medieval music

Copyright 2010

Medieval Music

600-1450

Introduction

• Medium Aevum – Middle Ages

• Began after the fall of the Roman Empire

• A period of stagnation and great change

• Events and ideas from the Medieval period became the foundation of our modern institutions (Roman Catholic Church, universities and schools, guilds)

Political Situation

• Rulers– Tribes– Charlemagne

– Warring invaders and Royal Dynasties

• Feudalism– A system of political

organization that governed everyone’s role in society

– Nobility, Clergy and Peasants

– A series of contracts between the nobles (seigneurials)

• Peasants– Free (craftsmen)– Servile (agricultural)– Slaves

• Roman Catholic Church– Clergy were the 2nd rank in

feudalism– Two branches: Eastern and

Western– Roman Pope (Western) had

great influence– System of laws, courts and

properties– Influence spread by the

monastic system

• Crusades– 7 major crusades– Pilgrimages to the

Holy Land

- 1095 Pope Urban II

- Trade

• Black Death– 14th century– Form of bubonic plague– Originated in China– Average life expectancy

in the 20’s

• Inquisition– Adherence to the doctrines of the Roman

Catholic Church– Established in 1231

The Arts• Literature

– England• Beowulf• Chaucer – Canterbury Tales• Sir Thomas Malory – La Mort d’Arthur

– France• Troubadours• Trouvères

– Germany• Nibelungenlied

– Italy• Dante – Divine Comedy• Petrarch - Canzoniere

Chaucer Canterbury Tales

DanteDivine Comedy

• Theatre

– Liturgical Drama– Miracle and Mystery Plays– Morality Play

• Architecture– Romanesque (1000 to

1250)• Stone vaulted buildings• Domes• Castles: moat,

drawbridge, keep

Gothic (1140 to 1400)

• Ribbed Vault

• Flying buttresses

Visual Arts Stain Glass Frescoes Illuminated Manuscripts Metalwork Tapestries Painting Sculpture

Music in the Medieval Period

• Sacred Tradition– Plainchant

Monophonic vocal music of the church

Pope Gregory

About 3,000 extant

Sung as solo, unison or antiphonal

Non-metric, modal, in Latin

Based on modes: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian

Pope Gregory

– Mass• Ite, missa est

• Latin Texts: Proper and Ordinary

• Ordinary

– Kyrie

– Kyrie eleison Lord have mercy upon us– Christe eleison Christ have mercy upon us– Kyrie eleison Lord have mercy upon us

– Gloria

Gloria in excelsis deo,et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatisLaudamus te.Benedicimus te.Adoramus te.Glorificamus te.Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.Domine fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius patris.Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.Qui tollis peccata mundi suscipe deprecationem nostram.Qui sedes ad dexteram patris miserere nobis.Quoniam tu solus sanctus.Tu solus Dominus.Tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe.Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to people of good will.We praise you.We bless you.We adore you.We glorify you.We give thanks to you for your great glory.Lord God, Heavenly King, God Almighty Father.Lord Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ.Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.You who take away the sins of the world have mercy on us.You who take away the sins of the world hear our prayer.You who sit at the Father's right hand, have mercy on us.For you alone are holy.You alone, Lord.You alone the Most High, Jesus Christ.With the Holy Spirit in the glory of

God the Father. Amen.

– Credo

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum, not factum, consubstantialem Patri: per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine: ET HOMO FACTUS EST. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis; sub Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in coelum: sedet ad desteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est com gloria judicare vivos et mortuos. cujus regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Et vitam ventura saeculi. Amen.

I believe in one God, The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father. By whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. (here all present kneel) And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary: AND WAS MADE MAN. (here all arise) He was also crucified for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, and who spoke through the prophets. And one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come. Amen.

– Sanctus

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,

Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.Hosanna in excelsis.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest

- Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi,

misere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, misere nobis.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,

dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

– Polyphony

• Evolved from 10th to 11th century

• Organum

• Cantus firmus

– Notation• Oral tradition• As amounts of chants grew, notation needed• Neumes

• Two lines: one red for F, one yellow for C• 11th century – Guido of Arezzo

Ut queant laxisResonare filerisMira gestorumFamuli tuorumSolve polutteLabi reaturm

• 12th century – four lines

• 13th century – mensural

• 16th century

– Composers• Anonymous• Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)

– O frondens virga

• Notre Dame School

Leonin (c. 1135-1201)– Introduced definite rhythm patterns to

chants

Perotin (c. 1160-1240)– Student of Leonin

– First to compose music based on chants with more than two voices

• Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377)– Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi,

misere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, misere nobis.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,

dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

• Secular Tradition– Court Music

• Struggle with the church for power in influence• Musicians hired to entertain• Instrumental music most prominent

– Estampie – Instrumental

• Musician/poets: Troubadours, Trouvères• Minstrels and Jongleurs

Medieval Instruments

• String, Woodwind, Brass, Percussion, Keyboard• Soft (bas) or loud (haut) – Inside or outside• Families:

String: Plucked: Lute, harp, psaltery

Bowed: Viele, rebec

Woodwind:

Bagpipe, shawm, crumhorn

Brass:

Slide trumpet, sackbut

Percussion:Drums (tabors, nakers), cymbals, bells

Keyboard:Portative organ, organ, hurdy-gurdy

String

Lute

Hurdy-gurdy

Psaltery

Viele

Woodwind

BagpipeRecorders

Pipe

Krummhorn Gemshorn

Brass and Percussion

Sackbut Bell Tree

Drum

Keyboard

Organ 11th century FrancePortative Organ

Hurdy-gurdy

– Composers of Secular Music• Ars Antiqua

– Troubadour: Guillaume de Poitiers, Duke of Aquitaine– Trouvères: Richard the Lion Heart

• Ars Nova– Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361)