Middle Ages and Renaissance Worldview, Music

Medieval World: Church is the center of life and thought Music, sacred and secular, is mostly monophonic (monophony). Terms: reciting tone, melisma, syllabic, plainchant, Divine Office Listening example: Anonymous, In Paradisum, 9 th century Listening example: Hildegard of Bingen, Columba aspexit, 12 th century

Painting: Madonna and Child Enthroned, c. 1270, Margaritone di Arezzo c ). For a painting in the 13 th century, this painting, with its stylized, two-dimensional character, is remarkably like Byzantine art from earlier times.

Medieval Court Music Secular composers for the voice: Troubadours, S. France Trouveres, North France Minnesingers Germany Listening Example: Bernard de Ventadorn, La dousa votz, 12 th century, troubadour

Divine Office Part of the liturgy A series of 8 daily church services, approx. 3 hours apart, in which the Psalms were sung. Unaccompanied Plainchant (at least in the Middle Ages)

The Mass Kyrie—a sung simple prayer 3-part, or ternary, form Gloria—a long hymn Credo—a recitation of beliefs Sanctus—a shorter hymn Agnus Dei—a sung simple prayer

Organum The addition of another voice to monophonic plainchant, usually at perfect interval such as the fourth or fifth, in parallel motion. Organum is an early form of polyphony Example: Perotin, Alleluia, Diffusa est gratia c (p. 58 textbook; CD 1:4 of 6-CD set).

The early motet After 1200, music starts to break away from a church-only focus. Motet: from the French word “mot” for the many words in the upper voices. Polyphonic. A fragment of plainchant is repeated many times in the lowest voice. Other voice parts layer in over top, each with its own words, many secular. Isorhythm—a short rhythmic pattern which is repeated many times, but on different pitches.

Ars Nova The complex polyphony of the late Medieval period is described as the “new art” (ars nova) of the fourteenth century. The motet continues to develop as an important genre. Organum is now considered to be “ancient art” (ars antiqua).

In music, the ars nova broke from the use of plainchant and organum (the ars antigua), and moved to more complex polyphonic forms. Similarly, Giotto Giotto di Bondone (1266 or to 1337) broke from the Byzantine tradition of stylized, two-dimension icons, moving toward a more representation style of painting.

Late Medieval Polyphony Listening Ex. Guillaume de Machaut (c ), Chanson, Dame de qui toute me joie vient, 14 th century. Machaut was a leading composer of the ars nova period in non- imitative polyphony Form: a a b (binary); 3 stanzas, same music for first two, new music for third stanza melismatic

Renaissance Music: Worldview: while the Church is still highly influential, discoveries and new developments in the arts and sciences Composers use the Mass in new ways, with paraphrase, and imitative polyphony The melodies paraphrased in the Mass could be sacred, from a hymn, or borrowed from secular tunes. Chant becomes the main melody. Homophony emphasizes the text

The Magdalen, portrait (c. 1525) by Bernardino Luini, c This portrait reflects the Renaissance concern with the individual

Renaissance Music, cont. Listening examples: Guillaume Dufay (c ), 15 th century, Ave Maris Stella; stanzas of plainchant alternate with homophony Josquin Depres (c ), Kyrie from the Pange Lingua Mass. Early 16th century—early high Renaissance. 3-part form due to the text. This is a parody mass (uses paraphrase of an existing song)

Portrait of a Humanist (c. 1520), by Sebastiano del Piombo ( ), a painter of the high Renaissance

(Late) High Renaissance Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, ( ) Listening Ex. Gloria from the Pope Marcellus Mass: homophony Listening ex. Thomas Weelkes, (c ), madrigal, As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending: secular, sections of homophony alternate with sections of imitative polyphony, word painting