Medieval !
and !
Renaissance Music
500 - 1600 Life in the Middle Ages
Peasant Male, Peasant Female, Noble-Woman,
Nobleman, Monk, Nun
Life in the Middle Ages: Homes
 
 
Most homes were
damp, cold, and dark.
Windows were very
small to allow only
small amounts of light.
 
 
Prevents theft as well.
Most homes only had
one or two rooms.
Life in the Middle Ages: Homes
 
Wealthy homes were generally larger and highly
decorated with blankets and throws.
 
Includes many colors.
Stop and Discuss
  Turn
to a neighbor and discuss the
differences between the poor’s and
wealthy’s homes and clothing.
  You
have 1 minute to discuss.
Life in the Middle Ages:
Government
 
Small communities were ruled by a King or a
Lord.
Stop and Discuss
  Turn
to a neighbor, describe Feudalism and
tell why it was important.
  You
have 2 minutes to discuss.
Life in the Middle Ages
Exploration
Religion and Education
Time of War
Art
and Literature
Time of War
Crusades: The crusades lasted from the 11th to 13th
centuries. It was a religious war between the European Christians and the Middle Eastern Moslems. The Europeans eventually failed to win what they termed the “Holy Lands.”
Feudalism: A system of hierarchy during the Middle Ages. The king lent land to noblemen. In return, the noblemen supplied knights for battle. The knights, servants, and peasants gave loyalty to the lords.
Exploration
Marco Polo
1271-1275 Traveled from Europe to China and back. He
opened up trade with China
for silk, spices, and new ideas.
Christopher Columbus
1492
Traveled to the “New World.”
Churches and Universities
•  Early, the church was the center for learning.
•  Priests, monks, and nuns were among the only people who could read.
•  Later, universities were founded. They taught
religion, law, medicine, and the arts.
Notre Dame Cathedral Arts
and
Literature
Vin
a
d
o
eonard
L
ci
Mich
alang
Raphael
elo
Arts and Literature
 
 
Chaucer wrote the famous Canterbury Tales.
William Shakespeare wrote famous works like
Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.
Medieval Music !
500 - 1450
Sacred: Music composed for the church
•  Gregorian Chant / Plainchant
•  Polyphony
•  Motet
•  Canon / Round
Secular: Non-church (popular) music
•  Music of the troubadours
•  Music of the jongleurs
Sacred Music
Gregorian Chant
•  Also known as Plainchant. •  Named after Pope Gregory I
•  Very simple songs.
•  A single line melody
•  No accompaniment
•  Sung by men’s choirs or soloists
•  No instruments
•  Sung in Latin
•  Music and rhythm were simple. Almost as if the the singer was speaking the words.
Sacred Music
Polyphony: Musicians began singing different parts
instead of everyone singing the same notes.
Motet: A short religious piece that might have plainchant
for one line, a love song in another part and a hymn for a third. The different parts can even be sung in different languages.
Canon: Singers perform the same music but come in at different times.
Secular Music
Troubadour: Members of nobility, many were knights. They composed musical poems about courtly love
knightly adventures, and chivalry but often left the performance of their works to less
aristocratic musicians.
Jongleur: Working musicians. They wandered from town
to town. They sang, played instruments, danced, juggled, and performed magic tricks.
Exit Slip
  Put
your name on and complete the “Exit
Slip” that is being passed out to you now.
Make sure you answer the question
completely….
  “What is the difference between sacred and
secular music?”
  Hand the slip in when you are finished.
Medieval Composers
Leonin
1150’s - 1201?
He was choirmaster of the Cathedral
of Notre Dame in the 1100’s.
He composed important choral works for the entire church year.
Magnus Liber - Alleluya
Medieval Composers
Perotin
1200 - ?
He was a choirmaster at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in the 1200’s.
He held the position of choirmaster after Leonin.
He is credited with inventing the motet.
Viderunt omnes
Medieval Composers
Hildegard Von Bingen
1098 - 1179 She was elected a Magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136.
Ordo Virtutum
She founded monasteries, wrote theological, botanical and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, and poems.
She wrote over 100 letters, 70 poems, and 9 books. She composed 72 songs.
Medieval Composers
Guillaume de Machaut
1305-1377
He was a French composer who worked at the age of twenty for a warrior king.
He traveled much of his life around Europe, accompanying the king to military battles.
At the time of his death, he was considered
one of the most important religious leaders
of his time. In fact, he composed one
of the oldest surviving masses written
in four parts.
He is best-known for his secular music.
Messe de Notre Dame
1450-1600
The word Renaissance means “rebirth.”
Merchants and professionals began to gather wealth. With their leisure time, they began to broaden their
interests beyond church music and art. This resulted in
the “rebirth” of interest in the values of Greek and Roman
cultures.
Renaissance Music
Changes in the Renaissance Period…
Composers began writing both sacred and secular music.
Kings and lords began employing court musicians.
Books began to be printed. By 1476, books of music began being printed. Anyone who could read them could now play the music.
Because of the improvements to instruments, composers began writing music for instruments only.
Renaissance Music
New popular form of music…
Madrigals:
vocal works about great emotions such as
love and despair. Madrigals were usually
unaccompanied vocal works with four or five parts.
Music of the Renaissance began using chordal harmony.
It began sounding more like the music of today.
Renaissance Composers
Josquin des Prez
1440-1521
A French composer who began his career as a singer in a cathedral when he was 19 years old.
He was considered one of the best composers
of the time. He composed music that used chords and harmonies that made it sound more
like the music of today.
Ave Maria
Renaissance Composers
Giovanni da Palestrina
1526-1594
An Italian composer who spent his
entire career in Rome, working for
The Catholic Church.
He is considered one of the great masters of the Renaissance style.
He composed 104 masses, 373 motets,
and many religious madrigals. He also composed almost 100 secular madrigals.
Motet Hodie Christus Natus Est
Renaissance Composers
Thomas Morley
1557-1602
He was an English composer.
He composed many madrigals about love and nature.
Hark Alleluia
Renaissance Composers
William Byrd
1539/40-1623
He was an English composer of the late Renaissance.
He is considered to be one of the great masters
of the Renaissance. Some consider him the greatest English composer of all time.
He worked in the Royal Chapel of Queen Elizabeth.
Cantiones Sacrae
Medieval and Renaissance
Instruments
Lute
Crumhorn
Recorder
Medieval and Renaissance
Instruments
Sackbut
Viol
Serpent
Stop and Discuss
  Turn
to a neighbor and discuss how the
Medieval and Renaissance instruments are
similar and different from today’s
instruments.
  You have 2 minutes to discuss.
Exit Slip
  Put
your name on and complete the “Exit
Slip” that is being passed out to you now.
Make sure you answer the question
completely….
  What does the word “Renaissance” mean
and what are 2 changes that occurred
during this time period?”
  Hand the slip in when you are finished.
History of Music Notation
600’s - Church worried that music would be lost
because there was no method of music notation.
Accent Marks ( / \ ^ )
They were the first form of notation. They told the singer that the music went
up or down. They were meant to help
the musician remember the melody but Neumes they did not give exact information. They were marks at particular The singer
needed to know the music first.
heights over the words of the
song. They told the singer which pitch to
sing. However, they were not written on a
staff so they did not give exact pitch.
History of Music Notation
Guido d’Arezzo
995-1050
He was an Italian monk and music teacher.
He invented the music staff, which showed the specific pitches of notes.
He created the symbols for flats and natural notes. History of Music Notation
By 1200’s Everyone began using the 5 line staff.
By about 1400 The modern system of note and rest
lengths became standard.
1500’s
Bar lines, time signatures, tempo marks, and sharps were created. By 1750
Notation was fully developed.
Stop and Discuss
  Turn
to a neighbor and describe the
development of music notation. Include
names, dates, definitions, etc.
  You
have 5 minutes to discuss.