Assessment 2: Middle Ages/Medieval

Medieval musicians borrowed three ideas from the Greeks:

• The distinction between consonance and dissonance.

• The “music of the spheres; the idea that the stars and planets move in musical harmony, emitting inaudible humming that expresses simple mathematical ratios.

• The emotional and moral power of music.

Which Greek philosopher is associated with the theories of emotional and moral power of music?

Plato

What are modes or church modes?

• Scale-like arrangements of pitches

• In Medieval and Renaissance music, diatonic scales based on D, E, F, and G.

What was the texture of Ancient Greek and Medieval music?

Monophonic; single melodic line without supporting harmonies.

How did the Ancient Greeks and Medieval musicians indicate rhythms?

They had no prescribed rhythms.

Church music was collectively known as plainsong, ____, or simply ___.

plainchant; chant

The early form of musical notation made of dashes, dots, and curved, hook-like figures was known as ____.

neumes

Pope Gregory (r. 590-604) standardized the liturgy and encouraged uniform practices for singing chant, which became known as:

Gregorian chant

Which are the characteristics of Gregorian Chant?

1. Church modes, which are not based on the major or minor scale.

2. Singing together in unison or with a singer who alternates with a choir which is called responsorial.

3. There are no recurring rhythmic patterns in Gregorian chant to help orient us in time.

4. There are no notated instruments blending with the human voice.

5. There is also no harmony, only a single melodic chant line.

Divine Office

• Divine Office is the daily services apart from the Mass; an extended series of services, beginning about 4:00 a.m. and continuing at regular intervals throughout the day and evening.

• These services were practiced chiefly in monasteries and featured readings of Scriptures and prayers, in addition to singing of psalms, other Scriptures, and hymns.

The Mass

• Mass is the principal service of the Roman Catholic Church; in music, the Ordinary of the Mass is frequently set to music.

• This complex ritual was, and is, the symbolic recreation of Christ’s Last Supper with the twelve apostles.

• Share consecrated bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ, in Holy Communion.

The Proper of the Mass:

The chants of the Mass whose texts change from day to day in the liturgical calendar, according to the saint or feast celebrated.

The Proper of the Ordinary:

The chants of the Mass whose texts remain the same from day to day in the liturgical calendar. Generally simpler than Chants of the Proper.

What is the term for holding out one syllable over several different notes?

Melismas

What was Hildegard of Bingen’s occupation?

• Nun, composer, poet, physician, philosopher, naturalist, musician, and illustrator.

• Founder of a convent on a gentle slope overlooking the Rhine River in what is now Germany.

How did Hildegard learn to read and write?

At a convent, educated by Benedictine nuns.

What were Hildegard interests?

Theology, poetry, and natural sciences.

Most of Hildegard’s music was written for what purpose?

As a medium for divine inspiration.

Setting musical lines against each other is the art of:

counterpoint

What new challenge emerged with simultaneously sounding vertical pitches?

To create music pleasing in harmony as well as in melody.

What is a chord?

Two or more notes sounded simultaneously

What is organum?

Early Medieval polyphony in which a freely composed part or parts are added to a pre-existent plainchant.

Who was Léonin, and how did he contribute to the development of polyphony?

• Léonin was a composer (and likely a priest).

• Early Notre Dame polyphony is attributed to the composer Léonin, described as the “best maker” of organum.

• Created polyphony for Proper chants, such as the anonymous Viderunt omnes.

What is the Magnus liber (Great Book)?

A book that contains Léonin’s compositions.

What three architectural innovations made gothic cathedrals possible?

• The pointed arch, which redistributed weight so as to defy gravity.

• The flying buttress, which offered external support that allowed for taller buildings.

• The ribbed vault, which required less structural support, allowing for more stained-glass windows.

Secular medieval music took the form of music for:

• Court occasions

• Secular love songs

• Dances and other types of popular entertainment

Why wasn’t secular medieval music preserved as well as sacred music?

Secular medieval music was largely transmitted by oral tradition or improvised as needed.

Much secular medieval song was performed in…

European courts

What is the term for the strict social code of behavior in European courts?

Chivalry

What was courtly love?

A medieval tradition of love between a knight and a noblewoman.

The ____ were a type of medieval poet-musicians from the south of France.

troubadours

What was the name for medieval poet-musicians from the north of France?

Trouvères

What is a motet?

• A sacred polyphonic vocal composition, usually with a Latin text, first developed in the thirteenth century.

• Secular polyphony music; a new thirteenth-century French genre known as a type of polyphony with some ties to the old Notre Dame organum.

How does Ars nova differ from the music that came before?

• The Ars nova is a polyphony with repetitive rhythmic patterns.

• Also explored independent rhythms in independent voices.

Why was Machaut famous during his lifetime?

•  A court diplomat who served French and Bohemian kings.

•  Produced a sizable quantity of music: all told, about 150 compositions.

What are chansons?

• French for “song”; a song with a secular French text.

• love songs in one, two, or three parts.

What is a rondeau?

A chansons which features a recurring refrain heard in its entirety at the beginning and end of the composition.