The Divine Origin of Music in Greece

1. 1. Greece 1.1. Thedivineorigin of music 1.2. Characteristics of Greekmusic 2. MiddleAges 2.1. Religious vocal music: theGregorianchant 2.2. Secular vocal music: Troubadours and Minstrels 2.3. Thebirth of polyphony 3. Dance in Antiquity and theMidleAges Índice del libro

2. Orpheus with his lyre. Greece 1.1. The divine origin of music For Greek people, music vas an art of divine origin. Music was thought to have magical powers that could cure illness and modify behaviors. That is way it was seen as an essential discipline in the education of young people.

3. Greece 1.2. Characteristics of Greek musik The concept of music encompasses music, poetry and dance. It makes use of a monodic texture with a heterophonic accompaniment. Musical system based on modal scales. The different distributions of tones and semitones of each scale caused a different sonority associated to the «ethos» or particular feeling.

4. Musical instruments in Ancient Greece. Grecia 1.2. Características de la música en Grecia Alphabetic notation por the pitch of sound, and metrical feet for the rhytm. The most important instruments were the lyre and the aulos.

5. Middle Ages 2.1. Religious vocal music: the Gregorian chant Characteristics of the Gregorian chant It uses a special notation by means of neumes. It is a type of music destined for the liturgy. The musical rhythm is free. Use of Latin as its main language. It uses a system of eight modal scales derived from the Greek modes with a different distribution of tones and semitones. It has a mododic texture and a single melodic line.

6. Middle Ages 2.2. Secular vocal music: Troubadours and Minstrels Troubadours were poe-musicians, generally of noble birth. They appears in the south of France in the 11th century and expanded rapidly throught Europe. Troubadours Minstrels were traveling musicians who went over castles and villages entertaining people with songs, representation and acrobatics. Minstrels • Characteristics of themusic of troubadours: • Theseweresongswritten in thevernacularlanguages of eacharea. • Mainsubjectswere “courtlylove” and theknightlyspirit of theheroesfromthecrusades. • Itis a type of vocal musicwith a monodictexturebutwithinstrumental accompaniment. • Itmakes use of Gregorian modal scalesbutitsrhythmis more marked. • In Spain, themusic of troubadourswasrepresentatedbyCantigas de Santa María of Alfonso X theWise.

7. Middles Ages 2.3. The birth of polyphony In the late 9th century, polyphony (different melodic lines at the same time) appeared in western music. Primitive polyphony (9th-12th centuries): Polyphony is built by improvising upon th base of Gregorian chant. The main forms of primitive polyphony are: organum and melismatic organum. Ars Antiqua (12th-13th centuries): The evolution of musical notation made the development of more complex polyphonic forms easier. New polyphonic forms appeared, like the conductus and the motet. Ars Nova (14th century): Mensural notation appeared, in which particular values were designated for each sound. New polyphonic forms appeared, like the canon, the ballad and the chanson.

8. Dance in Antiquity and the Middle Ages Dancing was used in Ancient Greece as a fundamental part of education. Christianism forbade dances, but in the Middle Ages we find examples generically called estampie. They use monodic textures and are structured in several phrases or “puncta” that are reppeated.

9. La danza en la Antigüedad y la Edad Media Medieval instruments There is a great variety of instruments, and there are a lot of names for them. The instrumental performance is improvised and it has two functions: to accompany songs, and the performance of dances and processions. • The most used instruments were: • String instruments (harps, lyre, psaltery, qanun, lute, viola, hurdy gurdy). • Wind instruments (horn, trumpet, dulzaina, chirimia, flutes, bagpipes, organ). • Percussion instruments (hand drums, rattle drums, cymbals, triangle, bells, rattles).

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