The Middle Ages

The Middle Agesca. 476 1400 CE

Before We BeginOverview of Music History Periods1 Medieval Period c. 476 AD to 1400 AD 2 Renaissance Period c. 1400 to 1600 3 Baroque Period c. 1600 to 1750 4 Classical Period c. 1750 to 1820 5 Romantic Period c. 1820 to 1900 6 Impressionist Period c. 1875 to 1925 7 Modern Period c. 1910 to 1960 8 Post-Modern (Contemporary) Period c. 1960 to present

Overview: Medieval PeriodThe Middle Ages covers a longer period than any other. Most of the music examined here dates from the latter end of that period because that is when music notation was developed.Reflects the varied social functions that required music, both sacred and secular. Increasing textures over the period of a few hundred years. The harmonies do not fall into familiar triads. The rhythms (when measured) seem removed from what we expect. The sounds of the voices and instruments used in the recordings challenge modern ideas of vocal and instrumental timbres.

Key ConceptsSacred and SecularPlainchant (Gregorian Chant) and Responsorial ChantMonophony, Polyphony, HeterophonyModes (vs. scales)Free vs. metered rhythmMelismatic Text, Syllabic Text, Vocables

Key ConceptsWandering minstrels (town to town, castle to castle, secular poets and musicians)Troubadors (southern France)Trouveres (northern France)Minnesingers (Germany)ComposersHildegard von BingenFrancesco LandiniGuillaume de MachautAlfonso el Sabio

Historical Context800: Charlemagne crowned Emperor1095: The First Crusades1213: Magna Carta1337: Hundred Years War1348-1350: The Black Death

850-900 Earliest musical notation

1163: Notre Dame Cathedral begun

1387: Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales

Giotto. Lamentation. 1305

Giotto. Raising of Lazurus. 1305.

Play of Virtues: Hildegard von BingenPlainchant: Monophonic vocal music designed to project religious texts (Gregorian Chant)Morality Play: Good vs. Evil (Satan, Soul, Virtues)Lord of the Rings (Sauron, Frodo, Gandalf)Star Wars (Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Jedi)Harry Potter (Voldemort, Harry Potter, Dumbledore)Uses both conjunct and disjunct motionCadence: Musical Resting Point

Play of Virtues: Hildegard von BingenSyllabic: ClarityMelismatic: EmphasisFree RhythmHildegard entered a Benedictine convent at age seven and took vows when she was sixteen. In her early thirties she began to experience visions and revelations, which she recorded in a series of books. Hildegard, the first woman permitted by a pope to write on theology, also wrote on such diverse subjects as medicine, plants, and lives of the saints, all while directing a thriving convent as its abbess.

Other ChantPlainchant grew out of chant from Jewish worship services

Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, religions all employ monophonic chant

Eagle DanceNative American Rain CeremonyVocablesFree rhythm and duple meterDownward melodic contourABA formMen onlyWhich musical element seems to be emphasized more than others in Eagle Dance?

Behold Spring: Francesco LandiniPolyphonic texture in two voices.Secular theme: Courtly LoveCadencesTriple meter Syllabic and Melismatic settings of textForm: ABAAWhy was Landinis blindness not a problem for him as a musician? What other famous musicians are blind? What about deafness (Beethoven)?

I Can All Too Well Compare My Lady: Guillaume de MachautPolyphonic (3 equal voices)Secular: Courtly Love (Statue)Form AABClear CadencesPygmalion (falling in love with a work of art)George Bernard Shaw 1913My Fair Lady 1956 MusicalWeird Science 1985 MovieShes All That 1999 Movie

The MassCentral Service of Christian DenominationsRe-enactment of Christs Last SupperProper (specific to day) and Ordinary (every day)Kyrie (prayer for mercy)Gloria (declaration of praise)Credo (articles of faith)Sanctus (blessing of bread and wine)Agnus Dei (prayer for redemption)Ite Missa est (dismissal)

Songs to the Virgin Mary: Alfonso el SabioInstrumental (arrangement of vocal similar to modern jazz practice)Shawm similar to modern oboe (double reeds)

Includes monophony, homophony, and heterophony Extra: see typical instruments of the Middle Ages on p. 52

El Na Refa Na la - Healing Prayer (Numbers 12:13)Wendie Bernstein LashWendie Bernstein LashBlessing: Jewish Chants for Blessing & Healing2007-01-01T08:00:00Zjefflesser@comcast.net 2012 Wendie Bernstein Lash2016-01-23 22:47:29TuneCore:isrc:USTC40809683Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67: IntroductionDavid Bowie, Eugene Ormandy & The Philadelphia OrchestraDavid Bowie, The Philadelphia Orchestra & Eugene OrmandySergei ProkofievDavid Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf, Op. 671989-01-03T08:00:00Zjefflesser@comcast.net 1988 BMG Music2016-01-25 14:45:23David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the WolfSonyBMG:isrc:USBC17500190