Music in the Middle Ages

by Elliott Jones of Santa Ana Collegefor Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative

shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Medieval Music Difficulties

Least surviving material

Longest period of music history

476-1475 Middle Ages

1475-1600 Renaissance

1600-1750 Baroque

1750-1820 Classical

1825-1900 Romantic

1900-2000 Modern

Sacred Music

Music in the Monastery

Sacred music preserved in much greater quantities than secular

The Church was the only real source of education/literacy

Monastic life a rigorous combination of work and prayer (sung – Gregorian Chant)

Music notation develops in monasteries

Neumes

Early chant notation

Small symbols written above text

Did not originally indicate a specific pitch

Evolved into system of square notes

Early Neumatic Notation

Square Neumes on 4-Line Staff

Visit http://www.netaxs.com/~rmk/Chant/ for help reading neumatic notation

Gregorian Chant

Named for Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)

Also known as Plainsong or Plainchant

Single line melody (monophonic)

Free of accent or meter

Conjunct movement Avoids leaps Gentle contour

Modes

Modes were the scale patterns of Western European music through the Renaissance

Music composed using modes is called “modal” (as opposed to “tonal”)

Modes sound less familiar to our ears than major/minor tonal scales

The Medieval Modes:

This is for your information & will not be on a test Dorian Hypodorian Phrygian Hypophrygian Lydian Hypolydian Mixolydian Hypomixolydian

For more extensive information on modes click here

Text Settings

Syllabic One note per text syllable

Neumatic Two – four notes per text syllable

Melismatic Long groups of notes per text syllable

Example of Melismas

Listening Example

Title: Gradual Viderunt Omnes

Composer:Anonymous (5th century)

Genre: Gregorian Chant

Notes on Gradual Viderunt Omnes

Monophonic texture

Alternation of soloist and choir (male)

Mixture of text settings Mostly neumatic with some long melismas

Very smooth melodic contour (conjunct)

Note the free rhythm and lack of meter

A gradual from the proper of the Mass

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

10th child of noble parents, raised in convent

Founded her own convent in 1150

Experienced and recorded visions

Scivias is the 1st book of her writings

Wrote religious poetry and music

Listening Example

Title: O Rubor Sanguinis

Composer:Hildegard of Bingen

Genre: Gregorian Chant

Notes on O Rubor Sanguinis

Monophonic texture

Sung by women

Predominantly neumatic text setting

Very smooth melodic contour (conjunct)

Note the lack of a regular beat

Text is not from the Mass Hildegard wrote the text

Music in the Cathedral

Monasteries focused on traditional chant

Urban cathedrals were centers of musical innovation

Composers began to make greater use of polyphony

Polyphony Defined

Polyphony literally means “many voices”

Two or more melodic lines sung at once

Polyphony

Extremely important development in Western Music

Meter, notation, and composer’s role are all affected by this development

Early polyphony generally consisted of parallel lines

This early polyphony was called organum

Organum

Begins as improvised, parallel 4ths & 5ths

Second line of basically follows the chant – no new, independent musical lines

Gradually musicians begin to compose brand new melodies to accompany the chant

Composers at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris perfect this new style of organum

Notre Dame Style Organum

Notes of original chant tune “stretched” or held out Tenor comes from Latin word meaning hold The line that contained the elongated chant was

called the tenor

Newly composed material sung above chant

Use of rhythmic modes (eg. long-short-long)

Leoninus and Perotinus

Leoninus and Perotinus

Composers at Cathedral of Notre Dame Leoninus (fl. 1169-1201) First polyphonic composer known by name Two-voice organum Magnus liber organi

Perotinus (fl. 1198-1236) Successor to Leoninus Wrote up to four-voice organum

Listening Example

Title: Viderunt Omnes

Composer:Perotinus

Genre: Organum

Notes on Viderunt Omnes

Three active upper voices over sustained lower voice

The upper voices feature LONG melismas Listen for the held notes of the original chant Notice the rhythmic mode in the upper voice

Repeated long-short pattern resembles triple meter Open, hollow-sounding cadences

Cadences are the endings of musical phrases

The Medieval Motet

Evolved out of 13th century organum

French word for “word:” “mot”

New texts added to upper organum voices

Polytextual: texts could be different Different words Different languages Sacred or secular

Medieval Motet Structure

Chant tune provides structural foundation Chant tune held, but not as long as in organum Tenor – Latin for “to hold” is “tenere” Triple meter representing Trinity Tenor can be sung or played

The Mass

Central worship service of Catholic Church

Mass texts divided into two categories The Proper

Texts that vary from day to day Viderunt omnes is a Gradual from the Proper

The Ordinary Texts that are always the same See page 75 for chart of Proper vs. Ordinary

Guillaume de Machaut

Dates: ca. 1300-1377

Worked in both sacred and secular worlds Secretary to John I, King of Bohemia Served in court of Charles, Duke of Normandy Served as canon of cathedral at Rheims

Poet and composer

Admired by Geoffrey Chaucer

Guillaume de Machaut

Ca. 400 poems and 150 compositions

Composed both secular and sacred music

Best known for composing the first complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass Messe de Nostre Dame

Listening Example

Title: Kyrie from Messe de Nostre Dame

Composer:Guillaume de Machaut

Genre: Mass

Notes on Kyrie

Built on preexisting chant, notes held out He then adds three new voices against the tenor

Contratenor superius and altus are above the tenor Contratenor bassus is below the tenor Contratenor parts feature greater rhythmic variety

Polyphonic texture

Characteristic medieval dissonance

Male voices

Rise of Music at Court

Early middle ages: Church is primary patron of music

Late middle ages: Nobles increasingly sponsor music to enhance their prestige

Due to their education, clergy often composed courtly poetry and music

Court Poet-Musicians

Troubadours – Southern France Troubadours (male, common or noble) Trobairitz (female, noble)

Both words mean “inventors” (composers)

Trouvères – Northern France

Minnesingers – Germany

Courtly Poetry

Range of subject matter Simple ballads/love songs War stories Moral tales

Chivalric values Honor Valor Idealized, or “courtly,” love

Courtly Love

Idealized love

Variety of relationships described Inspired to acts of chivalric valor Unattainable object of affection Unrequited, unconsummated relationship Illicit romance

All in the general context of chivalric code

Women at Court

Women not allowed to sing at churchWomen regularly composed and performed at courtPlayed the soft instruments Harp Lute Rebec Flute

Troubador Songs

Early songs usually monphonic

Sometimes with instrumental doubling

No clear rhythm or meter

Later medieval songs often polyphonic

This polyphony was quite simple as we hear in A Chantar M'er

Beatriz, Countess of Dia

Trobairitz in S. France in mid-12th century to early 13th century

A Chantar M'er is the only trobairitz song to survive with music intact

Three other poems extant, music lost

Listening Example

Title: A Chantar M’er

Composer:Beatriz, Countess of Dia

Genre: Troubador song

Notes on I Must Sing

Song of unrequited love

Full first line: “I must sing of that which I’d rather not…”

Five strophes of seven lines each

Seven-line melodic form: ABABCDB

Vielle alternates with singer

Simple lute accompaniment

Medieval Chanson

Chanson is French for “song”

Chansons are always secular

They feature polyphonic texture 2-4 voices Combinations of voices and instruments

Variety of subjects including courtly love

Chansons used fixed poetic forms

Fixed Forms

Poetic meters governed musical structure

Three most common forms: Rondeau Ballade Virelai

Rondeau features a repeated line of text

This corresponds with a repeated melody

Guillaume Dufay (c1397-1474)

Probably born near Brussels

Involved in church music from early age

Was ordained a priest by 1428

Held many ecclesiastical positions

Also maintained close ties to numerous courts and nobles

Composed sacred and secular music

Listening Example

Title: Ce Moys de May

Composer:Guillaume Dufay

Genre: Chanson

Notes on Ce Moys de May

Rondeau form

Listen for the repeated refrain in the music

Voices doubled by instruments

Melismas at ends of phrases

Notice the irregular accents and dissonance common to medieval polyphony

Instrumental Music

Most medieval instrumental music was for courtly entertainment (secular)

Little written instrumental music survives

Much of it was improvised

Most instrumental music is dance music

Medieval Instruments

Instruments were much less standardized than they are today

All were handmade and varied by location

The following slides list common kinds of instruments and their modern descendants

Medieval Instruments

Shawm – double reed (oboe)

Slide trumpet – Sackbut (trombone)

Tabor (large drum)

Nakers (small drum)

Organs Very large organs existed in large churches Smaller portable organs could be outdoors

Soft Instruments

Recorder (wooden flute)

Lute (similar to guitar but more strings)

Harp/Psaltry

Rebec & Vielle (precusor to violin)