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Objectives

At the end of this section, students will be able to:

  • Relate the social, cultural, and political background during the Medieval period (500-1450) to the function of music during this time.
  • Characterize the music of the early Christian church, i.e., Gregorian chant.
  • Describe the difference between the Proper and the Ordinary of the Mass.
  • Examine the influence of the Cathedral of Notre Dame as a center for organum in medieval music.
  • Describe the differences between troubadours and trouveres in medieval secular music.
  • Trace the rise of secular polyphonic chansons set to fixed text forms (rondeau, ballade, virelai) in the French Ars nova.
  • Define and classify the instrumental music of the medieval period.
  • Trace the four major developments that took place in Western music during the Middle Ages: the development of pitch and rhythmic notation; the transition from monophony to polyphony; the initial stages of regularly metered music; and the development of the motet and instrumental music.

    • Church Music in the Middle Ages (500-1450)

    Boethius

    Boethius

    Gregorian chant represents the continuing musical tradition of the Catholic Church. In legend at least, the regularization of Christian chant has been consistently attributed to the 6th century Pope St. Gregory the Great.

    Gregorian chant is, in fact, the form of plainchant that largely, but not entirely, replaced local forms of chant during the Middle Ages. Manuscript sources from the 10th and 11th centuries are preserved, but these are clearly part of an earlier tradition. In popular usage, the term Gregorian chant is generally acceptable to describe the official chant of the Church. This chant has musical value and interest in itself.

    However, since much of the liturgical music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was based on melodies drawn from this body of music, its historical musical importance is immeasurable. In later centuries, the 19th century in particular, the connotations of elements of the chant continued as part of the common fund of music from which composers drew inspiration. For example, the opening notes of the chant for the Dies irae (Day of Wrath) from the Requiem Mass, provided the thematic allusion for Liszt's Totentanz and an ideé fixe for Rachmaninoff.

    Composer: Anonymous

    • "Quem Quaeritis"

    Composer: Hildegard von Bingen

    • "O Viridissima Virga"

    "O viridissima virga" Hildegard of Bingen

    Composer: Anonymous

    • "Crux Fidelis"

    Gregorian chant is monophonic, modal, and in free rhythm. It has a single melodic line, without harmonic or polyphonic elements, and makes use of the eight church mode scales represented by the white notes of the modern keyboard starting on D (Dorian mode), E (Phrygian mode), F (Lydian mode) and G (Mixolydian mode), the names drawn from the different ancient Greek modes. The rhythm of the chant follows that of the words. It is possible to classify types of chant very simply as syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic. Syllabic chant, as typically represented in the musical settings of the Psalms, takes one note to a syllable. Often used in the hymns of Gregorian chant, neumatic chant may use groups of from two to four notes to a syllable, whereas melismatic chant indicates the use of a large group of notes for one syllable, as found in the florid music for the alleluias of the liturgy.

    Gregorian chant is monophonic, modal and in free rhythm...

    Musical Forms of Gregorian Chant

    The Proper of the Mass

    The chants of the Proper of the Mass are those that differ from day to day, according to the season or the saint or event to be celebrated.

    The Introit

    The Introit accompanies the entrance procession of the celebrant and his ministers.

    Universal Man

    Universal Man

    by Hidegard von Bingen

    The Gradual

    The Gradual is one of the reading responses. It is constructed from a form of psalmody with refrain. Originally, the congregation responded with a simple formula to a soloist who sang the verses of the psalm one by one. However, due to the musical enrichment, the less literary texts were used during the 5th and the 6th century.

    The Alleluia

    The literal translation of this is Hebrew word is "Praise the Lord." Originally, this was a chant reserved for Easter day. However, it is now used in weekly celebrations of the Resurrection.

    The Offertory

    This is an accompaniment to the ceremonies.

    The Communion

    This chant accompanies the procession of distribution communion.

    Composer: Aurora Surgit

    • "Gregorian Chant for the Dead: Prex eucharistica"

    "Prex eucharistica"Anonymous

    The Ordinary of the Mass

    These are chants whose texts are fixed, regardless of the day or feast.

    Kyrie

    The Kyrie acclaims the Lord and implores his mercy. This chant is placed at the beginning of the Mass to prepare the congregation for the celebration.

    Composer: Guillaume Dufay

    • "Missa L'homme armé: Kyrie"

    "Kyrie"Guillaume Dufay: Kyrie from Missa l homme armé ("The Armed Man")

    Gloria

    This hymn is believed to date from as early as the second century. Originally, the Gloria chant was used only at the midnight Mass on Christmas. However, today, it is used for the great feasts of the year and on Sundays.

    Credo

    The Credo is the main statement of faith of the congregation—the belief in one God embodied in the Nicene Creed first formulated in AD 325. The Credo was adopted as a legitimate part of the service by the Church of Rome in 1014. Perhaps because of its length (the longest in the mass), it is usually recited rather than sung. In musical settings, however, it is customary for the first line of the Credo to be intoned by the celebrant alone (I believe in one God), or by a soloist, and for the congregation to join in with the second line (Omnipotent Father).

    Sanctus

    The Sanctus is usually sung at the end of the prayer where the bread and wine are consecrated. It is the part of the mass where the worshippers join with the angels in praise of God with the words "Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus," as in the "Hymn of the Seraphim" reportedly heard in the Temple of Jerusalem by the prophet Isaiah. Its purpose is to invite the Church on earth to join in the liturgy of heaven.

    Agnus Dei

    The Agnus Dei, the invocation to the Lamb of God, is the chant that accompanies the rite of consecration and breaking of the bread, i.e., the holy Host. This breaking precedes its distribution at the communion of the faithful. The text in english says:
    Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
    Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
    Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

    Composer: Guillaume de Machaut

    • "Notre Dame Mass: Agnus Dei"

    "Agnus Dei"Guillaume de Machaut: Agnus Dei from La Messe de Nostre Dame ("The Mass of Notre Dame")

    Transition to a New Era (Beginning of the 15th Century)

    In the early 1400s, two new schools of composition emerged as the spiritual predecessors of Renaissance music. The first school was established in England, which, before this point, had been somewhat musically isolated. The second school was in the Burgundy region of France.

    England

    English composers in the Middle Ages were geographically separated from the continental music of Machaut and the Notre Dame School. As a result, they developed a style that incorporated folk music influences. They had a stronger interest than their continental peers in the harmonic implications of putting two melodies together, and they used intervals of 3rds and 6ths more freely in their music. These intervals are the same as those used to create the chords we hear in music today. (Medieval music often sounds foreign to our ears because the chords contain intervals that are no longer used.) The Middle Ages in England gave us the carol, a monophonic dance form that, over time, evolved into a polyphonic religious poem. The carol often combines English text with Latin verse, as in the carol, There is no Rose. It is this later incarnation of the carol that we still associate with Christmas music today.

    The principal composer of English music at this time was John Dunstable (c.1390-1453). His harmonic style provided a bridge between the abstract musical approach of the Middle Ages and the more sensuous style that followed, which sought to find clarity through harmony. His surviving compositions number about 60 and include motets, Mass settings, and secular songs.

    Composer: Anonymous

    • "There is no Rose"

    Burgundy

    Besides being known for great wine, the Burgundy region of France was the home of Guillaume Dufay (c.1398-1474) and Gilles Binchois (c.1400-1460), the two most important transitional composers on the continent. The Dukes of Burgundy, who in fact supported Dufay and Binchois, were avid patrons of the arts, and provided protection for numerous artists among which was the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (c.1390-1441).

    Dufay is recognized as one of the greatest sacred music composers of the early 15th century. Works such as his Missa l'homme armé, from which comes this Kyrie, are masterpieces of late medieval sacred music. Both Dufay and Binchois also excelled in the composition of chansons, French secular songs that remained popular well into the Renaissance. Dufay's numerous chansons include Par droit je puis bien complaindre ("I have the right to complain").

    Composer: Guillaume Dufay

    • "Par droit je puis bien complaindre"

    A note on music treatises

    The invention of polyphony is generally regarded as the most significant event in the history of Western music. With it, harmonic organization became a major concern for musicians and theorists. Harmony studies the organization and musical "laws" that govern sounds produced at the same time.

    Consonance and Dissonance

    Harmony is mainly concerned with the musical concepts of consonance and dissonance with which even the early theorists were preoccupied.

    Treatises

    Music treatises are the works produced by the theorists that try to explain and codify the music practices brought about by composers and performers of their time. Old music treatises are important to us because often they reveal insightful details about the nature and function of music, how music was composed, and, therefore, how it was performed during a certain period. This allows musicologists to try to reconstruct how music must have sounded to contemporary ears.

    Early Theorists

    Chief among early theorists are:

    • Anicius Boethius (c.480-524), who seems to have been familiar with the concepts of consonance and dissonance.
    • Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, (c.490-c.585), who wrote Instituiones musicae (Music Instruction).
    • Hucbald (c.840-930) who wrote De harmonica institutione (Concerning Harmonic Instruction), in which he explains the theoretical basis for organum, which, in turn, originated polyphony.

    Examples for Medieval Period Listening Test

    1. Anonymous – Saltarello

    Composer: Anonymous

    • "Saltarello No. 1"

    2. Anonymous – There is no rose

    Composer: Anonymous

    • "There is no Rose"

    3. Anonymous – Ai tal domna

    Composer: Anonymous

    • "Ai tal domna"

    4. Dufay – Kyrie from Missa l'homme armé

    Composer: Guillaume Dufay

    • "Missa L'homme armé: Kyrie"

    5. Dufay – Par droit je puis bien complaindre

    Composer: Guillaume Dufay

    • "Par droit je puis bien complaindre"

    6. Machaut – Sans cuer dolens

    Composer: Guillaume de Machaut

    • "Sans cuer dolens"

    7. Machaut – Agnus Dei from Missa de Notre Dame

    Composer: Guillaume de Machaut

    • "Notre Dame Mass: Agnus Dei" [ 00:19-01:07 ]00:49

    8. Machaut – Bel Fiore Dança

    Composer: Guillaume de Machaut

    • "Bel Fiore Dança" [ 01:41-02:24 ]00:43

    9. Machaut – Puis qu' en oubli

    Composer: Guillaume de Machaut

    • "Rondeau 18: Puis qu'en Oubli"

    10. von Bingen – Viridissima Virga

    Composer: Hildegard von Bingen

    • "O Viridissima Virga" [ 02:31-03:14 ]00:44

    "When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit."
    "And Music is an art which likes people to laugh and sing and dance. It cares nothing for melancholy, nor for a man who sorrows over what is of no importance, but ignores, instead, such folk. It brings joy everywhere it's present; it comforts the disconsolate, and just hearing it makes people rejoice."
    Francesco Landini is the best-represented composer in the Squarcialupi Codex