CHAPTER 4: Medieval Music

CHAPTER 4:Medieval Music “Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu!” (Modern English: “Summer is coming in, Loudly sings the cuckoo.”)

Medieval Society • Strict class structure • Clergy and nobility at upper end • Peasants at lower end • No middle class until later • Manorial system – agrarian economy • Travel restricted • Peasants stayed on land they tilled

Early Medieval Period (c. 476 – 1100) • Spread of Christianity • Romanesque architecture • Development of plainchant (sacred music)

Gothic Periodc. 1100 - 1450 • Great cathedrals built • Urban centers develop • Guild system creates merchant class • Era of Crusades (four between 1096 and 1204) • Music important in philosophy and religion, and as entertainment

Monophonic Sacred MusicPlainchant • Began as oral tradition taken from Jewish psalmody • Latin texts, many from Scripture and liturgy • Notational system evolved over several centuries

Monophonic texture Several male voices in unison Nonmetric Latin Text: Salve Regina, mater misericordiae, Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exules, fillii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et fientes In hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris Tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens; O pia; O dulcis Virgo Maria. Listening Guide“Salve Regina” (“Hail, Holy Queen”)

Monophonic texture Several female voices in unison Nonmetric Latin Text: Ave, generosa, gloriosa et intacta puella, tu pupilla castitatis tu materia sanctitatis, qua Deo placuit. Nam hec superna infusio in te fuit, quod supernum verbum, in te carnem induit. Tu candidum lilum quod Deus antes omnem creaturam inspexit. . . . Listening Guide“Ave Generosa” (“Hail, Noble One”)Hildegard of Bingen

Organum • Earliest example of polyphony • New melody added above existing plainchant • Duple and triple organum • Léonin and Pérotin, Magnus liber organi

PROPER Parts that change from day to day ORDINARY Parts that stay same Five sections of the Ordinary: Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei The Mass

Polyphonic texture 4 voices Triple meter Latin text: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi; Miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: Miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi; Dona nobis pacem. Listening Guide“Agnus Dei”from Messe de Nostre DameGuillaume de Machaut

Secular Song • Troubadours and Trouvères • Troubadours from southern France • Trouvères from northern France • Minnesingers (Germany) • Wrote in different dialects • Themes of courtly love • Members of upper class • Performed for private functions • Public performances by jongleurs/ minstrels

Secular song Monophonic Nonmetric, but sense of beat Solo female voice Strophic Syllabic French text French text: A chantar m’es al cor que non deurie, Tant mi rancun cele a qui sui amigs, Et si l’am mais que nule ren que sie, Non mi vai ren beltat ni curtesie, Ne ma bontaz ne mon pres ne mon sen, Altresi sul enganade et tragide, Qu’eusse fait vers lui desavinence. Listening Guide“A Chantar”Beatriz of Dia

The Motet • mot = word in French • Refers to added text(s) in upper voices • Began as sacred composition • Secular texts in vernacular • Polytextual motets

CHAPTER 4: Medieval Music