which is founded upon that of the Carolingians, denotes works
produced by the Holy Roman Empire during its first century (ca. 950-1050).
• The art of these 2 periods is often quite similar.
• The main difference is that Carolingian art is generally more realistic, in terms of
both 3-dimensionalism (perspective and shading) and colour (relatively subdued
colouring). In other words,
➢the Carolingians reverted to an Early Christian level of realism, after which
➢the Ottonians slid back into flat, brightly-coloured stylization.
 Medieval Paintings: Latin West
• Carolingian art (ca. 750-900) & Ottonian art (ca. 950 – 1050):
Medieval Paintings: Latin West
• Romanesque Age
• ca. 1000-1200
• The Romanesque period marks the return of a strong
degree of aesthetic unity across Western Europe.
• Art of this period developed from all 3 great Dark Age
traditions:
➢barbarian, Carolingian, and Ottonian.
• Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Romanesque
illumination is unprecedented abundance of
saturated colours (as opposed to earthy colours),
especially blue, green, and red.
• Often, however, Romanesque illumination strongly
resembles Ottonian work.
Medieval Paintings: Latin West
• Gothic Age (ca. 1200-1500)
• To a non-expert eye, Carolingian, Ottonian, and
Romanesque illumination can all look quite similar.
• Gothic illumination, on the other hand, stands clearly
apart.
• Gothic painting is characterized by a strikingly new
degree of physical realism, including
➢depth of perspective,
➢3-dimensional figures and objects,
➢natural postures, and
➢realistic contemporary settings (including the actual
clothing and architecture of the times).
• Gothic occupies the middle ground between the flat
stylization of most medieval art and the fully-developed
realism of the Renaissance.
Medieval Paintings: Latin West
• Gothic Age (ca. 1200-1500)
• Giotto made critical progress in both of
the fundamental techniques of physical
realism:
➢perspective (the 3-dimensional
articulation of space) and
➢lighting (or, equivalently, shading:
the 3-dimensional articulation of
surfaces).
• Giotto's advances in perspective were
still accomplished "by feel", however;
precise mathematical perspective would
not develop until the Renaissance.
• Example: Giotto’s The Last Supper.
 Medieval Sculpture:
• General Features
• With the fall of Rome, statues disappeared as a major art form in Europe
until the Gothic age.
• The primary types of medieval sculpture in Western Europe were
➢architectural sculpture (especially reliefs) and
➢carved ivory objects (aka "ivories"), including small figures, crucifixes, relief
panels, and containers.
• Such objects were also produced to a lesser extent in metal and wood.
• Medieval visual art is generally quite flat and stylized, as opposed to the
physical realism of classical art. The transition from classicism to medieval
stylization took place during the Early Christian period.
Medieval Sculpture:
• Byzantine sculpture (like all
Byzantine visual art) is
characterized by the
Byzantine style.
• The central concern of the
Byzantine style is the awe-
inspiring presentation of holy
figures, which are portrayed in
➢stylized postures,
➢serene of expression and
➢often halo-crowned.
Medieval Sculpture:
• Dark Ages:
• Western Europe entered the Middle
Ages as a fractured region, politically
and culturally.
• The unity of classical art was
succeeded by regional Germanic
aesthetics known as the barbarian
styles, which flourished roughly
throughout the Dark Ages (ca. 500-
1000).
Ostrogothic art
• Common to these styles was
➢a focus on decorative patterns (as
opposed to human figures),
➢often with zoomorphic elements.
The Five Major 'Barbarian Styles' (ca. 500-1000)
Medieval Sculpture:
• The Five Major 'Barbarian Styles'
(ca. 500-1000)
• In Britain and Ireland, the artistic styles
of the Celts (in Ireland and Scotland)
and Anglo-Saxons (in England)
blended to form the insular style.
(“Insular” simply means “relating to an
island”; thus, “insular style” is
equivalent to “island style”.)
• Insular art is also known as “Hiberno- Ostrogothic art
Saxon” or “Anglo-Celtic” art.
• Example above: Insular Style
Metalwork (shoulder clasp)
The Five Major 'Barbarian Styles' (ca. 500-1000)
 Medieval Sculpture:
• The Carolingians and Ottonians: Carolingian Ivory Panel
• Both excelled in carved ivory.
• In terms of larger sculpture, the best
known Carolingian work is a set of
doors at Aachen Cathedral.
• The most famous large Ottonian
works are
➢the bronze Bernward Doors and
Bernward Column,
➢both commissioned by the bishop
Bernward at a German cathedral (St
Mary's Cathedral, Hildesheim), and
➢the wooden Gero Crucifix, which
exceeds life-size.
Medieval Sculpture:
• Romanesque:
• Romanesque art, which developed from
the 3 great traditions of the Dark Ages
(barbarian, Carolingian, and Ottonian),
flourished across Western Europe.
• Thus, for the first time since the fall of
Rome, the West was aesthetically unified.
• The heart of the Romanesque period (and
the subsequent Gothic period) was France.
• The Romanesque and Gothic periods
comprise the great age of cathedrals; the
foremost sculpture of this age is
architectural. Romanesque Tympanum
Medieval Sculpture:
• Gothic (ca. 1200-1500):
• Gothic sculpture, on the other hand,
stands clearly apart, thanks to a striking
new degree of physical realism.
• The Gothic age witnessed the return of
statues as the principal sculptural type.
• Gothic statues are still usually
architectural ornaments, however;
independent, free-standing statues
would not be revived until the
Renaissance.
• Given that free-standing statues had
been worshipped by the pagan Greeks
and Romans, they were firmly
discouraged by the medieval Church.
Medieval Music:
Medieval Music:
• General Features:
• The Medieval period witnessed a
critical transition in the structure
of Western music, when
➢monophony evolved into
polyphony.
• Medieval music was based on a
set of 8 scales, known as the
church modes.
Medieval Music:
• General Features:
• The church modes served as excellent aids for writing
smooth melodies.
• They proved ill-suited to composing harmony, however,
which became increasingly problematic as harmony-
writing became more common and complex.
• Ultimately, the church modes were abandoned (in the
Baroque era) in favour of major and minor scales.
Medieval Music:
• Dark Ages (ca. 500-1000):
• During the Early Christian period (ca. 200-500), portions of scripture
were set to traditional Roman melodies.
• In the Dark Ages, these works were organized into an official Church
repertoire, largely under the reign of Pope Gregory I. They are
consequently known as Gregorian chant.
• Gregorian chants are monophonic vocal works, historically
performed during various Roman Catholic ceremonies.
• The scale of chant performance ranges from a lone soloist to a large
choir.
• In some cases, chant performance may alternate
➢between groups, or Gregorian Chants Benedictinos – Hosanna Filio David
➢between a group and soloist. YouTube Link (https://youtu.be/_-fkcJbTBOM )
Medieval Music:
• Dark Ages (ca. 500-1000):
• The evolution of polyphony began in the late Dark Ages, when
some musicians began to embellish Gregorian chants with a
parallel melody line.
• As illustrated above, a parallel melody line copies the pitch
movement and rhythm of the original line.
• Lines were never strictly parallel throughout an entire
composition, however; this would inevitably result in some
unpleasant-sounding intervals.
• Such intervals were averted by adding small deviations from
strict parallel motion.
Medieval Music:
• Later Medieval Period (ca. 1000-1400):
• Fully-developed polyphony emerged in the later medieval
period, when each line acquired independent pitch
movement and rhythm.
• The number of lines also expanded, such that three- and
four-part polyphony became common.
Medieval Music:
• Staff Notation:
Medieval Music:
• To recap:
• The principal form of Western art music in the Dark Ages was
Gregorian chant, which was monophonic.
• Polyphonic music emerged as organum were chants embellished
with additional melody lines.
• In time, purely original polyphonic music was also composed,
along with polyphonic music built on top of Gregorian chants.
• The convention of building polyphonic music upon an existing
melody (cantus firmus technique) would linger for centuries;
only in the Baroque era did it become standard practice to
compose wholly original music.
Medieval Music:
• Secular Music:
• Throughout the Middle Ages, advances in music practice and theory
were driven mainly by sacred music.
• Over the centuries, these advances diffused to secular music (non-
religious music).
• Since ancient times, secular vocal music had been composed for
popular entertainment.
• From antiquity through the early Middle Ages, these compositions
featured monophonic texture.
• Typical subjects were heroic legends, love stories, and satirical
observations.
• In the Dark Ages, minstrels (wandering performers) were the
principal group of professional secular musicians.
Medieval Music:
• Secular Music:
• In the later medieval period, minstrels were joined by such
groups as
➢the troubadours (of southern France),
➢trouveres (northern France), and
➢minnesingers and meistersingers (Germany).
• In addition to composing monophonic works, these groups
introduced polyphony to secular music.
• Like their sacred counterparts, polyphonic secular works were
often built upon an existing melody (rather than being composed
entirely from scratch) up until the Baroque era.
Medieval Music:
• Early Music History: Middle Ages pt 1
➢YouTube Link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKt2m9-gqYA )
• Early Music History: Middle Ages pt 2
➢YouTube Link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqry2zYPWfI )
 Class Task for Unit 3:
• Group Task – work in groups of 3 or 4
• Identify and arrange the chronological composition order for the
following 2 groups of Listening Extracts by numbering them from 1
(earliest) to 5 (latest).
➢Group 1 – religious compositions
➢Group 2 – non-religious compositions
• BlackBoard Link: https://segigroup-
my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/estherong_segi_edu_my/Eu4PHZq8gLFJi_ZtOh8A-
yEBg8DVahi4wV4D1a0V2rMYdw?e=tlMro5