music chap 6 Middle Ages

plainchant/gregorian chant

• religious, strictly in church 

• monophonic, one melody/voice, no instruments

• no meter, unstructured

• medieval mode (no major/minor)

• reciting tone: used for longer reading, many notes on single pitch

• melismas: groups of notes on one syllable 

Hildegard of Bingen

her song had sequence: series of short tunes sung twice A A’ B B’ C C’. soloist sung A and choir responded with A’

troubadours/trouveres/minnesingers

• poet-composers who wrote about unattainable love/betrayal 

• strophic form: all stanzas in same melody

• estampies: one line piece with repeated phrase

organum

• earliest form of polyphony: 2 or more melodies 

• still church music, same lyrics

• first chant is Gregorian monophonic, followed by embellished chants

motet

• repeated Gregorian chant in bottom voice, layered 2 or more voices on top with different lyrics

• no longer church music

• isorythym: notes repeated over and over in different pitches