IV: The Middle Ages
During the first half of the Middle Ages (500-1000), all power came from the king with the approval of the Roman Catholic Church. Although music was very important in the civilizations of Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, most of the preserved music from the era is from monasteries. During the later Middle Ages (1000-1450), cities along with cathedrals and universities emerged. Religion caused violent knights to embark upon Crusades to conquer the Holy Land from the Muslims. During this age of knighthood, a popular theme for court minstrel songs was the distant worshipping and admiration of rich women by these "chivalrous" brutes.
Gregorian chants, which are single lines of unmetered music bearing religious texts, are named after Pope Gregory the Great (590-604). A single line of music is what you might imagine coming from one voice, as opposed to multiple lines of music, a texture more common in piano music. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is responsible for several scientific writings, poems, and songs that we have today. She was also reported to experience visions and perform miracles. Unsurprisingly, she lived in a stone cell and was raised by a religious recluse.
Some composers began writing music for more than one line at a time. Léonin (twelfth century) and Pérotin (thirteenth century) were such composers in Paris from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Léonin wrote a large book of organi, the Magnus liber organi. An organum is a Gregorian melody with another voice added above or below it. Léonin was one of the first to write for two simultaneous voices, and his successor Pérotin wrote for three or four. At the end of the thirteenth century, musicians wrote new texts for the textless sections of the organi. These pieces were called motets, based on the term "mot," which is French for "word." The new lines were often in French (not Latin) and sexy (not religious).
Of course, there was pop music too. Minstrels were musicians that wandered around entertaining and spreading gossip. Poor minstrels were called jongleurs and jonglueresses. French poet-musicians from the South (troubadours) and North (trouvères) were like jongleurs but rich. Minnesingers were the German equivalent of troubadours or trouvères. Secular music accompanied dancing and ceremonies, and songs were mostly about unrequited love. In the fourteenth century, the Ars nova began in France and Italy. During this era, composers turned more towards secular themes and composed with a more refined sense of rhythm, harmony, and counterpoint, or contrapuntal works, in which two or more simultaneous lines are combined. Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is a composer who wrote several motets and secular songs, and is the first composer to be credited with a complete Ordinary of the Mass. Masses are divided into the Proper, the section of the mass that varies from day to day, and the Ordinary, or fixed sections.
Some composers began writing music for more than one line at a time. Léonin (twelfth century) and Pérotin (thirteenth century) were such composers in Paris from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Léonin wrote a large book of organi, the Magnus liber organi. An organum is a Gregorian melody with another voice added above or below it. Léonin was one of the first to write for two simultaneous voices, and his successor Pérotin wrote for three or four. At the end of the thirteenth century, musicians wrote new texts for the textless sections of the organi. These pieces were called motets, based on the term "mot," which is French for "word." The new lines were often in French (not Latin) and sexy (not religious).
Of course, there was pop music too. Minstrels were musicians that wandered around entertaining and spreading gossip. Poor minstrels were called jongleurs and jonglueresses. French poet-musicians from the South (troubadours) and North (trouvères) were like jongleurs but rich. Minnesingers were the German equivalent of troubadours or trouvères. Secular music accompanied dancing and ceremonies, and songs were mostly about unrequited love. In the fourteenth century, the Ars nova began in France and Italy. During this era, composers turned more towards secular themes and composed with a more refined sense of rhythm, harmony, and counterpoint, or contrapuntal works, in which two or more simultaneous lines are combined. Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) is a composer who wrote several motets and secular songs, and is the first composer to be credited with a complete Ordinary of the Mass. Masses are divided into the Proper, the section of the mass that varies from day to day, and the Ordinary, or fixed sections.
V: The Renaissance
The Renaissance (1450-1600) was a time of change from tradition to scientific discovery. Gunpowder was invented, so murderers were gunmen rather than knights. The compass was invented, so Europeans found new lands and people to abuse. Along with Columbus, other well-known names from the Renaissance include the Roman painters and sculptors we remember as the teenage mutant ninja turtles, Shakespeare, Galileo, Martin Luther, and Machiavelli.
When movable type printing for music was introduced in the late 1500s, more people learned how to read music. Some musicians found work as printers, publishers, copyists, or instrument builders. Others found jobs playing instruments, singing, directing choirs, composing, and teaching. Although instrumental dance music flourished, the sixteenth century is known as the golden age of a cappella (literally "in the manner of a chapel"), or singing without instrumental accompaniment.
Renaissance music commonly used continuous imitation, where one voice copies another's melody. Another compositional technique, word painting, reflects the meaning of the words in the music. Composers also began to favor the intervals of thirds and sixths rather than the fourths and fifths that were so common in the Middle Ages. All of these compositional techniques have remained popular through our present times. Composers of the Renaissance wrote polyphonic, or multiple voice masses, motets, and hymns. Motets of the Renaissance had Latin text, were sacred in nature, and musically based upon a fixed melody known as a cantus firmus. One of the greatest motet composers was Josquin des Prez (1450-1521). Renaissance composers created contrapuntal settings of the Ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei), basing each section on the same cantus firmus.
When Martin Luther (1483-1546) told the Catholic Church that they were horrible, the church responded with the Counter-Reformation, a movement dedicated to proving they weren't. This happened mostly from the 1530's to the end of the century. During this time, the Council of Trent aimed to reform church music from elaborate, virtuosic counterpoint to a purer vocal style that made the text intelligible. Although this initially sounds like a major bummer, some composers, including Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) wrote gorgeous masses that conformed to the new restrictions.
There were also many secular developments. Chansons were three or four part French songs, mostly about courtly love, and favored by French nobility. One of the greatest composers of this genre was Roland de Lassus (1532-1594). The Italian courts, on the other hand, preferred madrigals, which were secular songs that often portrayed more tragic emotions. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) is well known for many madrigals. After Italian madrigals were published in England, English composers would translate and simplify the texts in order to compose their own madrigals, which often included the syllables, "fa la la."
In the following English madrigal, see if you can remember these terms and listen for them:
Renaissance music commonly used continuous imitation, where one voice copies another's melody. Another compositional technique, word painting, reflects the meaning of the words in the music. Composers also began to favor the intervals of thirds and sixths rather than the fourths and fifths that were so common in the Middle Ages. All of these compositional techniques have remained popular through our present times. Composers of the Renaissance wrote polyphonic, or multiple voice masses, motets, and hymns. Motets of the Renaissance had Latin text, were sacred in nature, and musically based upon a fixed melody known as a cantus firmus. One of the greatest motet composers was Josquin des Prez (1450-1521). Renaissance composers created contrapuntal settings of the Ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei), basing each section on the same cantus firmus.
When Martin Luther (1483-1546) told the Catholic Church that they were horrible, the church responded with the Counter-Reformation, a movement dedicated to proving they weren't. This happened mostly from the 1530's to the end of the century. During this time, the Council of Trent aimed to reform church music from elaborate, virtuosic counterpoint to a purer vocal style that made the text intelligible. Although this initially sounds like a major bummer, some composers, including Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) wrote gorgeous masses that conformed to the new restrictions.
There were also many secular developments. Chansons were three or four part French songs, mostly about courtly love, and favored by French nobility. One of the greatest composers of this genre was Roland de Lassus (1532-1594). The Italian courts, on the other hand, preferred madrigals, which were secular songs that often portrayed more tragic emotions. Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) is well known for many madrigals. After Italian madrigals were published in England, English composers would translate and simplify the texts in order to compose their own madrigals, which often included the syllables, "fa la la."
In the following English madrigal, see if you can remember these terms and listen for them:
A Cappella
Polyphonic or Contrapuntal Texture
Continuous Imitation
Word Painting
Intervals of Thirds and Sixths
The Nightingale, the Organ of Delight
by Thomas Weelkes (1573-1623)
Performed by the King's Singers
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