Middle Ages Unit Years AD

Day 1

Sacred Music (religious music) Written down by monks and priests Very simple – Plainsong- 1 melody Gregorian Chant – No fixed rhythm – Unaccompanied – Latin words – Named after Pope Gregory I

Sacred Music continued Performance – A capella – Started with 2 singers and moved into using 2 choirs – Added acting to help the understanding of the words

Neums

Secular Music (“pop” music) Troubadours – Usually played the lute – Entertainers – Name from France – Poets and composers Jonglers – Traveled around – Played instruments – Singers/performers

Secular Music continued Minnesingers – German- 12 th -14 th Centuries – Means “singers of love songs” – Wrote religious and political music Goliards – Monk dropouts – Wrote Goliard Songs Latin text – 11 th -12 th Centuries – Wrote songs about satire and life

Secular Music continued (“pop” music) Love Songs – Early popular music – Joy and pain of love Chanson de geste (song of gestures) – Epic narrative poem/song About national heroes About heroic deeds and events – Used simple melodies – Sung by Jonglers – “Song of Roland” National epic from France

Composers of the Middle Ages Guillaume de Machaut – Lived from – Composer that had royal employment Philippe de Vitry – Lived from – Wrote secular music – “Ars Nova” Means “New Art” 4 part music- Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass

Some extras Code of Chivalry – Behavior that began to govern how people acted Church – Source of culture – Church year determined the melody of the chant

Day 2

Black Plague Wiped out entire villages People died within days Clergy died helping people Skin turned purple; led to the name Songs – “Scarborough Fair” – “Ring Around the Rosey”

Black Plague continued Transmitted to humans by infected fleas and rats Victim suffered from fever, chills, fatigue, and painfully swollen lymph nodes Caused the beginning of the Middle Class If you have a weak stomach, don’t look at the next slide!!!!!

Day 3

Instruments of the Middle Ages Lute – Troubadours typically played the lute – Early guitar – Ideal for accompaniment and solo performance

Lute ://youtu.be/lwHZxlFkhsk

Instruments continued Harp – Very ancient – Strings made from twisted animal gut Psaltry – Plucked strings – Was used to accompany songs from the Bible book of Psalms

Instruments continued Drums – Another name is “tabor” – Earliest instruments – Hollow tree trunks with animal skin – Used all over the world

Drums (tabor)

Instruments continued Dulcimer – Greek for “sweet sound” – Multiple pitches by striking strings on either side of bridge

Dulcimer

Instruments continued Bagpipe – Made from reed pipe and goat or sheep skin – Used all throughout Europe

Bagpipe

Instruments continued Crumhorn – German for “curved horn” – Curve is decorative – Buzzing sound like a kazoo

Crumhorn

Instruments continued Recorder – Many different types and sizes

Instruments continued Organ – 2 types of organs Portative – carried around the neck – portable Positive – larger; has to be set down to be played – need 2 people

Organs

Instruments continued Pipe and Tabor – Pipe and drum- “one man band” – Pipe has 3 melody holes – Left hand plays pipe while right hand plays the drum (tabor)

Pipe and Tabor

Instruments continued Gemshorn – Made from animal horn – Shepherds used it to calm animals

Instruments continued Rebec – Early form of the violin – Used bow on strings- attempt to make and instrument imitate the voice – Instrument of lower class – 3-5 strings

Rebec

Instruments continued Gamba (viol da gamba; viol) – Has 6 strings – Held between the legs while seated – Early form of the cello

Viol da Gamba

Instruments continued Hurdy Gurdy 1 st stringed instrument to be played by the keyboard Ideal for dance music

Hurdy Gurdy

Instruments continued Lizard (tenor cornet) – Curved shape like a flattened letter “s” – Blends well with voices

Instruments continued Serpent (bass cornet) – Ancestor to the tuba – Used in sacred music to reinforce men’s voices – Used as a military band instrument after the Middle Ages

Serpent

Instruments continued Sacbut – Ancestor to the trombone

Instruments continued Bladder Pipe – Reed enclosed by an animal bladder – Blow into the bladder through a wooden pipe – Loud instrument

Bladder Pipe

Dances Thread the Needle- line dance Estampie- line dance – Stomp 1 foot L’Escargot- circle dance – Snail Brawl- circle dance Dances in the Middle Ages usually had a circle shape