Download Music: An Appreciation by Roger Kamien

Music: An Appreciation
6th Brief Edition
by Roger Kamien
Part II:
The Middle
Ages and
Renaissance
Presentation Development by Robert Elliott
Tennessee State University
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 10: Musical Style
Based upon time period and the continuous
development of music as an art form
Western art music can be divided into:
Middle Ages: 450-1450
Classical: 1750-1820
Renaissance: 1450-1600
Romantic: 1820-1900
Baroque: 1600-1750
20th century, to 1945
1945 to present
Music of each these periods reflects the society that
supported it
Chapter 10
The Origins of Music

Can you imagine the first music?

How old is music?

What factors determine whether music will be
remembered later in history?
Prehistoric Flute

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/81
17915.stm

Seated harp player, ca. 2800–2700 b.c.; Early Cycladic I–II

Cycladic; Grotta-Pelos culture
Music Before the Middle Ages

Egypt, Greece, Israel, Rome.
Almost no notation survives.

How was music passed on before notation?


The Epitaph of Seikilos

Around 200 B.C
Lyrics:
Shine, as long as you live;
do not be sad.
Cause life is surely too short,
and time demands its toll.

Time Line
Middle Ages (450-1450)
Rome sacked by Vandals
455
Beowolf
c. 700
First Crusade
1066
Black Death
1347-52
Joan of Arc executed by English
1431
Part II – The Middle Ages and Renaissance
Middle Ages

What do you know about life in Europe during
the Middle Ages?

Who are some legendary names that we associate
with the Middle Ages?

What is the prejudice involved in the phrase,
“Middle Ages”?
The Middle Ages
Period of wars and mass migration
Strong class distinctions
– Nobility: castles, knights in armor, feasting
– Peasantry: lived in huts; serfs—part of land
– Clergy: ruled everyone; only monks literate
Part II – The Middle Ages and Renaissance
The Middle Ages
Architecture
– Early: Romanesque
– Late: Gothic
Visual Arts
– Stressed iconic/symbolic, not realism
Late Middle Ages saw technological progress
Part II – The Middle Ages and Renaissance
Chapter 1:
Music in the Middle Ages
Church dominates musical activity
– Most musicians were priests
– Women did not sing in mixed church settings
Music primarily vocal and sacred
– Instruments not used in church
– How does this differ from church and
gospel music of today?
Chapter 1
Gregorian Chant
Was official music of Roman Catholic Church
– No longer common since Second Vatican Council
Monophonic melody set to Latin text
Flexible rhythm without meter and beat
Named for Pope Gregory I (r. 590-604)
Originally no music notation system
– Notation developed over several centuries
The Church Modes
“Otherworldly” sound—basis of Gregorian Chant
Different ½ and whole steps than modern scales
Middle Ages and Renaissance used these scales
– Some Western Music uses these scale patterns
- What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?—Dorian mode
Scarborough Fair – Dorian Mode
- When Johnny Comes Marching Home—Aeolian mode
Chapter 1
Listening
Alleluia: Vidimus stellam
(We Have Seen His Star)
Listening Outline: p. 68 Brief set, CD 1:47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApX4DJvPpEg
Listen for: Gregorian Chant (Latin language)
Many notes per syllable of text
Monophonic texture
Ternary form—A B A
Chapter 1
Listening
O Successores (You Successors)
Hildegard of Bingen
Listening Guide: p. 70
Brief Set, CD 1:50
Chant
Originally written without accompaniment
This recording includes a drone—long, sustained notes
Note extended range of melody
Written for nuns by a nun (to be sung in convent)
Chapter 1
Dies Irae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLD
p-0
Secular Music in the Middle Ages
Troubadours (southern France) and Trouveres
(northern France)
– Nobles wrote poems/songs for court use
- Performed by jongleurs (minstrels)
– Topics: courtly love, Crusades, dancing
Chapter 1
Estampie
Medieval (Middle Ages) dance music
Triple meter with strong beat (for dancing)
– Notated as chant: only a single melody line
- Performers probably improvised accompaniment
Listening example—Brief Set, CD 1:51
– This performance played on period instruments
- Melody played on rebec (bowed string instrument and pipe
(tubular wind instrument)
- Drone on psaltery (plucked or struck string instrument)
Chapter 1
Dance Music

Have you ever danced to music by live musicians?

What element of music is most important for
dancing?
Instruments of the Middle Ages



Psaltery
Rebec
Tube
Sacred vs. Secular

Can you tell the difference?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb2Ezif7zf
8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5p_U8J0i
RQ

The Development of Polyphony:
Organum
Between 700-900 a second line added to chant
– Additional part initially improvised, not written
– Paralleled chant line at a different pitch
900-1200 added line grew more independent
– Contrary motion, then later a separate melodic curve
– c. 1100 note-against-note motion abandoned
- 2 lines with individual rhythmic and melodic content
- New part, in top voice, moved faster than the chant line
Chapter 1
School of Notre Dame: Measured Rhythm
Parisian composers developed a rhythmic notation
– Chant notation had only indicated pitch, not rhythm
– Notre Dame’s choirmasters Leonin and Perotin were leaders
- Writing with notated rhythm came to be called the Notre Dame style
Medieval thought was that
interval of third dissonant
– Modern chords built of
thirds are now considered
consonant
Notre Dame Cathedral
Chapter 1
Diabolus in Musica




“The devil in music.”
The interval of a tritone (3 whole steps)
This interval was banned by the church in the end
of the Middle Ages.
How does the definition of consonance and
dissonance change depending on time and place?
14th-Century Music: “New Art” In France
Composers wrote music not based on chant
– Borrowed secular melodies to put in sacred music
New music notation system had developed
– New system allowed for better rhythmic notation
– Syncopation, now possible, became common
The new type of music was called ars nova
Chapter 1
Guillaume de Machaut
Mid- to late-14th-century composer (1300-1377)
– Also famous as a poet
– Though a priest, spent most of life working at court
Wrote both sacred and secular music
Best known for his Notre Dame Mass
http://www.nvcc.edu/home/jwulff/machaut/Machaut.
htm
Listening
Puis qu’en oubli sui de vous
(Since I am forgotten by you; around 1363)
by Guillaume de Machaut
Vocal Music Guide: p. 75
Brief Set, CD 1:52
Listen for:
Melancholy feel
Rondeau form (8 lines, ab aa ab ab,)
Syncopation
Interpretation (3 notated lines, 1 text)
Chapter 1
Mass Ordinary





Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
Listening
Agnus Dei from Notre Dame Mass
by Guillaume de Machaut
Vocal Music Guide: p. 79
Brief Set, CD 1:53
Performance Profile:
Andrew Parrott-conductor
Listen for conductor’s
interpretation, use of solo
voices, and attempt to
create an historically
accurate performance
14th century, part of mass ordinary
Polyphonic—4 voices (parts)
Ternary form: A B A (form results from the text)
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: dona nobis pacem
Chapter 1
Review
Gregorian chant
Church modes
Drone
organum
mass ordinary
Diabolus in Musica
School of Notre Dame
Ars nova

Instruments:
rebec
tube
psaltery
Composers of the Middle Ages







Pope Gregory I (The Great)
Anonymous the 4th
Hildegard of Bingen
Leonin
Perotin
Machaut
troubadours and trouveres
Morality and Music

What is the relationship between morality and
music?

What is the moral content of the music that we
hear on the radio today?
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
Part II – The Middle Ages and Renaissance
The Renaissance
Rebirth of human learning and creativity
Time of great explorers
Humanism
Fascination with ancient Greece and Rome
Part II – The Middle Ages and Renaissance
The Renaissance
Visual art becomes more realistic
– Mythology is favorite subject
– Nude body, as in ancient times, is shown
Weakening of the Catholic Church
Education and literacy now status
symbol
– Result of invention of printing press
David by Michelangelo
Part II – The Middle Ages and Renaissance
Art
Sculpture
Architecture
Chapter 2:
Music in the Renaissance
Church choirs grew in size (all male)
Rise of the individual patron
– Musical center shifted from church to courts
– Court composers wrote secular and sacred music
– Women did not sing in mixed church settings
Chapter 2
Professional Musicians


How did the life of professional musicians
change between the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance?
Renaissance musicians Where did they work?
What was their status?
Musicians: higher status and pay than before
– Composers became known for their work
Many composers were Franco-Flemish
– Worked throughout Europe, especially in Italy
Italy became music capital in 16th century
– Other important centers: Germany, England, Spain
Chapter 2
Characteristics of Renaissance Music
Words and Music
Vocal music more important than instrumental
Word painting/text painting
Chapter 2
Texture
Polyphonic
Primarily vocal - a cappella
– Instruments, if present, doubled the vocal parts
Rhythm and Melody
Rhythm “flows” and overlaps
– Composers less concerned with metrical accents
Smooth, stepwise melodies predominate
– Melodies overlap rhythmically between voices
Chapter 2
Sacred Music in the Renaissance
Two main forms:
Motet
– Short polyphonic choral work
– Latin text usually overlaid with vernacular text
– Often borrows lowest voice part from a chant
Mass—the Catholic worship service
– Long work that includes five main parts of service
- Kyrie
- Sanctus
- Gloria
- Agnus Dei
- Credo
Chapter 2
Josquin Desprez
1440-1521 (contemporary of Columbus & da Vinci)
Wrote both sacred and secular music
– Worked with the Papal Choir in Rome
– Worked for King Louis XII of France
– 19 Masses, 100 Motets, 70 Chansons, and Instrumental Pieces
Leading composer of his time; famous while alive
– His work influenced other composers
– Was highly praised by Martin Luther
Chapter 2
Listening
Ave Maria…Virgo Serena
Josquin Desprez
Vocal Music Guide: p. 82
Brief Set, CD 1:56
Listen for: Four voices
Polyphonic imitation
Overlapping voice parts
Chapter 2
Manuscript to Ave Maria (Josquin)
Palestrina
Culmination of the Renaissance (1525-1594)
Worked primarily in Rome
– Music director at St. Peter’s
Worked during and after Council of Trent
– Council of Trent (1545-1563) addressed:
- Abuses and malpractice within church
- Emerging Protestantism
- Role of music in worship
- Some advocated a return to monophonic music
- Finally decided on non-theatrical worship music
Wrote music meeting demands of Trent
– His work became the model for mass composers
Chapter 2
Listening
Pope Marcellus Mass (1562-63)
Kyrie
by Palestrina
Vocal Music Guide: p. 85
Brief Set, CD 1:59
Six voices
Polyphonic imitation w/ overlapping voice parts
Text:
Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison
Kyrie eleison
Chapter 2
Manuscript of Pope Marcellus Mass
(Palestrina)
Secular Music in the Renaissance
Madrigal
– Intended for amateur performers (after dinner music)
– Extensive use of text painting
– Printed in part-book or
Printing
Printing
opposing-sheet format
– Originated in Italy
- English madrigal
lighter and simpler
Chapter 2
Listening
As Vesta was Descending (1601)
by Thomas Weelkes
Vocal Music Guide: p. 87
Brief Set, CD 1:62
Follow text (English) throughout song
Note text painting:
Pitches rise on “ascending”
Pitches fall on “descending”
“Running down”
“Two by two,” “three by three,” “all alone”
Chapter 2
Instrumental Music
Still subordinate to vocal music
– Increasingly, instruments accompanied voices
– Sometimes played adapted vocal music alone
Published music stated that various parts of the
music could be sung or played
Chapter 2
Lute (c. 1500)
Associate of Leonardo da Vinci
Purely instrumental music existed almost
exclusively for dancing
– Dancing became ever more popular during the
Renaissance
Distinction between loud outdoor instruments and
softer indoor ones
Composers did not specify instrumentation
Chapter 2
Renaissance Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IccBbE022I
Y
Listening
Passamezzo and Galliard
by Pierre Francisque Caroubel
From Terpsichore (1612) by Michael Praetorius
Listening Guide: p. 91
Basic Set, CD 1:81
Renaissance dance music
Dances frequently played in pairs
Passamezzo in duple meter (form: a a’ b b’ c c’)
Galliard in triple meter (form: a a’ b b’ c c’ a’ b’ c’)
Instrumentation not specified in written music
Chapter 2
Performance Practice



Original instruments vs. Modern instruments
Which is more authentic?
Which would you prefer to listen to?
Comparison of Middle Ages to
Renaissance





Education
Art
Architecture
Music
How can you recognize the difference between
music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance?