Music of the Middle Ages
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Transcript of Music of the Middle Ages
Music of the Middle Ages450AD - 1450AD
Roman Empire (Ancient Greece)
& the Renaissance
• Also called the Dark Ages
• Bridges the gap between:
Music of the Middle AgesPope Gregory I
• Founded the Schola CantorumA school that taught the priests to sing chants
• Gregorian Chant (a type of *Plainsong)
Possessed clarity and melodic beauty
6th Century-codified music of Christian worship servicesproject the text clearly so that it could be understood by the people
Free, unmeasured Monophonic melodyText in LatinA little bird whispered all the chants in Pope Gregory’s ear. Thus, all the music and how it is to be performed came from God.
Listening: Alleluia Vidimus Stellam
Dies iræ! Dies illaSolvet sæclum in favilla:Teste David cum Sibylla!
Quantus tremor est futurus,Quando iudex est venturus,Cuncta stricte discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens sonumPer sepulchra regionum,Coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit, et natura,Cum resurget creatura,Iudicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,In quo totum continetur,Unde mundus iudicetur.
Iudex ergo cum sedebit,Quidquid latet, apparebit:Nil inultum remanebit.
Dies IraeThe day of wrath, that dayWill dissolve the world in ashesAs foretold by David and the sibyl!
How much tremor there will be,when the judge will come,investigating everything strictly!
The trumpet, scattering a wondrous sound through the sepulchres of the regions, will summon all before the throne.
Death and nature will marvel,when the creature arises,to respond to the Judge.
The written book will be brought forth, in which all is contained,from which the world shall be judged.
When therefore the judge will sit,whatever hides will appear:nothing will remain unpunished.
Music of the Middle AgesPlainsong and Monophonic style
• Monophonic – single line of melodyMight be enriched by the use of drones
Melodies are often long and flowing
Percussion used in secular musicRhythm was often not notated. We assume that it was tied to text in vocal music and to dance in instrumental music
Slow and Relaxed
Anonymous composer
• Plainsong
Use modal scales (as the ancient Greek did)
Listening: Kyrie Eleison
Music of the Middle AgesCharlemagne
• Charles the Great (Charles le Magne), Charles I
Crowned Holy Roman Emperor 800AD
Priest & Clergy were the:
Alignment with Roman Catholic ChurchEverything in the name of God
only educated people of the timeonly people who could read and write
• Spread of Christianity – Spread of Sacred Music
lived in monasteries, and in silence
Helped spread Christianity throughout EuropeEven if he had to kill everyone to do it
printed Bibles and celebrated Mass:Most Importantly a Reenactment of the Last Supper of Jesus
Music was used to help celebrate Mass
Music of the Middle AgesGuido d’Arezzo (990-1050)
• Worked at Schola Cantorum
Taught Gregorian Chants to priests
Had six stanzas
Frustrated with how long it takes to learn all the music
Each stanza began on a pitch one step higher than the previous
Used first syllable of each stanza to help priests remember what each note sound like
• “Ut queant laxis” (a hymn to John the Baptist)
Was a hymn that everyone knew
Developed a system for teaching Singing & Reading Music
Music of the Middle AgesGuido d’Arezzo (990-1050) cont.
• “Ut queant laxis” (a hymn to John the Baptist) cont.
Invention of early *Solfege SystemSound of Music – Do, a deer a female deer…
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol (So), La, Ti (Si), Do
• Guido’s System was called Solmization:
Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, SI *(Sancte Io-annes)
Listening: Ut queant laxis
Listening: Flashmob Do, Re, Mi
Music of the Middle AgesGuido d’Arezzo (990-1050) cont.
• Guidonian HandEach Solfege syllable is assigned to a part of the hand
Point-and-Sing
• Music NotationFirst systemized 4-line staff
Marked “F” Line – Bass Cleff
Music of the Middle AgesNew Developments
• Organum
First attempt at harmony and Polyphony
Originally improvised, later written
Consists of Gregorian chant and one or more additional melodic lines
The same melody transposed by a consonant interval, usually a perfect fifth or fourth, creating “Parallel” melodies – Parallel Organum
• Cantus Firmus
“Fixed Song” – the pre-existing melody (a Gregorian Chant) that forms the basis of a polyphonic songTypically put in the bottom voice
May be slowed down while other voices were composed over it
Different from Organum – not note against note, but one vs. few or many
Music of the Middle AgesNew Developments cont.
• Liturgical Dramas
Play not based on a Bible story but a premise ofGood vs. Evil
New Music, words, costumes and sets are used in the pageant
Stories told at the beginning of high Holy church days
All Liturgical Dramas are based on Bible Stories
Christmas, Easter, etc.
• Morality Plays
All the characters are fictitiousNew music is used (Not based on a chant)Listening: Ordo Virtutum – “Play of the Virtues”
A soul gets tempted by both the angels and the devil
Music is used to represent both characters
Music of the Middle AgesNew Developments cont.
• Troubadours – France (1100)
Music starts to adapt the rhythm from poetry and is no longer free flowing
First poet/composers
Notes start to have length
Sing about love, wars & Heroes
Listening: Micrologus
Traveled across Europe in the 12th & 13th centuryUnlike Sacred Music, instruments were used for accompaniment.
• EstampieInstrument dance of the Middle Ages.
Suggested Listening: Mediaeval Baebes
Listening: Sancte SatorListening: Robin Hood and Maid Marian
Music of the Middle AgesArs Antiqua 1170-1310
• Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
First university of the Middle Ages
Completed 200 years later
A mystical nun who, among many other things, composed music for:
Construction begins in 1164
Liturgical Dramas & Morality Plays (e.g. Play of the Virtues)
• University of Paris (1150)
Organized program of study: liberal arts and languagesNot Just the Bible
• Notre Dame Cathedral
Music of the Middle AgesArs Antiqua cont.
• Leonin (1135-1201)
Worked and taught at the Notre Dame School
Listening: Perotin – Alleluia Nativitas
• Perotin (1180-1238)
Taught Music CompositionExperimented with chants and composed Polyphonic Organums
• Adam de la Halle (1237-1288)
Invented Motet
First Musical Theatre piece: Le Jeu de Robin et Marion (Listening)
Most famous troubadour ever
Music of the Middle AgesArs Nova 1300
Ars Nova Notandi (1322) - a treatise on music by Philippe de Vitry of France
Stems were added to the neumes, creating our modern system of notation
• Literary works became more about sensuality than virtue
Composers could specify rhythm pattern
There were so many changes and innovations in musical style that this era was named the time of “New Art”
Polyphony NOT based on chantSyncopation appears
• Secular music more important than sacred• New system of Music Notation evolved
Music of the Middle AgesGuillaume de Machaut (1304-1377)
Single most important figure in French Ars Nova
The last great poet who was also a composer
Created many of the musical forms of today:Rondos, Ballades, etc.
After the completion of Notre Dame Cathedral, Guillaume de Machaut was commissioned to compose a Mass for its opening:
• Worked as Court Musician and cleric for royal families
• A Poet & Musician
• Wrote both Sacred and Secular music
Messe de Notre Dame (Mass of Our Lady)
• First complete “Ordinary (Order) or Mass”
Music of the Middle AgesMesse de Notre Dame (Mass of Our Lady)
Some parts performed/doubled on instruments
• First Polyphonic Mass Ordinary (Order)
• Written for four voices
• Sacred music became increasing complex as church began to use more polyphonic and instrumental music
i. Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy”)ii. Gloria (“Glory to God in the highest”)iii. Credo (“I believe in one God”)iv. Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”)v. Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”)
Listening: Excerpts from Messe de Notre Dame
• Arguably the most complex and most significant musical work of the Middle Ages