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Prelude Listening to Music Today
1 Melody: Musical Line
2 Rhythm and Meter: Musical Time
3 Harmony: Musical Space
4 The Organization of Musical Sounds
5 Musical Texture
6 Musical Form
7 Musical Expression: Tempo and Dynamics
8 Voices and Musical Instrument Families
9 Western Musical Instruments
10 Musical Ensembles
11 Style and Function of Music in Society
12 The Culture of the Middle Ages
13 Medieval Music
14 The Renaissance Spirit
15 Renaissance Sacred Music
16 Renaissance Secular Music
17 The Baroque Spirit
18 Vocal Music of the Baroque
19 Orchestral Music of the Baroque
20 Baroque Keyboard Music
21 The Classical Spirit
22 The Development of Classical Forms
23 The Classical Symphony
24 The Classical Concerto and Sonata
25 Classical Opera
26 The Spirit of Romanticism
27 The Romantic Miniature
28 Romantic Program Music
29 Romantic Opera
30 The Late Romantics
31 America's Emerging Musical Voice
32 The Impressionist Era
33 Main Currents in Early-Twentieth-Century Music
34 Early-Twentieth-Century Innovators
35 Nationalism and Music
36 Ragtime, Blues, and Jazz
37 New Directions
38 Contemporary Composers Look to World Music
39 Music for the Stage and Screen
40 The Many Voices of Rock
41 Some Current Trends

Chapter 13: Medieval Music

Study Plan

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"When God saw that many men were lazy, and gave themselves only with difficulty to spiritual reading, He wished to make it easy for them, and added the melody to the Prophet's words, that all being rejoiced by the charm of the music, should sing hymns to Him with gladness." —ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Key Points

  • The music of the early Christian church, called Gregorian chant, features monophonic, nonmetric melodies set in one of the church modes, or scales.
  • Chant melodies fall into three categories (syllabic, neumatic, melismatic) based on how many notes are set to each syllable of text. Some chants are sung alternating a soloist and chorus in a responsorial performance.
  • The most solemn ritual of the Catholic Church is the Mass, a daily service with two categories of prayers: the Proper (texts that vary according to the day) and the Ordinary (texts that remain the same for every Mass).
  • The Paris Cathedral of Notre Dame was a center for organum, the earliest type of polyphony, with two-, three-, or four-voice parts sung in fixed rhythmic patterns (rhythmic modes). Preexisting chants formed the basis for early polyphony, including organum and later the motet.
  • Secular music arose in French courts, performed by aristocratic troubadours and trouvères in France. Their song texts focused on idealized love and the values of chivalry (code of behavior).
  • The French Ars nova (new art) saw the rise of secular polyphonic chansons (secular songs) set to fixed text forms (rondeau, ballade, virelai).
  • Instrumental music was generally improvised, performed by ensembles of soft (bas) or loud (haut) instruments, categorized by their use.

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