Music History Lecture Review

Flashcards covering key terms and concepts from lecture notes on music history, spanning the Medieval and Renaissance periods.

Pope Gregory the Great

Credited with creating chant (590-640).

Kassia

Woman composer with a large number of surviving monophonic sacred songs and a central figure in re-editing the Byzantine liturgical book (c. 805, 9th-10th centuries).

Development of Polyphony

The musical style characterized by multiple independent melodic lines, which developed between 900 and 1200.

Organum

A form of early polyphony where chant saw the inclusion of one or two melodic lines that became increasingly independent (between 900 and 1200).

Kyrie

A section of the Mass Ordinary with the text 'Lord have mercy…'

Gloria

A section of the Mass Ordinary with the text 'Glory to God in the Highest…'

Credo

A section of the Mass Ordinary with the text 'I believe in one God…'

Pitch

One of the four properties of sound.

Duration

One of the four properties of sound.

Dynamics

One of the four properties of sound.

Timbre (Sound Property / Element of Music)

Tone color; one of the four properties of sound and an element of music.

A series of pitches that add up to a recognizable whole; an element of music.

Melody

Harmony

Two or more pitches sounding simultaneously; an element of music.

Rhythm

Patterns of duration of pitches and silences in music; an element of music.

Form

The organization of musical ideas in time; an element of music.

Medieval Period (Music Characteristics)

Characterized by monophonic texture (single musical line), free-flowing rhythm (chant), mens voice timbre, and drone.

Middle Ages

Historical period from 400 to 1450.

Hildegard von Bingen

A notable figure associated with the music of the Middle Ages.

Sanctus

A section of the Mass Ordinary with the text 'Holy, Holy, Holy.'

Agnus Dei

A section of the Mass Ordinary with the text 'Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.'

Guillaume de Machaut

Composer credited with composing the first original polyphonic Mass Ordinary.

Medieval Secular Music

Instrumental music often in the form of an Estampie, typically monophonic, possibly including percussion, and often composed by clergy or common people.

Estampie

A medieval instrumental dance and one of the earliest surviving manuscripts of instrumental music.

Renaissance

Historical period from 1450 to 1600.

Renaissance Music

Mostly polyphonic with homophonic texture, characterized by a gentle rhythmic flow and a steady pulse or beat.

Council of Trent

An influential church council held between 1545 and 1563, significant for its impact on sacred music.

Josquín des Prez

A prominent Renaissance composer (1450-1521).

Motets

A polyphonic work set to a sacred Latin text other than the Mass Ordinary.

Giovanni P. de Palestrina

A prominent Renaissance composer (1525-1594), known for his sacred compositions.

John Dowland

A Renaissance composer.