second deep seek study guide for music history

Music in the Middle Ages (800–1400)

1. Notational Development

• Oral Transmission:

  • Music was passed down orally before written notation.

  • Relied on memory and repetition.

• Neumes:

  • Early notation symbols indicating pitch direction (up or down).

  • Did not specify exact pitch or rhythm.

• Heighted Neumes:

  • Neumes placed at different heights to show relative pitch.

  • Precursor to the staff.

• Guido of Arezzo:

  • Invented the 4-line staff for precise pitch notation.

  • Developed solmization (do-re-mi) for sight-singing.

  • Created the Guidonian Hand as a teaching tool for pitch.

• Rhythmic Notation:

  • 6 Rhythmic Modes: Patterns based on poetic meters (e.g., trochaic, iambic).

  • Franconian Notation: Franco of Cologne introduced note shapes to indicate rhythm.

  • Mensuration Signs: Symbols indicating rhythmic proportions (e.g., tempus, prolatio).

2. Sacred Music

• Chant:

  • Monophonic, unaccompanied liturgical music.

  • Gregorian Chant: Standardized by the Catholic Church.

• Mass:

  • Ordinary of the Mass: Fixed texts (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei).

  • Proper of the Mass: Variable texts for specific occasions (e.g., Introit, Gradual).

• Liturgical Drama:

  • Hildegard of Bingen: Composed Ordo Virtutum, a morality play with music.

  • Combined music, drama, and religion.

3. Secular Music

• Troubadours and Trobaritz:

  • Poet-musicians in southern France (12th–13th centuries).

  • Themes: courtly love, chivalry, and politics.

  • Trobaritz: Female troubadours (e.g., Comtessa de Dia).

• Medieval Dance Music:

  • Instrumental music for social dancing.

  • Often performed on instruments like the vielle, harp, and recorder.

• Motet:

  • Evolved from sacred to both sacred and secular vocal music.

  • Polytextual: Multiple texts sung simultaneously.

  • Example: Ave Maria...Virgo Serena by Josquin Desprez.

4. Polyphony and Organum

• Organum:

  • Early polyphony, adding a second voice to chant.

  • Parallel Organum: Voices move in parallel motion.

  • Free Organum: Voices move independently.

• Notre Dame Period (12th–13th centuries):

  • Leonin: Composed Magnus Liber Organi (Great Book of Organum).

  • Perotin: Expanded polyphony to 3–4 voices.

  • Perfection Rhythm: Triple meter as the "perfect" rhythm.

• Ars Nova (14th century):

  • Imperfection Rhythm: Introduction of duple meter.

  • Guillaume de Machaut: Composed the first complete polyphonic Mass (Messe de Nostre Dame).

  • Isorhythm: Repetition of rhythmic patterns in the tenor voice.

  • Mass Cycle: Unified polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary.

Music in the Renaissance (1400–1600)

1. General Characteristics

• Humanism:

  • Focus on human emotion and expression in music.

• Music Printing:

  • Enabled wider dissemination of music (e.g., Ottaviano Petrucci).

• Consonance:

  • Greater use of 3rds and 6ths for harmony.

2. Styles and Composers

• English Style:

  • John Dunstable: Influenced continental composers with consonant harmonies.

• Burgundian Style:

  • Guillaume Du Fay: Blended English and continental styles.

• Franco-Flemish Style:

  • Josquin Desprez: Master of imitative counterpoint and text expression.

• Imitative Counterpoint:

  • Point of Imitation: Voices echo each other in succession.

• Text-Music Relationship:

  • Music structured to reflect the text (e.g., word painting).

3. Reformation and Counter-Reformation

• Martin Luther:

  • Lutheran Chorale: Simple, strophic hymns for congregational singing.

  • Contrafactum: New religious texts set to existing melodies.

• Counter-Reformation:

  • Palestrina: Ideal composer for clear text declamation and balanced polyphony.

4. Secular Music

• Madrigal:

  • Expressive secular vocal music.

  • Text Painting: Music depicts or expresses the text.

• Secular Songs:

  • Growth of vernacular song genres (e.g., chanson, frottola).

Music in the Baroque (1600–1750)

1. General Characteristics

• Doctrine of Affections:

  • Music expresses specific emotions.

• Seconda Practica:

  • Emphasis on text over rules (e.g., Monteverdi).

• Basso Continuo:

  • Continuous bass line with harmonies (harpsichord, organ, lute).

• Idiomatic Writing:

  • Music tailored to specific instruments.

2. Opera

• Birth of Opera:

  • Florentine Camerata: Developed monody (solo voice with accompaniment).

  • Recitative: Speech-like singing for dialogue.

  • Aria: Lyrical, expressive solo song.

• Monteverdi’s Orfeo: Early opera masterpiece.

• Opera in France:

  • Tragédie Lyrique: Jean-Baptiste Lully’s style under Louis XIV.

3. Instrumental Music

• Dance Music:

  • Dance Suite: Collection of stylized dances (allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue).

  • Court Ballet: Theatrical dance with music.

• Baroque Sonata:

  • Trio Sonata: Two melody instruments with basso continuo.

  • Solo Sonata: One melody instrument with continuo.

• Concerto:

  • Ritornello Form: Alternating tutti and solo sections.

  • Antonio Vivaldi: Composed The Four Seasons and worked at the Pio Ospedale della Pietá.

4. Major Composers

• Johann Sebastian Bach:

  • Cantatas: Sacred and secular vocal works.

  • Art of Fugue: Masterpiece of contrapuntal technique.

• George Frideric Handel:

  • Oratorio: Sacred dramatic works (e.g., Messiah).

  • English Oratorio: Large-scale works for English audiences.

Flashcard Examples for Knowt

Middle Ages

• Q: What are neumes?
  A: Early notation symbols indicating pitch direction but not exact pitch.

• Q: Who invented the staff?
  A: Guido of Arezzo.

• Q: What is organum?
  A: Early polyphony, adding a second voice to chant.

Renaissance

• Q: What is humanism in music?
  A: Focus on human emotion and expression.

• Q: Who composed the first complete polyphonic Mass?
  A: Guillaume de Machaut.

Baroque

• Q: What is the Doctrine of Affections?
  A: Music expresses specific emotions.

• Q: What is basso continuo?
  A: Continuous bass line with harmonies.