Music Appreciation Topic II: Music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

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

3. •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.

4. •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.

5. •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.

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

7. •Organs were
played mainly
on feast days
and other
special
occasions.
•Sometimes,
the clergy
complained
about noisy
organs that
distracted
worshipers.

9. For over
1,000
years, the
official
music of
the Roman
Catholic
church has
been the
Gregorian
chant.

10. •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.

11. 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.

12. •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.

13. •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.

14. •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.

15. •The composers
of Gregorian
chant remain
almost
completely
unknown.

17. •Males
received
music
education
in schools,
which were
associated
with
churches
and
cathedrals.

18. •Women were
excluded from
religious music-
making
everywhere but
in convents,
where they
were trained to
sing and even
wrote music.

20. 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.

21. •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.

22. •In 1136,
Hildegard
became an
abbess.
•Around the
age of 50, she
founded a
nunnery near
Bingenin the
Rhine Valley.
•She died at
the advanced
age of 81.

23. •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 Bingento
consult this “Sibyl of
the Rhine.”
•She also preached
throughout Germany.

24. •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.

25. •Though
never
formally
canonized,
she is often
referred to
as a saint.
•She has a
feast day
which is
particularly
celebrated
in Germany.

26. Hildegard of Bingen
wrote:
•Lyric and dramatic
poetry.
•Music.
•Treatises on theology,
science, and
medicine.
•A musical drama,
Ordovirtutum(Play of
the Virtues), which is
the earliest known
morality play.

28. •Hildegard is now the
best-known and
most recorded
composer of sacred
medieval music.

29. Favus
Distillans
(“Dripping
Honeycomb”)
Responsoryto
Saint Ursula

30. •A responsoryis 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).

31. 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.

32. 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.

36. There were
many different
types of
instruments
used in
secular music
of the Middle
Ages.

38. Hurdy-gurdy (a.k.a.
“wheel fiddle”)

39. •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.

40. The vielle,
the
predecessor
of the
modern
violin, was
the principle
medieval
bowed
instrument.

41. Harp, Vielle, Psaltery

42. Medieval
manuscript
illustration
of a rabbit
playing a
harp

43. 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.

45. Medieval trumpets were straight
and had no valves.

46. A medieval
shawm(far
left)
resembled a
trumpet but
was made of
wood and
had a single
reed.
Also pictured
is a bagpipe.

47. 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.

48. Nakerswere the ancestor of modern
kettle drums. The gittern(center) was
a medieval guitar.

51. Lady playing a
medieval viol,
predecessor of
the modern
viola.

52. Minstrel playing a tabor, which was a portable snare drum
played with one hand

58. Dances in the Middle Ages were often accompanied by
instrumental music .

59. Nobles dancing to tabor and bagpipes

60. Shepherds Dancing at a Feast,
(14
th
century), with a musician on
the bagpipes (far left)

61. Musicians in the
Middle Ages
•Few records
survive to
document the
professional
musicians of the
Middle Ages.

62. were traveling entertainers who told
stories and performed tricks in addition to making
music in castles, taverns, and town squares.

63. •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.

64. Only a lucky few
performers found
steady work in the
service of the
nobility.
Left: Court jester
playing vielle.

65. 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 12
th
-13
th
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.

66. •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.

67. Guillaume
de Mauchat
(c.1300-77)

68. •One of the most important composers of the
14
th
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.

69. Puisqu’enoublisui 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 14
th
-15
th
century
France.

70. 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 tenrayque je vous ay promis,
C'est que jamais n'araynul 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.

71. Francesco
Landini
(c.1325-97)
•Most celebrated
Italian composer
of the 14
th
century
•Blind from
boyhood

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

73. “Eccola Primavera” (“Spring has Come”)
by Landini
Ecco la primavera
che 'l cor fa rallegrare;
temp'F da 'nnamorare
e star con lieta cera.
No' vegiam l'aria e 'l tempo
che pur chiama allegreza;
in questo vago tempo
ogni cosa ha vagheza.
L'erbe con gran frescheza
e fiori copron prati
e 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.

75. •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.

76. •Every
educated
person was
expected to
be trained in
music.

77. •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.

78. Josquin
Des Prez
(c.1450-1521)

79. •Most influential composer of his time.
•Contemporary of LeondadodaVinci 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, Josquinheld several
church posts in France under King Louis XII.
•Was one of the first musical composers to
relate his music closely to the text.

80. “Scaramella” by Josquin
Scaramella va alla guerra
colla lancia et la rotella
La zombero boro borombetta,
La boro borombo.
Scaramella fa la gala
colla scharpaet la stivala
La zombero boro borombetta,
La zombero boro borombo.
Scaramellais going off to war
With lance and buckler
La zomberoboroborombetta,

La boroborombo
Scaramellais out on a spree
With boot and shoe
La zomberoboroborombetta,

La boroborombo.

81. •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.

82. Thomas Tallis(ca. 1505-1585)

83. •During his long and
productive lifetime,
the English
composer Thomas
Tallisserved four
Tudor Renaissance
monarchs.

84. Henry VIII

85. Edward VI

86. Mary Tudor

87. 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.

88. •Tallisis 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’soutput: it appears to be secular song.
•It may have been written for choirboys to
perform for members of the nobility outside
their church duties.

89. “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.

90. 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.

92. William Byrd
(c. 1540-1623)

93. A student of Tallis,
William Byrd wrote
both church and
secular music.

94. •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.

96. Giovanni
Gabrieli
(c.1555-1612)
•A native of
Venice, Gabrieli
was the most
important
Venetian
composer of the
Renaissance.

97. •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 “CanzonPrima” is scored for four-five
brass instruments.

98. •Famous composer
and lutenist.
•In 1592, he played
before Queen
Elizabeth.
•Traveled
throughout
Europe and
became court
lutenistto King
Christian IV of
Denmark.
John Dowland
(c.1563-1626)

99. •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, Dowlandis
ranked among the
greatest English
composers.

101. Michael
Praetorius
(c.1571-1621)

102. •German composer and music
theorist.
•Wrote a nine-volume collection
of church music called Musae
Sionae(1605-1610).
•Also published a collection of
over 300 instrumental dances
based on tunes by Parisian
dancing masters titled
Terpsichore(1612).
•As a theorist, Praetorius
provided 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’sTerpsichore.
•It is a dance tune keyed for five
instruments.

105. 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.

106. : 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’sside and
run to join the shepherds.
: a nickname for Queen Elizabeth I
(meaning the rising or golden sun).