1. Music & Society
In Medieval Tuscany

2. Music in the Church
Cathedrals helped indoctrinate the public & reinforced the structure of power.
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

3. People “heard” Mass 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

4. Parts of the Cathedral 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

6. Music happens in the Choir (duh)
The 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

9. 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

10. Musical Style Smooth conjunct melodies Stepwise motion & small leaps
Nonmetric (no strong rhythm or beat)
Melodies governed by 8 “modes” or scales
Mode: Pattern of whole & half steps
No sudden or climactic cadences
All this is aesthetically intentional!

11. For example… Chant from the Mass Ordinary Sanctus, Sanctus Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Pleni sunt caeli et tua gloria
Hosanna in excelsis
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domine

12. Writing it down Bodleian Library, MS add. 30850, f. 105v 11th century
Written in neumatic notation

13. Notation evolves
By the 14th century, square notation had replaced the older styles
Note the use of a musical staff, a forerunner of our modern one

14. But what is the Mass Ordinary?
The texts of the Mass are divided into two main parts:
Ordinary texts stay the same every day
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
Proper texts change every day
Alleluia, Gradual, Offertory, Communion, etc.
As time wears on, composers begin to focus on the Ordinary texts for polyphonic music.

15. Polyphony
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 ( )
Son of a priest
From France, but worked in Rome
Style heavily influence by French music

16. Ciconia, Gloria (polyphonic)
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….

17. Music in the City
Secular music in medieval Tuscany took several forms:
Madrigal
Caccia
Ballata
Lauda
Dance music

18. Madrigal 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
Closing couplet called ritornello
All stanzas had the same music
Eg. Jacopo da Bologna, Vestisse la cornachia

19. Caccia
Flourished c
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

20. Ballata 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 ( )
Leading composer of ballate
Blinded as a child by smallpox
Eg. Landini, Non so qual I’ mia volglia

21. 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

22. 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

23. Dance Music
Istampita
Saltarello
Ballata (instrumental performance)

24. In conclusion Sacred music Secular Music Gregorian Chant
Some sacred polyphony
Laude are quasi-sacred
Secular Music
Madrigal
Caccia
Ballata
Dance music

25. To what purpose?
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.