MUSC 362 - W3C1

French and Italian Music in the Fourteenth Century

MUSIC HISTORY I | WEEK 3 | CLASS 1DR. SPENCER BRAND

Page 2: Overview of Chapter 4

• Terror and Turmoil in Europe

  • Hundred Years' War between France and England

  • Prolonged economic decline

  • Great Plague (Black Death)

  • Peasant and urban rebellions

• Church in Crisis

  • Supremacy of the pope questioned

  • Papal Schism with rival claimants to the Papal throne

• Science and Secularism

  • Shift from religious to secular thought

  • Philosophers distinguish between divine revelation and human reason

• The Arts

  • Growth of literacy and works in the vernacular

    • Dante's Divine Comedy (1307)

    • Boccaccio's Decameron (1353)

    • Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1387-1400)

    • Giotto (1266-1337) - sought greater naturalism in art

Page 3: Ars Nova (New Art or New Method)

• Definition

  • French musical style from the first half of the 14th century

  • Innovations in rhythm and notation

• Jacques de Liège

  • Speculum musica (The Mirror of Music, ca. 1330) - longest surviving medieval treatise on music

  • Critique of "imperfect" duple division and syncopation

  • Defense of "perfect" triple division

• New Genre

  • Polyphonic art song

    • Political themes in motets

    • Increased structural complexity

    • Use of isorhythms

• Key Composers

  • Guillaume de Machaut

  • Francesco Landini

Page 4: Isorhythmic Motets

• Philippe de Vitry's Motets

  • Earliest examples of isorhythm

  • Tenors laid out in segments of identical rhythm

  • Extended Notre Dame clausulae practice

• Recurring Elements

  • Talea: repeating rhythmic unit

  • Color: recurring segment of melody

• Application

  • Isorhythm used in various genres

  • Helps singers memorize shapes

Page 5: Roman de Fauvel

• Narrative Poem

  • Satirizes political corruption

  • Character Fauvel symbolizes a world turned upside down

  • Acrostic name represents sins: Flattery, Avarice, Villainy, Variètè, Envy, and Låcheté

• Musical Interpolations

  • 169 pieces of music, mostly monophonic

  • 34 motets, including first examples of Ars Nova style

• Notable Motet

  • Philippe de Vitry's Cum statua/Hugo, Hugo/Magister invidie

Page 6: Guillaume de Machaut

• Biography

  • Leading composer and poet of French Ars Nova

  • Born to a middle-class family in Northeastern France

  • Educated as a cleric and served various royal patrons

• Major Works

  • Messe de Nostre Dame, 23 motets, 42 ballades, 22 rondeaux, 33 virelais

  • Extensive use of hocket rhythms

Page 7: Motets and Messe de Nostre Dame

• Motets

  • 23 motets composed, 19 are isorhythmic

  • Longer and rhythmically complex

• Mass

  • Messe de Nostre Dame - polyphonic setting of Mass Ordinary

  • Movements linked by style and approach

  • Isorhythmic movements: Kyrie, Sanctus, Angus Dei

Page 8: Developments in Rhythm

• Rhythmic Notation

  • Transition from long-short rhythms to a new system

  • Allowed for syncopations and complex patterns

• Time Signatures

  • Incomplete circle (C) treated as 4/4

  • Open noteheads replaced black notation in 1425

Page 14: Italian Trecento Music

• Cultural Context

  • Music accompanied all aspects of social life

  • Most music was not written down

• Key Figures

  • Trovatori followed troubadour tradition

  • Florence as a cultural center

  • Squarcialupi Codex - source for Italian Trecento polyphony

Page 15: 14th Century Italian Madrigal

• Characteristics

  • Poetry topics: idyllic, pastoral, satirical, love

  • Set for 2-3 voices

• Notable Composer

  • Jacopo da Bologna - Non al suo amante

Page 16: The 14th Century Caccia and Ballata

• Caccia

  • Popular-style melody in strict canon

• Ballata

  • Became popular later, influenced by French chanson

  • Francesco Landini as a leading composer

Page 17: Francesco Landini

• Biography

  • Foremost Italian musician of the Trecento

  • Major works: 140 ballate, 12 madrigals

• Musical Style

  • Sweet harmonies, graceful melodies

Page 19: Instruments and Musica Ficta

• Instrument Categories

  • Haut (high) and Bas (low) instruments

• Musica Ficta

  • Chromatic alterations to avoid dissonance

Page 21: French Influence on Trecento Music

• Cultural Exchange

  • Increased contact between Italian and northern composers

  • Italians began writing songs in French genres

Page 22: Later Fourteenth-Century Polyphonic Songs

• Ars Subtilior

  • Characterized by rhythmic complexity and new notational practices

Page 25: Chapter 4 Review

• Key Developments

  • Ars Nova and isorhythm

  • Polyphonic composition in France and Italy

  • Dominant composers: Machaut and Landini

This note summarizes the key points from the transcript on French and Italian music in the 14th century, highlighting significant events, musical innovations, and