Medieval and Renaissance
Music
Learning Intentions/Success
Criteria
Today we will…
• Examine music from the
Renaissance period
• Develop our
understanding of music
theory
We will know if we have
been successful if we can…
• Identify and describe the
following concepts:
Plainchant, Mass,
Contrapuntal, Modal,
Irregular time, Melisma,
Cadence, Canon, A
cappella, Augmentation
and Diminution
• Can ridentify musical
signs and symbols
Task 1
• Make a list of the following concepts and
write an appropriate definition for each
during the lesson.
Plainchant, Mass, Contrapuntal, Modal,
Irregular time, Melisma, Cadence, Canon, A
cappella, Augmentation and Diminution
Medieval Period
Up to 1450
• The earliest music we know. Much of the
music was not written down.
• Monophonic texture.
• Use of modes (dorian, lydian, etc).
• Pattern of the Latin words used as the
rhythm.
Medieval Music
• During the Medieval period most music was not
written down. Composers who did write their
music down usually worked for the Catholic
Church. The Church could afford to buy the
materials the composers would need to write
music. People outside the Church were too poor
to buy what was needed to compose music.
• Music notation appeared around the year 900, but
it only showed the pitch. It didn't tell you anything
about the rhythm. A few hundred years would
pass before the notes showed the rhythm.
Pope Gregory I
• As music became more complicated,
someone needed to make up some rules for
writing down music. That person was Pope
Gregory I.
• Pope Gregory l declared that music be
standardized. That means that musicians
and composers had to use the same rules
when writing and performing their
music. This music can still be heard
today. It is called Gregorian chant.
Plainchant
Also known as Plainsong and
Gregorian chant. Unaccompanied
melody set to words of the Roman
Catholic liturgy, such as the Mass.
Plainchants are modal and have no
regular metre. They follow the
rhythm of the Latin words.
The Renaissance Period
1400-1600
The Renaissance Period
1450-1600
• Renaissance means rebirth. This period saw a rebirth in
knowledge. Science and the arts were becoming more
important.
• Christopher Columbus discovered America,
Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel, William
Shakespeare was writing plays and Leonardo da Vinci
was making great advancements in art, music and
science.
Characteristics of the Period
• Contrapuntal – voice parts were
given equal importance and share the
melody.
• Imitative polyphony.
• A cappella singing.
• Growth of instrumental, dance and secular
music.
• Development of musical harmony and use of
cadences.
Sacred Music
Mass
The Roman Catholic service of the Mass has had
A great influence on the development of music.
High mass (Missa Solemnis) has 5 passages of
Plainsong (the proper of the Mass) and 5
extended passages (the Ordinary of the
Mass)which are often set in an elaborate choral
way. The ‘Ordinary’ is the Section referred to as
the Mass in a musical sense.
Mass
Features of the Mass include
Latin text and polyphonic texture, and it
is usually sung a cappella. Originally
used in church worship, but in later years
became a large-scale work for chorus,
soloists and orchestra.
5 Main Sections of the Mass
•
•
•
•
•
Kyrie – Lord Have Mercy
Gloria – Glory be to God on High
Credo – I believe
Sanctus - Holy, holy (often include the Benedictus)
Agnus Dei – Lamb of God
A special setting is the Requiem (Mass
for the dead).
Think – ‘King George Cuts Sandwiches
Buttering Always.’
Instruments of the Renaissance
Period
Consort
of viols
Lute
Rebec
Woodwind Instruments
Rackett – double reed bass instrument
Crumhorn – double reed, range of just
over an octave
Cornett – similar to a recorder but
played with a trumpet-like mouthpiece.
Recorders
Virginal
Clavichord
Other Concepts...
Word Painting
• The music is used to describe the words.
• Listen to As Vesta was from Latmos Hill
by Thomas Weelkes. Listen to how word
painting is achieved on the following
phrases:
1. ‘Running down amain’ – descending
scales
2. ‘Two by two’ – two voices
3. ‘Three by three’ – three voices
Melisma
A melodious flourish of notes sung to a
single syllable.
Texture
•
•
•
•
•
•
Monophonic
Homophonic
Contrapuntal (polyphonic)
Imitation
Canon
Continuous Texture
Augmentation and Diminution
• Augmentation – The melody is repeated
but the rhythmic values of the notes have
been doubled (sounds slower the second
time)
• Diminution – The melody is repeated but
the rhythmic values of the notes have
been halved (sounds quicker the second
time)
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes
to describe what you hear:
Monophonic
Antiphonal
Homophonic
Strophic
Gregorian Chant
Madrigal
Credo
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes
to describe what you hear:
Ballett
Antiphonal
Motet
Strophic
Madrigal Proper
Through composed
Ayre
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Kyrie
Anacrusis
Motet
Melisma
Diminution
Antiphonal
Augmentation
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Imitation
Syllabic
Credo
Contrapuntal
Madrigal
Agnus Dei
Augmentation
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes
to describe what you hear:
Simple time
Compound time
Pavan
Galliard
Overture
March
Ballett
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes
to describe what you hear:
Ayre
Madrigal Proper
Pavan
Antiphonal
Consort of viols
Motet
Word painting
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Gregorian chant
Madrigal
Imitation
Change from
compound
Mass
Motet
Change from
simple to compound
time
to simple time
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Trill
Galliard
Mordent
Pavan
Rebec
Lute
Virginal
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes
to describe what you hear:
Strophic
Word Painting
Motet
Imitation
Galliard
Homophonic
Madrigal
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes
to describe what you hear:
Modal
Rebec
Crumhorn
Consort
Homophonic
Imitation
Augmentation
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
Boxes to describe what you hear:
A cappella
Mass
Mordent
Melisma
Rebec
Madrigal
Diminution
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Anthem
Motet
Sanctus
Benedictus
Imitation
Verse Anthem
Modal
Madrigal
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Madrigal
Motet
Crumhorn
Antiphonal
Homophonic
Contrapuntal
Clavichord
Listen to the following excerpt and tick three
boxes to describe what you hear:
Galliard
Motet
Crumhorn
Contrapuntal
Homophonic
Consort of
recorders
Consort of viols
Listen to the following excerpt and tick two
boxes to describe what you hear:
Credo
Agnus Dei
chant
Homophonic
Modal
Madrigal
Gregorian
Motet
Prose Question 1
There are three types of madrigals, the
madrigal
proper, ballett and ayre. The ballett is
________
in form whereas the madrigal proper is
___________. The ballett also contains a
_______ refrain. The madrigal proper has a
___________ texture. An ayre is usually
__________, often by a ______.
Prose Question 2
The Mass is sung in ________. The texture is
__________ with many voices singing in
_________ of
each other. The music is unaccompanied
(___________).
A motet is sung in _________. It features several
voices singing in _________ of each other with a
___________ texture. An anthem is sung in
_________ and a ________ features an
accompaniment
Prose Question 3
When composing a Mass or motet, the composer
often
splits the choir in two or has more than one choir.
He can
then create a dialogue between the different voices.
This
creates an ____________ effect.
Two important dances from the Renaissance period
were
the ________ and _________. The __________ is
Characteristics
Sacred Music
Medieval and
Renaissance Music
Instrumental
Music
Secular Music