Explain how music changed during the Age of Cathedrals, between the life within rural

monasteries to the industrialization of cities. (Remember: Notre-Dame, Perotinus the

Great (he developed organum), why was there the need for polyphony in larger
cathedrals?) -

Te future of art music within the Church lay not in isolated monasteries, however, but in
city-based cathedrals. Monasteries were rural, inward looking, and run by an abbot; cathedrals
were urban, outward looking, and ruled by a bishop. Te job of the bishop and his clergy was to
administer to the spiritual needs of the citizens of the expanding urban centers. During the
twelfth century, cities such as Milan, Paris, and London, among others, grew signifcantly, as
trade and commerce increased. Much of the commercial wealth generated in the cities was
used to construct splendid new cathedrals that served as both houses of worship and municipal
civic centers. So substantial was this building campaign that the period 1150–1350 is often
called the “Age of the Cathedrals.”

Perotinus helped create a new style of music called organum, the name given generally to early
church polyphony. Te novelty here rested in the fact that composers added one, two, or three
voices on top of the existing chant. In this musical development, we see an early instance of a
creative spirit breaking free of the ancient authority (the chant) of the Church.

He took the centuries-old chant and added three new voices above it (Figure 4.4). Compared to
the new upper voices, the old borrowed chant moved very slowly, drawing out or holding each
pitch. Because of this, the sustaining line with the chant came to be called the tenor voice

Earlier in the Middle Ages, when almost all written music was monophonic chant, there was little
need to specify rhythm—all pitches were roughly the same length, and the singers could easily
stick together as they moved from one note to the next. When as many as three or four
separate parts sang together, however, more direction was needed. Tus, during the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, musicians devised a system called mensural notation (measured
notation) to specify precisely musical rhythm as well as pitch. To the note heads indicating pitch,
musicians added various sorts of stems and fags to specify duration. Composers could now
write for two, three, or four voices together, and each singer would know how long to sustain the
pitch so as to make good harmony. Tese medieval stems and fags are still with us today, in our
half, quarter, and eighth notes.

Explain the significance of the Protestant Reformation. What were some religious and
music repercussions? What Mass and composer "saved Church music"? (Remember:
Council of Trent, Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli) - Explain the aspects of music in the
monastery. Was it monophonic, homophonic, or polyphonic? -

In response to the Protestant Reformation, the leaders of the Church of Rome gathered in
northern Italy to discuss their own reform in what proved to be a two-decades-long conference,
the Council of Trent (1545–1563). Here began the Counter-Reformation, a conservative,
sometimes austere, movement that changed not only religious practices but also art,
architecture, and music. With regard to music, the reformers of the Church of Rome were
particularly alarmed by the incessant entry of voices in musical imitation; they feared that
excessively dense counterpoint was burying the word of the Lord

One important composer who got caught up in this debate about the appropriate style for church
music was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594; Figure 5.7). In 1555, Palestrina
composed a Missa Papae Marcelli (Mass for Pope Marcellus) that conformed to all the
requirements for proper church music prescribed by the Council of Trent. His polyphonic Mass
was devoid of a strong beat and “catchy” rhythms, and it privileged simple counterpoint over
complex, imitative polyphony, qualities that allowed the text to project with great clarity. Although
the fathers of the Council of Trent had once considered banning all polyphony from the services
of the Church, they now came to see that this somber, serene style of religious music could be a
useful vehicle to inspire the faithful to greater devotion. For his role in securing a place for
composed polyphony within the established Church, Palestrina came to be called, perhaps with
some exaggeration, the “savior of church music.”

Most medieval society was overwhelmingly agricultural, and thus religion was centered in
isolated, rural monasteries (for monks) and convents (for nuns). Te clergy worked in the felds
and prayed in the church. Religious services usually began well before dawn and continued at
various other times throughout the day in an almost unvarying cycle. Te most important service
was Mass, a symbolic reenactment of the Last Supper, celebrated at about nine o’clock in the
morning.

Te music for these services was what we today call Gregorian chant (or plainsong)—a unique
collection of thousands of religious songs, sung in Latin, which carry the theological message of
the Church.

To record chant and pass it from one community to the next, medieval monks and nuns created
a wholly new medium of communication: musical notation. At frst, the system used only a few
dashes and dots, called notae (Latin for “notes”), which suggested the upward and downward
motion of the melody.

Gregorian chant is monophonic music

Gregorian chant is like no other music. It has a timeless, otherworldly quality that in part arises
from its lack of meter and regular rhythms. True, some notes are longer or shorter than others,
but pitches do not recur in obvious patterns that would allow us to clap our hands or tap our
feet. Because all voices sing in unison, Gregorian chant is monophonic music. Tere is no
instrumental accompaniment; nor, as a rule, are men’s and women’s voices mixed. For all these
reasons, Gregorian chant has a consistently uniform, monochromatic sound, far more
conducive to meditation than to dancing
Describe the Mass Ordinary (Ordinary of the Mass). What language are they in? Do the texts
change? Who was the first composer to set the entire Mass Ordinary, and what was that Mass
called? (Remember: the five mass parts (Kyrie, Gloria, Agnus Dei, Credo, Sanctus); the Kyrie is
the only one in Greek; Machaut's Messa de Nostre Dame.) (Just in case you're interested in
context, here's a link to show how the Mass parts are integrated into the Roman Catholic Mass:
[Link]

Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) is deservedly the best-known polyphonic
work in the entire repertoire of medieval music. It is impressive for its twenty-fve minute length
as well as for the novel way it applies music to the text of the Mass. Machaut was the frst
composer to set what is called the Ordinary of the Mass, fve sung portions of the Mass,
specifcally the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, with texts that do not change from
day to day (other texts change depending on which saint was honored). From Machaut’s work
onward, composing a Mass meant setting the fve texts of the Ordinary and fnding some way to
tie them together into an integrated whole. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Stravinsky were just a
few of the later composers to follow Machaut’s lead in this regard. To construct his Mass,
Machaut proceeded as follows. First, he took a chant in honor of the Virgin Mary and placed it in
long notes in the tenor voice. Above the foundational tenor Machaut composed two new lines,
called the superius and the contratenor altus, and from these we get our terms soprano and
alto. Below the tenor he composed a contratenor bassus, whence our term bass. Unlike
Perotinus, who bunched his voices around middle C, Machaut spread these voices out over two
and a half octaves, becoming the frst composer to exploit nearly the full vocal range of a chorus.
As you listen to the foreign sound of this Gothic work, you likely will be struck by two things: (1)
the alternation of chant and polyphony—for some portions of his Kyrie (see Listening Guide),
Machaut allowed the monophonic chant to stand unaltered; and (2) the disparity between
rhythm and harmony. Te rhythmic patterns unfold within a lilting triple meter, but the harmony is
mostly dissonant. At the ends of musical phrases, however, Machaut stretches out the
dissonances into open, consonant chords (see the asterisk in Example 4.3). Tese longed-for
consonances are especially satisfying in an echo-flled medieval cathedral, in which the sound
can endlessly reverberate around the bare stone walls.

-What are castrati? Why were they "valuable" in the Medieval, Renaissance, later periods?

As mentioned in our discussion of medieval music (Chapter 4), women were allowed to sing in
the early Roman Catholic Church in cloistered convents but not in any public church. Similarly,
women were not permitted to appear in public in theatrical productions within territories under
strict Church control. Tus, most church choirs in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were
exclusively male. But who, then, sang the soprano and alto parts when polyphony was
performed? Te most common practice was to assign these parts to adult males who sang in
what is called “head voice,” or falsetto voice. Alternatively, choirboys might be used, but they
were expensive to house and educate. Finally, beginning in 1562, the castrato (castrated male)
voice was introduced into the papal chapel, mainly as a money-saving measure—a single
castrato could produce as much volume as two falsettists or three or four boys. Castrati were
renowned for their power and their great lung capacity, which allowed them to execute unusually
long phrases in a single breath. Surprisingly, castrati sopranos remained a hallmark of the papal
chapel until 1903, when they were ofcially banned by Pope Pius X. Te voice of one castrato,
Alessandro Moreschi, known as the “Last Castrato,” was captured on a phonograph recording
between 1902 and 1904, and is readily available for listening today.
What is the correct order of the three eras which we've studied?
​ Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque

What is the name of the earliest form of organized polyphony?

Organum

Know the difference between melismatic and syllabic text settings.

Syllabic singing (only one or two notes for each syllable of text)
Melismatic singing (many notes sung to just one syllable

What is the Dies Irae?

(Day of Wrath) The Dies Irae served as the signature melody of the burial service of
the Church. Written before thirteenth century, the text speaks of the Day of
Judgment, when the Last Trumpet will summon all to rise and stand before the Lord to
be judged

What is a Requiem Mass?

A Requiem Mass is a Catholic Mass for the dead, offered to pray for the repose
of the soul of the deceased.

Council of Trent
​ (1545–1563) In response to the Protestant Reformation, the leaders of the Church
of Rome gathered in northern Italy to discuss their own reform in what proved to be a
two-decades-long conference. Where the Counter-Reformation began.

In what country did opera emerge?

Italy

Where did the subject for early librettos come from?

Greek drama

What is a libretto?
Every word of the text
What philosophy emerged during the Renaissance era?
Humanism

Madrigals
Vernacular poetry set to music, often "scandalous" themes; popular in England
but originated in Italy

What composer's poetry was comparable to Chaucer's?

Machaut

What's the year of the Protestant Reformation?

1517

What's the Counter-Reformation?

A conservative, sometimes austere, movement that changed not only religious
practices but also art, architecture, and music.

Basso Continuo, Figured Bass

​ (Continuous bass) A strong harmonic support. This bass-driven chordal support
is called the basso continuo

Figured bass. These were suggested to the performer by means of figured

bass—a numerical shorthand placed below the bass line.

Josquin

Palestrina

Perotinus the Great

Claudio Monteverdi

Martin Luther

Hildegard von Bingen

Missa Papae Marcelli

(Mass for Pope Marcellus) conformed to all the requirements for proper church music
prescribed by the Council of Trent. His polyphonic Mass was devoid of a strong beat and
“catchy” rhythms, and it privileged simple counterpoint over complex, imitative polyphony,
qualities that allowed the text to project with great clarity. Although the fathers of the Council of
Trent had once considered banning all polyphony from the services of the Church, they now
came to see that this somber, serene style of religious music could be a useful vehicle to inspire
the faithful to greater devotion. For his role in securing a place for composed polyphony within
the established Church, Palestrina came to be called, perhaps with some exaggeration, the
“savior of church music.”

Messa de Nostre Dame

(Mass of Our Lady)Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) is deservedly
the best-known polyphonic work in the entire repertoire of medieval music. It is impressive for its
twenty-fve minute length as well as for the novel way it applies music to the text of the Mass.
Machaut was the frst composer to set what is called the Ordinary of the Mass, fve sung portions
of the Mass, specifcally the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, with texts that do not
change from day to day (other texts change depending on which saint was honored). From
Machaut’s work onward, composing a Mass meant setting the fve texts of the Ordinary and
fnding some way to tie them together into an integrated whole. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and
Stravinsky were just a few of the later composers to follow Machaut’s lead in this regard. To
construct his Mass, Machaut proceeded as follows. First, he took a chant in honor of the Virgin
Mary and placed it in long notes in the tenor voice. Above the foundational tenor Machaut
composed two new lines, called the superius and the contratenor altus, and from these we get
our terms soprano and alto. Below the tenor he composed a contratenor bassus, whence our
term bass. Unlike Perotinus, who bunched his voices around middle C, Machaut spread these
voices out over two and a half octaves, becoming the frst composer to exploit nearly the full
vocal range of a chorus. As you listen to the foreign sound of this Gothic work, you likely will be
struck by two things: (1) the alternation of chant and polyphony—for some portions of his Kyrie
(see Listening Guide), Machaut allowed the monophonic chant to stand unaltered; and (2) the
disparity between rhythm and harmony. Te rhythmic patterns unfold within a lilting triple meter,
but the harmony is mostly dissonant. At the ends of musical phrases, however, Machaut
stretches out the dissonances into open, consonant chords (see the asterisk in Example 4.3).
Tese longed-for consonances are especially satisfying in an echo-flled medieval cathedral, in
which the sound can endlessly reverberate around the bare stone walls.

Plainchant
The most important service was Mass, a symbolic reenactment of the Last Supper,
celebrated at about nine o’clock in the [Link] music for these services was what
we today call Gregorian chant (or plainsong)—a unique collection of thousands of
religious songs, sung in Latin, which carry the theological message of the Church.

Organum
organum, the name given generally to early church polyphony. The novelty here rested
in the fact that composers added one, two, or three voices on top of the existing chant. In this
musical development, we see an early instance of a creative spirit breaking free of the ancient
authority (the chant) of the Church.
Masses

Chanson
 Indeed, the troubadours and trouvères were “fnders,” or inventors, of a new genre of
vocal expression called the chanson (French for “song”). In all, the troubadours and
trouvères created several thousand chansons. Most are monophonic love songs that
extol the courtly ideals of faith and devotion, whether to the ideal lady, the just seigneur
(lord), or the knight crusading in the Holy Land. Almost all are in strophic form
Madrigals
polyphonic song took Europe by storm: the madrigal. A madrigal is a piece for several
solo voices (usually four or fve) that sets a vernacular poem, most often about love, to music. Te
madrigal arose in Italy but soon spread to northern European [Link] madrigal best
exemplifes the humanist requirement that music express the meaning of the text. In a typical
madrigal, each word or phrase of poetry receives its own musical gesture. Tus, when the
madrigal text says “chase after” or “follow quickly,” the music becomes fast, and one voice
chases after another in musical imitation

Opera
An opera is basically a stage play (a drama) expressed through music. Te term
opera means literally “a work,” and it frst appeared in the Italian phrase opera
drammatica in musica, “a dramatic work set to music.” Opera demands singers who can
act or, in some cases, actors who can sing.