Trimester 1 -- Second Listening Assignment:  Medieval & Renaissance Music

 Medieval Music:  450 to 1450   (also known as the Middle Ages)

Gregorian Chant was the first music to be written down that has survived.  Here is a brief history of written notes:

When Guido d'Arezzo invented chant notation on a staff in about 1025, the notes were drawn fully black. I imagine that the scribes cut their pens so as to give a broad stroke in one direction and a very narrow stroke in the other, because that's exactly what the manuscripts look like. (Twentieth-century music pens - both nibs and fountain pens - were designed exactly the same way.) When late twelfth-early thirteenth century musicians at Notre Dame in Paris needed a way to indicate rhythmic values, they came up with the six rhythmic modes. They used existing chant notation (all black notes) with only two note values, short and long (or breve and longa), but in practice also needed a note value equal to a breve plus a longa. The rhythms were indicated not by the appearance of the notes, but by the way they were joined together in multi-note ligatures.  Each of the following are an example of a neume.

At the end of every mass at Chaminade -- but just before the final hymn, we have traditionally sung a piece of Gregorian Chant entitled Salve Regina.  Monks in monasteries who make a practice of praying the Divine Office in a singing format, always sang the last hymn of the day to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  These songs varied from liturgical season to liturgical season.  The Salve Regina is normally sung as the last song of the day from the beginning of "ordinary time" up to the first Sunday of Advent.

Gregorian chant is NOT metrical in the sense that it has a regularly repeating beat.  Rather, it has a varied rhythm that springs from the Latin text.  It is usually very meditative in nature, and its purpose was to direct the mind and the heart to heavenly things.  You will hear how easily the mind could turn to quiet prayer when you hear this song.

If you regularly pray the Rosary, you always end the Rosary with a prayer that, in English, we call the "Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy."  That prayer is the English translation of the Salve Regina:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,

Our Life, our sweetness and our hope.

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping

In this valley of tears.

Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us.

And after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary.

Click on the following link:

Salve Regina sung by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos   (REQUIRED)

As written music became more advanced, songs could be written down and learned with greater ease.  Thus evolved more complicated music called polyphony (poly means many, and phonus means sounds).  Two or more lines of music could be played together, and the sounds of independent melodies could weave in and out with each other.  Sometimes this music could become very ornate and fancy.  It actually became difficult to understand.  The church was on the verge of banning it until Palestrina composed the Missa Papae Marcello that the place of thie 16th century polyphony was finally accepted for use in church services.  This next work is by a fellow simply known as Allegri.  The song is a rendition of one of the most penance-heavy psalms in the bible, Psalm 51.  The word miserere means "have mercy on me."  

Click on the following link:



Allegri's Miserere   (REQUIRED)

A sidenote:  This piece was "forbidden" to be sung anywhere except in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.  When Mozart heard it, he was such a genius that he could hear it once -- AND THEN write down all the parts of the WHOLE SONG from memory.  Wow!  Needless to say, the song "escaped" from the Sistine Chapel because of Mozart.


Here is what a page of Gregorian Chant looks like.  It is the entrance song for Christmas.  Notice that it uses a 4-line staff rather than today's 5-line staff.

Other Topics of Interest in Medieval Music (not required)

The following is NOT required listening, but it is included for those who are interested in music.

Hildegard of Bingen was a remarkable woman.  She was the first woman composer of music whom we know about.  In addition, she was a scholar, adviser to popes, and a naturalist whose understanding of herbs and natural plants made her, in a sense, one of the first recorded pharmacists.  She was recently declared to be both a saint of the Roman Catholic Church as well as one of its few "Doctors."  A church "doctor" is noted for theological insight made evident in his/her writings.  She is not the first woman doctor of the church.  We also have BOTH of the St. Theresas -- St. Theresa of Avila and St. Teresa of the Child Jesus (aka  "the little flower.")

Here is a YouTube of some of the music written by Hildegard of Bingen.

Click on the following link:

Hildegard of Bingen's Music  (Not required)

The First Move from Monophonic to Polyphonic Texture

Gregorian Chant did not simply JUMP into full Renaissance polyphony.  Polyphony developed slowly.  After Gregorian Chant had been around for a while, the very beginnings of harmony started.  This was called "organum" which means "to sing in Symphoniae."  Some organum was strictly a parallel melody sung usually a fourth or a fifth below the chant melody.  In other cases, like the following example, the lower part stayed the same for a few notes and then moved to a different not -- but these changes did not happen in this lower part as frequently as the notes in the upper melody changed.

Wikipedia explains it thus:  
 In its earliest stages, organum involved two musical voices: a Gregorian chant melody, and the same melody transposed by a consonant interval, usually a perfect fifth or fourth. In these cases the composition often began and ended on a unison, the added voice keeping to the initial tone until the first part has reached a fifth or fourth, from where both voices proceeded in parallel harmony, with the reverse process at the end. Organum was originally improvised; while one singer performed a notated melody (the vox principalis), another singer—singing "by ear"—provided the unnotated second melody (the vox organalis). Over time, composers began to write added parts that were not just simple transpositions, thus creating true polyphony.

Here is an example of early ORGANUM.  The following is NOT required listening, but it is included for those who are interested in the development of music.

Click the following link for an example of organum:

Organum sung by a French woman's chorus   (Not required)

MUSIC TERMINOLOGY, NOTES, CLEFS, KEYS

Meter -- Meter is represented as a "fraction."
The "numerator" (top number) represents the number of beats in each measure

The "denominator" (bottom number) represents the "type" of note that takes the beats.

Examples:  
3/4 time means 3 beats per measure with the quarter (4th) note taking each beat

6/8 time means 6 beats per measure with the eighth (8th) note taking each beat.

2/2 time means 2 beats per measure with the half (2nd) note taking each beat

Meter has NOTHING to do with the speed with which the music is performed.

Meter first made its appearance in the late middle ages and the Renaissance.                                         Remember, Gregorian chant did NOT have a regular beat.

Tempo -- Tempo is the "speed" with which the music is performed.

Sometimes it if shown with a "metronome"mark where the beat note has a mathematical number that indicates the number of beats per minute (eg. 72, 60, 120)

Sometimes it is indicated by a word like andante or lento.  It is frequently in Italian, but                       it can be in other languages as well.

Dynamics -- This is the LOUDNESS and SOFTNESS of the music.

Sometimes (Baroque period) the changes are abrupt.  This is known as "terraced

dynamics"

In the classical and romantic periods the changes could be more gradual, especially by the use of crescendo and decrescendo  marks (called hairpins).<  or  >

Melody -- A succession of notes in rhythms that create a "musical idea."  
This is often simply called the "tune."

Harmony -- The playing of two or more notes at the same time.  
Often the playing of three  (or more) notes is called the playing of a "chord."  This "harmony" is usually the accompaniment to the melody.

Texture --  This is the type of interplay between notes (if any).  It is the "feel" of the music.          There are three textures in all of music:.
monophonic -- one melody note at a time -- all alone with no other notes.  Best example is Gregorian Chant.
polyphonic -- the interaction of two or more melodies sounding at the same time. Best example is a round (Row, Row, Row Your Boat) or a fugue (pronounced FEW-guh)
homophonic -- one melody supported by harmony, usually chords.  This is the most common kind of music to which we listen. (eg. Rock & Roll songs or Broadway music).

Program vs. Absolute Music -- If the music has words or "tells" a story, it is program music.     Best example is opera. 1812 Overture is another example.  If music is "pure" music, no story intended, then it is "absolute."  Example: Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

Instrumentation:     1 instrument is a solo; 2 is called a duet; 3 is a trio; 4 is a quartet;, 5 is a quintet; 6 is called a sextet; 7 is called a septet; 8 is called an octet.   In groups like this, each instrument or "voice" would play its own part, usually not doubling one of the other parts.

TYPES OF NOTES AND RESTS:    (when the quarter note takes the beat)
WHOLE NOTES -- 4 beats
HALF NOTES -- 2 beats
QUARTER NOTES -- 1 beat
EIGHTH NOTES -- 1/2 beat
SIXTEENTH NOTES -- 1/4 beat   

 Here's what these notes (and their corresponding "rests") look like:

Music in the Renaissance:  1450 - 1600

Texture:  

The texture is MOSTLY polyphonic, but some homophonic music  is present, especially in  dances.  These dances were performed only in the large mansions and castles of the very wealthy and the nobility.  They were the only ones who could afford to pay musicians!!

Characteristics of the Renaissance Period:

1.  Religion begins to take a "back seat" to the new philosophy of HUMANISM which emphasizes the individual person instead of God; it draws attention to man's ability to reason, observe scientific reality, and to invent.

2.  Music is NOW considered a fine art instead of a science.  Among the ancient Greeks, Pythagoras had shown the mathematical basis of music, but now its beauty and grandeur re-focuses attention on it as an ART rather than as an expression of math and science.

3.  Vocal Music is considered much more important than instrumental music during the Renaissance.

4.  Renaissance composers, especially of secular music, make use of WORD PAINTING, a musical representation of specific images like bird calls, drum effects, street cries, etc.

5.  The Renaissance is considered the GOLDEN AGE OF UNACCOMPANIED (a-capella) MUSIC.  The term "a-capella literally translates as "from the chapel."  Instruments were not used in church, so any church music was without instruments to accompany it.

Musical Forms in the Renaissance:

1.  The Madrigal (secular polyphony on topics like Spring, love, nature)  Always in the local language of the population (English, Italian, etc.)  Made use of "word painting."

2.  The Motet (sacred polyphony on the psalms and other religious themes)  Always in Latin.

3.  The Chanson (French) -- a secular song by a soloist sung in homophonic texture with some kind of instrumental accompaniment (lute, flutes, etc)

4.  Masses -- the common parts of the Catholic mass in polyphonic texture in Latin:  Kyrie Eleison, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

5.  Dances 

        Slow dances -- (feet stay on ground) generally called dance basse.  

            bassadance, pavane, almain 

        Fast dances -- (jumping and lifting)  generally called haute dance.

            galliard, courante, canario

Some of the composers of these dances were nobility who had studied music, not to become professional musicians, but because knowledge of music was seen to be an indicator of intelligence and good breeding.  England's Henry VIII was a pretty good composer of dance music.  (it can be heard in A Man for All Seasons when the king comes up the river to visit his friend, Sir Thomas More.)

Gender Issues in Renaissance Music:

1.  Sacred a-Capella music was sung ONLY BY MEN & BOYS IN CHURCH.  

2.  Women could sing polyphony ONLY in a convent populated entirely by nuns.
3.  Towards the very end of the Renaissance, the use of CASTRATI began.  Castrati were men whose testicles had been removed before they reached puberty.  This allowed them to sing notes that were much higher than a "normal" man could sing because their voices did not change much.  This practice became VERY popular in the BAROQUE period --  more discussion then.
4.  In SECULAR COURTS, however, women who were especially talented singers (virtuosi) were allowed and even encouraged to sing.

Famous Renaissance Composers:

1.  Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)  Also known as Gesualdo da Venosa

            He was an Italian Prince who murdered his wife and her lover.

            He was a late Renaissance composer who used "chromaticism" which was not used        

                   again until the late 19th century (late 1800s)

2.  Josquin des Prez (1450-1521) Great writer of polyphony

            He was so admired that many anonymous compositions were attributed to him  by    

                   music copiers (probably to increase sales -- "Hey, des Pres wrote this one!!"

3.  Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)  Italian Renaissance Composer directly 

                    connected to the Vatica.  He is regarded as the GREATEST OF THE COMPOSERS

                    OF RENAISSANCE POLYPHONY.  He had a LASTING influence on the

                    development of church music.

Instruments Played During the Renaissance:

1.  BRASS:   cornett, trumpet, slide trumpet, serpent, and sackbut (early trombone)

2.  STRINGS:  viol, viol de gamba, (NOT the violin) lute, lyre, hurdy-gurdy, cittern, harp

3.  WOODWINDS:  shawm (early oboe), recorder, flute, other pipes.

4.  PERCUSSION:  tambors (skin tightened over hollow wood cylinder), nakers (small kettle

                                         drums), tambourines, bells, finger cymbals, triangle

Here is a "serpent":

Here is a "sackbut":
(notice the bell is
not so large as today)

Here is a "hurdy-gurdy":

Here is a "cittern"

Here is a "shawm"

The difference between a viol and a violin:


The Violin (or viola da braccio) and the Viola da gamba Families Differences and Similarities




Table of Characteristics

Part	viola da braccio or violin	viola da gamba
shoulder	square	square, sloping, festooned (leaf-form)
sound holes	f-form almost always	f-form, c-form, flame or snake form
rosette	almost never	very frequently, but not always
back	rounded	flat or rounded
corners	almost always	mostly without corners, some with corners
neck	relatively short	relatively long
frets*	almost never	always: 7 is the rule; sometimes 8
tuning*	in fifths	in fourths, with a third in the middle
strings*	4, more rarely 5	6 is the rule, sometimes 5 or 7
stringing*	relatively strong (high tension)	relatively light (lower tension)
head	scroll, sometimes carved head	scroll (sometimes cut-through), carved head
edge	overhanging	overhanging or flush with ribs
Playing position*	violin/viola: on the shoulder	All sizes: between the legs
bow hold*	overhand (cello sometimes underhand)	always underhand, all sizes

* Denotes the principal differences between the two families which
make a difference in the quality of sound and playing style 

             
          
Here are "nakers"                

Here is a "tambor"