The Middle Ages

Which two notable medieval composers in Paris are among the first composers known by name?

Leonin and Perotin

Ecco la primavera (1st 25 secs) Listen to the audio clip. In this excerpt from Ecco la primavera, the song is introduced by which of the following?

Recorders

Francesco Landini was the best-known composer of the ______ century.

fourteenth

The developments in musical style that occurred during the ______ century were so significant that they are referred to as the ars nova (new art).

fourteenth

Most medieval music manuscripts indicate only ______ and lack detailed performance instructions.

pitch

Most music during the Middle Ages was ______.

vocal

Hildegard of Bingen claims to have written O Successores after being inspired by a ______.

vision

What is known about troubadour and trouvère songs?

They were commonly about courtly love, battle, and dance.

What is known about songs written by troubadours and trouvères?

They were probably accompanied by instrumentalists.

What is the texture of Gregorian chants?

Monophonic

Organum is a type of ______ associated with medieval music.

polyphony

Select all that apply Select all the characteristics of the French ars nova rondeau (such as Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous).

1. A refrain that comes back at the end 2. Two phrases, a and b 3. Eight lines of poetry

Click and drag on elements in order Place these developments of organum from Gregorian chant in chronological order, with the first development at the top and last at the bottom.

1. A second improvised line duplicating the chant melody at a different pitch. 2. A second melodic line that followed a different melodic shape, moving note against note in the chant melody. 3. a second melodic line that differed melodically and rhythmically from the chant melody.

Select all that apply Select all the statements that describe church modes.

1. Church modes and the modern major and minor scales have seven tones between each octave. 2. The use of church modes helps give Gregorian chant its characteristic "otherworldly" sound. 3. Church modes were the basic musical scales used in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Select all the characteristics of the French ars nova rondeau (such as Puis qu'en oubli sui de vous).

1. Eight lines of poetry 2. Two phrases, a and b 3. A refrain that comes back at the end

Select all that apply Select all the reasons that explain why little is known about how medieval music was performed or how it sounded.

1. Few medieval instruments have survived. 2. Very few medieval music manuscripts specify what instruments are to perform the music. 3. Tempo, dynamics, and even rhythm are not indicated in medieval music manuscripts.

Select all that apply Select all the characteristics of rhythm in Gregorian chant.

1. Flexible and free flowing 2. Written in imprecise rhythmic values 3. Has no meter or evident beat

select all that apply Select all the characteristics of rhythm in Gregorian chant.

1. Has no meter or evident beat 2. Flexible and free flowing 3. Written in imprecise rhythmic values

Select all that apply Select all the statements that describe the music and writings of Guillaume de Machaut.

1. He composed music and poetry. 2. He presented beautiful handwritten copies of his music and poetry to noble patrons.

Select all that apply Select all the facts concerning the life of Guillaume de Machaut.

1. He traveled on military campaigns and on visits to royal courts. 2. He was a church official. 3. He served King John of Bohemia.

Select all that apply Select all the statements about composer Francesco Landini.

1. He was a poet and scholar. 2. He was blind from childhood. 3. He was an organist.

Select all the characteristics of Gregorian chant.

1. It is set to a sacred text. 2. It has a melody meant to enhance a religious service.

Select all that apply Select all the reasons that the rhythmic innovations developed by Notre Dame composers in the late 1100s were significant.

1. Measured rhythm had a clearly defined meter. 2. Written notation could now indicate rhythm precisely. 3. Rhythm in music began using definite time values.

Select all that apply Select all the features that are typical of organum in medieval music.

1. Melodic lines that produced polyphony 2. A chant line that was sung using low notes

Select all that apply Select all the descriptions about an estampie.

1. One of the earliest surviving forms of instrumental music 2. A dance in triple meter with a strong, fast beat

Select all that apply Select all the statements about Hildegard of Bingen.

1. She was an abbess in Germany. 2. She wrote many monophonic chants. 3. She was a visionary and mystic.

Select all that apply Select all the new developments in rhythm and meter that occurred in the early fourteenth century.

1. Syncopation became more common. 2. Beats could be in groups of two or three. 3. Composers could precisely notate many different rhythmic patterns.

Select all that apply Select all the characteristics of melody in Gregorian chant

1. The melodies have no meter. 2. The melody flows within a narrow range of pitches. 3. The pitch moves in stepwise fashion.

Select all that apply Select all the statements that describe the form and rhythm of Ecco la primavera by Landini.

1. The song contains two sections presented in A BB AA form. 2. The song has much syncopation. 3. The song is rhythmically vigorous.

Select all the statements that describe the form and rhythm of Ecco la primavera by Landini.

1. The song contains two sections presented in A BB AA form. 2. The song is rhythmically vigorous. 3. The song has much syncopation.

Select all that apply Select all the statements that describe the Agnus Dei from Machaut's Notre Dame Mass.

1. The text has two identical stanzas followed by a stanza that ends with "Grant us peace" instead of "Have mercy upon us." 2. It has three musical sections thought to represent the Trinity.

Select all that apply Select all the characteristics of troubadour (trouvère) songs.

1. They often concerned love for an unattainable noble woman. 2. They sometimes dealt with political satire.

Select all the descriptions about wandering minstrels, or jongleurs.

1. They performed in castles, taverns, and town squares. 2. They carried news with them wherever they went.

Select all that apply Select all the statements that describe Gregorian chants.

1. They were originally passed along as part of an oral tradition. 2. They were the official music of the Catholic church for more than one thousand years.

Select all that apply Select all the statements that describe the poet-composers known as troubadours and trouvères.

1. Trouvères lived in northern France and wrote in Old French. 2. Troubadours lived in southern France and wrote in the Provençal language.

Alleluia: Nativitas, by Perotin (1st 17 secs) Listen to the audio clip. What is the term for the chant used as the preexisting melody?

Cantus firmus

Select all that apply Select all the forms of entertainment provided by wandering minstrels.

Dance Stories Acrobatics

Select all that apply Select all the instruments that minstrels usually played for dances.

Fiddle Lute Harp

Where did the composer Francesco Landini work much of his life?

Florence

Which statement applies to Gregorian chant?

Gregorian chant developed as a way of enhancing religious services, including prayers and rituals.

How did Machaut reflect the changes and secularization of the fourteenth century?

He wrote both religious music and secular love songs.

What is the theme of Machaut's song, Puis qu'en oublio sui de vous?

His disappointment after being forgotten by the young woman he loved

How does a church mode differ from major and minor scales?

It has a different pattern of whole and half steps.

Listen to the audio clip. Which of the following statements best describes this music by Hildegard of Bingen?

It is a monophonic chant for women's voices with a string drone added (making the full texture homophonic).

LISTEN: Alleluia: Vidimus stellam (1st 34 secs) Listen to the audio clip. Which of the following statements best describes the music in this audio recording?

It is the word alleluia sung to the free rhythm of Gregorian chant.

Select all that apply Select the five texts (sung prayers) of the mass ordinary.

Kyrie Credo Sanctus Gloria Agnus Dei

Which statement describes the singing of monks in the Middle Ages?

Monks sang as part of their duties and were required to perform with skill

Which sacred work was composed by Machaut?

Notre Dame Mass

During the Middle Ages, a musician in a monastery or cathedral would do which of the following?

Sing liturgy

Estampie (1st 29 secs) Listen to the audio clip. What is the music in this recording?

The accompaniment to an estampie, a type of medieval dance

Which description applies to Guillaume de Machaut's Notre Dame Mass?

The first known polyphonic setting of the complete mass ordinary by a known composer

Paris was the home of which of the following institution that played a major role in the development of music in the later Middle Ages?

The school of Notre Dame

Agnus Dei (0.37 secs) Listen to the audio clip. Which of the following best describes the music in this selection from Machaut's Notre Dame Mass?

There are four voices. One of the two lower voices is the tenor and has the chant. The two higher voices have more active, syncopated rhythms.

Who performed secular music in the Middle Ages?

Troubadours and trouvères

True or false: Most of the Gregorian-chant melodies known today were created during the Middle Ages.

True

True or false: Women troubadours existed who wrote songs that were sung to men from the perspective of a woman.

True

Does the Alleluia: Nativitas have a discernible meter, and if so, how would we notate it today?

Yes, the meter uses a 6-beat pattern, or 6/8.

Gregorian chant and certain other folk songs in Western music use scales called ______ modes.

church

An important innovation at the school of Notre Dame between 1170 and 1200 was the use of ______ rhythm.

measured

Most troubadour songs that have survived in music notation show only the ______ of the song.

melody

The development of ______ music in the fourteenth century reflected the changing attitudes towards religion, everyday pursuits and pastoral life.

secular