Medieval and Renaissance Music History
Medieval Music
Instruments and Origins
- Aulos: Associated with warship, wine, and Dionysus.
- Lyre: Associated with Apollo.
- Kithara: Associated with Helios.
Gregorian Chant
- Texture: Monophonic
- Syllabic: One syllable per note.
- Neumatic: Two to four notes per syllable.
- Melismatic: Five or more notes per syllable.
- Characteristics:
- Religious text written in Latin.
- Monophonic texture.
- No regular metric accent.
- Vocal music without instruments.
- Anonymous composers.
Secular Music (11th-13th Century)
- Troubadours: Composer-poets from the South of France (12th century), speaking in Occitan language.
- Trouvères: From the North of France.
- Meistersingers: From Germany.
- One of the most important troubadours: Bernart of Ventadorn.
Troubadour and Trouvère Song Characteristics
- Vernacular languages.
- Monophonic texture with instrumental accompaniment.
- Marked rhythm.
- Courtly love: Epic love poems.
Spanish Medieval Music
- Cantiga: Composition about miracles of the Virgin Mary.
- Typical instruments:
- String: Lute, Harp, Viela.
- Wind: Recorder, Chirimía, Bagpipe, Trumpet.
- Percussion: Drums.
The Birth of Polyphony
- Polyphony appeared in Western music in the late 9th century.
- Stages of Polyphony:
- Primitive polyphony (9th-12th centuries)
- Ars Antiqua (12th-13th centuries)
- Ars Nova (14th century)
Primitive Polyphony (9th-12th Centuries)
- Organum: A technique consisting of adding a parallel voice below the Gregorian chant.
- Gregorian chant (melody): Vox principalis.
- Parallel voice (accompaniment): Vox organalis.
Ars Antiqua (12th-13th Centuries)
- Evolution of musical notation: Duration of sounds was defined.
- Most important musical center: Notre Dame School.
- Composers: Leonin and Perotin.
- Motet: A musical form with several voices moving in different rhythms, singing different texts.
Ars Nova (14th Century)
- Polyphony also appeared in secular music.
- Secular music became very important.
- Polyphonic forms of songs: Canon, Ballad, and Chanson.
- Important composers: Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, and Francesco Landini.
Renaissance Music (15th and 16th Centuries)
- Artistic manifestation of the 15th and 16th centuries.
- Recovered ideals of beauty and proportion from ancient Greek and Roman classic arts.
Religious Vocal Music
Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther)
Characteristics:
- Simple composition based on popular melodies.
- Written for four voices in German.
- Homophonic texture.
Catholic Counter-Reformation
- Gregorian chant was the official singing of the Church.
- Role of music: To help the devoted heighten their souls towards God.
- Main musical forms:
- Motet (4 voices, a cappella)
- Mass (all the pieces of the liturgy): Kyrie Eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei.
- Most famous composers: Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria.
Secular Vocal Music
Musical forms varied depending on the country:
- Italy: Madrigal
- France: Chanson
- Characteristics of Madrigal and Chanson:
- Relationship between text and music.
- Spain: Romance, Villancico, Ensalada.
Instrumental Music
- Instruments and their techniques were improved.
- The use of instruments continued outside of liturgy.
- Tablature appeared.
- Authors started to compose music specifically for instruments: Luis de Narváez, Antonio de Cabezón.
- Instruments: Vihuela, Lute, Harpsichord, Viola da gamba.
- Instruments contributed to the development of instrumental music through popular, nobility, social, and courtly dances.
- Most important dances: Pavane and Galliard.