Music History Exam #1

When was the Epitaph of Seikilos created?

100 BC - 200 CE

What was the first written music?

Epitaph of Seikilos

Was the Epitaph of Seikilos monophonic or polyphonic?

Monophonic

What was the Epitaph of Seikilos about?

Seikilos wrote it for his wife

What mode was the Epitaph of Seikilos?

Dorian

What did the Epitaph of Seikilos closely align with?

Epitaph of Seikilos

What language is the Epitaph of Seikilos?

Greek

What is the music of the spheres?

celestial bodies produce an inaudible, harmonious music through their mathematical proportions and movements

What was important about Pythagoras?

He created the tuning of fifths and octaves, using anvils

Who came up with Music of the Spheres?

Pythagoras

What are the levels of the Music of the Spheres?

Musica Universalis, Musica Munclana, Music Instrumentalis

Who continued the Music of the Spheres?

Boethius

What was Boethius known for?

Wrote De Institutione Musica, discussed Plato, Pythagoras, and the Quadrivium

What is the Quadrivium?

Music is math

Who was King Charlemagne?

Crowned king by the pope, utilized Roman chant to bind territories together

What was the style of Gregorian chants?

Monophonic and unaccompanied

What became the established chant?

Gregorian Chant

How and by whom was Gregorian chant written?

A dove whispered the chants in Saint Gregory’s ear

What was the Liber Usualis?

Book of Gregorian Chants

Why did Gregorian chant spread?

Political reasons

What are the Ecclesiastical Modes?

8 modes made up of 6 notes

What are the types of rhythmic modes?

There are six modes: trochaic and iambic

What are the syllabic ways of classifying chants?

Syllabic (one syllable per note), Neumatic (several notes per syllable), and Melismatic (many notes per syllable)

What are the manners of Gregorian Chant performance?

Direct (entire choir), Responsorial (solo and choir), and Antiphonal (two choirs back and forth

What are the two types of cadences?

Authentic and Plagal

What are the authentic cadences?

Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian

What are the plagal cadences?

Hypodorian, Hypophrygian, Hypolydian, Hypomixolydian

What is musica recta?

Music on the page

What is musica ficta

Not on the page, memorized

What are the two types of mass?

Ordinary (text don’t change) and Proper (changes mass to mass, special occasions)

What is the order of the ordinary mass?

Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei

What is Guidonian theory?

Ideas created by Guido de Arezzo

What were the parts of Guidonian theory?

Solfege, Guidonian Hand, 4-line staff

What did Guido de Arezzo write?

Micrologus

What is Franconian Notation?

new rules for the expansion of rhythmic notation

Who was Hildegaard de Bingen?

Nun, mystic, scientist, and composer

What did Hildegaard de Bingen do?

She ran a convent in Germany and wrote a sacred monophony

Who composed the first allegorical morality play?

Hildegaard

What is a canso?

A love song

Where were the Troubadours located?

South of France

Where were the Trouveres located?

North of France

What is monophonic?

single music line, no accompaniment

What is strophic?

same music for successive stanzas in a song

Who performed the troubadour’s music?

Jongleurs

Who was the founder of the troubadours?

Bernart de Ventadorn

What were the troubadours?

Secular and courtly

What is Fin Amours?

courtly and unrequited love

What is a ligature?

a modern-day slur

Who was an important female troubadour?

Bewatriz, Countess of Dia

Who was an important trouvere?

Adam de la Halle

What are the formes fixes?

Ballade, Virelai, Rondeau

What is the form of the Rondeau?

ABaAabAB

What is polyphony?

multi-line music of equal importance

What are the types of Organum?

Tenor, duplum, triplum

What is the style of Notre Dame?

Gothic Style

What did music do for Notre Dame?

elaborated on the church’s holiness

Who was Leonin?

choirmaster at Notre Dame and a composer

Who used the tenor and duplum?

Leonin

Who used Tenor + Duplum, Triplum, (and sometimes) Quadruplum?

Perotin

What is an important florid organum and discant?

Viderunt Omnes

What is Ars Antigua?

Medieval European musical style characterized by polyphony and the development of the motet

What does the tenor mean?

to hold

What are the two styles of polyphony?

Florid organum and discant

What is troping?

Adding or interspersing new melodies or texts to existing works

What is a motet?

Motets originally consisted of newly written Latin words added to the upper voice of discant

What is the cantus firmus?

a fixed melody from a preexisting chant

Who was Philippe de Vitry?

Wanted more unification between melody and harmony and more rhythmic possibilities 

What was ars nova?

First published treatise, written by Philippe de Vitry, replaced ars antigua

What is the time signature for perfectum and major?

9/8

What is the time signature for perfectum and minor?

3/4

What is the time signature for imperfectum and major?

6/8

What is the time signature for imperfectum and minor?

4/4

What are the two parts of isoryhthm?

Talea and color

What is Talea?

rhythm

What is color?

melody

What is Roman de Fauvel?

French allegorical verse romance of satire

What is hocketing?

A single melody is shared between two or more voices

Who wrote the first musician's autobiography?

Machaut

Who wrote the first complete set of a mass?

Machaut

What is musica ficta?

pitches that lie outside of the system

What is a double leading tone cadence?

One voice goes 2-1, one voice goes #4-5, one goes 7-1

Where was the Italian Trecento centered?

Florence

What is the Decameron?

Written by Giovanni Boccaccio with lyrics by Landini. Describes Florence in the middle ages. Music was moral good.

What were the forms of Italian Trecento?

Ballata, Caccia, Madrigale

Who was Francesco Landini?

Blind player of the organetto

What is the Landini Cadence?

At least one voice spikes upwards by a third to the finalis

What is Ars Subtilior?

Eye music, complex and hard to sing

What is the relationship between music and text?

Text is more important during this time

What is an example of music being a moral good?

The decameron was a moral good during a hard time and Hildegaard’s morality play

How is medieval music like architecture? 

Notre Dame is a new building style that came out the same time as polyphonic music. Hildegaard performed her work around different parts of a temple