Medieval Music

a cappella

music sung without instrumental accompaniment

The Italian Ballata: Francesco Landini / Ballata

- Francesco Landini (1325 -- 1397) was Florentine composer, organist, singer, poet and instrument maker. - He was one of the most famous and revered composers of the second half of the 14th century, and by far the most famous composer in Italy. - Another example of the Ars Nova style - A Ballata is not a "Ballad" - the term refers to the Italian word for "Dance" (ballare) and was probably originally dance music. -It uses 3-4 voices and musical instruments - takes the form AbbaA - with the last stanza repeating the text of the first.

The Medieval Motet: 3-4 voices

- Motets were compositions inserted into the traditional form of the mass - basically like anthems today. They used 3-4 voices (in this case single voices, but a choir could be split into groups as well). It was ALWAYS sung "a cappella" - without organ or instruments. You can see the bottom line of the score is a much simpler melody - the forerunner of the basso continuo - a prominent bass line that supports the other melodies.

Byzantine Music

- Universally agreed to be the closest musical form to Ancient Greek Music. - A Greek Hymn is called a Troparion - it can be in regular stanzas, or can be lines of different length and rhythm - had a strong influence on Western liturgical music, since they developed polyphony much earlier. - Polyphony entered the Catholic liturgy in the 13th and 14th century, as part of an artistic movement known as the Ars Nova (new art), - This was a movement that spanned all the arts - it was seen in the paintings of Giotto, the writings of Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch, and in the polyphonic music, both secular and liturgical. - Corresponding to the late Gothic period, it enhanced the elaborate visual experience inside a church, but was always sung a cappella.

Ars Nova (new art)

- a movement affecting literature, art, and music that reformed the old ways. - Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321 ): One of the inventors - See slide 8: The Ars Nova in painting - Coppo di Marcovaldo (1261) vs. Giotto (c. 1320)

Antiphon

- a responsive chant between two parties - usually the priest and the congregation or choir. - Its origins probably lie in the manner in which the ancient hebrews chanted the Psalms, given their mirrored style. - It was introduced into the Byzantine Church as early as 100 CE, but was not adopted by the Western Church until the 300's. - It is still used today in both the Protestant and Catholic Churches.

Motet

- a sacred piece sung in 3-4 parts, always a cappella, that was and inserted into various points of the mass (such as when the priest was preparing the host and wine for communion) - became an important part of the church service and polyphonic music

Secular Music

- also important - the Gothic period was the Era of Chivalry, when the Arthurian legends were made into song and poems and troubadours were a favored form of entertainment at noble courts. - They sang the sagas of Roland, King Arthur, or love songs, using single or 3-4 voices, either unaccompanied or using instruments such as the lute. - Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377 was one of the greatest of these composers, who brought the Ars Nova into secular songs. - They were known as chansons, and were very similar to the motet in form, but used a text in the vernacular (not Latin) dealing with love, chivalry, or heroism.

Ballata

An Italian secular song based on dance music, sung in 3-4 parts in the vernacular, but always with musical accompaniment.

Sacred Polyphonic Music

Polyphonic Music was designed to "spice up" the traditional chant by adding an additional line of harmony.

Byzantine Choral Chant

Ultimately would have an influence on the development of polyphoinic music in the West

Monophonic Music (Gregorian Chant)

Used in the Western Catholic Church from the 8th until the 11th century

Plainchant

monophonic (sung in unison) parts of the Catholic mass

polyphonic

music sung with more than one part (usually a melody, one or two harmonic lines, and a bass line)

Chanson

the French Medieval secular song, usually sung in the vernacular (French, not Latin) in 3-4 parts, with or without instrumental accompaniment

Neumes

the forerunners to modern musical notation