Transcript Music & Society

Music & Society
In Medieval Tuscany
Music in the Church
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Cathedrals helped indoctrinate the public &
reinforced the structure of power.
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Cruciform shape
Open, ethereal spaces w/ high windows
Altar faced East, towards Jerusalem
Visual art was stylized and didactic
Processions & spectacle highlighted meaning
Music helped get the message out
People “heard” Mass
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Rood screen made a clear view
impossible
Public only took communion a few times a
year (Easter, Christmas, etc.)
Public did not participate in the Mass
through responses
Public clearly separated from clergy
Public did not understand Latin
Parts of the Cathedral
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Ambulatory: walkway around the apse
Apse: Semicircle east of the sanctuary
Sanctuary: Contained the high altar
Presbytery: Assisting priests sat here
Choir: Where the choir/clergy assembled
Transept: Horizontal part of the cross
Nave: Where the public stood
Music happens in the Choir
(duh)
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Choir (architecture) is the place where
the choir (singers) sat.
 Divided into 2 sides, decani & cantoris,
which faced each other
 Rood screen separated the clergy & public
 Rood screen often wooden or stone, and
highly decorated
So what did they sing?
• Gregorian Chant was the official music of
the Catholic Church.
• Supposedly dictated by God to the Holy
Spirit, who (in the form of a dove) sang it
to Pope Gregory, who sang it to a scribe,
who wrote it down.
• Much like a game of telephone
• Good story, bad history
Musical Style
Smooth conjunct melodies
 Stepwise motion & small leaps
 Nonmetric (no strong rhythm or beat)
 Melodies governed by 8 “modes” or scales
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 Mode:
Pattern of whole & half steps
No sudden or climactic cadences
 All this is aesthetically intentional!
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For example…
 Chant from the Mass Ordinary
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Sanctus, Sanctus Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Pleni sunt caeli et tua gloria
Hosanna in excelsis
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domine
Hosanna in excelsis
Writing it down
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Bodleian Library, MS add. 30850, f. 105v
11th century
Written in neumatic notation
Notation evolves
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By the 14th century,
square notation had
replaced the older
styles
 Note the use of a
musical staff, a
forerunner of our
modern one
But what is the Mass Ordinary?
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The texts of the Mass are divided into two
main parts:
Ordinary texts stay the same every day
 Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
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Proper texts change every day
 Alleluia, Gradual, Offertory, Communion, etc.
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As time wears on, composers begin to focus
on the Ordinary texts for polyphonic music.
Polyphony
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Polyphony probably existed in Italian
medieval churches, but none survives.
In the late 14th century, there is a surge of
polyphonic sacred music in Italy
Johannes Ciconia (1370-1412)
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Son of a priest
From France, but worked in Rome
Style heavily influence by French music
Ciconia, Gloria (polyphonic)
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Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax
hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te.
Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus
te. Gratia agimus tibi propter magnam
gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex caelestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine Fili
unigenite Jesu Christe. Domine Deus,
Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata
mundi, miserere nobis….
Music in the City
• Secular music in medieval Tuscany took
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several forms:
Madrigal
Caccia
Ballata
Lauda
Dance music
Madrigal
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Usually written for 2 voices
Subjects often idyllic or pastoral
Love was a popular theme
Sometimes satirical
Several 3-line stanzas and a closing couplet
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Closing couplet called ritornello
All stanzas had the same music
Eg. Jacopo da Bologna, Vestisse la cornachia
Caccia
Flourished c. 1345-1370
Written for 2-3 equal voices, usually
canonic, w the lowest voice set freely
Means “hunt” or “chase”
Irregular poetic forms, often w/ ritornello
Descriptive vocal effects mimic the hunt
Bird songs, horn calls, echos, etc.
Eg. Francesco Landini, De! Dinmi tu
Ballata
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Flourished later than the madrigal & caccia
Originally a song to accompany dancing
Usually for 2-3 voices
Similar to the French ballade in structure
Francesco Landini (1325-1397)
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Leading composer of ballate
Blinded as a child by smallpox
Eg. Landini, Non so qual I’ mia volglia
Lauda
• Monophonic, vernacular songs
• Sung by lay confraternities and penitents in
processions
• 13th c. Italy saw a penitential craze, laudesi
companies increased, like Orsanmichele in
Florence
• Quasi-sacred: religious texts, but not in
Latin and not liturgical
• Eg. Laudate la surrectione
Other monophonic song
 Trovatori: like the French Troubadours
 Literally “finders of song”
 Often aristocratic, singer-songwriters
 Example of Troubadour song
 Beatriz, Countess of Dia- A chantar me’r
 Courtly love a popular theme
Dance Music
 Istampita
 Saltarello
 Ballata (instrumental performance)
In conclusion
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Sacred music
 Gregorian Chant
 Some sacred polyphony
 Laude are quasi-sacred
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Secular Music
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Madrigal
Caccia
Ballata
Dance music
To what purpose?
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Each type of music served a different
function in society
 Chant was reserved for the liturgy itself, and
was vital in meditation and indoctrination
 Laude provided devotional music
 Madrigals, Caccie, Ballate all sung by the
nobility as entertainment.