Medieval Music
Musicians
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Bards
Jongleurs
Minstrels
Troubadours
Minnesinger
Instruments
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Vielle (fiddle)
Lute (guitar)
Hurdy-gurdy
Flute
Pipe
Portative Organ
Hurdy Gurdy
Medieval Music
Dark Ages
• 600 to 1000 CE
• Plainchant
• Monophonic
• Orally transmitted
• Anonymous
High Middle Ages
• 1000 to 1400 CE
• Organum
• Polyphonic
• Musical Notation
• Composers
Organum
• Religious music
• Two or more voices (Polyphonic)
• Plainchant is heard as one voice (God)
– Tenore, lower voice
• Second voice decorates the first (Man)
– Duplum, higher voice
Notre Dame Polyphony
• First polyphony read from notation
• Elaborate, more sophisticated style to go
with the new Gothic cathedrals
Notre Dame Polyphony
Perotin – Alleluya (Navititas)
What to listen for:
• Distinct upper and lower voices
• Melismatic (many notes)
• Melody is exchanged between upper
voices
Perotin – Alleluya (Navititas)
Notre Dame Polyphony
Machaut – Messe de Notre Dame
• Guillaume de Machaut was the most
important composer of the 14th century
• Supported by royal patrons, allowing him
to focus on composition
Machaut – Messe de Notre Dame
Pilgrimage Songs
• Songs that are religious in subject
matter and would be played/sung on
pilgrimages.
Non e gran causa
• Pilgrimage song
• A tale of a pilgrim who sins and then
meets the Devil on the road to Santiago
• The sinner is being watched over by
Mary
Dance Music
The Rise of Courtly Culture
• The nobility of southern France created
an elaborate society centered on the
court
• Music was an important activity of
these courts
• The aristocracy took part in the
performance and composition of
secular works.
La scesa de’ Pastori dal Monte
(Descent of the Shepard from the Hill)
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Italian
Composed by Andrea Ansalone
Dancers perform while musicians play
As new sections of instruments join the
theme, dancers appear on stage as new
characters (Dryads, Satyrs, Apes, etc.)
Love Song
• One of the most popular forms of music
during the Middle Ages.
• Troubadours would sing these songs in
the hope of earning:
– a place to spend the night
– the favor of a lady
– or both
Tempus est iocundum
(This is the joyful time)
• From The Carmina Burana
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“Songs of Beuren”
Written in the 13th Century
Discovered in 1803
Over 200 songs
• Lovesick Troubadour
• Uncontrollable passion
Tempus est iocundum