2011 © McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Music: An Appreciation, Brief7th Editionby Roger Kamien

Part IIThe Middle Ages and

Renaissance

Time Line

• Middle Ages (450-1450)• Rome sacked by Vandals—455• Beowulf—c. 700• First Crusade—1066• Black Death—1347-52• Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales – 1387-1400• Joan of Arc executed by English—1431

Time Line

• Renaissance (1450-1600)

• Guttenberg Bible—1456• Columbus reaches America—1492• Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa—c. 1503• Michelangelo: David—1504• Raphael: School of Athens—1505• Martin Luther’s 95 theses—1517• Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet—1596

The Renaissance Rebirth of human creativity

Time of exploration & adventure

Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan

Age of curiosity & individualism

Leonardo da Vinci Intellectual Movement – Humanism

Captivated by ancient Greece & Roman cultures Visual arts depicted realism w/ linear perspective and illusion of

space & depth Catholic Church far less powerful Education a status symbol for the aristocracy & upper middle class

The Middle AgesA thousand years of European history

• Early - a time of migrations, upheavals & wars

Later – a period of cultural growth

Romanesque churches & monasteries; Gothic cathedrals;

Crusades to recover the Holy City from the Muslims

• Class Distinctions

Nobility sheltered in fortified castles; knights in armor;

amused themselves with hunting, feasting & tournaments

Peasants vast majority of population; lived miserably;

subject to feudal overlords

Clergy Roman Catholic church exerted power;

monks held a virtual monopoly on learning

Ch. 1 - Music in the Middle Ages

• Church was the center of musical life

• Music primarily vocal and sacred- Instruments not used in church- Few medieval instruments have survived- Music manuscripts did not indicate tempo,

dynamics or rhythm

- Important musicians were priests

- Women were not allowed to sing in church,

but did make music in convents

- Only sacred music was notated

Gregorian Chant• Official music of the Roman Catholic church

• No longer common since 2nd Vatican Council (1962-1965)• Represents the voice of the church rather than an individual

• Monophonic melody set to Latin text• Melodies tend to move by steps in a narrow range• Flexible rhythm - without meter and sense of beat• Named for Pope Gregory I (r. 590-604)• Later the melodies were notated

• Notation developed over several centuries

The Church Modes• Basic scales made of different whole & half-step

patterns

Listening

Alleluia: Vidimus stellam(We Have Seen His Star)Vocal Music Guide: p. 66

Basic Set, CD 1:63 Brief Set, CD 1:47

Gregorian Chant

Monophonic texture

Ternary form: A B A

Listening

O successores (You successors)Hildegard of BingenVocal Music Guide: p. 69Basic Set, CD 1:66 Brief Set, CD 1:50

ChantOriginally written without accompanimentThis recording includes a drone—long, sustained notes

Note extended range of melodyWritten for nuns by a nun (sung in a convent)

Secular Music in the Middle Ages

Composed by French nobles who were poet-musicians

Troubadours (southern France)

Trouvères (northern France)

Performed by jongleurs (traveling minstrels) Song topics: love, Crusades, dancing,

spinning songs Instrumental dances

Listening - Estampie

Medieval dance music Strong beat (for dancing) Single melody line is notated Performers improvised instrumental

accompaniment• Basic Set, CD 1:67• Brief Set, CD 1:51

The Development of Polyphony: Organum

• Between 700-900 a 2nd melody line added to chant• Additional part initially improvised, not written• Paralleled chant line at a different pitch

• 900-1200 added line grew more independent• Developed its own melodic curve (no longer parallel)• c. 1100 note-against-note motion abandoned

• 2 lines w/ individual rhythmic and melodic content• New part, in top voice, moved faster than the chant line

School of Notre Dame (Paris): Measured Rhythm • Leonin & Perotin developed notation of precise rhythms

• Chant notation had only indicated pitch

• Medieval theorists considered interval of 3rd as dissonant• Modern chords built of 3rds, considered consonant

Fourteenth-Century Music: The “New Art” in Italy and France

• Secular music more important than sacred• Changes in musical style – known as new art

ars nova (Latin)

• New music notation system evolved• Beats could be subdivided into 2 as well as 3• Syncopation became important rhythmic practice

Listening

Puis qu’en oubli sui de vous(Since I am forgotten by you; around 1363) by Guillaume de Machaut

Basic Set: CD 1: 72, Brief Set: 1:52Vocal Music Guide: p. 74

Vocal Melody accompanied by two lower partsSyncopation

Listening

Agnus Dei from Notre Dame Mass by

Guillaume de MachautVocal Music Guide: p. 76

Basic Set, CD 1:73 Brief Set, CD 1:53

Polyphonic; triple meter; syncopation

Ternary form: A B A (form results from the text)

Ch. 2 - Music in the Renaissance

• Invention of printing widened the circulation of music• Musicians worked in churches, courts, & towns• Church remained an important patron of music

• Church choirs grew in size (all male)

• Musical activity shifted to the courts• Town musicians played for civic processions, weddings• Musicians enjoyed higher status & pay• Composers sought credit for their work• Italy became leading music center

Words and Music• Vocal music more important than instrumental• Word painting• Wide range of emotion w/o extreme contrasts

Texture• Polyphonic• Imitation among the voices• Sounds fuller; expanded pitch range; consonant chords are favored w/ use of

triads

Rhythm and Melody• Rhythm a gentle flow rather than sharply defined beat• Melodic line has greater rhythmic independence• Melody usually moves along a scale w/ few large leaps

Characteristics of Renaissance Music

Sacred Music in the Renaissance

Motet – Josquin Desprez• Short polyphonic choral work• Latin text usually overlaid with vernacular text

Mass – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina• Polyphonic choral composition of the Catholic church• Made up of 5 sections:

• Kyrie

• Gloria

• Credo

• Sanctus

• Agnus Dei

Listening

Ave Maria…virgo serenaJosquin DesprezVocal Music Guide: p. 80

Basic Set, CD 1:76 Brief Set, CD 1:56

Four voice motet

Polyphonic imitation

Overlapping voice parts

Listening

Palestrina’s work became the model for mass composers

Vocal Music Guide: p. 83

Basic Set CD 1:79 Brief Set 1:59

Rich polyphonic texture – 6 voices

Vocal imitation

Spirit of Gregorian chant

Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass

by Palestrina (1525 – 1594)

Secular Music in the Renaissance

Vocal Music

Music was an important leisure activityPeople were expected to play a musical instrument and read notation Madrigal

for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love Combined homophonic & polyphonic textures Word painting & unusual harmonies

Renaissance Lute Song Song for solo voice and lute (plucked string instrument) Popular instrument in the Renaissance home Homophonic texture Lute accompanies the vocal melody

Listening

As Vesta was Descending (1601)by Thomas WeelkesVocal Music Guide: p. 84

Basic Set, CD 1:82 Brief Set, CD 1:62

Madrigal

Note text painting:Pitches rise on “ascending”

Pitches fall on “descending”

“Running down”

“Two by two,” “three by three,” “all alone”

ListeningFlow My Tears (about 1600)

by John Dowland (1563 – 1626)Vocal Music Guide: p. 86 Basic Set, CD 1:83 Brief Set, CD 1:63

Very popular Lute Song(Recorded by rock star, Sting)Expression of melancholy - descending four-note

patternThree brief musical sections: A B C

Instrumental Music Still subordinate to vocal music Instrumentalists accompanied voices

Harpsichord, organ, or lute More music written specifically for instruments Instrumental music intended for dancing

Pavane or passamezzo in duple meter Galliard in triple meter

Distinguished between loud & soft instruments Outdoor (loud): trumpet, shawm Indoor (soft): lute, recorder