Music of the Middle Ages

Monophonic Music Single voice music Plain song Gregorian Chant

Polyphonic Music More than one melody voice Introduced in the later Medieval Ages Liturgical Secular

Melismatic Music Music sung using one syllable over various ranges Melismatic example

Gregorian Chant Early plainsong usually sung by monks in the church Standardized after the fall of the roman Empire by Pope Gregory Sacred Music

Secular Music Music sung or played for non-sacred gatherings Troubadours/Minstrels –traveling musicians

Liturgical Music Music written for and performed in a church setting, usually accompanying the church mass order “Related to the Church”

Hildegard von Bingen As the 10 th child in her family she was dedicated to the church Wrote primarily for the female voice Wrote an encyclopedia of herbal medicines Claimed to have mystical powers and that God spoke to her. Highly sought after by men in matters of the church and state.

Guillame De Machut Known as an “ARS Nova” composer and poet respected in France, Italy, and Spain Wrote polyphonic music for BOTH secular and liturgical settings “Messe de Nostre Dame” Influenced the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the “Canterbury Tales”

John Dunstable Most of his compositions were sacred in nature Unified the church mass by basing the mass on the same plainsong Considered the musician who transitioned the medieval era into the renaissance Noted astronomer and mathematician

Guillame Dufay Inaugurated the Renaissance era of music Considered the most cosmopolitan of composers Was in the employ of 2 Papal Choirs; Pope Martin V and Pope Eugene IV