Reminder: Quiz #1 on Friday, 2/6!
Quiz-worthy terms:
Melody and related terms:
- Contour
- Range
- Interval
- Conjunct
- Disjunct
- Phrase
Rhythm and related terms:
- Beats
- Measures
- Meter: for example duple, triple, quadruple
Harmony and related terms
- Chord
- Triad
- Scale
- Triad
- Consonance
- Dissonance
Instrument categories:
- Aerophones
- Chordophones
- Idiophones
- Membranophones
Instrument families in the classical orchestra
- Strings
- Woodwinds
- Brass
- Percussion
“A Little Bird Told Me”
The history western classical music has its origins in the Medieval Era, in the religious music of the Catholic Church.
Pope Gregory I
Roman, lived 540-604, became pope in 590
Gregorian chant, a large collection of sacred music, is named for him
Composed by many contributors over time, but considered divinely inspired
Examples:
Use: Liturgy of the Hours, a set of daily prayers chanted by monks and nuns in monasteries and convents.
They prayed A LOT: up to 8 times a day, every 3 hours or so:
– Matins: 1 a.m.
– Lauds: 3 a.m.
– Prime: 6 a.m.
– Terce 9 a.m.
– Sext: 12 noon
– None: 3 p.m.
– Vespers (Evening Prayer): 6 p.m.
– Compline (Night Prayer): 9 p.m.
Monasteries and convents still exist today, which modified versions of the schedule, for example:
Schedule for St. Gregory’s Abbey, Three Rivers, Michigan
Why is this important to classical music in general?
– Led to development of of modern music notation
– Composers in all eras of classical music, including the current one, have used and/or been influenced by the texts and melodies of chant, and the structure of the Liturgy of the Hours.
– Some sacred music has become concert music, performed outside of its original religious setting
Musical characteristics:
– Monophonic texture
– Mostly conjunct/stepwise motion: related to origin as a kind of musical speech
– Narrow range: usually about an octave
Initially an oral tradition: melodies were learned by ear and memorized, but notation became necessary as the number of melodies grew — eventually to more than 3000! Collected in a very thick book called the Liber Usualis, or “common book,” 1900 pages long.
Origins of modern music notation:
– Began as marks above text
– Developed into neumes (from Greek pneuma, meaning breath)
Three types of text-setting:
Syllabic: one note per syllable
Neumatic: a few notes per syllable
Melismatic: many notes per syllable
Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179, Germany
Nun, Abbess, polymath, later made a Saint
Hildegard: Alleluia, o virga mediatrix