Glossary Terms

Both are a form of accent Neumatic Notation, one dictates a falling sound; the other dictates a rising sound. Kelly page 43

Acute/Grave

This term is a dawn song that describes lovers parting. A watchman character usually warns them of danger approaching them. This type of lyric text is a style of troubadour lyric and was used mainly in the end of the 12th century through the 13th century. Reis Glorios by Giraut de Bornelh showcases an example of this. (Grove Music Online, Alba)

Alba

These are humorous interludes in a genre of entertainment that displayed masked dances that were often presented at English and Italian festivals and pageants during the Renaissance period. The content is often lighthearted and strange, in contrast to the more serious themes of the main part of the entertainment, and the music that accompanies these interludes is usually at a fast tempo.

Anti-masque

A chant setting of Latin prose, sung in unison by the choir. In the Gregorian repertory, the psalm tone determines the mode of this chant. All chants of this type close on the final of the mode. An example would be 'Genuit puerpera regem.'

Antiphon

A notation style that is popular to southern France during the times of St. Gregory and his chant influence on music. This style emphasizes the space and separation of individual elements/phrases/pitches, and often appears "dotted" in texture in order to display the discreteness of the music, even while grouped with notes, virgas, puncta, and other musical flares at this time. This notation contrasts heavily with Beneventan notation, which joins many notes into one compact phrase when written down, rather than separating them. (Capturing Music, Kelly pg 50).

Aquitanian Notation

A medieval latin term meaning "New Technique," used to refer to the 14th-century style of polyphonic French music. The term contrasts with the term Ars Antiqua - essentially to distinguish the 14th-century polyphonic styles of Johannes Ciconia or Francesco Landini from the 13th-century styles of Perotin or Leonin. Music of this style is characterized by more advanced notation and rhythmic flexibility that includes groupings of both twos and threes (as opposed to the modal notation of the 13th century, which mainly has groupings of threes).

Ars Nova

This is a polytextual motet composed in the late 15th century by Josquin des Prez in northern Italy, during the early period of his compositional career. The piece went on to become one of the most famous and popular motets during that time, and well into the 16th century. The motet is notable for its use of imitative counterpoint and two-voice parts, and it shifts between distinct duets, trios, and homophony across all voices.

Ave Maria... Virgo Serena

This is one of several different forms of frottole and appears to have been the most popular form in early publications (until 1510). This type of frotolla has a repeating form with 6- or 8-line stanzas containing 8-syllable lines. The schematic is: a(piede), a(piede), b(volta), C(ripresa)... The piede are a pair of lines with a matching rhyme scheme. The volta is a quatrain or couplet that rhymes with the first line of the ripresa. The ripresa is the repeating refrain. The rhythm scheme is xyxyya. Example: Marchetto Cara - Io non compro più speranza (sources: Don Harrán. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 19 Nov. 2016. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/02191 Anne Macneil. "Italian songs in the time of Christopher Columbus." MUSC-254 website. Web. 19 Nov. 2016. https://musc251.web.unc.edu/2016/08/06/italian-songs-in-the-time-of-christopher-columbus/ )

Barzelletta

This cathedral in Venice is known for its hosting of polychoral music. It allowed a wide spread of vocal and instrumental lines so that the sounds and tambours from different ranges and different instrumentation/vocalization would not be cluttered or fighting to be heard. All so music performed in this cathedral is very intricate and diversified within the boundaries of sacred Polychoral music. Giovanni Gabrieli was a famous italian composer/organist who often premiered his works here.

Basilica di San Marco, Venice

This is an instrumental bass line that involves the musician(s) providing improvisation for chords as the accompaniment for the duration of a piece of music. An example of this displayed on sheet music is included in the image. (Grove Music Online)

Basso Continuo

This is the popular name for, The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre (1640). This was the first book, published in Cambridge, MA, printed in North America. It was printed by Stephen Date. This book was called for revisions because of lack of poetic grace (Grove Music Online, Marini). These revisions were completed in 1651 and would become the New England Psalter, containing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs of the Old and New Testament.

Bay Psalm Book

Also known as 'cantus ambrosianus,' This type of chant was developed and practiced in southern Italy and practiced from the 7th to the 11th century. This chant was not bound traditional to traditional 8 mode systems of organization from the middle ages. Characteristics of this type of chant include a wider vocal range than Gregorian Chant and repeating ascending 3 note figures. A notable example of this type of chant is the chant for The feast of the apparition of St Michael, also referred to as the feast for the 12 holy brothers (Grove Music Online).

Beneventan Chant

A collection of six orchestral works by Bach, dedicated to Christian Ludwig. The instrumentation of each work is very unique which is what makes these orchestral pieces by Bach significant. For example, no. 2 includes the natural horn, oboe, and flute as a part of the concertino no. 3 contains three sets of groups of strings, each containing violin, viola, cello, and basso continuo and no. 4 includes a violin and two recorders as the concertino. The unusual instrumentation in these orchestral works is used to create contrasting levels of dynamics as well as interesting and unique textures that have made these widely regarded as some of the best orchestral works of the baroque era. Below is a link to no. 4.

Brandenburg Concerti

A song sung by the Troubadours in the late 12th century about love and relationships. They are typically unique, and end with a tornada, or shorter stanza that follows the same rhyme scheme as the last part of the stanzas before. (Grove Music Online). Ex. "Can vei la lauzeta mover"

Canso

A book that contains solo chants for Mass, including Graduals and Alleluias. Example: Gradual with St. Gallen neumes and significative letters.

Cantatorium

These are songs of praise taken from biblical texts other than in the Psalms, often referred to as Psalms outside the Psalter. They were used in many religious services, including in the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, and Eastern Orthodox churches. Examples include the Magnificat and The Song of Zacharias, also known as the Benedictus.

Canticle

This is a melody, usually taken from plainsong in the 14th-17th centuries as the basis of a polyphonic composition. Because they were originally written as sacred music there is a variety of rules one must follow. First the melody must be between 8 and 16 notes.

Cantus Firmus

This was a 16th century song of the Renaissance written by William Byrd. Based on the whistling habits of carters, this simple and somewhat dull tune was written to act as the basis for many variations, which were both varied and expressive, showing the ability to recreate melodies in new forms. This concept, along with its simple key signature and fingering patterns, suggests that this piece was used for teaching purposes in the keyboard repertoire. [Cashman, David. All Music. Rhythm One Group,

Carman's Whistle

Bronze instrument common among the ancient Celts. It is one of a number of Celtic lip-vibrated aerophones, but the only one for which a name is known from classical authors. A product of the Celtic iron age (not bronze, as Sachs assumed), it was normally made in sections by hammering bronze ingots into thin sheets which were then shaped into tubes and sealed along the joint with solder or by riveting a sealing strip over the join.

Carnyx

In the Middle Ages, members of the Roman Catholic Church performed a sequence of worship services every day and night known as the Divine Office. The books containing chants for the Divine Office provide the music, words, and order of the eight hours of prayer that are to be performed each day. Examples of these books include the Antiphonary, which contains choral chants, and the Responsorial, which consists of chants with soloists. Sources: Anne MacNeil, "Divine Office" Grove Music Online, "Divine Office

Chantbooks for the Divine Office

As contained in the term, these manuscripts contained Gregorian chants sung by church choir members. These were created so that the chants of the church would not be forgotten and for the sake of amassing the large collections of chants into single works. The antiphonale missarum sextuplex was first collection of chants. It was simply a text with no example of staves or written notation. 5 books from 11-13th centuries that allow historians see primitive roman chant The Gradual of Santa Caecilia in Trastevere The Gradual of the Lateran Basilica The Gradual of St. Peter's The Antiphoner of St. Peter's An antiphoner perhaps from the Lateran Basilica or St. Peter's (uncertain origin) Weber, Jerome F. Old Roman Chants. Liturgica - Celebrating Liturgical Music. Liturgica Music, Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

Chantbooks for the Mass

This term refers to the practice of making chants with two parts, typical of the Notre Dame period. They led to the development of discant. The term can also be used to denote a musical ending in a general sense. They were used from the 11th to 15th centuries. Example: Plate 5.1 on page 112 of "Capturing Music." You can listen on Track 7 of the textbook's accompanying CD (Kelly). Works Cited Flotzinger, Rudolf, Grove Music Online. Kelly, Thomas Forrest. Capturing Music: The Story of Notation.

Clausula

The clavichord is an old keyboard instrument that was popular in the Renaissance era. The clavichord sounds a lot like a harpsichord, but it is quieter and the instrument itself is smaller. It produces sound by striking strings with tangents, which are brass blades, similarly to how a piano strikes it's strings with a hammer. One work commonly played on clavichord is Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Clavichord

Typically sacred music written in Latin and structured with several stanzas of regular, rhyming poetry. This most likely originated in northern France in the 12th century and was used chiefly for processional and recessional purposes in mass. Ex) "Pia Mater Gratie', from notes of English university student Anonymous IV.

Conductus

This is a typical English song form written for voice and a consort of instruments - typically viols. It was most popular during the late 16th and early 17th centuries and its use outlasted the Italian madrigal and English lute ayre styles which were very popular in English music taste at the time. The importance of this genre is due largely in part to William Byrd who considered it the ideal form with which to set his poems to music.

Consort Song

Meaning "English Manner", this 15th century style of composition lead by Dunstaple was a type of polyphony based on harmonies of 3rds and 6ths and influenced the composers Binchois and Du Fay. (Grove Music Online)

Contenance Angloise

Entertainment involving music, dance, pantomime, and poetry - often performed in English courts in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Court Masque

This item, also known as a direct, is a symbol used at the end of a musical staff to warn the musician of what note is to come at the beginning of the next staff or page. This symbol originated in the eleventh century and was used by composers in place of a clef on the next line of the staff. It is rarely seen in modern music composition, but may be used as a sign of continuation of a note onto the next line. An example exists at the end of each line in the Kyrie XI chant from the Liber Usualis.

Custos

This is a setting of the Mass Ordinary that bases all five movements on common musical material, such as a cantus firmus. The existence of this type of Mass suggests that composers of the 15th century began to view themselves as artists in addition to simply serving the Church, due to how this type of Mass places an emphasis on aesthetic over liturgical laws. (Brown, Howard Mayer. Music in the Renaissance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976; The Oxford Companion to Music. Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 3 Oct. 2016..) Example: Missa 'Se la face ay pale' - Guillaume Du Fay. (Alejandro Enrique Planchart. Du Fay, Guillaume. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.Oxford University Press. Web. 26 Sep. 2016..)

Cyclic Mass

This manuscript contains roughly 54 medieval monophonic chants by the composer and theologian, Hildegard von Bingen. The codex contains diastematic notation and consists of chants with very large vocal ranges, an unusual quality for 12th century music. Due to this, the F-line, which usually maintains its position on the staff, changes location to accommodate the leaps of the neumes throughout the works. [Sources: Bent, Ian D., and Marianne Pfau. "Hildegard of Bingen." Oxford Music Online. Oxford UP, Web. 25 Sep. 2016. ]

Dendermonde 9

A god, used historically in theatrical dramas, who is hoisted on to the stage to resolve the plot. He/ she is used as a sudden ending to a play to reverse the fortune from sadness to happiness. Example: The opera, Iphigenia in Tauris, by Euripides: Iphigenia and Orestes are about to die and Athena is hoisted in at the end of the scene to intervene. Her intervention is sudden and crucial. (Taken from Grove Music Online)

Deus ex machina

This is a form of musical notation used by showing neumes on a page placed in different places vertically to show their pitch in relation to the other pitches on lines that showed where the note C or F were. (Grove Music Online).

Diastematic Notation

The first term refers to psalm tone endings that can be chosen from to most smoothly transition into the beginning of the antiphon. The second term is the final cadence by which a psalm tone may end. (Source: http://interletras.com/canticum/Eng/psalmody_Eng.htm)

Differentia, Termination

This was a polyphonic composition for at least two voices, sung note-against-note over a cantus firmus. For example, some composers in late medieval Western music preferred to develop existing plainchant melodies into this genre instead of creating new music.

Discant Clausula

A system for performing the entire Psalter over a determined period of time (Grove Music Online). It marks the passing of time throughout the week. In this instance, the day begins at around 6 pm with Vespers and all 150 psalms will be sung by the None service at 3 pm the next day. The services are: Vespers, Compline, Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext and None. All services start with a verse and response end with the Benedicamus Domino-Deo Gratias ("Blessed be the lord, thanks be to god"). The practice was established by St. Benedict of the Roman Catholic Church and was used in both Monastic and Secular Churches.

Divine Office

This is a musical treatise, written in 1547, in which Heinrich Glarean recorded his work on music theory - specifically the concept of a twelve-tone system and the names of modes created on each tone. This was significant since, at the time, people only recognized eight modes; Glarean added four onto this in the Dodecachordon. Clement A. Miller. Glarean, Heinrich. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 4 Dec. 2016..

Dodecachordon

This is a hymn written by Martin Luther for the Lutheran Church in 1527. This was at a time when there was a revolt against the Catholic Church due to their corruption and selling of indulgences. Luther argued that the New Testament said that the only way to Heaven is through the grace of God, not human merit. Therefore, Luther strived to rebuild the church from within. Since he lived music and believed that it should be included in religion and education, he composed many hymns including this one in order to convey his message of God's word. He also made the religion and music more accessible to smaller churches by changing the Latin Liturgy into a common German that people understood. This hymn is considered a chorale text. In Lutherian tradition, chorale texts are made for congregational and devoted singing. These chorales have a strophic text and a Melody. This hymn translates to "A mighty fortress is our God". This is one of the most loved hymns in Lutherian tradition and an effect that increased support of the reformation religion. The hymn has a very triumphant and joyful sound. It has dense harmony and is very pleasing to the ear. The word are related to palms 46 in the bible. Martin Luther and his hymns were such an important landmark in historical and musical contexts.

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott

This means false bass. Prevalent during the early renaissance / late Middle Ages. Made by three voices moving in parallel motion in the same intervals as the first inversion of the triad.

Fauxbourdon

Figured bass is a set of signs that instruct the bass instrument/keyboard in an ensemble on which inversions of chords and the chordal qualities and intervals above said bass to perform. This instrumentation was called the basso continuo in the Baroque/classical era. These signs generally only appear to show chords other than the root position 5-3 chords (a fifth and third above the bass present.) If there was a third inversion V7 chord, for example, the chord would be spelt 4-2, as the root is a second above the bass (chordal seventh) in this voicing, and the third of the chord is a fourth above the bass. Accidentals are also used in figured bass to indicate chord quality. For example, a typically minor chord with a "natural" sign underneath might signify that the third above the bass note should be a major third rather than a minor (usually implying a major dominant function by raising the leading tone.) The figure shown is a display of various inversions of chords realized in figured bass from Grove Music Online. Source- Grove Music Online/Class Instruction

Figured Bass

The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is a source of keyboard music from approximately 1562 to 1612 and is the largest surviving manuscript of 16th and 17th century English (i.e. British Isles) music. Fitzwilliam refers to Viscount Fitzwilliam who handed down this manuscript collection to to Cambridge University in 1816 while virginal refers to a smaller type of harpsichord where the strings are plucked rather than struck; the term is most likely derived from the instrument's association with female performers. However, the music is not limited to writing for just virginals and is in fact written for other keyboard instruments. Note: the image linked below shows the end of a fantasia by the Dutch organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and a coranto, a kind of dance, by the devout Roman Catholic composer William Byrd. Below is also a link to more of Byrd's music from the book. http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/pharos/collection_pages/northern_pages/MS_168/PIC_D-1-LRG_MS_168.html http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/pharos/images/swf/DowlandByrd.html

Fitzwilliam Virginial Book

This group was comprised of non-professional musicians who discussed the arts, science, and literature beginning in 1573 at the house of Count Giovanni Bardi. Many of the members (all informal members) believed that the Greek dramatic style should be revived - this was their main claim to fame, and was one of the foundational ideas for opera. Among other members of this group were people like Vincenzo Galilei, the leader, and Giulio Caccini. (Source: http://galileo.rice.edu/lib/student_work/florence96/camerata.html as Grove Music did not have a page)

Florentine Camerata

This opera was composed by Handel with a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym. It is a secular opera in three acts that tells the story of the Roman emperor's trip to Egypt in 48-47 BC, although its storyline is mostly fictional. The first production ran for 13 performances at the Royal Academy of Music and was revived three times by the composer with revisions each time. It included a rich orchestration, including horns and a stage band, and a greatly dramatic and fascinating storyline rife with suicide attempts and despair. (Grove Music Online)

Giulio Cesare

Named for one of the higher steps of the sung readings of the deacon. This is a form of responsorial chants, which bear a resemblance to the chant sung by the soloist. It is believed that the original form of the this type of chant consisted a single response by the cantor; a repetition of the response by the chorus, a single verse sung by the cantor; and a repetition of the response. This created a fourfold structure. The term also refers to a liturgical book containing chants from the Mass Proper. The earliest use of this term, dating back to 903 AD, is found in the ancient catalogue of Passau. The oldest works are considered to be the work of St. Gregory. Examples: 'Viderunt omnes' and 'Sederunt principes'. (Grove Music Online; Weiss, Piero; Taruskin, Richard, Music in the Western World (Page 52).

Gradual

These two terms refer to the setting of the Anglican canticles (hymns and chants) for religious service. In the 16th and 17th centuries, these were either long (intricate and time consuming, scored for large choir, and typically reserved for special occasions) or brief (sung by four voices a cappella). Below is a link to a movement of William Byrd's composition in this genre from 1606. (Grove Music Online)

Great Service/Short Service

A mnemonic device, invented to keep track of the calendar, that aided singers in learning how to sight read. The notes of the gamut were assigned to different joints of the fingers. The conductor would just point to a certain joint and the performer would sing the appropriate note that corresponds to that joint. (MWW 46)

Guidonian Hand

A philosophical view on music that discusses the movements of the sun, moon, and planets as a form of non-audible music. Pythagorus developed and believed in this idea and spread this to his followers.

Harmony of the Spheres

This was the earliest form of western musical notation. This notation was useful for matching musical ideas with the lyrics and interpreting the basic inflection of the voice, but they did not indicate exact pitch, rhythm, or the direction of the line. They were used to show the general direction of lines, but still did not indicate exact pitches or rhythms.

Heightened Neumes

This consists of six notes which ascend stepwise through two whole tones, a semitone, and two further whole tones. These six notes, exemplified by the first six solfège syllables, are named ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la. (Grove Music Online)

Hexachord

This is a medieval musical technique in which multiple vocal parts alternate singing short phrases and having phrases of rest. It can also occur in a single voice, but this is less common. It was developed in the 13th and 14th centuries, following the introduction of measured periods of silence into polyphonic music composition. An example is seen in Peritonus's 'Dum Sigillum,' in which two voices are written so that one has a period of rest while the other is singing. (Grove Music Online)

Hocket

Frequently employed in poetry, this is a form of verse consisting of five metrical feet of two syllables each, comprising an unstressed or short syllable followed by a stressed or long syllable. (New American Oxford Dictionary)

Iambic Pentameter

This is a German song composed by Heinrich Isaac. It follows the unique poetic form AABCCB. It consists of two settings, the first incorporates the cantus firmus in a canon with the inner voices, and the second puts the melody over a largely monophonic harmonization. The cantus firmus was taken from an existing folk song of the time, however it remains unclear exactly which folk song was the source. The text conveys the great sorrow of a man forced to leave his true love. A performance of this piece can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI712ZGflAQ

Innsbruch ich muss dich lassen

These musical compositions originally began around the 15th century and were played in between acts of plays to add dramatic effects. At first, they were used to add support to soloists on stage alone or to set the mood for upcoming scenes. However, by the time of the earliest operas, these works were incorporated into the storytelling of the drama, often being recreated or modified for the opera. As time progressed, these compositions transitioned from metaphorical background music to an important part of storytelling. Example: the interludes performed for the wedding of Ferdinando de' Medici and Christine of Lorraine. (Grove Music Online; Music in the Western World) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI8T3KuJhCs&list=PLOgyp03L6PhyDR-ft35a-objY7N34R8MX

Intermedii

The first part of the Mass Proper, it is the singing of a psalm with antiphons as a processional. Ex. 'Deus Israhel,' used for a nuptial mass. (Grove Music Online; MUSC 251 website, "Mass")

Introit

A compositional technique that involves repetitive or recurring rhythmic patterns. This word is derived from Greek. (Grove Music Online)

Isorhythm

This is the phrase the celebrating priest chants at the end of Mass to tell the congregation that Mass is finished and they may go home.

Ite missa est

This is a type of troubador musician. This person is a part-time musician who has a primary function of entertaining using acrobatics, dancing, storytelling, singing, animals, and props (Secular Music, 11th-13th centuries, MUSC 251). For example, Marcabru was one troubadour who did not earn his living from making music, which could potentially give him this status.

Jongleur

Originally known as an ancient wordless chant which was sung by laborers. In more modern terms it is a long melisma on the last syllable of the word Alleluia sung before the Gospel is read at Mass. The melisma could be as long as thirty to forty notes (MWW, 25 and Grove Music Online).

Jubilus

This is an opera in a prologue and five acts by Monteverdi with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based primarily on the Orpheus myth.

L'Orfeo

Translated into "the armed man", this is a tune used as the cantus prius factus for Masses by Josquin Des Prez, Johannes Ockeghem, and many others. Source: https://musc251.web.unc.edu/2016/08/07/16th-century-masses/

L'homme arme

This is an opera written by Francesco Cavalli in collaboration with the librettist Giovanni Faustini in the prime of Venetian opera composition. The opera is based off the love story between Jupiter and a chaste nymph which is in the Metamorphoses by Ovid. This opera is particularly noteworthy for its attention to the audience's entertainment, as they kept the songs brief. These arias which were kept compact for the audience to continue the dramatic affection were often call mezz'arie, basically translating to little or semi arias. There was a great emphasis through this music to showcase the character traits and character arcs of both mythological characters. The diverse range of personalities is demonstrated through fast-tempo pieces. The opera utilizes comedic and more dramatic elements of both characters and storytelling. (Grove Music Online)

La Calisto

Considered to be the first opera, this experimental piece of music by Corsi and Peri is found only in partial manuscript documentation today. Though only partial bits of music exists it is known for being one of Peri's most influential aspects of music history with the introduction of the 'recitative.' Grove Music Online Dafne (i)

La Dafne

After the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, Latin that was spoken in France evolved into two similar, but unique languages. One in the north of France and one in the South. This term refers to the language of northern France and was named after its word for "yes" which was the modern day oui. This dialect eventually developed into what we now call modern French. It was used in poem and song by trouvères who were poet-musicians from the north of France during the 13th century. Examples of this dialect can be seen in the names of the genres of the songs the trouvères would sing such as chansons de geste, romances, chansons d'histoire, chansons d' amour, jeu-parti, lais, and pastourelle. (Secular Music, 13th-11th centuries study page).

Langue d' oïl

A dialect in the 12th and 13th centuries from what is now the southern region of France, named from the pronunciation of the word yes, used by troubadours. (Grove Music Online).

Langue d'oc

A manuscript of 45 monophonic pieces and 141 polyphonic pieces from the 13th and 14th centuries. It employs franconian notation and was meant to be used for performance in the Cistercian convent of Santa María la Real in Burgos, in northern Spain.

Las Huelgas Codex

Le nuove musiche, Italian for The New Musics, is a collection of songs and monodies for the solo voice and basso continuo by the Italian composer Giulio Caccini. It is an early example of the seconda pratica (or Stile moderno), a specific practice of music written in the early baroque style which encouraged the freedom to use dissonance and to deviate from the firmer technical limitations of the prima pratica. Le nuove musiche contains 12 madrigals and 10 arias. They were published in Florence in July 1602. (Grove Music Online, Nuove musiche, Le (It., 'New Compositions')

Le nuove musiche

The short title of a book first issued by the monks of solesmes in 1896, Book of common practice for Mass and Office for Sundays and double feasts, with Gregorian chant. It is a compendium, though not comprehensive, of prayers, lessons and chants for the more important services of the Roman Catholic Church as prescribed between the Council of Trent (1545-63) and the Second Vatican Council (1962-5).

Liber Usualis

Translates to the 'art of counterpoint' and was written by Johannes Tinctoris. He devised a series of rules that shaped music into a series of disonances and consonances. Consonances were considered to be chords without tension, like fifths and octaves. (Grove Music Online) An example of a piece created using this compositional technique can be seen in the attached YouTube video.

Liber de arte contrapuncti

Descending flourish at the end of an indicated 3 note figure in Neumatic Notation. It is produced when the mouth makes a nasal m or n sound at the end of a syllable (ex. Amen), as well as an au, ei and eu sound. It may also may indicate to change a vowel on a diphthong. Sources: Kelly Page 12

Liquescence

This position is similar to a music director or chapel master at a church or royal/noble court. This person heads up all music-related services and events at the institution. This would typically include composing music, selecting musicians, and conducting rehearsals. Three notable figures who were appointed to this position at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice include Adrian Willaert in 1527, Gioseffo Zarlino in 1565, and Claudio Monteverdi in 1613. Each of these men continued to work at the Basilica di San Marco for the remainder of their lives. (Musc254 website)

Maestro di cappella

This is the part of the Mass that contains words that are constant day to day. The chants for this - Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei - are collected in the Kyriale. (https://musc251.web.unc.edu/2016/07/29/mass/).

Mass Ordinary

Derives from proprius, meaning "own." The sections of the Mass whose texts change according to the church calendar. These texts sung by the choir, with the participation of soloists, are the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Sequence, Offertory, and Communion. (Grove Music Online) (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Mass Proper

This is a text setting which often displayed joy and celebration using a single syllable was stretched over many tones, used in Gregorian chants. An example of this was the Alleluia that was used in typical Mass structure. Douglass Seaton, Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 142-50.

Melismatic Text Setting

This is a collection of various medieval songs from different composers created in the 1470s. Edited by Renaissance composer and music theorist Johannes Tinctoris, it was created for his pupil Princess, Beatrice d'Aragona of Naples.

Mellon Chansonnier

This was the standard mode of musical notation in Europe between the mid-13th and 16th centuries. Proposed in an early form by Franco of Cologne in his treatise Ars cantus mensurabilis, this form of notation was remarkable for its rhythmic precision. Duration was no longer based on context (whether to subdivide in a binary or ternary fashion) and was strictly and uniquely defined for each symbol. This contributed to greater rhythmic accuracy in music performance, and developed over several centuries to eventually give birth to our modern system of notation around the 17th century. (Grove Music Online)

Mensural Notation

This is a formal structure for a cycle of prayer recitations that were scheduled according to the time of day for monks. Each time typically has a different combination and order for readings, short responsories, hymns, verses to share, and other specific prayer forms. The recitation of these different cycles serves as a meditation and prayer form that can provide insight into the different types of prayer. (Oxford Music Online; MUSC 254 website).

Monastic Rite

Term for music that describes accompanied Italian solo song.

Monody

Music composed for one voice, instrument, or part. (Grove Music Online)

Monophony

One of the most important forms of polyphonic music from the early 13th century to the mid-18th century. Originally it was a liturgical trope but later developed into a form of pre-secular art music during the late Middle Ages. It was a sacred polyphonic composition with one voice (usually the tenor) that was arranged in a pattern of repeating rhythmic configurations while the upper voice(s) (up to three) (usually with different Latin or French texts) moved at a faster rate (Grove Music Online).

Motet 13th

In general, a motet can most precisely be defined as a piece of music in several parts with words, a definition that can safely cover the motet as it evolves from the 13th to 16 centuries. The earliest motets arose in the 13th century from the organum tradition, and became increasingly isorhythmic in the 14th and 15th centuries. More directly related to the end of its transformation in the 16th century, a motet can be defined here as a sacred polyphonic composition with Latin text. The treble-dominated style of secular music had been tempered at this point for the same of equal-voice conception and systematic imitation, and these concepts were applied to Latin texts and used in a liturgical context by composers for which the genre had originally been created. Josquin held a significant role in developing the motet in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and all of the compositional solutions that are traditional for the genre found a place in his works. (Grove Music Online, Motet)

Motet 16

Often refers to the religious practices observed by Spanish Christians under Muslim rule, which was one of the most prominent branches of plainchant in the Middle Ages and which influenced Gregorian, Ambrosian, and of particular interest, Gallican plainchants. The musical documents attributed to this practice originate in the period after the Muslims occupied the Iberian Peninsula in 711. (Grove Music Online)

Mozarabic Rite

This printing method was created and perfected by Ottaviano Petrucci of Venice. Although Petrucci was not the first music printer in Europe, he was the first to print in quantity, and the first to print polyphonic music, in part due to his technique. Each sheet of music would be run through the presses once for the staves, once for the music, and once for the words. Petrucci was very successful at doing this, and managed to perfect this technique, creating beautiful prints. Many other music printers could not create sheet music as perfectly as he could. Although other printing techniques eventually came along, saving time and money, they is nowhere as beautiful and continuous as Petrucci's technique.

Multiple-impression printing

Distinction started by Boethius (in The Principles of Music) in the 5th century that divides music-makers into two categories: Musicians (who we would call now composers and theorists), and performers (singers and instrumentalists). Since music was considered a highly theoretical and mathematical art in the middle ages, it was deemed that real musicians were the ones that understood the speculative structures underlying music, and thus performers who were only concerned with practical aspects of music-making were looked down upon. This divide continued throughout to the 14th Century, when Marchetto de Padua in his two major treatises codified a strict hierarchy where Musicians were the artists and singers were merely the instruments that realized the music created by the musicians. By the late 14th Century though, writers like Ugolino of Orvieto (in Declaratio Musicae Disciplinae) allowed the two sides of music-making to mix more freely, and music started to become more influenced by aesthetic concerns rather than purely mathemical relationships.

Musica speculativa

This is a process of changing from one hexachord to another when solmizing a melody. Although, it was not invoked if the range extended only a semitone outside of the hexachord range. This process was governed by rules of the Guidonian hand. (Grove Music Online).

Mutation

A form of text setting pairing one neume per syllable, resulting in short melismas of several notes on each syllable (Kelly 43).

Neumatic Text Setting

These are various shapes used to represent either single notes or groups of notes. Those that represent groups of notes strung together are called 'ligatures'. These did not precisely indicate specific notes, but merely suggested changes of pitch within the melody. The origins of our current notational system can be traced back to these contained in treatises from the 9th and 10th centuries. (Grove Music Online)

Neumes

Format of 16th century music. Taking a printed sheet, folding it into quarters in a landscape,.

Oblong quarto

This was a term used to define Italian Opera that was made in the 18th century. This type of opera either touches on a heroic (Tosca by Puccini) or a dramatic (i.e. Macbeth by Verdi) topic. Hence the name, which literally translates to the word serious. The term was rarely used at the time; it can sometimes be found on manuscript scores, particularly in the last quarter of the 18th century, but 'dramma per musica' is the usual genre description on most 18th-century and many early 19th-century printed librettos.

Opera seria

This was a Latin term used by medieval writers in reference to dramatic representations. This term has come to be very difficult to define due to its interpretations ranging from any representation within ecclesiastical ritual, to a dramatic trope containing two speeches. The term is often paired with another Latin root such as prophetarum or Rachelis or paschals to help narrow down its more specific purpose. These are typically recognizable as musical phrases constructed of one or more continuations from one modal pattern, ending with rests. For example, Hildegard of Bingen's morality play in dramatic verse presents the battle for the human soul, Anima, between 16 personified Virtues and the Devil. It utilizes 82 separate melodies within the modal pattern. (Grove Music Online)

Ordo

This is a piece written by John Dunstable. It is meant to be played as a processional for a traditional mass. The processional is a set of spiritiual songs played in a particular order during a church service. The text for the piece comes from the Bible--specifically the Song of Solomon. The erotic text is underlined with the intriguing 'new' development of imperfect thirds and sixths as major aspects of harmony; this was referred to as a pan-consonant style. John Dunstable was known for his integration of thirds and sixths into his music and is creditted with making English music have a distinct sound. (Grove Music Online).

Quam pulchra es

A group of composers associated with the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from 1160 to 1250. They were the first to use polyphony in their compositions and wrote pieces call organum. (Kelly chapter 4) Examples: Leonin and Perotin

School of Notre Dame

This is a chanson for three voices by Guillaume Dufay, French composer and theorist (1397-1474). It is written in Latin. It is widely thought to have been composed around the 1430s. Later on, the composer re-used its tenor part to help write a mass for four voices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72zs8oMpShM Here is the link to a recording by The Early Music Consort of London under the direction of David Munrow. Here is free sheet music from the Petrucci Music Library (IMSLP) for the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei sections, which begin at 10:04 in the video. http://imslp.org/wiki/Missa_Se_la_face_ay_pale_(Dufay,_Gu

Se la face ay pale

This piece is an example of 16th century chanson, using a very beautiful and peaceful polyphonic melody throughout that imitate the rhythms of the text in the actual melodic lines. The piece is set to Clement Marot's poem, and it follows the flow of each stanza in the poem closely. There are moments within the piece where Claudin de Sermisy has chosen to emphasize the staccato nature of the percussive syllables, but other than that, the rhythm of the piece flows almost exactly the same throughout. The piece relies on the counterpoint motion between the higher voices and allow the lower voices to match one another a bit more tightly. Grove Music Online

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