Transcript The Middle Ages

Arts History
450 - 1750
The Middle Ages
The Renaissance
Baroque Period
The Middle Ages
The Middle Ages:
450 – 1450
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During this era, the church assumed
a leadership role in most fields, from
politics to the arts. Throughout the
period, the majority of composers were
associated with and supported by the
church.
Music was either secular
(nonreligious) or sacred (religious).
Sacred music was uniformly a cappella
(singing without accompaniment) and
secular music featured instruments as
well as voices.
Music consisted of mainly vocal works
with few instruments used. The main
instrument during this time was the
organ.
The Middle Ages:
450 – 1450
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As in many non-Western cultures,
music in early medieval Europe
did not have a system of notation.
It was not until perhaps the ninth
century that a basic system of
notation was developed.
Notating music was a difficult and
time-consuming process. It was
only in the cathedrals and
monasteries that such work could
be done on a regular basis.
The Middle Ages:
Terms
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Monophonic Texture- a single melodic line without
accompaniment
Polyphonic Texture- performance of two or more melodic lines
of relatively equal interest at the same time
Gregorian Chant- melodies set to sacred Latin texts, sung
without accompaniment; the official music of the Roman
Catholic church (named after Pope Gregory I)
Plainsong- music with no strict meter or accompaniment, sung
by a single voice or unison choir; plainsong was monophonic
Solmization- a method of assigning a syllabic name to each
tone of the scale (DO-RE-MI system of solfege)
The Middle Ages:
Gregorian Chant
The Middle Ages:
Social Classes
Nobles- knights; lived in castles; women looked on
for the sick
 Peasants- majority of the population (lived in oneroom huts)
 Clergy- monks, most education, most important
musicians
Most people, including the nobility, were
illiterate. For centuries, only sacred music
was notated because of the clergy being the most
educated people.
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The Middle Ages:
Important Figures and Events
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Hundred Years’ War
(1337-1453)
The Middle Ages:
Important Figures and Events
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Black Death (1350)
The Middle Ages:
Composers
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Perotin – (c. 1200) European composer; first
known composer to write music with more
than two voices
Francesco Landini – (around 1325-1397)
Italian composer, organist, singer, poet and
instrument maker.
The Middle Ages:
Music of the Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The Renaissance:
1450 – 1600
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Renaissance means rebirth and revival of human creativity, a
period of exploration and adventure, curiosity and individualism.
The intellectual movement during this time, humanism, focused
on human life and its accomplishments.
Aristocrats and the upper middle class now considered
education a status symbol, and they hired scholars to teach
their children.
Music was polyphonic in texture.
In music of the Renaissance, there was a new emphasis on
instrumental music. Instruments no longer merely supported
voices. They now received their own parts.
The Renaissance:
Renaissance Art
The Renaissance:
Terms
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Word Painting- musical representation of specific
poetic images often found in Renaissance and
Baroque music
A cappella- choral music without instrumental
accompaniment
Motets- polyphonic choral compositions
based on sacred texts
Madrigals- nonreligious (secular) vocal
works set for 3 to 8 voices, often in
Italian; the most important secular form
of music of its time
The Renaissance:
Instruments
Harpsichord
Lute
Organ
The Renaissance:
Important Figures and Events
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Christopher Columbus
Leonardo Da Vinci
Michelangelo
Printing Press
(widened circulation of music)
Shakespeare
The Renaissance:
Michelangelo
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Michelangelo (1475-1564) was an Italian
Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet,
and engineer.
The Creation of Adam is a fresco on the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo
in 1511. It illustrates the Biblical story from the
Book of Genesis in which God the Father
breathes life into Adam, the first man.
The Renaissance:
The Creation of Adam
The Renaissance:
The Creation of Adam
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Adam lies back on a barren terrain, a small piece of the newly created
earth. His languid pose belies his apparent physical strength. Based on
classical Greek and Roman prototypes, Adam is the ideal human male
with his rippling muscles and elegant contours. However, at this particular
moment, Adam is not complete. He extends his left hand out to meet the
finger of God. God hovers in the air, surrounded by angels and a billowing
cloak-like form. Adam is clearly made in God's image, as seen in God's
muscular form. God stretches out with his right hand toward Adam, looking
intently and directly at Adam, who returns the gaze with longing. As God's
outstretched finger almost meets Adam's more passive finger, we are
poised on the brink of creation. Adam is physically alive, but here God is
about to endow Adam with what makes human beings truly alive: the
spirit, the soul, and the intellect. All of man's potential, physical and
spiritual, is contained in this one timeless moment.
The Renaissance:
The Creation of Adam’s influence on Pop Culture
The Renaissance:
The Creation of Adam
The Renaissance:
Composers
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Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)German church musician who was
a noted instrumental and vocal
composer of the period
Palestrina (1525-1594)- Italian
composer who had
a vast influence on the
development of Roman Catholic
church music.
Baroque Period
Baroque Period:
1600 – 1750
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Baroque means bizarre, flamboyant and elaborately
ornamented.
The baroque period is a particular style of the arts.
Homophonic texture was used in the early baroque.
Polyphonic returned to favor in the late baroque.
Many compositions were started being written
for specific instruments; the violin family being
the most popular.
The orchestra evolved, though small in size.
It consisted mainly of string instruments.
Baroque Period:
1600 – 1750
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During the Baroque period, royalty and church leaders
were focused on being the best and brightest and
showing off their finest things- including music written
for them. They hired composers to write pieces that
they insisted be flashier than pieces of the past. With
every composition, music grew more and more showy
and complicated.
Composers were treated like servants- they were only
allowed to compose what their religious bosses or
noble employers asked them to compose, and
oftentimes, it was on VERY short notice!
Baroque Period:
Terms
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Fugue- Polyphonic composition based on
one main theme, or subject
Opera- Drama that is sung to orchestral
accompaniment, usually a large-scale
composition employing vocal soloists,
chorus, orchestra, costumes, and scenery
Concerto- solo parts alternated with a group
of instruments
Baroque Period:
Composers
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Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
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Italian composer who is known for his contributions to
opera
Composed one of the earliest operas on record, Orfeo
Antonio
Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Known
as the “father of strings” and nicknamed il
Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest") because of his red
hair
A famous virtuoso violinist; he was born and raised in
the Republic of Venice.
The Four Seasons, a series of four violin concerti, is
his best-known work and a highly popular Baroque
piece.
Baroque Period:
Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Baroque Period:
Composers
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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
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Bach marked the high point of baroque music
Bach once had to spend a month in jail because he tried to quit his job
composing and playing for a duke. During that month in jail, he wrote
forty-six pieces of music, many of which are still performed today.
Bach, a dazzling organist and church musician, had to compose all
kinds of original pieces for every church service including pieces for
choir, organ, harpsichord and orchestra.
Bach was famous for his music and for something else - Bach had
twenty children! Five were named Johann, two Johanna and four grew
up to become famous composers.
"There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and
the instrument plays itself." - Johann Sebastian Bach
Baroque Period:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Baroque Period:
Composers
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George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
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George Frideric Handel was the son of a barber-surgeon. George's
father had definite plans for his son. He wanted George to become a
lawyer, but George was captured by the sound of music.
By 1740, he had also completed the Messiah. He traveled to Ireland and
it was here that Handel presented his first performance of the Messiah. It
was an outstanding success. It is said that when the king first heard the
music from the Messiah he was so filled with emotion that he rose to feet
when hearing the "Hallelujah Chorus." This tradition continues to this day
of standing when the "Hallelujah Chorus" from the Messiah is performed.
Near the end of his life, George became blind but still continued to
perform on the organ and continued to compose music by dictating it to a
friend who wrote it down.
"Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it I know not. God knows." - George
Frideric Handel
Baroque Period:
George Frideric Handel