1. polyphonic vocal genre, secular in the Middle Ages but sacred or devotional thereafter
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Notre Dame School (middle ages)
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-Composers there wrote some of the earliest examples
of polyphony, called organum.
-The first book containing compositions by composers
of this school is called the Magnus liber organi.
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Which voice in the organum carries the original chant in sustained notes?
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The bottom voice
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Minstrels
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wandering actor-singers; versatile entertainers
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Troubadours and trouvères
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-French poet-musicians
-court musicians
-members of aristocracy and royalty
-poems: chivalry, unrequited love, political and war
songs, Crusades
-Minnesingers: German counterpart
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round:
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early polyphony
-each voice enters in succession with same melody
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Anonymous, Sumer is icumen in (Summer is come) (c. 1250)
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-six-voice, a cappella round
-two voices repeat bass pattern
-upper voices: two-voice, then four-voice round
-long-short-long-short rhythmic pattern"
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Explain the new musical style, early 14th-century France, then Italy
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-significant developments in rhythm, meter, harmony,
counterpoint, and notation
-more refined and complex than Ars antiqua (old art)
-secular themes
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Guillaume de Machaut
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-ca. 1300-1377
-Generally considered to be the greatest composer of
the ars nova
-Prolific, composed in sacred and secular styles
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Machaut, Puis qu'en oubli (Since I am forgotten) (mid-14th century)
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1. three-voice, a cappella polyphonic chanson
2. low range: male voices
3. slow, syncopated rhythm
4. text: rondeau by Machaut
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Instruments supported vocal music (middle ages)
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1. accompanied singers
2. instrumental arrangements of vocal works
3. prominent in dance music: rhythm
The text of Machaut's chanson Puis qu'en oubli tells of:
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courtly love.
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Listening: Hildegard of Bingen: Alleluia
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-A capella choir and soloist
-Mass Proper: plainchant celebrating the Virgin Mary
-expressive leaps of a fifth: "holy womb" "flower"
"chastity"
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Explain renaissance style
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-Golden age of a cappella style
-imitative polyphony
-harmony: fuller chords, 3rds and 6ths
-carefully controlled dissonance
-duple meter
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Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1521)
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-northern French, early renaissance composer
-Italian court positions; papal choir in Rome
-humanism: expressive harmony, serene melodies
-sacred and secular compositions
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Josquin, Ave Maria . . . virgo serena (Hail Mary . . . gentle virgin) (1480s)
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-sacred Latin motet
-four-voice, a cappella choir
-rhymed strophic prayer to the Virgin Mary
-varied combinations of voices and textures
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What was the "ordinary" part of mass comprised of?
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-Kyrie
-Gloria
-Credo
-Sanctus
-Agnus Dei
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cantus firmus
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-"Fixed Song"
-Entire mass based on one melody
-Basis of polyphonic compositions of the MIDDLE AGES
and RENAISSANCE.
-The tune was taken from a Gregorian Chant
=it would move very slowly under the more rapid
vocal/instrumental lines above it.
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Martin Luther (1483-1546):
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-Augustinian monk
-excommunicated by Catholic church
=Ninety-Five Theses, 1517
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Protestant Reformation
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-Protestant revolt
-mass in vernacular
-hymns sung communally
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What was the counter-reformation?
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-recapture loyalty of people: accessible music
-Council of Trent (1545-1563) concerns
=embellishments to Gregorian chant
=objected to certain instruments in church
=use of popular songs in Masses
=secular spirit in sacred music
=irreverent attitude of church musicians
=complex polyphony obscured the text
-Council favored pure vocal style
=simplicity, clarity
=respected integrity of sacred texts
=encourage piety
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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594)
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-Italian composer, organist, choirmaster
-worked at St. Peter's in Rome and Sistine Chapel Choir
-mostly sacred compositions; over 100 Masses
-pure, a cappella, vocal polyphony
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Listening Guide 7: Palestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass, Gloria (1567)
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-six-part, a cappella male choir
-monophonic opening
-homorhythmic and polyphonic textures follow
-clear declamation of the text
-full, consonant harmony
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Vernacular
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common, everyday language
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What was secular renaissance music like in court and city life?
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-Professional musicians: court and civic festivities
-Merchant class: music-making in the home
-Women in music
=music education: well-bred women
=women achieved fame as professional singers
-Important genres: chanson and madrigals
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The Chanson
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-Favored genre at Burgundian courts throughout 16th
century
=three or four voices
=courtly love
=freer poetic structures
=Josquin: preeminent composer
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The Italian Madrigal
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-Secular vocal composition for three to eight voices
flourished at Italian courts
-short poems: lyric or reflective character
-music enhanced poetry
-word painting: music depicts emotional words
=weeping, sighing, trembling, etc.
-instruments double or substitute voices
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Jacques Arcadelt (c. 1507-1568)
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-Franco-Flemish composer; early madrigalist
-worked in Italy and France
-secular compositions: chansons, madrigals
-sacred compositions: Masses, motets
-simpler, lyrical style
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Listening Guide 8: Arcadelt, Il bianco e dolce cigno (The white and sweet swan) (1538)