3. Medieval 450-1450 (Dark age)
What is dark age?
The "Dark Ages" is a
historical per-iodization
traditionally (Middle Ages
(c. 5th–15th ) asserts that
a demographic, cultural,
and economic deterioration
occurred in Western
Europe following the
decline of the Roman
Empire.
Commercial in dark age
4.
5. Medieval / Middle Ages:
Economics and Society
In medieval Europe, rural life was
governed by a system scholars call
“feudalism.” In a feudal society,
the king granted large pieces of
land called fiefs to noblemen and
bishops.
By 1300, there were some 15
cities in Europe with a population
of more than 50,000.
6. Middle age society
Society was composed by
three orders of people:
the nobles,
the clergy,
the peasants.
They believed that it was
very important to preserve
this division and to remain
in the social class where
you were born in order to
maintain the general
equilibrium.
7. Court and people
Feudalism was the leading
way of political and economic
life in the Medieval era.
Monarchs, like kings and
queens, maintained control
and power by the support of
other powerful people called
lords.
Lords were always men who
owned extravagant homes,
called manors, and estates in
the country.
8. People’s life style
Everyday life in
the Middle Ages.
Medieval life is known
for being hard, violent
and short.
Yet at the same time it
did have periods of
peace and stability,
and creativity in the
arts.
9. A King's daily life
A medieval King would wake up
early in the morning.
He would start his day by going
to the chapel and praying. ...
The Queen and he would say
their prayers, and then go to
sleep.
The King and Queen lived in a
very elegant castle and had
many servants to take care of
them throughout the day.
10. Music in Medieval 450-1450
The Medieval era spanned several centuries,
from about 450-1450.
Until about 1100, the most common form of
music was chanting,
This is also referred to as plainsong or
Gregorian Chant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4ZuHM5krp8
11. Medieval 450-1450
Medieval composers did not always sign their
compositions
Many of the composers of this era are
unknown
Few details remain about the lives of the
composers of which we are aware
12. TWO ERA’S OF MEDIEVAL MUSIC
Ars Antiqua - 1100-1300
Ars Nova - 1300 - 1450
14. Ars Antiqua Composers
• Leonin (1163-1190)
• Perotin (early 13th century)
• Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taanHO13WXE
• Anonymous (?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p9WQlyVPrA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4KIfB-lfkw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR1rQWtP13A
15. Texture: Monophony
Mono- meaning one (monophony = one line of music)
Single line of song, could be sung by many voices
but the pitch is unison.
Type of music composed during the Ars Antiqua
was monophony texture
16. Ars Antiqua?
• Literally means “old art”
• Stemmed directly from Gregorian Chant
• This style of music can be characterized as adding
hollow sounding harmonies(perfect 4ths & 5ths) to
existing chants.
• This type of music is called organum.
• Originally, one voice would be added above the existing
chant. The chant would be sung very slowly - it was
called the cantus firmus.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoYWcJztzlk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXA3rw1Gilw
17. Early Polyphony
• Polyphony means more than one pitch played at the
same time - what we typically call harmony.
• The first type of polyphony was called parallel
organum. Here the cantus firmus and the higher
harmony mirrored each other.
• Eventually composers like Leonin and his student
Perotin began adding a third and fourth part above
the cantus firmus, and moved away from the eerie
sounding parallel organum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3sTpHVfcf0
18. In Germany, Meanwhile
• Hildegard von Bingen
• A nun with reported mystical powers, began
composing music different from the Notre Dame
school.
• Wrote music that sounded wildly different than
plainchant, which some attributed to her lack of
musical training. Her melodies, even today, seem
contemporary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YTOiJ-zjP0
19. 2 Types of music
Liturgical, church, sacret
Secular music
20. Troubadours
• Troubadours were French
musicians who traveled
across Europe during the
12th and 13th centuries.
• They sang mostly love songs.
• They accompanied their love
songs with instruments,
unlike the church.
21. Adam de la Halle (1237-1286)
• The most famous troubadour ever
• Wrote the first ever musical theater piece
Le Jeu de Robin et Marion
• Inventor of the Motet
• Motet - a piece of music where two or more
different verses are fit together
simultaneously, without regard to harmony
22. Medieval 450-1450
Some composers we do know of include:
Abbess Hildegard von Bingen,
Perotin Magnus,
Guillaume de Machaut.
23. Medieval ; Liturgical Music
During the Early Christian period (ca. 200-500),
portions of scripture were set to traditional Roman
melodies. In the Dark Ages (ca. 500-1000)
These works were organized into an official Church
repertoire, largely under the reign of
Pope Gregory I.
24. Medieval ; Liturgical Music
They are consequently
known as Gregorian chant
Pope
Gregory 1
The inventor
of Gregorian
Chant
25. Medieval; Liturgical Music
Gregorian chants are monophonic vocal works,
historically performed during various Roman
Catholic ceremonies.
The scale of chant performance ranges from a lone
soloist to a large choir.
In some cases, chant performance may alternate
between groups, or between a group and soloist.
26. Medieval; Secular Music
Throughout the Middle Ages,
advances in music practice
and theory were driven mainly
by sacred music.
Over the centuries, these
advances diffused to secular
music (non-religious music)
27. Medieval; Secular Music
Since ancient times,
secular vocal music had
been composed for
popular entertainment.
From antiquity through
the early Middle Ages,
these compositions
featured monophonic
texture
28. Medieval; Secular Music Artists
In the later medieval period, minstrels were joined
by such groups as the troubadours (of southern
France), trouveres (northern France), and
minnesingers and meistersingers (Germany).
In addition to composing monophonic works,
these groups introduced polyphony to secular
music
29. Ars Nova (new art)
• 14th & 15th century France
• The invention of modern notation
• The creation of the Ordinary of the Catholic
Mass
• The popularity of the motet
• The introductory use of phrasing and cadences
• An awakening to relationship between text and
music
30. Ars Nova Composers
• Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)
• Francesco Landini (1325-1397)
• Guillaume Dufay
• Josquin Desprez
• Anonymous (?)
31. Medieval Instruments
• Instruments in early secular music were
used to accompany songs.
• Musicians usually improvised the simple
accompaniments.
• While the accompaniments were melodically
simple, they were rhythmically lively.
54. Ars Nova (new art)
• 14th & 15th century in France
• The invention of modern notation
• The creation of the Ordinary of the Catholic Mass
• The popularity of the motet
• The introductory use of phrasing and cadences
• An awakening to relationship between text and
music
55. Artists,
Musicians
Troubadours:
A Lyric poet of southern France , northern Spain, and
northern Italy; flourished from the late 11th to the late
13th century.
Their social influence was unprecedented in the history off
Medieval poetry. Favored at the courts, great freedom of
speech. They formed one of the most brilliant schools that
ever flourished, and was influenced to all later European
lyrical poetry.
56. Trouvère:
The popular image of the troubadour or trouvère
(Northern French), itinerant musician wandering
from town to town,
Lute on his back, they were called minstrels - poor
musicians, male and female.
The troubadours and trouvères, represent
aristocratic music making. They were poets and
composers supported by the aristocracy,
The creation and performance of music was part
of the courtly tradition.
57. Minnesingers / Meistersingers
The Minnesinger;
professional musicians, often
of noble birth, most of the
Meistersinger were musical
amateurs who earned their
living as trades-people.
The Minnesingers appeared in
Germany soon after the rise of
the Troubadours in France.
58. Troubadour songs
Usually monophonic.
Fewer than 300 melodies
out of an estimated 2500
survive.
Most were composed by
the troubadours
themselves.
Some were set to pre-
existing pieces of music.
59. Guidonian Hand
In Medieval music, the Guidonian hand
A mnemonic device used to assist singers in
learning to sight-sing.
Some form of the device may have been used by
Guido of Arezzo, a medieval music theorist who
wrote a number of treatises, including one
instructing singers in sight-reading.
61. Church Mode
Church mode, also called ecclesiastical mode, in
music, any one of eight scalar arrangements of
whole and half tones, derived by medieval
theorists, most likely from early Christian vocal
convention. The Eastern church was doubtless
influenced by ancient Hebrew modal music.
