Music History I PDF

Eras of music history Medival: 500-1400 Renaissance: 1400-1600 Baroque: 1600-1750 Contrasting poles in music Popular – classical Sacred-secular Vocal-intrumental Improvised Aspects of a musical composition: - Style - Texture (monophonic, polyphonic, homophonic) - Form (struc...

Eras of music history Medival: 500-1400 Renaissance: 1400-1600 Baroque: 1600-1750 Contrasting poles in music Popular – classical Sacred-secular Vocal-intrumental Improvised Aspects of a musical composition: - Style - Texture (monophonic, polyphonic, homophonic) - Form (structure) - Time (tempo, rhythm) - Meaning (expressive) Monophonic - using only one line of music, unaccompanied by any other voices or instruments. Polyphonic - consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to just one voice accompanied by chords. Homophonic - music that has one sound or line of melody being played by multiple instruments at the same time. Gregorian chant (plainchant) - earliest music Neumes – ancient symbols representing how many syllables and the pitch on a singing score. Melisma- long series of notes sung under a single syllable. Day 2 Strophic form - is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music Rondo form - A rondo is a structure of music that uses a recurring theme. Day 3 Chants of the early Christians developed out of the chant traditions of the Jewish temple With the Edict of Milan, 313 C.E, Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman empire Early Christian chant: composition was the work of Pope Gregory I (590-604) Liturgy – a service The Christian church organizes its year according to a series of feasts, with one special occasion being celebrated each year The mass proper – includes readings, prayers and chants that change based of the feast being celebrated 8 mass propers - Introit - Prayer - Epistle - Gospel - Offertory - Secret - Communion - post communion Gregorian chant was considered the purest form of official catholic music for centuries Sept 19 Chant notation – earliest known chant manuscripts include symbols above the words indicating the general direction of the chant melody for singers. These symbols are called neumes Neumes that include several notes are called ligatures. The melodic style of Gregorian chants - tend to be formulaic - Beginning, central and ending functions - Monophonic - Melodies flow within a narrow range, graceful, small intervals - Recitation tones: repeated pitches, the simplest melody - Mostly goes by 3 main sections sung 3 times (AAABBBAAA) Chants are classified in 3, overlapping ways - By their texts - By their manner of performance - Musical style (syllabic, one note per syllable, or melismatic, many notes per syllable) Classifying chants according to mode - Modes 1 and 2 (dorian/hypodorian) (ends on D) - Modes 3 and 4 (phrygian/hypophrygian) (ends on E) - Modes 5 and 6 (ends of F) - Modes 7 and 8 (ends of G) Gregorian chants were commonly performed a cappella Antiphonal performance – refers to performance by alternating choir Responsorial performance – refers to a performance by a soloist and choir in alternation Gregorian sequence – originated as a text that was added to the closing melisma of a alleluia chant to memorize the music Sequences often include rhymed pairs of lines: AA BB CC DD IMPORTANT IG Hildegard of Bingen was a catholic nun of the Middle Ages who served as a prioress of a benedictine convent from 1136-58 Hildegard’s musical style - Interval range wider than standard chants  - Upper and lower register of female voice - Highly melismatic - Ambitious in their length 2024-09-24 Hildegards Ordo Virtutum Minstrels or jongluers were wandering entertainers; jugglers, acrobats, and singers - Thier songs told tales of real and imagined historical events - Chanson de geste was a tale describing a hero’s adventure The Goliards were wandering students and clerical dropouts in medieval England, France, and Germany The Troubadours were composers of the 12 th and early 13th centuries from southern France The Trouveres were composers of the 12th and early 13th centuries from northern France and England; wrote poetry in Old France The Troubadours and Trouveres had songs that had simple monophonic melodies and several verses that were repeated. Can vei la lauzeta – troubadour song, it is an example of a lament Lament – medieval genre in which a rejected lover is driven into despair Adam de La Halle – one of the last and greatest of the trouveres His text is an example of a pastourelle: a traditional medieval genre concerning a romantic episode from their life Minnesingers – post composers of the German nobility Thier successors were the Meistersingers 2024-09-26 Naker – old, round drum from Middle Ages Tabor – drum held from the performers left arm Plucked string instruments – the harp, lute, and psaltery; a wooden box with strings Bowed string instruments included the rebec, 3 strings. Vielle – string instrument that evolved into the modern violin. Dulcimer – had strings that were hit with small hammers. Hurdy-gurdy – had a wheel and crank instead of a bow to set the strings vibrating Soft wind instruments – pipe, recorder, transverse flute Loud wind instruments – cowhorn, bagpipe, and the shawm Positive organ - stood on table or floor Portative organ – could be held by a person The ronde – circle dance popular in France Saltarello – Italilan hopping dance featuring a fast triple meter Estampie – stamping dance Dark Ages – 500-1000 CE in Medieval Europe Earliest gerne of polyphonic music in Western Europe is organum Organum developed as one or more melodic lines were added above or below certain plainchants. Parallel organum – a texture in which an additional voice duplicated the original chant at a fifth or fourth above or below Free organum – texture in which the added voice gained some independence. The original chant came to be known as the cantus firmus, the tenor, or the vox principalis. The added voice came to be known as the duplum or vox organalis. Magister Leonin – produced a collection of organal settings of solo portions of rsponsorial chants, including the Alleluia Oct 1 Notre dame school of organum: by the 13 th century, Paris had become an important intellectual center Magister Leonin – his great achievement was producing a collection of organal settings of solo portions of responsorial chants Rhythmic modes – resembles our notations of compound time, of beats divided into 3 pulses There are 6 different modes Organal style – in performance at mass, the polyphonic settings created by Leonin and his colleagues would substitute for the corresponding monophonic portions of the chant at hand Discant style – the melismatic portions of the original chant would take an inordinate amount of time if the notes were drawn out in organal style. Leonin utilized discant style for these melismactic portions, setting both the original melisma and the added voice in a rhythmic mode to move the performance forward. Clausula - refers to a portion of the organum that is set in discant style Magister Perotin – leonins successor as the leading composer of Notre Dame school. Perotin’s organum is believed to have been composed for performance in Notre Dame Cathedral on the Feast of St. Stephen, 1199, to celebrate the completion of the nave (the central part of the church) The motet – a ceremonial or expressive vocal genre that had its origins with the addition of a poetic text to the upper voices of a discant clausula The polytextual motet is one in which each of the upper parts has its own texts Leonin-style Motet – 2 voice motet based on organum duplum In two-part writing, cadences most often proceeded in contrary motion from a 6th to an octave, or from a 3rd to a unison. In 3- and 4-part writing, ending a phrase with a perfect consonance consisting of an octave or an octave and a 5th. French and Italian music Phillippe de Vitry was a 14th century poet, composer, and music theorist Vitry’s style involved a system of notation that recognized duple division of larger note values Isorhythm – is a compositional device in which a melody inclides 2 essential elements that can be repeated several times. Guillaume de Machaut – catholic cleric and composer who wrote over 400 poems and large output of sacred musical compositions.