1. Part I : The Medieval Era
MUH Music History I
5/22/2018
Part I : The Medieval Era
“Prelude”
DAY 3 (30 Aug 17)

2. “medieval” Antiquity Medieval Era Modern Era
Literally, “between the ages”
Q? : Which ages?
Antiquity
Ends 476 CE
Medieval Era
“Middle Ages”
“Dark Ages” c
Modern Era
“Renaissance” c. 1400s (& beyond)
See Timeline in Part One: Prelude

3. The Middle Ages (politics)
476 – Fall of (Western) Roman Empire
800 – Charlemagne crowned king of Holy Roman Empire by Pope Leo III
Gaul becomes Carolingian Empire and eventually France by late Middle Ages (Hundred Years’ War, )
England unified as Nation-state (post 1066, Norman Conquest)
Numerous lesser political entities

4. The Middle Ages (social classes)
MUH Music History I
The Middle Ages (social classes)
5/22/2018
Priesthood (Clergy) – “those who prayed” - often monastic, as well as parish priests
Nobility – “those who fought” including hereditary rulers (royalty)
Commoners – “those who worked”
- peasantry (serfs) – laborers in the fields (Feudalism)
- bourgeoise – merchants, tradesmen, etc. (urban “middle class” – very small group)
DAY 3 (30 Aug 17)

5. The Middle Ages (cultural centers)
Church – predominates from c. 500s - development of monastery (centers of learning) - parish churches serve general populace - Crusades (11th-14th centuries)
Court – competing power in later middle ages - reflects accumulation of wealth - stylized code of conduct (“manners”)
Universities – beginning in 12th century - “Scholasticism” – truth out of reason and faith - secularization of knowledge (out of monasteries)

6. 14th Century (1300s) Multiple crises threaten social order
“Black Death” (bubonic plague) – c % of population dies
Hundred Years’ War ( ) - England & France over French succession
Papal Schism - follows Avignon popes ( ) - multiple claimants to Roman papacy

7. Music in the Middle Ages
Beginnings of notated music (c. 9th century)
Centered in Church & Court (based on surviving documents)
Sacred Music ordered & organized - St. Benedict – Rules for Monastic life (& office) - Pope Gregory I – organizes the mass
Music as an academic/theoretical subject - Boethius (transmits knowledge from Antiquity to Middle Ages), e.g., “What is a musician?” - Guido d’Arezzo (10th-11th centuries) - et al. (many others)

8. “Plainchant and Secular Monophony”
Chapter 1
“Plainchant and Secular Monophony”

9. Origins of Chant Recitation and singing of Christian scriptures
Based in Jewish Practices
Biblical references
Allure & danger of music - St. Basil (4th cent) - St. Augustine (5th cent)
Not systematized
Local Practices: Roman, Ambrosian, Gallican, Mozarabic, etc.
NO NOTATION
Origins of Chant

10. Early Organization of Chant
Pope Gregory I, “Great” (reigned )
Promotes “Roman” versions of chant
Credited w/ systematic organization of chants
Myth
Probably begun under earlier popes
From an early St. Gall MS