The Middle Ages

Middle Ages: medieval era between fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 CE) and beginning
of Renaissance (early fifteenth century)
 Sacred music- music seen as means of serving God
o Plainchant (Gregorian Chant) – unison
 Projected religious texts with clarity to emphasize meaning
 Secular music- popular music for courts’ ceremonies and entertainment
 Polyphony
o Increasingly popular from 10th century and on
 Sounds different due to the use of modal scales (besides major/minor) and different
instruments
o Still keeps same basic elements of music that are in use today
 Goal: to heighten expressiveness of text to elevate music beyond language
 HISTORY:
o 800- Charlemagne is crowned emperor
o 800-900- Plainchant and polyphony begins to be codified and notated
o 936- Otto 1 establishes the Holy Roman Empire
 Mostly conjunct with occasional leaps
 Used more modes other than major/minor to create an “otherworldly sound”
 Used terraced dynamics (abrupt transitions from loud to soft)
Sacred Music
 Era of great Gothic cathedrals
o Goal to enhance texts being sung (typically through plainchant)
o Music designed specifically for these places
 Plainchant (one voice or unison)
 Significant portion of life is spent in church
o Music of the church was very important
o Music was sacred because the church had money
Entertainment in Music
 Traveling musicians (troubadours) played songs of love, heroism, and pastoral life
 Courts used music as means to project cultural power
o Musicians were hired for all events of the high court
 Some musicians (Boccaccio, Chaucer, etc.) wrote in the people’s languages (not Latin for
the church)
 Dancing was a highly significant social activity as far as courtship
o Group dances
o To the beat of drums
 Instruments were quite different (shawm- similar to an oboe)
 split into two categories
o wind (flute, oboe, organ, etc.)
o percussion (drums, bells, string instruments, etc.)
Records of Music
 Many passed on orally, not written
o Not notated until 10th century
  Manuscripts were often inaccurate and used symbols to indication pitch motion
 Manuscripts were elaborately and artistically made
 Early notes were called neumes
 most people didn’t have access to music because it was expensive and had to be written
by hand
Hildegard von Bingen – Play of Virtues (1150)
 Plainchant: single melodic line without accompaniment
o used to emphasize emotional impact of the good vs. evil conflict in the song
o monophonic texture and unison
o later called Gregorian Chant
o provided clarity and impact off stone walls of large cathedrals
 Hildegard von Bingen was director of an abbey of nuns in western Germany
 Play of Virtues
o Confrontations between Satan and 16 Virtues
o The choir of virtues sing the same melody
o Satan shouts his lines as music was perceived as beautiful
 Creates a stark contrast
 Mix of syllabic and melismatic provides variety and clarity
 Free rhythm used (no specific meter followed closely)
The Church
 Judeo-Christian traditions and music (were repressed, built from barns to churches)
 Nave- long part of church
 Sacred space- layperson should not go to
Plainchant Alleluia – “Caro Mea” (1275)
 Plainchant - part of service of worship
 Used for Feast of Corpus Christi (body of Christ)
 Taken from Gospel of John 6:55-56
 Music qualities
o Responsorial chant: solo passage followed by response from chorus
o Sung in unison and monophonic
o Floating quality created by echoing
o Uses extended melismas
Francesco Landini – “Behold, Spring” (1350-1397)
 Love poem set to music
o Secular song
 Ballata (dance) for two voices
 Music qualities
o Polyphony- two or more voices of equal importance
o Eighth/ninth centuries, new plainchant was by adding melodies above or below
o Triple meter
o Conjunct lines divided into small units ending with a cadence
 Always cadences on unison
o ABAA
o Mostly syllabic with few melismas
Guillaume de Machaut – “I Can All Too Well Compare My Lady” (1350)
  Words sing the love of the beauty of the statue by Pygmalion
 Polyphonic- for three voices each with unique lines
 AAB
 Sung by three men
Alfonso el Sabio – Songs to the Virigin Mary, no. 249 “He Who Gladly Serves” (1252-1284)
 Composer- ruler of Castile and Leon on the Iberian peninsula
 Originally arranged for voice, but could be instrumental
o Songs were commonly arranged for instruments instead of voice when
unavailable
 Shawm- double-reed instrument (similar to an oboe) only still used in Africa and Middle
East, disappeared from Europe by end of Renaissance
 ABA
 Monophony- both instruments play in unison
 Homophony- one instrument plays the melody, the other a drone bass
 Heterophony- both instruments play the same melody at the same time, but one is more
elaborate and embellished

The Renaissance
Renaissance: French word for rebirth where the arts and sciences of the antiquity were recovered
 1425-1600
 humanism: an intellectual and cultural movement that explored interests and values
through pursuit of science, art, and vocal music
o the power of human reasoning- people think more as individuals
 separation of churches (Catholic-Protestant)
 rich sounding compositions with focus on textual meaning and importance
 used mostly consonant sounds (no tri-tones, few sevenths, etc.)
Sacred Music
 most music written (from William Byrd) was Protestant for Queen Elizabeth even though
he was Catholic
o rift between religions spiked with Martin Luther nailing complaints onto church
doors
 started a revolution (Reformation) that established Protestantism
 music saw the change in religion through languages other than Latin
o although Catholic music composition continued
Secular Music
 music benefitted from economic growth
o Low countries (Belgium and the Netherlands) economic growth
o Demand for music grew and salaries for musicians grew
 Music began moving away from monophony
 The ideal Renaissance man had knowledge of art and science and could sing and play an
instrument
 The individual was more of a focus
o Music and art became more personal and emotion-based
o Music revolved around characters (Shakespeare and other playwrights emerged)
o Gave personality to the era
  Invention of printing by movable metal type made creation and distribution of
manuscripts possible
o Made composers more famous
“The Cricket”
 By Josquin des Prez in 1500
 Polyphony- four voices of equal importance
o Voices typically travel in parallel and same rhythm with several exceptions
o Antiphonal- repetition between voices to represent cricket
 Two types of meaning in songs:
o Inherent meaning: what the composer means when writing the piece
o Delineated meaning: what the listener interprets from the piece
 Focuses on bringing out meaning of the poem is shown through catchy rhythms and
versatility of the singer
o Sings long notes and stay in one place unlike a bird who flits around
o Sings drinking songs and songs of love
 Sounds more modern than Middle Ages music
 Counterpoint: system of rules and procedures governing the composition of multiple
melodies that sound good alone and when played together
o Accomplished my adding melodies to existing melodies
 Use of word painting (illustrating word/phrase through music that reflects its meaning)
to create cricket sounds
 Ternary form: ABA
“Since Robin Hood”
 By Thomas Weelkes in 1608
 Based on real event:
o 1599: “Nine Day Wonder” William Kemp (friend and colleague of Shakespeare)
danced from London to Norwich (140 miles) over 9 days in act of self-promotion
 was a group dance (by himself) with characters – Morris (Moorish) Dance
 madrigal: musical setting of a text in one stanza (strophe)
 polyphonic – three voices
o melody was distinctive of the Morris Dance
 shifts meters throughout
o beginning is iambic: short-LONG, short-LONG, short-LONG
 duple meter
o middle uses natural stress of words and trochaic: LONG-short, LONG-short
 triple meter
o end meter becomes muffled and switches to iambic for one line
 syncopated: notes run against regular pulse of the meter and accents on
unusual beats
 word painting used and these are the few places where the voices are not in same rhythm
o ex. “to skip” with syncopation
 madrigalism: sometimes what word painting was referred to as because it was so
common in the Renaissance
“Sing Joyfully”
 by William Byrd in 1590
  sacred work from the Book of Psalms
 polyphony – six voices
o rich and luxurious sound
 considered an anthem: English sacred choral work
o motet: Renaissance sacred choral work for the Roman Catholic Church
 a Capella: sung without instrumental accompaniment
 imitative counterpoint: one voice introduces new thee and is imitated by other voices that
enter in succession
 imitation: same theme introduced in succession by different instruments/voices
 elide: to begin a new line of text and music before the previous one has come to a
complete stop
 lively, upward-moving motive
o utilized word painting
“Moorish Dance”
 By Tielman Susato in 1550
 Most popular known dance of time
o Depicted ritualized combat between Moors (Muslims) and Christians
o Performed by troupes for entertainment
o Certain elements of the dance are found in Morris dancing
 Dances were important in courtship
 Very large ensemble
o 3 recorders, 4 shawms and 1 curtal (double-reed), 4 sackbuts (brass instrument), 2
cornettos, strings, percussion
 sackbut: forerunner of the modern trombone
 step: body movements that bring the dancer back to original position
o Moorish Dance consists of eight beats per step
 Binary form: music structure containing two repeated halves (AABB)
o Often repeated when dancing