Music Appreciation 202
Assignment #4 Medieval and Renaissance Music Styles (15 pts.)
Name ________________________
Class Time ____________________
Answer the following questions about the following pieces. If specified, answer in complete sentences. Do not copy from the
textbook. Put answers in your own words.
Josquin Desprez - Ave Maria…Virgo Serena Disc 1: Track 56-58 &
Guillaume de Machaut - Agnus Dei Disc1: Track 53-56
Part One (4 pts.)
1. Describe Ave Maria 2 DIFFERENT facts about how the music sounds. If one of your facts is not true for ALL the music from
beginning to end, then try to describe where your fact occurs in the music. (Use Track numbers if necessary.) USE COMPLETE
SENTENCES and BE SPECIFIC. Facts that are too general or vague will not receive points.
FACT #1
FACT #2
2. Give 2 feelings, value judgments, and/or opinions about Ave Maria . If one of your feelings is not true for ALL the music from
beginning to end, then try to describe where your fact occurs in the music. (Use Track numbers if necessary.) Remember to
qualify these statements by referring to yourself (e.g. The music sounded happy to me. OR The music made me feel happy.)
USE COMPLETE SENTENCES and BE SPECIFIC.
FEELING #1
FEELING #2
Part Two (11 pts.) Short answer. Read textbook pp. 65-80.
1. Ave Maria uses words. Read the translation in the textbook. (a)What language is this text? AND (b) Who is the Virgin Mary that
the text talks about? (i.e. What historical figure is her son?)
2. Where was this music performed originally and for what purpose?
3. Is Ave Maria a motet (see p. 78) or part of a mass? Define the term that you choose (either motet or mass).
4. Most sacred Renaissance music, like Ave Maria, features polyphonic music for voices. Listen to the beginning of Ave Maria
again. What special type of polyphonic texture do you hear in track #56 (the first track of this piece)?
5. Listen to track #57. During this track Josquin changes the texture of the music. How does it change and what is this special type
of polyphonic texture called?
6. Josquin also changes the meter and tempo at track #57 from a slow duple (grouping of 2 beats) to a faster triple (grouping of 3
beats). What effect does the change in texture and meter have on YOU (the listener)? Why do YOU think that Josquin changed
the texture and meter at this point in the piece?
7. Listen again to Guillaume de Machaut's Agnus Dei from the Late Middle Ages, then answer the following questions comparing it
to Josquin's Ave Maria from the Renaissance. Put a check or an “X” in the correct box after the question to specify your answer.
Agnus
Dei
Melody
Rhythm
Timbre
Harmony
Texture
Which piece features longer melodies with a larger pitch range (more higher and lower notes) and archlike shapes?
Which piece features melodies with a smaller pitch range and angular and more syncopated rhythms?
Which piece uses MORE syncopations and LESS speech-like (gently flowing) rhythms?
Both pieces are written for a cappella voices, but which piece uses a chorus of mixed (men and women's
voices)?
Which uses a small group of singers (1 person on a part) in the same pitch range?
Which piece has more dissonance?
Which piece features imitative polyphony?
Which piece features NON-imitative polyphony?
Ave
Maria