MUSIC HISTORY: MEDEIVAL

Music History Periods: Part I Medieval Renaissance Baroque Classical Romantic Modern

Medieval

Describe the medieval time period What purpose would music serve during

this time Medieval Time Period: 476-1400ish Medieval Music: 1150-1400

Religious Medieval Music Western classical music history Starts with plainchant (also called "Gregorian" chant)

Music used a single vocal line approved by the church Plainchant taught by wrote until the early 9th century Limited in pitch range and monophonic (i.e., composed of a

single melody with no accompaniment), Sung largely by monks, nuns, and clerics rather than by

professional singers. Sung in the Divine Offices, eight daily prayer services using

Old Testament texts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISs6BaJP4JE

Secular Medieval Music The earliest major repertory of Western secular (non-

religious) music Troubadors and trouveres - French poet-musicians

who set their own poems to music Content focused on love often the fictionalized Notated as simple rows of pitches without rhythm Accompanied by instruments, but instrumentation

never notated Images of troubadors in medieval manuscripts have

offered hints as to what instruments were played https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk1W22yHLJQ

Organum 10th and 11th centuries shift to Polyphony

(i.e., with more than one melody at the same time).

OrganumGreatly slowed down an existing plainchantAdded a new, more rapidly flowing musical line at

a higher pitch (2 voice parts)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj_jXG7TqVs

Motets 13th century, rhythmic passages of organum to

which words had been added began to be treated as standalone musical works called motets (literally, "worded").

Three-part & Four-part motets appeared, with a different text sung in each voice Sometimes the texts were in different languages

Both music and text ideas are now very complex Started with scared texts and moves to secular

texts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZxAqWV7a0A