Medieval and Renaissance Music

Medieval and Renaissance Music

MOTET• LATIN WORDS• A CAPPELLA (unaccompanied music)• HARMONY • MODAL (not major or minor but based on one of

the seven modes)• IRREGULAR METRES (follows the rhythm of

the words) • MELISMA (several notes to one syllable)• POLYPHONIC (several parts sung at the same

time) • Sacred hymn

Medieval PeriodUp to 1450

• The earliest music we know. Much of the music was not written down.

• Monophonic texture.• Use of modes (dorian, lydian, etc).• Pattern of the Latin words used as the

rhythm.

Medieval Music• During the Medieval period most music was not

written down. Composers who did write their music down usually worked for the Catholic Church.  The Church could afford to buy the materials the composers would need to write music.  People outside the Church were too poor to buy what was needed to compose music.  

• Music notation appeared around the year 900, but it only showed the pitch.  It didn't tell you anything about the rhythm.  A few hundred years would pass  before the notes showed the rhythm.

Pope Gregory I• As music became more complicated, someone

needed to make up some rules for writing down music.  That person was Pope Gregory I.

• Pope Gregory l declared that music be standardized.  That means that musicians and composers had to use the same rules when writing and performing their music.   This music can still be heard today.  It is called Gregorian chant.

PlainchantAlso known as Plainsong and Gregorian chant.

Unaccompanied melody set to words of the Roman Catholic liturgy, such as the Mass. Plainchants are modal and have no regular metre. They follow the rhythm of the Latin words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN7lT7ojVl0

The Renaissance Period1400-1600

The Renaissance Period1450-1600

• Renaissance means rebirth. This period saw a rebirth in knowledge. Science and the arts were becoming more important.

• Christopher Columbus discovered America, Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, William Shakespeare was writing plays and Leonardo da Vinci was making great advancements in art, music and science.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy2Dg-ncWoY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmiEJzp-iYM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_7hEUHMpc&feature=related

Characteristics of the Period

• Polyphony – voice parts were given equal importance and share the melody.

• Imitative polyphony.• A cappella singing. • Growth of instrumental, dance and secular

music. • Antiphonal effects. • Development of musical harmony and use of

cadences.

Antiphonal• Music for more than one choir/group. One side

answers phrases from the other side with rich, powerful effects produced when they combine.

• Originates from Venice using contrasting textures – chordal and imitation, blend and contrast.

• Contrasts between groups – high and low, loud and soft dynamics, solo and groups, bright and dark timbres (tone colours)

• Fills the entire space of a Cathedral and so completes man’s visual and aural depiction of Heaven on earth.

Sacred Music

MassThe Roman Catholic service of the Mass has had A great influence on the development of music. High mass (Missa Solemnis) has 5 passages of Plainsong (the proper of the Mass) and 5 extended passages (the Ordinary of the Mass)which are often set in an elaborate choral way. The ‘Ordinary’ is the Section referred to as the Mass in a musical sense.

MassFeatures of the Mass include Latin text and polyphonic texture, and it is usually sung a cappella. Originally used in church worship, but in later years became a large-scale work for chorus, soloists and orchestra. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRsDgtqtx5Qhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcKasCiX26Y

5 Main Sections of the Mass• Kyrie – Lord Have Mercy• Gloria – Glory be to God on High• Credo – I believe• Sanctus - Holy, holy (often include the Benedictus)• Agnus Dei – Lamb of God

A special setting is the Requiem (Mass for the dead).

Think – ‘King George Cuts Sandwiches Buttering Always.’

MotetA sacred choral work with Latin text and Contrapuntal (polyphonic) texture. It was usually sung a cappella.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgKLIMIhh1c

AnthemSimilar to the Motet but sung in English.

A Verse Anthem includes the organ and is written for soloists with sections for full choir.

Secular Music

MadrigalA non-religious work, polyphonic in style, using imitation. Features of madrigal include text in English, use of word painting, through-composed music, usually sung a cappella.

Listen to the word painting in John Farmer’s Fair Phyllis:1. ‘Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone’ – sung by

a solo soprano before the another three voices complete the quartet.

2. ‘Up and down’ – the pitches give the illusion of moving ‘up and down.’

The music has an irregular metre moving between simple and compound time.

Ayre• An ayre (air or song) is a madrigal

which can be performed by a solo voice with lute accompaniment; by solo voice accompanied by other instruments; or with all parts sung by voices with or without accompaniment.

BallettA type of madrigal in strophic form which was originally danced to. It features a fa-la-la refrain at the end of each verse.

Instruments of the Renaissance Period

Consort of viols

Lute

Rebec

Woodwind Instruments

Rackett – double reed bass instrument

Crumhorn – double reed, range of just over an octave

Cornett – similar to a recorder but played with a trumpet-like mouthpiece.

Recorders

Virginal

Clavichord

The PavanA Renaissance court dance linked with the Galliard. The pavan is slow and stately with two beats in the bar.

GalliardA Renaissance court dance which follows the Pavan. A galliard is quick and lively with three beats in a bar.

Other Concepts...

Word Painting• The music is used to describe the words.• Listen to As Vesta was from Latmos Hill by

Thomas Weelkes. Listen to how word painting is achieved on the following phrases:

1. ‘Running down amain’ – descending scales

2. ‘Two by two’ – two voices3. ‘Three by three’ – three voices

MelismaA melodious flourish of notes sung to a single syllable.

Texture• Monophonic• Homophonic• Contrapuntal (polyphonic)• Antiphonal• Imitation• Canon• Continuous Texture

Listen to the following excerpt and tick two boxes to describe what you hear:

Monophonic Antiphonal

Homophonic Strophic

Gregorian Chant Credo

Madrigal

Listen to the following excerpt and tick two boxes to describe what you hear:

Ballett Antiphonal

Motet Strophic

Madrigal Proper Mass

Through composed

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Kyrie Anacrusis

Motet Melisma

Diminution Antiphonal

Augmentation

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Imitation Syllabic

Anthem Contrapuntal

Madrigal Agnus Dei

Verse Anthem

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Ayre Consort of viols

Contrapuntal Consort of recorders

ModalWord painting

Homophonic

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Ayre Madrigal

Madrigal Motet

Word Painting Change fromsimple to

compoundChange from time compound to simple time

Listen to the following excerpt and tick two boxes to describe what you hear:

Antiphonal Compound time

Pavan Galliard

Overture Viols

Ballett

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Trill Galliard

Ballett Pavan

Rebec Lute

Virginal

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Lute Word Painting

Motet Imitation

Ayre Homophonic

Madrigal

Listen to the following excerpt and tick two boxes to describe what you hear:

Trill Throughcomposed

Ballett Consort

Homophonic Strophic

Augmentation

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Galliard Motet

Crumhorn Contrapuntal

Homophonic Consort of recorders

Consort of viols

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three Boxes to describe what you hear:

A cappella Mass

Strophic Melisma

Rebec Madrigal

Diminution

Listen to the following excerpt and tick three boxes to describe what you hear:

Anthem Madgrial

Motet Imitation

Verse Anthem Sanctus Benedictus

Through Composed

Listen to the following excerpt and tick two boxes to describe what you hear:

Viols Madrigal

Homophonic Crumhorn

Contrapuntal Consort of recorders

Prose Question 1There are three types of madrigals, the madrigal proper, ballett and ayre. The ballett is ________ in form whereas the madrigal proper is ___________. The ballett also contains a _______ refrain. The madrigal proper has a ___________ texture. An ayre is usually __________, often by a ______.

Prose Question 2The Mass is sung in ________. The texture is __________ with many voices singing in ________ of each other. The music is unaccompanied (___________).

A motet is sung in _________. It features several voices singing in _________ of each other with a ___________ texture. An anthem is sung in _________ and a ________ features an accompaniment (often the organ).

Prose Question 3When composing a Mass or motet, the composer often splits the choir in two or has more than one choir. He can then create a dialogue between the different voices. This creates an ____________ effect.

Two important dances from the Renaissance period were the ________ and _________. The __________ is a slow dance with _______ beats in a bar. This is followed by a __________ which is _______ with ______ beats in a bar.

Medieval and Renaissance Music

Sacred Music

Secular Music

Characteristics

Instrumental Music