music appreciation topic ii: music of the middle ages and the renaissance

• The Middle Ages (a.k.a. the “Dark Ages”) began around 450 with the disintegration and fall of the Roman Empire.

• For the next thousand

years, all segments of

society were

dominated by the

powerful influence of

the Roman Catholic

church.

• In this age of

widespread faith, the

concept of hell was

very real.

• The church was also the center of musical life.

• Liturgical music was an important occupation in monasteries and convents.

• In large medieval churches, sung words were heard more easily than spoken words.

• Most medieval

music was vocal,

though musicians

also performed on a

wide variety of

instruments.

• The church frowned

on instruments

because of their

earlier role in pagan

rites.

• However, after 1100, organs and bells became increasingly common in cathedrals and monastic churches.

• Organs were

played mainly

on feast days

and other

special

occasions.

• Sometimes,

the clergy

complained

about noisy

organs that

distracted

worshipers.

For over

1,000

years, the

official

music of

the Roman

Catholic

church has

been the

Gregorian

chant.

• Gregorian chant

consists of melody

set to sacred Latin

texts that is sung

without instrumental

accompaniment.

• Its purpose is to

enhance specific

parts of the religious

service and to set

the atmosphere for

prayers and ritual

actions.

Medieval

monks and

nuns spent

several

hours of

each day

singing

Gregorian

chants

during

church

services,

which were

comprised

of both sung

and spoken

texts in

Latin.

• Gregorian chant is named after Pope Gregory I (“the Great”), who reorganized the Catholic liturgy during his reign from 590-604.

• Gregory, depicted in these two paintings, is also the patron saint

of musicians.

• Most of the several thousand Gregorian chants known today were created between 600 and 1300 A.D.

• Gregorian chant conveys a calm, otherworldly quality; it represents the voice of the church, rather than that of any single individual.

• At first, Gregorian

melodies were passed

along by oral tradition,

but as the number of

chants grew to the

thousands, they were

notated to ensure

musical uniformity

throughout the western

church.

• The composers

of Gregorian

chant remain

almost

completely

unknown.

• Males

received

music

education

in schools,

which were

associated

with

churches

and

cathedrals.

• Women were

excluded from

religious music-

making

everywhere but

in convents,

where they

were trained to

sing and even

wrote music.

One of the

earliest

known

composers is

Hildegard of

Bingen

(1098-1179),

who is

regarded as

one of the

most

creative and

many-sided

personalities

of the Middle

Ages.

• Hildegard was born the tenth child into a noble German family.

• At the age of eight, she was sent as a novice to the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg.

• In 1136,

Hildegard

became an

abbess.

• Around the

age of 50, she

founded a

nunnery near

Bingen in the

Rhine Valley.

• She died at

the advanced

age of 81.

• A visionary and a

mystic, Hildegard

gained a reputation as

a prophetess during

her lifetime.

• Popes, emperors,

monarchs,

archbishops and

clergymen of all kinds

flocked to Bingen to

consult this “Sibyl of

the Rhine.”

• She also preached

throughout Germany.

• Between 1141 and 1170, Hildegard recorded her mystical experiences.

• Scivias (Know the Ways), written between 1141-51 is a book about her visions.

• After her death, Hildegard’s name was put forward by several popes as a candidate for canonization.

• Though

never

formally

canonized,

she is often

referred to

as a saint.

• She has a

feast day

which is

particularly

celebrated

in Germany.

Hildegard of Bingen

wrote:

• Lyric and dramatic

poetry.

• Music.

• Treatises on theology,

science, and

medicine.

• A musical drama,

Ordo virtutum (Play of

the Virtues), which is

the earliest known

morality play.

• Hildegard is now the

best-known and

most recorded

composer of sacred

medieval music.

Favus

Distillans

(“Dripping

Honeycomb”)

Responsory to

Saint Ursula

• A responsory is a

sacred musical work

sung with a cantor

or small group

singing verses while

the whole choir or

congregation

respond with a

refrain.

• Hildegard

composed many

chants in honor of

Saint Ursula

(depicted at right).

Ursula was a Romano-British princess from south-west England, who set sail to join her future husband, the governor of Brittany (in modern northwest France), along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens.

A miraculous storm brought them over the sea in a single day, whereupon where Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a pilgrimage across Europe.

Ursula headed for Rome with her followers, and persuaded the Pope and the Bishop of Ravenna to join them.

After setting out for Cologne (in Germany), which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a dreadful massacre, and the leader of the Huns shot Ursula dead with an arrow.

There were

many different

types of

instruments

used in

secular music

of the Middle

Ages.

Hurdy-gurdy (a.k.a.

“wheel fiddle”)

• Produces sound by a crank-turned wheel rubbing against the strings.

• The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin.

• Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents(small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of the strings to change their pitch.

The vielle,

the

predecessor

of the

modern

violin, was

the principle

medieval

bowed

instrument.

Harp, Vielle, Psaltery

Medieval

manuscript

illustration

of a rabbit

playing a

harp

A remote ancestor of the

harpsichord and the

piano, the psaltery’s

strings were attached to

a frame over a wooden

sounding board and

plucked by the player.

Medieval trumpets were straight

and had no valves.

A medieval

shawm (far

left)

resembled a

trumpet but

was made of

wood and

had a single

reed.

Also pictured

is a bagpipe.

The hammered

dulcimer, an

instrument with

strings stretched

over a sounding

board that are

struck by mallets.

It was used

extensively

throughout the

Middle Ages in

England, France,

Italy, Germany,

Holland and Spain.

Nakers were the ancestor of modern

kettle drums. The gittern (center) was

a medieval guitar.

Lady playing a

medieval viol,

predecessor of

the modern

viola.

Minstrel playing a tabor, which was a portable snare drum

played with one hand

Dances in the Middle Ages were often accompanied by

instrumental music .

Nobles dancing to tabor and bagpipes

Shepherds Dancing at a Feast,

(14th century), with a musician on

the bagpipes (far left)

Musicians in the

Middle Ages

• Few records

survive to

document the

professional

musicians of the

Middle Ages.

were traveling entertainers who told

stories and performed tricks in addition to making

music in castles, taverns, and town squares.

• The modern word

“juggler” is derived

from the French

“jongleur.”

• These wandering

minstrels usually

sang songs and

played instrumental

dances on harps,

fiddles and lutes.

• They were also an

important source of

information in a time

when there were no

newspapers.

Only a lucky few

performers found

steady work in the

service of the

nobility.

Left: Court jester

playing vielle.

and

• French aristocrats cultivated courtly song by poet-composers.

• Called troubadours and trouvères, these courtly composers wrote the first large body of secular songs in decipherable notation during the 12th-13th centuries.

• The term “troubadours” was used in the south of France and “trouvères” in the north.

• Some were members of the nobility, while others were born to servants at court.

• Others were accepted into aristocratic circles because of their accomplishments.

• The central theme of their songs was “

” (“courtly love” or “refined love”).

• This was an idealized form of love that

refined the lover (not sexual).

• Love from a distance, with respect and

humility.

• The object was a real woman, often

another man’s wife.

• The woman was unattainable, making

unrewarded yearning (unrequited love) a

major theme.

Guillaume

de Mauchat

(c.1300-77)

• One of the most important composers of the

14th century.

• French-born musician and poet who studied

theology.

• Around 1323, he became secretary and

chaplain to John, king of Bohemia.

• Traveled to many courts and presented

copies of his music and poetry to noble

patrons.

• His output is equally divided between sacred

and secular music.

Puis qu’en oubli sui de vous

(“Since I am forgotten by you”)

by Mauchat

• Secular love song written about Peronne, a

beautiful young noblewoman whom Mauchat

loved.

• The relationship ended in disappointment.

• Expresses Mauchat’s “farewell to joy,” since

he has been forgotten by his beloved.

• Is an example of a , one of the main

poetic and musical forms in 14th-15th century

France.

Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous

amis,

Vie amoureuse et joie à Dieu

commant.

Mar vi le jour que m'amour en vous

mis,

Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous

amis.

Mais ce tenray que je vous ay promis,

C'est que jamais n'aray nul autre

amant.

Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous, dous

amis,

Vie amoureuse et joie à Dieu

commant.

Since I am forgotten by you, sweet

friend,

I bid farewell to a life of love and joy.

Ill-fated was the day I placed my love

in you;

Since I am forgotten by you, sweet

friend.

But what I have promised you I will

sustain:

That I shall never have any other

love.

Since I am forgotten by you, sweet

friend,

I bid farewell to a life of love and joy.

Francesco

Landini

(c.1325-97)

• Most celebrated

Italian composer

of the 14th

century

• Blind from

boyhood

• Was a famous organist, poet, scholar, and the inventor of a new string instrument.

• Played many instruments, but was a virtuoso on the small organ (organetto/ portative organ).

• Worked for a monastery and a church, but composed mostly secular music.

• Music consists exclusively of Italian songs for two or three voices dealing with subjects from nature and love to morality and politics.

• His song “Ecco la primavera” is a , an Italian poetic and musical form that originated as a song to accompany dancing.

“Ecco la Primavera” (“Spring has Come”)

by Landini

Ecco la primaverache 'l cor fa rallegrare;temp'F da 'nnamoraree star con lieta cera.

No' vegiam l'aria e 'l tempoche pur chiama allegreza;

in questo vago tempoogni cosa ha vagheza.

L'erbe con gran freschezae fiori copron pratie gli alberi adornati

sono in simil manera.

Spring is here To cheer the heart. Time to fall in love

And put on a merry face.

The newly fresh air Calls us to cheer and

merrymaking In this changing time.

Everything is quite lovely.

The greenery is new and fresh, And flowers cover the meadow And the trees are adorned with

blossoms In the same way.

• The renaissance

in music occurred

between 1450

and 1600.

• The invention of

the printing press

and movable type

widened the

circulation of

music, and the

number of

composers and

performers

increased.

• Every

educated

person was

expected to

be trained in

music.

• Although the

church remained

an important

patron of music,

musical activity

gradually shifted

from the church to

the courts.

• Musicians enjoyed

a higher status

than ever before.

Josquin

Des Prez

(c.1450-1521)

• Most influential composer of his time.

• Contemporary of Leondado da Vinci and

Christopher Columbus.

• Probably born in northern France.

• Was a singer in the private chapels of the

Dukes of Anjou (France) and Milan (Italy).

• Later became a singer in the Sistine Chapel

in Rome.

• In his later years, Josquin held several

church posts in France under King Louis XII.

• Was one of the first musical composers to

relate his music closely to the text.

“Scaramella” by Josquin

Scaramella va alla guerra

colla lancia et la rotella

La zombero boro borombetta,

La boro borombo.

Scaramella fa la gala

colla scharpa et la stivala

La zombero boro borombetta,

La zombero boro borombo.

Scaramella is going off to war

With lance and buckler

La zombero boro borombetta,La boro borombo

Scaramella is out on a spree

With boot and shoe

La zombero boro borombetta,La boro borombo.

• In England, the age

of Queen Elizabeth I

(1533-1603) and

William

Shakespeare (1564-

1616) was as much

a golden age in

music as it was in

literature.

• The impetus for

Renaissance music

and drama arose in

Italy, but the

English treatment

exhibited a lighter

touch than its

Italian models.

Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505-1585)

• During his long and

productive lifetime,

the English

composer Thomas

Tallis served four

Tudor Renaissance

monarchs.

Henry VIII

Edward VI

Mary Tudor

Elizabeth I

(1533-1693)

Though born a Catholic, Tallis

managed to survive an

extremely dangerous age of

religious upheaval and

persecution, mainly by adapting

his musical style to suit the

circumstances, and by keeping a

low personal profile.

• Tallis is chiefly remembered for his church

music; he composed masses and hymns in

Latin as well as English service music,

depending on the religious climate at the

time (Catholic or Protestant) and the vastly

different demands of the various monarchs

he served under.

• “When Shall My Sorrowful Sighing Slack” is

one of the most obscure compositions from

Tallis’s output: it appears to be secular song.

• It may have been written for choirboys to

perform for members of the nobility outside

their church duties.

“When Shall My Sorrowful Sighing Slack?”

by Tallis

When shall my sorrowful sighing slack?When shall my woeful wailing cease?

When shall my tears and mourning make mercy and pity me to release?

When shall the pensive heart find peace?When shall the mind find quiet rest, that hath

been long with thought opprest?

How long shall I in woe lament?How long shall I in care complain?

How long shall danger me torment, augmenting still my deadly pain,

till hope and dread between them twain, agree that hope have her request?

Till then live I with thought opprest.

English Folk Music: “Greensleeves”

• Famous and familiar English folk tune.

• First entered in English records in 1580.

• There is a persistent belief that it was

composed by Henry VIII for his lover and

future queen Anne Boleyn, though this is not

true.

• Mentioned by Shakespeare in his play The

Merry Wives of Windsor.

• “What Child is This?” is a popular Christmas

carol written by William Chatterton Dix in

1865 to the same tune.

William Byrd

(c. 1540-1623)

A student of Tallis,

William Byrd wrote

both church and

secular music.

• Byrd was the most important English

composer of the Renaissance.

• Although, like Tallis, he was Catholic, Byrd

served the Church of England as an

organist and composer.

• His secular music included madrigals,

consort pieces for viols, and keyboard

music, especially the popular dance music

loved by Queen Elizabeth and her court.

• “Sing Joyfully unto God” is an anthem for

six voices.

Giovanni

Gabrieli

(c.1555-1612)

• A native of

Venice, Gabrieli

was the most

important

Venetian

composer of the

Renaissance.

• Became the principal organist and

composer at St. Mark’s Basilica in Rome.

• Wrote secular vocal music early in life,

but later switched to sacred instrumental

music that exploited sonorous sound to

maximum effect.

• Used the unusual layout of Saint Mark’s

Basilica, with its two choir lofts facing

each other, to create striking spatial

effects with his music.

• His “Canzon Prima” is scored for four-five

brass instruments.

• Famous composer

and lutenist.

• In 1592, he played

before Queen

Elizabeth.

• Traveled

throughout

Europe and

became court

lutenist to King

Christian IV of

Denmark.

John Dowland

(c.1563-1626)

• In 1612, he achieved an appointment at court in England.

• Wrote many religious songs in his later years.

• Melancholy and sensitive to criticism

• Some of his finest songs have a quality of sadness.

• Today, Dowland is ranked among the greatest English composers.

Michael

Praetorius

(c.1571-1621)

• German composer and music theorist.

• Wrote a nine-volume collection of church music called MusaeSionae (1605-1610).

• Also published a collection of over 300 instrumental dances based on tunes by Parisian dancing masters titled Terpsichore (1612).

• As a theorist, Praetoriusprovided a detailed account of the forms, instruments (with descriptions and illustrations), and performance practices of his day, which is still of great historical significance.

• “Ballet des Coqs” (“Dance of the Roosters”) was collected in Praetorius’s Terpsichore.

• It is a dance tune keyed for five instruments.

The madrigal “As Vesta

Was Descending” by

Thomas Weelkes (mid-

1570s to 1623) is the

most famous madrigal

in the collection.

An English church

musician and prolific

composer, Weelkes

served variously as a

singer and instructor.

: Classical goddess of hearth and home,

(who was honored by the vestal virgins).

: Queen Elizabeth (a.k.a. the

“virgin queen”), arrives, attended by the

(young shepherd boys).

: young virginal women (who

are represented by Diana, the virgin goddess

of chastity). They abandon Vesta’s side and

run to join the shepherds.

: a nickname for Queen Elizabeth I

(meaning the rising or golden sun).