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Medieval to Renaissance. A musical history synopsis. Medieval Music. Fall of Rome-1400 Notation: Originally no notation, transmitted orally, later 4 staff with neumes Modes=Scales
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Medieval to Renaissance A musical history synopsis
Medieval Music • Fall of Rome-1400 • Notation: Originally no notation, transmitted orally, later 4 staff with neumes • Modes=Scales • 8 Church modes : Dorian, hypodorian, Phrygian, hypophrygian, Lydian, mixolydian, hypolydian, and Hypomixolydian • Females not used in playing or singing outside of the Abbey’s as it was considered improper for women to perform or take part in the church service. • Sacred and Secular
Gregorian Chant • Named for Pope Gregory I who is credited with writing down the composition treatise on chant • Monophonic • Hildegard von Bingen • 11th century Nun • First important female composer
Gregorian Chant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK5AohCMX0U
Organum • Plainchant • Heterophonic-melody line with accompanying harmonic line set at a fixed interval
Motet • Litergical or secular • Often dealing with courtly love • Early Polyphonic music
Madrigals • Italian secular • polyphonic music • more sophisticated than Motets because of fluidity of melody lines
Guido de Arezzo • 11th century Monk • Credited with adding staff lines to musical notation • Developed the “Guidonian Hand” which was used to help people remember the church modes and supposedly be able to sight read the music better or compose correctly
Goliards • Itinerate song/dance troupes • Wrote and sang in Latin, but songs are mostly secular • Little music survives, but much poetry
Troubadours/trouveres • Wandering poets • Music dealt with courtly love, war, chivalry • Spoke and sang a Medieval French dialect, • Probably accompanied on instruments
Chanson • French Polyphonic, secular music
Renaissance Music • 1400-1600 • Reliance on the interval of the Third (Previously thought of as a dissonance) • Still Modal (rather than tonal, emphasis on the Fifth) • Richer Texture with four or more parts (more polyphony) • Blending rather than contrasting melodic textures • Use of larger ensembles that spanned the vocal range • Greater emphasis on Harmony • Notation: 5 staff lines, no bar lines, no scores, Accidentals not always noted • 1470s: Music started to be printed on a press, brought music to a greater audience • 1500s: Music and art began to imitate each other in detail and complexity, sacred music began to become more complex, canons became popular, the beginnings of opera
Two Important Sacred Masses • Cantus Firmus-one melody line that is repeated throughout • Parody Mass-Takes parts or all of its voicing from a pre-existing work such as a motet or a secular chanson
Palestrina’s Great Save • Near the end of the Renaissance, the Church began to get upset at the way music was being written, such as in the case of the parody mass • St. Charles Borromeo (Archbishop of Milan) collected all the church music and determined what was “good” and what was “bad” • The “bad” totaled over 1500 works. • Palestrina stepped in and convinced Borromeo not to destroy all the music, that those written properly should be saved and new music should be composed along those lines. • The rules were compiled by the Council of Trent
Guillaume Du Fay • 15thCentury, Franco-Flemish • Music was widely distributed and influenced many later composers even though he lived before the printing press • Wrote masses,motets and chansons • Also wrote many settings of chants using fauxbourdon (false bass) to create parallel harmony • May have been the inventor of Fauxbourdon
Johannes Ockeghem • 15thcentury, Franco-Flemish • Not as prolific as you would expect given the length of his career • Most of early masses written in cantus firmus • Later important masses written in a style similar to the later parody mass • Also wrote motets and secular chansons
Josquin des Prez • 15thcentury/early 16thcentury, • Franco-Flemish • Considered to be the greatest composer of his time • Wrote sacred and secular pieces such as Masses, Motets, chansons • worked in Milan, Rome, and France/Belguim • One of the first to employ the use of motifs in compositions to foster unity within a work • Wrote masses in Cantus Firmus, paraphrase masses (similar to cantus firmus, but more ornamented) • Parody masses, along with other mass styles of the day • wrote in a new style of sacred music called the Motet-Chanson which combined the form of a Chanson with the addition of chant based cantus firmus in the bass
Musical Instruments Brass • Trumpet: One version used a slide like a trombone, others were straight trumpets without valves, used mainly in the military and for Royalty • Cornett: Made of wood, but played like a trumpet, the largest is called the serpent and was said to be the closest to the human voice • Sackbut: Like a trombone, only used in sacred music
Musical Instruments Woodwinds • Shawm: Double Reed, seven finger holes and a thumb hole, mostly used with drums in street music • Transverse flute: Wooden, forerunner of modern flute • Recorder: Still commonly used, used in consorts in the renaissance
Musical Instruments Strings • Viol daGamba: Played between the legs regardless of size, forerunner of the modern violin family • HudyGurdy: Mechanical, used in street music • Harp: Small 22-44 strings, sat on players lap • Lute: Strings set in “courses” of two strings with highest string being single typically 8 courses or 15 strings
John Dowland • British lute player of the late Renaissance • Best known for sad sounding songs • Was extremely popular and would sign autographs “Dowlandsempredolens” (Dowland always sad)
