The
material which follows will serve as the framework of our lectures and
discussions
for Mini-Module Three. This material is presented in a format which will
enable you
to easily printout a copy which you might choose to do as we begin the
Mini-Module
The Ancients and the Middle Ages
Music before the Middle Ages, music was
dominated by writings of the ancient Greeks: music came in two basic
types:
Greek Educational System:
Music: for the soul [poetry,
prose included]
Gymnastics: for the body
Doctrine of Ethos [Plato, Aristotle, et al]
Dionysian [the "bad" modes]; lively sounds, revels,
emotional outbursts
Apollonian [the "good" modes"]; calm reflection, intellectual control
Dionysus:
god of wine, fertility and celebration
Apollo: god of music and poetry
.....the moral qualities and effects of
music.....right modes, etc.
some modes were
inappropriate for young - war, passion, etc.
first recorded
version of censoring of the arts/not unlike today
Roman Usage - Military and Pageantry
Ceremonial - Brass & Percussion
Begin Discussion of the Middle Ages:
Middle Ages: 450-1450
[approximate]
Middle Ages divided into:
[approximate]
Early Period [450-850]
Romanesque [850-1150]
Gothic Era [1150-1450]
Middle Ages in Western
European history
from fall of the Roman Empire into the middle of the fifteenth
century.
A time of darkness and despair, the Plague,
little or no unification except for the Church and a few feudal
municipalities, education almost a non issue, music and the arts were
for the church or a few wealthy in the ruling class
Unifying Institutions
Feudal System - basic economic
system.....[kings rule/peasants work]
Christian Church: the Holy Roman Catholic Empire [remains]
cathedral schools and monasteries were
foundations of great universities
Liberal Arts
[the seven primary branches of
learning]
quadrivium
music, arithmetic, astronomy and
geometry
trivium
grammar, logic, rhetoric
Gregorian Chant
.....Pope Gregory I [590-614]-believed in
centralized church authority
.....re-organized schola cantorum for
training of musicians
.....established standardized music for the
mass
.....Gregorian Chants [plainsong or
plainchant]
Traits: monophonic, sacred, Latin text,
unaccompanied, male singers
The Mass [principal service for the Holy
Catholic Church]
.....refers primarily to the
Eucharist or communion [symbolism]
.....Mass divided into two parts: Proper and the Ordinary
.....Proper: about a dozen texts and
they vary, feast days, high holy days
.....Ordinary: 5 parts and they never
change
The Five Parts of the Ordinary are:
Kyrie Eleison
[Lord have mercy upon us]
Gloria
[Glory to God in the highest]
Credo
[I believe in one God]
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
[Holy, Holy, Holy]
Agnus Dei
[Lamb of God]....ends with: Dona Nobis Pacem
Monophony was the primary form of music
Chants were: sung, in Latin, by male, monophonic
.....middle of the ninth century, monks
started to write out music
.....previously hymn books contained only
words [American tradition]
Guido
first workable system of music notation
4-line staff, neumes
sacred - of the Church
secular - not of the Church - ordinary - daily
Secular Music - Traveling Musicians
..... France - troubadours, trouveres
.....Germany - Minnesingers/Meistersingers
.....Goliards - rogue traveling entertainment
Sacred versus Secular
Sacred - of the Church
Secular - everyday or ordinary
Secular music in the courts of the
royal and wealthy
songs were/tended to be
monophonic: subject were wine, women, sarcasm
troubadours/trouveres-French,
educated, aristocrats
minnesingers/Meistersingers-German version of same
jongleurs/minstrels-professional entertainers, gossips
goliards-low budget, low morals, low life [but popular]
Performance of the
"Estampie"
beloved round dance of the late middle ages
still performed by 8OCS today
Move towards Polyphony
until about the 9th C the surviving music
[sacred or secular]
was monophonic. The first change in occurred with the arrival
of organum. [parallel or florid] Also the use of the drone: [ex.]
Prime composers Leonin and Perotin worked at Notre Dame
Change comes
.....Bubonic Plague, multiple popes, 100 years war [Br/Fr]
.....Ars Nova.....the New Art/Ars
Antigua.....the Old Art
.....The Motet: most important form of
polyphonic music
Instruments of the time on the rise
with secular music:
.....krummhorn, sackbutt, shawms, recorder,
viols, etc.
If Time Permits: 3 medieval
dances-instrumental dances and
further discussion of Polyphony and Organum
Renaissance
"Era of Exploration"
Renaissance 1450-1600
New ideas, New Music, New Art
means rebirth, a time of renewal
Ars Nova - The New Art
[tended to be polyphonic, instrumental, dance, secular]
Ars Antigua - The Old Art
.....Fall of Constantinople - 1453 - capital of the Byzantine
Empire [split of the church]
.....Humanism
Started with the literary and
philosophical idea that people and their capabilities were as worthy
of study as the traditional concept of the middle ages that matters of
import lay solely with God and matters divine.
.....Schism of the Church/ Eastern Orthodox-Roman Catholic
.....Rise of the power of Italy, Spain,
Germany and England
.....Printing with movable
type.....dissemination of knowledge [sacred/secular]
.....Education, Literacy and information no
longer sole domain of monks
.....Introduction of gun powder from China
.....Navigational Aids: sea quadrant and magnetic compass
.....Explorers: Columbus, Magellan, etc. to
voyage, etc.
.....Artists.....Leonardo da Vinci - Michelangelo
- Botticelli
Political Strong-Holds/Powerful City-States
Germany-Hapsburgs
Italy-Medici
Spain-Ferdinand and Isabella
England - Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I
The Music of the Renaissance
Continued rise of secular music. Building on the
organum, motet [most important form of polyphonic music through late
middle ages and the renaissance. remember about motets:
a. primarily religious, though some secular
b. primarily vocal, but some instrumental [often both]
c. primarily in the vernacular, but often stacked on Latin chant
Rise of the Chanson/Ballade
.....polyphonic vocal form
.....French
.....secular text
.....three-part [melody over 2 part
accompaniment]
.....two famous composers of chanson; Dufay,
Binchois
Ballade
.....very popular
.....vocal form
.....first two lines of text is repeated/
then final
.....AABA [like ballads of today]
Petrucci
the printing of music [to music as Guttenberg was to the Bible]
moveable type - 61 volumes
The Protestant Reformation
Centuries of unrest, and general
rise of humanism led to great animosity between church and the people.
Consolidated nations, power of the merchant class, and rise of a
so-called middle class increased tensions until action was taken.
Martin Luther [Professor of
Theology/University of Wittenberg] tacked his 95 thesis on the church
at Wittenberg [1517] Many points, however, those germane to music
were:
service in the vernacular
congregational singing
Martin Luther as Composer
"A Mighty Fortress is our God"
[sometimes called the battle hymn of the protestant reformation,
beloved hymn to this day]
Others of the Reformation
.....John Calvin-Presbyterian
.....Henry VIII- Church of England/Anglican/Episcopal
The Roman Catholic Church stages the Counter
Reformation
More on the Motet
It must be remembered that the motet was the most important and
well-known form of vocal music both in the middle ages and the
renaissance. Traits of the renaissance motet include: vocal, four or
more musical lines, single sacred text [usually in Latin], non-mass
Musical Heroes of the Day
Josquin Des Prez [French]
At a time of many great composers, Josquin is at the top of the
heap - mid-15th century, worked in Milan and then moved to Rome. later
back to northern France from whence he came. Martin Luther called him
the "Master of Notes" wrote
primarily motets, but all forms including masses.
Giovanni/Andrea Gabrielli-Venice
[Italy]
The flowering of Venice/St. Marks.
Antiphonal Brass Music - 15th C. Flower of Venice
free trade/travel with west, Byzantine influence
Other great composers of the Renaissance:
Palestrina [Italian]
Composer of the Counter Reformation - staunch
Catholic - wrote primarily masses. Educated and worked in Rome -
called the "Prince of Music".
Victoria [Spanish]
Wrote solely sacred music, well-known for O Magnum Mysterium -
worked for Phillip II of Spain, very forceful short forms and great
religious fervor.
William Byrd-England [late
renaissance]
Elizabethan Music-QE I [1558-1603]-Oriana.....renaissance got to
England later as the movement started in northern Italy and then moved
north up through the continent.
In addition to the chanson and ballade - two important types of
music:
.....lute song; soloist w/lute, simple,
strophic, syllabic [SSS]
.....madrigal; polyphonic textures,
playfulness, descriptive
Instruments of the Renaissance
.....Stringed; Viols-six strings, fretted,
three sizes [violin]
.....Woodwinds; recorder, shawm, crumhorns
[flutes, clarinets, oboe]
.....Brass; cornetto, sackbut [trumpet,
trombone]
.....Keyboard; organs (smaller) harpsichord
[no pianos yet]
.....Percussion; drums, triangles,
tambourines, tuned bells [like today]
approximate
time
for MTIII [Mini-Test Three]
a real-time experience