Medieval and Renaissance Music: Composers, Forms, and Instruments
Medieval Music
Vocal Works
Santa Maria strella do day, Alfonso X “El Sabio”: Galician-Portuguese cantiga, monophonic, religious (though part of secular monody, dedicated to the Virgin).
Sederunt principes, Pérotin: Organum (Ars Antiqua), Latin, religious, polyphonic (simultaneous interpretation).
Puer Natus Est, Anonymous: Gregorian chant, Latin, monophonic, religious, Introit.
Viderunt Omnes, Anonymous: Gradual, Latin, monophonic, religious.
Musical Concepts
Monody: Simple music, single melodic line, no harmonies, prevalent in the Middle Ages.
Gregorian Chant: A fusion of Greco-Roman and Jewish music. Organized and codified by Pope St. Gregory the Great. Monophonic, unaccompanied, Latin, religious text, utilizes eight modes.
Troubadour: Mystical poets singing about human feelings, especially love. Used a French dialect, often of noble origin, sometimes composing for minstrels.
Minstrel: Professional musicians appearing from the 10th century. Initially sang epics and secular songs, formed brotherhoods in the 11th century, and settled in courts from the 12th to 14th centuries.
Cantiga: Musical works combining various European musical styles (French, Castilian, Galician, Portuguese, Jewish, Arabic). Often accompanied by instruments like violas and harps. Sung by troubadours; Alfonso X the Wise promoted them in Spain.
Organum: Adding a second voice (vox organalis) at a fourth or fifth interval to a Gregorian cantus firmus melody. Used from the 9th to 12th centuries.
Mass: Two parts: ordinary and proper. Gregorian chant emphasizes the proper; the ordinary is less developed.
Ars Antigua: 12th and 13th centuries, including the School of Paris and Santiago. Notable musicians: Perotin and Leonin.
Renaissance Music
Vocal Works
Ave Maria, Josquin Des Prez: Motet, Latin, polyphonic (4 voices, with homophonic sections and canon), religious.
O vos omnes, Tomás Luis de Victoria: Motet, Latin, polyphonic (4 voices), religious, Spanish composer influenced by Palestrina, based on “Lamentations of Jeremiah”.
Hoy comamos y bebamos, Juan de la Encina: Carol, Castilian, homophonic, profane, from the Cancionero de Palacio (Palace Songbook). For 4 voices, related to carnival and Lent.
Eco mormorar l’onde, Claudio Monteverdi: Madrigal, Italian, polyphonic (5 voices, a cappella), profane, nature-themed.
Musical Concepts
Polyphony: Music with multiple simultaneous voices.
Ars Nova: 14th century to Renaissance, expressing a new musical art. Key composer: Guillaume de Machaut.
Homophony: Melody with accompaniment.
Counterpoint: Principles and rules governing the interaction of voices in a composition.
Motet: Contrapuntal form for 2 or 3 voices, each singing different texts at different rates. Can mix secular and religious lyrics.
Madrigal: Polyphonic form aiming to express human feelings through the union of words and music. Usually for 4 or 5 a cappella voices, sometimes with accompaniment.
Carol: Popular, profane music with a chorus-verse-chorus structure. Juan de la Encina is a prominent composer.
Instruments
Keyboard Instruments
Organ: Aerophone. Types: Italian (one manual), French (four manuals), German (2-4 manuals), Spanish (one manual and incomplete pedalboard).
Harpsichord: Wire-stringed keyboard instrument. Strings are plucked with copper tabs.
String Instruments
Vihuela: Renaissance stringed instrument, ancestor of the guitar.
Lute: Stringed instrument used in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, evolving into the archlute and theorbo. Replaced by the guitar in the 17th century.
Viola da Gamba: Chordophone with 6 or 7 strings, used for basso continuo. Declined in the 18th century, replaced by the cello.
Composers
Josquin Des Prez (c. 1440-1521): Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer, known for conveying textual ideas through music. Composed motets and masses.
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611): Spanish composer, studied in Rome, returned to Madrid. Chaplain to the Barefoot Royals. Known for “Book of Masses” and “Requiem Mass”.