Music History midterm

Music in the Middle Ages (800–1400)

Notational Development

1. Oral Transmission: Early music was passed down orally before notation.

2. Neumes: Early notation symbols indicating pitch direction but not exact pitch.

3. Heighted Neumes: Neumes placed at different heights to show pitch relationships.

4. Guido of Arezzo:

   • Invented the staff (4 lines) for precise pitch notation.

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

   • Created the Guidonian Hand for teaching pitch.

5. Rhythmic Notation:

   • 6 Rhythmic Modes: Patterns based on poetic meters.

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

   • Mensuration Signs: Symbols indicating rhythmic proportions.

Sacred Music

1. Chant: Monophonic, unaccompanied liturgical music (e.g., Gregorian chant).

2. Mass:

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

   • Proper of the Mass: Variable texts for specific occasions.

3. Liturgical Drama:

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

Secular Music

1. Troubadours and Trobaritz:

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

   • Themes: courtly love, chivalry.

2. Medieval Dance Music: Instrumental music for social dancing.

3. Motet:

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

   • Polytextual (multiple texts sung simultaneously).

Polyphony and Organum

1. Organum: Early polyphony, adding a second voice to chant.

2. 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.

3. Ars Nova (14th century):

   • Imperfection Rhythm: Duple meter introduced.

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

   • Isorhythm: Repetition of rhythmic patterns in tenor voice.

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

Music in the Renaissance (1400–1600)

General Characteristics

1. Humanism: Focus on human emotion and expression in music.

2. Music Printing: Enabled wider dissemination of music (e.g., Ottaviano Petrucci).

3. Consonance: Greater use of 3rds and 6ths for harmony.

Styles and Composers

1. English Style:

   • John Dunstable: Influenced continental composers with consonant harmonies.

2. Burgundian Style:

   • Guillaume Du Fay: Blended English and continental styles.

3. Franco-Flemish Style:

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

4. Imitative Counterpoint: Point of imitation, where voices echo each other.

5. Text-Music Relationship: Music structured to reflect the text.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation

1. Martin Luther:

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

   • Contrafactum: New religious texts set to existing melodies.

2. Counter-Reformation:

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

Secular Music

1. Madrigal:

   • Expressive secular vocal music.

   • Text Painting: Music depicts or expresses the text.

2. Secular Songs: Growth of vernacular song genres.

Music in the Baroque (1600–1750)

General Characteristics

1. Doctrine of Affections: Music expresses specific emotions.

2. Seconda Practica: Emphasis on text over rules (e.g., Monteverdi).

3. Basso Continuo: Continuous bass line with harmonies (harpsichord, organ, lute).

4. Idiomatic Writing: Music tailored to specific instruments.

Opera

1. Birth of Opera:

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

   • Recitative: Speech-like singing for dialogue.

   • Aria: Lyrical, expressive solo song.

2. Monteverdi’s Orfeo: Early opera masterpiece.

3. Opera in France:

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

Instrumental Music

1. Dance Music:

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

   • Court Ballet: Theatrical dance with music.

2. Baroque Sonata:

   • Trio Sonata: Two melody instruments with basso continuo.

   • Solo Sonata: One melody instrument with continuo.

3. Concerto:

   • Ritornello Form: Alternating tutti and solo sections.

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

Major Composers

1. Johann Sebastian Bach:

   • Cantatas: Sacred and secular vocal works.

   • Art of Fugue: Masterpiece of contrapuntal technique.

2. George Frideric Handel:

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

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

Key Concepts to Review

1. Middle Ages:

   • Notation development (Guido, neumes, rhythmic modes).

   • Sacred vs. secular music (chant, troubadours, motet).

   • Polyphony (organum, Notre Dame School, Ars Nova).

2. Renaissance:

   • Humanism, text-music relationship, imitative counterpoint.

   • Reformation (Lutheran chorale) and Counter-Reformation (Palestrina).

   • Secular genres (madrigal, text painting).

3. Baroque:

   • Doctrine of affections, basso continuo, idiomatic writing.

   • Opera (monody, recitative, aria, Monteverdi, Lully).

   • Instrumental music (dance suite, sonata, concerto, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel).