The Middle Ages-Chapter 6

Step 1

The Middle Ages Notes:

• • Nearly thousands of years of European history are considered the Middle Ages, from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the age of Columbus
  • Music changed more than any other historical period in the Middle Ages, changing radically from the beginning to the end
  • Tune and Polyphony originated from the middle of this time (the middle of the Middle Ages. funny)
• Music and the Church
• • Early Western music was determined by the Christian church
  • The church cultivated, supported, and directed music, art, architecture, poetry, and learning
  • Musicians were trained are church choirboys (no girls? :( ) and composers were priests, clerics, or monks
  • Exceptions were made for popular musicians (minstrels or jongleurs)
  • Music was said to provide music with a special emphasis, force, mystery, or even magic that placed it in a special status above merely speaking the words
  • Music nowadays is much more free by the minister rather than it being fixed by a higher authority (called a liturgy) in the Middle Ages
  • Listening to music wasn’t really a thing as it was much more a form of worship
  • Plainchant (called plain because it is a monophonic piece of music), widely known as Gregorian chant, was a great repertory of melodies designated for the liturgy as the official music of the Catholic Church
  • Plainchant can be different genres, differing in style depending on religious function. They can be monotone with few pitch changes or intricate with over an octave of pitches
  • Two characteristic features: they are nonmetrical (no established meter) and is in one of the medieval modes (not major/minor)
  • Western music is traditionally in the diatonic scale, and Middle Ages Plainchant is in the modes of dorian, Phrygian, lydian, or mixolydian
  • Reciting tone - the pitch on which the text is sung (which is repeated again and again)
  • Antiphon - workaday pieces, ones that have more elaborate melodies
  • Melismas - a passage of many notes sung to a single syllable (vocal music)
  • Sequence - a more elaborate kind of melody than an antiphon
• Music at Court
• • Kings and barons gradually gained political power at the expense of the church, which gave them leadership in artistic matters
  • The 12th and 13th centuries (Age of Chivalry) have large groups of court songs preserved
  • Troubadours, also known as trouvères or Minnesingers, were noble poet-composers that also performed their pieces
  • They were often knights, princes, or kings (still no women? :( )
  • Richard I of England even allowed for women composers and performers (finally!)
  • Jongleurs played instruments while trouvères sang, and the accompaniment was either improvised or a drone
  • Alba - a song about a knight leaving his lady at dawn
  • Estampies - instrumental dance of the Middle Ages; unassuming one-line pieces in which the same or similar musical phrases are repeated many times in varied forms. Lively and insistent rhythms in triple meter (spiced up with percussion)
  • Sound recording is only 100 years old or so, so we don’t have a good idea of how most older music sounds
  • We have received obsolete instruments (ouch) over the years in imperfect conditions, and as we reconstruct them, we don’t know how they were played
  • Even singing and the language is difficult to figure out
  • Early compositions of music when written down did not indicate tempo or instrumental/vocal contexts
• Evolution of Polyphony
• • Polyphony - simultaneous combination of two or more melodies
  • Development of polyphonic music in late Middle Ages represents a decisive turn in the history of Western music
  • Polyphony developed in the church and was used to embellish the Gregorian chants
  • Organum - earliest form of polyphony (around 900 C.E.)
• Later Medieval Polyphony
• • Polyphony’s significant development was when it distanced itself from church services
  • The “radical and strange development” was the presentation of 2 different lyrics at the same time
  • Motet - usually a sacred vocal composition. Early motes were based on fragments of Gregorian chant
  • It became even more advanced after 1300
  • Ars antiqua, ars nova - contemporary terms for the “old technique” of 13th century organum and the new polyphonic music of the 14th century
  • Historians compared the 14th with the 20th, a time of breakup traditions: anxiety, corruption, and worse.
  • The Black Death “carried away” 75 million people, the church broke apart and 2 rival popes claimed allegiance of European Christendom
  • Isorhythm - in the 14th century music, the technique of repeating identical rhythms for each section of a composition, while pitches are altered
  • Math made great strides in this period

Step 2

Medieval Music Overview

Step 1

Share your overall impression of the music of Medieval times.

I definitely prefer the music of Medieval Times compared to that we listened to in the previous Unit. There is a magical feeling to it that I get from listening to it, which I somewhat got from the other music. Although, as that music felt more depressing and scary (even dark), this is more of a happier sounding kind of music. It makes me feel like I am walking through the churches in Europe that we visited almost a year ago (wild!). It is much more to familiar to me than the Ancient Greek and Roman music that we listened to, but that doesn't mean it loses any value! Listening to it just gives me chills and reminds me of very happy moments of time in my life, so I am very fond of this kind of music (especially since I escaped the spooky music).

How does Medieval music sound similar to the music of Ancient Times?

There is still mostly just voices, or a voice accompanied by a string instrument below it. It still is also very slow and relatively monotonous, not having much differentiation in tones. It also still has the relatively religious and partially entertainment factor to it, but the music of Medieval Times initially became almost entirely religious, before moving on to secular music.

How does Medieval music sound different from the music of Ancient Times?

In the Medieval Times, the development of polyphony came into play. Not only are there multiple voices or choirs singing pieces, but now there are singing different lyrics, rhythms, and pitches at the same time. This is very different from the monotonous Ancient Times music. There is also a lot more instrumentation and drones or support in the Medieval music that did not really exist as prominently in the Ancient Times music.

Step 2

Mood: This is just me personally, but Ave Maris Stella sounds very depressing and sad. This is probably because of how the religious music was styled and played; it reminds me of the funeral piece that was in the Listen 8th Ed. book. Trotto is much more upbeat and reminds me of party music, so its mood is very happy, especially compared to Ave Maris Stella.

Tempo: The tempo of Trotto is significantly faster compared to Ave Maris Stella, which is a very slow and laidback piece. Trotto has the tempo of a dance or modern day party hype music, whereas Ave Maris Stella genuinely makes me feel like I'm in a church (so I guess it's doing its job).

Rhythm: Trotto has much shorter rhythms compared to Ave Maris Stella, which is reflective of the history videos from the previous step. There are mostly longer notes with little the pitch changes being the shorter rhythms, whereas Trotto has very short notes and many different pitches.

Purpose: Ave Maris Stella is part of Gregorian chant, specifically relating to Easter. This piece is specifically for religious purposes, whereas Trotto is secular piece which means it is a non-religious piece. Trotto is something that would never be performed in a church, and would be more for entertainment purposes.

Guido, Hildegard and Friends

Step 1

Provide approximate dates for the Middle Ages punctuated with notable world/historical events

The Middle Ages began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire around the 5th century, and migrated into the Renaissance and Age of Discovery, ending around the 15th century. Some key events that happened in the Middle Ages were: ruling of Charlemagne (Roman emperor), the Declaration of Magna Carta, the Great Famine, Hundred Years' War, and the Black Death.

Describe various characteristics that distinguish sacred music from secular music during the Middle Ages

The sacred music of the Middle Ages seems mostly monophonic, revolving solely around the monotone voices of monks performing pieces such as Gregorian chant. This is greatly different from the secular music of that time, which was more instrumental. The sacred music often took a slower approach, in more monotone keys/pitches, whereas secular music was much faster and in a "happier" tone.

Describe the 5 parts of the Ordinary of the Mass(latin names for each section and their basic translations)

1. Kyrie: translating to lord, or "Lord Have Mercy On Us"

2. Gloria: translating to glory, honor, fame, or "Glory be to thee".

3. Credo: translating to belief, or I believe in that (God).

4. Sanctus: translating to holy, sacred, or saint.

5. Agnus Dei: translating to Lamb of God.

Distinguish between syllabic, neumatic and mellissmatic chant style

Syllabic - mostly have 1 note per syllable

Neumatic - mostly 2-3 notes per syllable

Mellissmatic - lots of notes for one syllable

Provide a few nuggets of trivia regarding the history of Guido D'Arezzo

Guido of D'Arezzo was alive around 991/992 to some time after 1033, and was an Italian music theorist. He is often referred to as the inventor of modern/staff notation, which replaced neumatic notation. Guido started his life in the monastery of Pomposa, where he noticed singers struggling to memorize Gregorian Chant. He developed a technique to quickly teach music, which made him popular with north Italy but not with the monks of the abbey. This lead to him moving to Arezzo. He also developed new techniques for teaching, such as the all-too-familiar do-re-mi mnemonic. Even more, he developed the Guidonian Hand, which mapped note names to parts of the hand. His methods were used hundreds of years after his death, and are even still used today.

Provide a few nuggets of trivia regarding the Guidonian Hand

The Guidonian hand is a mnemonic system where note names are assigned to parts of the human hand. This was considered a more efficient manner of teaching/learning in the 12th century. Specific notes were assigned to specific joints or tips of the finger. This assisted in the memorization of solemnization syllables. The Guidonian hand method not only became standard, but spread during the 17th and 18th centuries as well. Knowing Guidonian hand allows people to transpose, identify intervals, and even use notation and create new music. They memorized and sang larger sections of music or counterpoint in a significantly shorter amount of time.

Describe your observations regarding the use of this Guidonian Hand Demonstration

It is very interesting to watch. There are notes associated to each joint or the lines of each finger, and from there the man would sing a specific note. It is definitely a bit confusing, but I feel as though the more I watch it and study it, the more I would be able to understand. I would love to learn why it is no longer in use and if it would ever come back into popularity.

Step 2

To what extent does pitch vary throughout this Gregorian Chant?

There are very little pitch variations throughout this excerpt of Gregorian Chant. A large portion of the piece is repeated over and over again. It is definitely how I pictured parts of the Gregorian Chant sounding, singing a very few pitches throughout the whole thing.

Step 3

Describe similarities and differences between the Gregorian Chant above and the music of Hildegard

The music of Hildegard has a great deal of differences between it and the Gregorian Chant. The music of Hildegard has much more instrumental support and is a female voice, whereas the Gregorian Chant has no real instrumental support and is a group of male voices. The two pieces both have similar melodic lines and sound as though they are in the same language, despite being different pieces. Also, even both have happier tones, Hildegard sounds much happier than the Gregorian Chant piece.

Step 4

How do changes in pitch reflect changes in mood in this organum by Leoninus

The beginning is very dissonant, and around 0:05 it moves to a much happier tone, playing around in the higher pitches and maintaining the happier tone. Around 0:45 there is a brief moment of dissonance, as well as at the very end of the piece. This rubbing makes an uncomfortable feeling, but it almost always resolves to a happier tone. The ending has a very distant cadence change which makes it happy once again.

Step 5

Describe musical elements in terms of what is represented and what is not in this example by Guillaume de Machaut

Pitch: Along with the decent amount of rhythmic changes, there are an impressive amount of pitch changes as well. There sounds like there is a flute, lute, some form of fiddle, and eventually a voice. They all come in and out as the piece moves along, as well have a decent range of pitches played.

Rhythm: There are a decent amount of complex rhythms, including eighth notes and dotted quarters. These are rhythms that I did not expect to hear from this time period or piece.

Dynamics: I feel as though there are not as many dynamic changes as there is just the disappearance/reappearance of instruments. Towards the end of every vocal line, there does seem to be a decrescendo to end the phrase.

Tempo: The tempo is relatively moderato, maybe a bit faster than that. It is definitely not a slower piece.

Timbre: The timbre is very different depending on which instrument. The string instruments sound very brassy or plucky, the flute is very piercing and sharp. The woman's voice has a very hollow tone to it.

Harmony: There are harmonizations of the melody throughout the piece, between the flute and maybe some form of recorder? I cannot really tell what it is.

Melody: The melody is definitely there and shifts from instrument to instrument. It starts with the flute and eventually shifts to the voice, and towards the end the voice and the flute are playing 2 separate melodies.

Mood: It has a very outdoorsy feel. I feel like I am outside traveling through an old-timey village while listening to this piece. It is a very cheerful piece for sure.

In Search of Summer and The Holy Grail

Step 1

Provide a brief description of this Neume Notation; observations, patterns, etc.

Neume is "the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation." It is all words with no shapes at all, and a large portion of them end in -us. This is mostly with the eighth note patterns. I definitely appreciate all forms of music through history, but I personally hate this method. It seems very counter-intuitive, but I understand that it takes time to develop almost an entire language in order to communicate the instructions of music universally, which is something that is still not in existence.

Describe differences between Medieval Notation Neumes & Modern Notation Notes in terms of shapes, lines and colors

Medieval notation had no stems or any symbolism of rests. Modern notation has a very different clef signature, as well as clear indications of rhythmic markings. Both have the notes following the syllables of the lyrics as well as measure bars, but whereas the medieval one doesn't show real syllable separations and faint measures, the modern one has much clearer symbols. It is interesting the medieval notation having the red color throughout the page, although I do not really understand the meaning behind it. I appreciate how far modern notation has come because it seems far easier to understand.

Step 2

Provide a brief narrative on Sumer Is Icumen In; history, trivia, manuscript, significance, text, etc.

The Sumer Is Icumen In (also known as Summer Canon) has no trace to who composed the piece, and is from the mid-13th century. It is a Medieval English round written in the Wessex dialect of Middle English, and translates to "Summer Has Arrived". This piece is known as the oldest composition containing six-part polyphony, and is probably the earliest known copy of the composition containing mensural notation. A rota (more commonly known or generalized as a round) is a piece in which the first singer begins, and the second singer begins (at the start) a measure or two after the first has passed. The manuscript that resulted in the piece's preservation is dated to be copied around 1261-1264.

Step 3

Is this an example of a sacred Gregorian Chant or a secular Estampie?

Gregorian Chant

What is the language of this text?

Latin

Is the texture monophonic, heterophonic, homophonic or polyphonic?

Homophonic - they are all singing the same melody but are harmonized.

HONORS TRACK

Can Anonymous Four come out and play?

• Who, What, Where, When & Why?
• • Who
  • • 1986 - 1998: Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Johanna Maria Rose.
    • 1998 - 2007: Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, Johanna Maria Rose
    • 2007 - 2015: Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek
  • What: The group primarily focused on chant and polyphony from the Middle Ages, but eventually branched out to contemporary music and American roots music as well.
  • Where: New York City
  • When: Spring of 1986 to December 22, 2015
  • Why: A group of women got together for a music reading session and decided they wanted to hear what medieval chant and polyphony sounded like with female voices.
• Discography: Their earlier pieces are often just compilations, such as “A Portrait of Anonymous 4”, “Four Centuries of Chant”, and “Three Decades of Anonymous 4”. They also have a Christmas album: “Noël: Carols & Chants for Christmas.” In terms of other labels in which they were a part of, they were on “Voices of Light” by Richard Einhorn, “love fail” by David Lang. I purely picked this group out of random, but was absolutely THRILLED when I found out they were on 2 Christopher Tin albums, “The Drop That Contained the Sea” and “Calling All Dawns” (<3).
• Publications: The publications on their website include all of their editions of medieval plainchant and polyphony (such as works by Hildegard of Bingen and Americana). They have all of their sheet music available, and are willing to send you any of their sheet-music if you cannot find it already. Anonymous 4 also included a link to some of their favorite medieval editions, such as “On Yoolis Night”, “Miracles of Sant’ Iago”, and “Legends of St. Nicholas”.