Medieval and
Renaissance Music
Life in Middle Ages 467-1400
• Life was tough in Middle
Ages. Usually many
people shared small
homes that were cold,
damp, and very dark.
People used fires to heat
their homes. There were
few good medicines, and
people did not eat healthy
foods. Bread and water
were often all a poor
family had to eat.
• Society was divided into
those who had land,
power, and money and
those who served them.
Everything in life
depended on which
level society a person
belonged to. Rich
people including Kings
and Nobility wore
clothes made out of
expensive fabric and
traveled in carriages.
Poor people made
clothes of course fabric
and walked.
Medieval Music 467-1400
• The medieval period lasted
nearly 1000 years so there
were many changes in
musical styles. The music
written in the 500s is quite
different than of the
1300s. In the beginning of
the Middle Ages, music
was performed mostly at
church services.
Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris,
France completed in 1345 was
built by peasants who dragged the
stones one by one to the site.
Gregorian Chants
• Early church music was called plainchant which had a
single melody line. Everyone sang the same notes.
No instruments played as accompaniment. Pope
Gregory I and his assistants compiled chants used for
church services and this music became known as
Gregorian Chant.
The Organ
• The organ, a keyboard instrument in which bellows
force air through pipes to produce sound, was the
primary instrument played in churches. Some organs
were very large and many men were needed to push
the bellows together to force enough air through the
enormous pipes to create music.
Troubadours
• Secular (non-religious)
music was developing
during the Middle Ages as
well.
• In the 11th century
musicians call troubadours
began to travel from town
to town. They usually
played instruments to
accompany their singing.
Chivalry
• Many stories and songs were written about
chivalry and love.
• Knights wrote poems about their love for
beautiful ladies and promised to perform
great deeds in their honor. The music of the
troubadours was based on these ideas.
The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history,
peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have
been an outbreak of bubonic plague. The Black Death is estimated to
have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's
population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million
in 1400. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague
returned at various times, resulting in a larger number of deaths, until it
left Europe in the 19th century.
Life in the Renaissance 1400-1600
The Renaissance was an
explosion of new ideas and
advancements in art,
architecture, science and
philosophy. The word
“Renaissance” is French for
rebirth.
Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica,
Rome 1506
Renaissance Life
• People started to earn more
money and become richer
and Christopher Columbus
sailed to America.
• During the Renaissance
music notation became
more standardized like the
notation we use today.
Johannes Guttenberg
invented the printing press
which meant that books and
music could be distributed
throughout Europe.
William Shakespeare 1564-1616
• William Shakespeare,
English poet, dramatist,
and actor, often called
the English national poet,
is widely considered the
greatest dramatist of all
time. Some of his
famous plays are Romeo
and Juliet, The Taming of
the Shrew and A
Midsummer’s Night
Dream.
Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519
• Leonardo Da Vinci was
a great artist, but he
became famous
because he was able to
do so many other
things, too. He was an
architect, a musician,
sculptor, scientist,
inventor and
mathematician.
Mona Lisa
• Leonardo’s most famous
painting is the Mona Lisa.
People have been talking
about the mysterious look
in the lady has--especially
her smile.
• No matter where you stand
the Mona Lisa is always
looking right in your eyes.
Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475-1564
• Michelangelo was a master of
architecture, painting, and
poetry. His favorite art was
making statues of people.
• When he was about 16 he
went to study at a new school
that was only for sculptors. His
most famous sculpture is
David, ready to fight Goliath.
Sistine Chapel
• Pope Julius asked Michelangelo to paint the
large ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He
painted many scenes from the Bible. After
four years he finished the ceiling. It turned
out to be one of the most wonderful paintings
in the history of art.
Renaissance Music 1400-1600
• Music with many
voices (this means
different lines of
music) was very
popular.
• During the
Renaissance
composers began
writing more music
for instruments and
for the first time
wrote pieces for
instruments alone.
Polyphony
• Music in which there are two different
melodies that are played or sung at the same
time.
• Both lines are equally important—one is not
just the accompaniment for the other
• Gloria by Josquin is an example of polyphonic
music of the Renaissance which could be very
complex and intricate, often obscuring the
words and the meaning of the text.
Lute
During the Renaissance
the lute held the highest
respect of all musical
instruments. The
repertoire for this courtly
instrument is vast. The
lute was an ideal
accompaniment for voice
and other soft
instruments, and the
most eloquent of all solo
instruments.
Dulcimer
• The dulcimer
had a
trapizoidal
soundbox and
was played by
striking the
strings with
hammers.
Recorder
• The recorder is an actual instrument that
has been around for more than 400
hundred years. The recorder that we play
is based on the recorder from this period
in time.
• These instruments were considered the
sophisticated flutes of the time, but were
made out of wood.
• By the 1400's, there were eight sizes
recorders - great bass, quint bass, bass,
tenor, alto, soprano,
sopranino. Recorders are members of
the woodwind family. Like the flute,
recorders don't have a reed.