Ancient Greek Music, Medieval Chant, and Early Polyphony

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering ancient Greek musical thought, Catholic plainchant, secular medieval monophony, and the development of polyphony through the Ars Nova.

Doctrine of Ethos

The ancient Greek philosophical concept that rhythm and harmony touch the human soul more than anything else, meaning different modes affect people's moods and influence character and moral development.

Ancient Greek Writings on Music

Surviving texts by philosophers such as Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato addressing how musical modes, instruments, and vocal music influence human moral development.

Legend of Pope Gregory

The medieval tradition attributing liturgical chant directly to God, claiming that a dove whispered the chants into Pope Gregory's ear.

Medieval Catholic Chant

Monophonic liturgical music developed in monasteries, churches, and cathedrals, characterized by Latin text, unison singing, free meter, and the absence of instruments.

St. Augustine's View on Music

The theological stance that music is appropriate in worship as long as it does not distract from the liturgical words, functioning to lift weakened spirits toward God.

Hildegard von Bingen

A medieval abbess who had visions of God and music, wrote books, chants, and sacred dramas, embraced instruments, and expressed no qualms with music.

The Office

A cycle of eight daily Catholic prayer services celebrated at specific canonical hours throughout the day.

The Mass

The central Catholic worship service serving as a reenactment of the Last Supper, divided into Ordinary and Proper texts.

Mass Ordinary

Sections of the liturgical Mass text that remain constant and consistent at every service, such as the Kyrie.

Mass Proper

Sections of the liturgical Mass whose musical settings and texts change from day to day based on the calendar, such as the Gradual and Introit.

Kyrie

A standard movement of the Mass Ordinary featuring a short, simple, yet melismatic text.

Gradual

A movement of the Mass Proper that is melismatic, musically complex, and intended for meditation.

Introit

A chant from the Mass Proper sung during the entrance procession before the start of Mass.

Medieval Modal System

A theoretical system of 8 church modes organized into 4 pairs sharing common final notes ($D=1,2$, $E=3,4$, $F=5,6$, $G=7,8$), divided into authentic and plagal modes.

Authentic Modes

Odd-numbered medieval modes (1, 3, 5, 7) whose melodies typically begin on and ascend above the shared final.

Plagal Modes

Even-numbered medieval modes (2, 4, 6, 8) whose range extends both above and below the final, surrounding it.

Trope

A musical or textual embellishment added to existing plainchant that enriches the music without changing the original liturgical text.

Troubadours

Secular lyric poet-composers active in the 12th and 13th centuries from southern France who composed and sang in the Occitan language.

Trouvères

Secular poet-composers active in the 12th and 13th centuries from northern France who wrote in Old French and composed a larger proportion of dance songs.

Minnesingers

German aristocratic and merchant-class lyric poet-composers active in the 12th and 13th centuries who wrote songs of love and the Crusades influenced by troubadour style.

Formes Fixes

Standardized poetic and musical forms established in French secular song during the medieval period, specifically the Rondeau, Canso, and Ballade.

Canso

A courtly love song centered on unreturned or unrequited love, structured in the musical form $A B A B C D B$ (exemplified by Countess of Dia's 'A chantar').

Rondeau (Rondo)

A fixed musical and poetic form (structured as $A A B$ in Adam de la Halle's 'Robins m'aime') designed to be simple, accessible, and suitable for dance.

Palästinalied

A song by Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide about the Crusades for Palestine, utilizing devotional language and yearning characteristic of troubadour music.

Musica Enchiriadis

A 9th-century music treatise containing the earliest surviving written examples of polyphony.

Magnus Liber Organi

The 'Great Book of Organum' compiled by Léonin, containing two-part polyphonic settings of chants for the Mass Proper and responsorials.

Léonin

A 12th-century priest, canon, and composer at Notre Dame in Paris who wrote early polyphony for the liturgical year collected in the Magnus Liber Organi.

Ars Nova

A 14th-century musical movement characterized by new rhythmic notations and innovations allowing for both duple and triple divisions of note values.

Philippe de Vitry

A 14th-century educated cleric, University of Paris scholar, Bishop of Meaux, and composer typical of Ars Nova development.

Isorhythmic Motet

A polyphonic vocal composition in which the tenor voice is organized into repeated patterns of identical rhythm, often combined with complex layered texts.

Guillaume de Machaut

The most prolific French composer of the 14th century and a church canon who composed the Mass of Notre Dame.

Mass of Notre Dame (Messe de Nostre Dame)

A musical masterpiece by Guillaume de Machaut recognized as the first complete polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary by a single composer.

Philippus de Caserta

A composer of the late 14th century noted for complex ballades (such as 'En remirant') featuring courtly love themes, syncopation, and duple meter underneath triplets.