1. Medieval & Renaissance Periods
PERIODS OF MUSIC
Advanced Higher
Understanding & Analysing Music
Medieval & Renaissance Periods

2. Music History
All of the different styles of music we listen to today have evolved over a long period of time. Musical styles have not always been so diverse, in fact before c.1450 music was pretty simplistic.
In order to understand modern music we must first understand its origins, history and development through the ages.
In this unit you will learn about the development of music through the following periods of time:
Medieval & Renaissance (1450 – 1600)
Baroque ( )
Classical ( )
Romantic ( )
20th Century (1900 – Present Day)
These eras describe the style and characteristics of that period in time, particularly in the areas of science, art, architecture, literature and music.

3. Unit Learning Intentions
Listen to and discuss the main features of Medieval and Renaissance music
Complete aural analysis tasks
Research and present a social/cultural commentary on a chosen feature of Renaissance music
Unit Success Criteria
I can listen to and identify features of Medieval and Renaissance music in a variety of musical examples.
I can effectively describe and explain in depth the social and cultural context of a chosen musical feature.
I have developed my music literacy skills through analysis and annotation of music.

4. Medieval & Renaissance Periods 1450 - 1600
During the Medieval and Renaissance periods music was quite simplistic in that the voice was the main means of musical expression, as the use of the major and minor scale system was yet to be developed.
Modes – early music used a system of scales called modes. You can play a mode on the piano by starting on a white note, say D, and going upwards by step but keeping to the white notes only. Each mode has a different name.
We can describe much of the music from these periods as having a modal tonality.

5. Sacred Music
Early church music known as plainchant was sung in Latin and without accompaniment. Plainchant melodies usually moved by step, and the rhythms are irregular, freely following the rhythms of the Latin text.
Some of the vocal music produced in the Medieval and Renaissance periods is sung antiphonally. Antiphonal music consists of one choir or group singing in alternation with another, rather like surround sound in stereo speakers.

6. Another type of composition, whose origins date from the 1300s, is the mass – the musical setting of the Latin text at a Roman Catholic church service. It is usually sung a cappella and with a polyphonic texture.
The mass is usually divided into five main sections:
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
When listening to an example of a mass you should listen out for the names of each section in the text. Here is an example of the Kyrie from Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices
Kyrie - Byrd Mass for Four Voices

7. The motet was a smaller scale sacred work developed in the Renaissance period. Like the mass it was also set to a Latin text, with a polyphonic texture, though more often sung a cappella.
Palestrina 'Tu es Petrus'
In England, as well as the motets and masses composed for the Catholic church services, some Elizabethan composers wrote anthems to be sung during services in Protestant churches. An anthem is the counterpart of the motet, but sung in English.
Tallis - Heare the Voice and Prayer

8. Concepts CONCEPT DEFINITION Medieval
Music up to 1450, mainly monophonic (single line).
Renaissance
Music from 1450 – 1600, features contrapuntal textures.
Modes/Modal
Early scale e.g. D-D playing all the white notes.
Plainchant
Also known as plainsong and Gregorian chant. Unaccompanied melody set to words of the Roman Catholic text.
Antiphonal
Dialogue between voices or instruments – one group of voices or instruments answers the other.
Mass
Sacred choral work in five sections, sung in Latin (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei).
Motet
Renaissance sacred choral work with Latin text and polyphonic texture, usually sung a cappella.
Anthem
Short sacred choral piece sung in English. Sometimes sung by a choir a cappella and sometimes accompanied by an organ and featuring solo parts. The Protestant equivalent of the motet.

9. Secular Music
Renaissance composers began to take a keener interest in writing secular music, including music for instruments independent of voices.
In the late 1500s English composers began to write their own madrigals, inspired by those from Italy but with English words. These were performed usually with one singer per part.
Gibbons - The Silver Swan
During this period one of the voices commonly heard in both sacred and secular vocal music was the counter tenor. This was a male adult voice whose range was higher than a tenor’s.
In England there were different types of madrigal including the ballett and ayre.

10. Secular Music
The ballett has a clear-cut dance-like rhythm where the texture is mainly homophonic and chordal. The ballett is written in strophic form with two or more verses set to the same music. The most notable feature of the ballett is the ‘fa-la-la refrain’ which is heard at section endings.
Morley - Now Is The Month of Maying
The ayre (or air) could be performed in a variety of different ways such as solo voice with lute accompaniment; by a solo voice accompanied by other instruments such as viols; or with all parts sung by voices with or without instrumental accompaniment.
Dowland - Flow, My Tears

11. Secular Music
Until the beginning of the 16th century, instruments were considered to be far less important than voices. They were used for dances and to accompany vocal music but played the same music as the voices. During the 16th century composers took a keener interest in writing music especially for instruments, not only for dancing but for playing and listening.
Renaissance instruments included lutes, viols, trumpets and percussion. Elizabethans called a group of instruments playing together a consort. Instruments from one family were called a whole consort and a broken consort was a mixture of instruments from different families.
Crumhorn consort
Byrd - In nomine for five viols

12. Secular Music
During the Renaissance period dances were often written in pairs, contrasted in mood and rhythm – a slow stately Pavan in two beats in a bar, followed by a spritely Galliard in three beats.
Pavan & Galliard
Dowland - Earle of Essex Galliard
Byrd - Pavan & Galliard (viol consort)
In this example listen out for the tierce de picardie at the end. This was a common feature in music of this period in which a piece of music with a minor tonality, the final chord is major.

13. Concepts CONCEPT DEFINITION Madrigal
Secular vocal music in English, features polyphonic texture, imitation, word painting, usually sung a cappella, often through composed in form
Ballett
A type of madrigal in strophic form, features a fa-la-la refrain
Ayre/Air
A type of madrigal featuring solo voice and instrumental accompaniment such as lute or viol
Counter tenor
Male voice higher than a tenor, often used as a male soprano
Consort
A group of instruments playing together
Pavan
Slow and stately Renaissance dance with 2 beats in a bar
Galliard
Lively and spritely Renaissance dance with 3 beats in a bar, follows the pavan
Tierce de picardie
The final chord of a piece of music in the minor key is changed to major