1 - Folder 1 - Medieval Monophony: Sacred Music

Question 0

How and when was the Division of the early Christian church?

Answer 0

AD 395 — the church divided into Western (Roman) & Eastern (Byzantine)

Question 1

Name the aspects of:

Plainchant

Answer 1

a. Religious singing
b. Much of it is liturgical — comes directly from the religious service
c. Emphasis on the text, which determines many of the musical features
d. Monophonic texture — unaccompanied, single-line melody
e. Unmetered

Question 2

What were the different rites (religious practices) within the Western church (each with its own liturgy and music)?

Answer 2

i. Roman rite
ii. Gallican rite (France)
iii. Ambrosian rite (Milan; Northern Italy)
iv. Mozarabic rite (Spain)
v. Sarum rite (Salisbury; England)

Question 3

Define and describe Gregorian chant.

Answer 3

a. Large body of plainchant from the Roman rite
b. Resulted from the collaboration of Roman leaders and French kings to codify and standardize the liturgy, and to suppress the other Western rites
c. Created gradually in the 7th, 8th,and 9th centuries

Question 4

Who were important figures in the creation of Gregorian chant?

Answer 4

i. Gregory I (Gregory the Great)

ii. Charlemagne

Question 5

Who was Charlemagne, and how did he influence Gregorian chant?

Answer 5

1. French king and Holy Roman Emperor AD 768–814
2. Merged the Kingdom of the Franks with the Roman church to become Holy Roman Emperor
3. Greatly expanded the kingdom through much of Western Europe
4. Used the standardization of liturgy (including music and the emerging body of Gregorian chant) as a means of religious and political unification

Question 6

Who was Gregory I (Gregory the Great), and how did he influence Gregorian chant?

Answer 6

1. Pope AD 590–604
2. Gregorian chant as a whole was often accredited tohim, though this is not really how the repertory originated
3. Legends developed that the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, dictated the Gregorian chant melodies to him

Question 7

What are the three main parts of Roman Liturgy?

Answer 7

1. Divine Office
2. Mass
3. Chant Books

Question 8

Describe the Mass.

Answer 8

i. Most important ritual in the Roman church
ii. Symbolic reenactment of the Last Supper
iii. Performed daily in monasteries, convents, and major churches
iv. Performed on Sundays and holidays in smaller churches

Question 9

What are the two parts of the Mass?

Answer 9

1. The Proper

2. The Ordinary

Question 10

Describe the “Proper” of the Mass.

Answer 10

Contains the parts of the Mass whose texts change according to the liturgical calendar (they are “proper” for the given week or holiday)

• Introit
• Gradual
• Alleluia
• Offertory
• Communion

Question 11

Describe the “Ordinary” of the Mass.

Answer 11

a. Parts of the Mass whose texts do not change throughout the year

• Kyrie
• Gloria
• Credo
• Sanctus
• Agnus Dei

b. Beginning in the Renaissance, most newly composed musical settings of the Mass set only the texts of the Ordinary

Question 12

Name and describe the Chant Books.

Answer 12

i. Antiphoner — contains chants of the Office
(named because the Office features much antiphonal singing — alternation between two choirs)

ii. Gradual— contains chants of the Mass
iii. Liber usualis — contains the most important and frequently used chants from the Office and the Mass

Question 13

Describe the Development of Music Notation.

Answer 13

Written notation began to appear in the 8th and 9th centuries (same era as the codification of Gregorian chant)

Development would eventually include:

• Neumes
• Staff lines
• Modern chant notation
• Solmization (solfege)

Question 14

Describe Staff Lines.

Answer 14

i. in use by the 11th and 12th centuries
ii. began with one line (middle C), then expanded to two (C & F), and more
iii. Four line staff became standard in the late Middle Ages

Question 15

Describe Modern Chant Notation.

Answer 15

i. Developed by the monks of Solesmes monastery in France in the 19th century
ii. Four lines
iii. C or F clef (both moveable)
iv. Uses notes or note groups called Neumes:

1. Each neume can only have one syllable of text
2. Neumes with more than one pitch are read left to right, and bottom to top if two notes are vertically aligned

Question 16

Describe Neumes.

Answer 16

Symbols placed above the text to help remember the general contour of a melody

Question 17

Describe Solmization (solfege).

Answer 17

i. System established by Guido of Arezzo (c. 1000)–an Italian monk who developed several aids to learning and remembering chants
ii. Syllables derived from the text of a particular chant whose phrases began on ascending degrees of the scale

Question 18

What are the parts of Plainchant (Modal) Theory?

Answer 18

1. Eight modes
2. Authentic modes
3. Plagal modes
4. Accidentals

Question 19

In Plainchant (Modal) Theory, what define the eight modes?

Answer 19

i. Ambitus (range) — generally an octave or less, though some chants extend beyond one octave
ii. Finalis (final) — cadential note at the end of the chant, and at most cadence points in the middle
iii. Tenor (“held note”); also called the Dominant or the Reciting tone— usually the most prominent note in the middle of melodic phrases

Question 20

In Plainchant (Modal) Theory, describe Authentic modes.

Answer 20

i. Odd numbered
ii. Finalis lies at the top and bottom of the ambitus
iii. Tenor is a 5th above the finalis (except in Mode 3):

1. The tenor can never be a B, because its tritone relationship with F makes it inherently “unstable”
2. In Mode 3 the tenor is C (next note above B)

Question 21

In Plainchant (Modal) Theory, describe Plagal modes.

Answer 21

i. Even numbered (with the “Hypo” prefix)
ii. Finalis lies in the middle of its ambitus
iii. Tenor is a 3rd below the tenor the corresponding authentic mode (except in mode 8):
1. Because the tenor can never B, in Mode 8 the tenor isC (next note above B)

Mode Ambitus Finalis Tenor

1. Dorian D–D D A
2. Hypodorian A–A D F
3. Phrygian E–E E C
4. Hypophrygian B–B E A
5. Lydian F–F F C
6. Hypolydian C–C F A
7. Mixolydian G–G G D
8. Hypomixolydian D–D G C

Question 22

In Plainchant (Modal) Theory, describe Accidentals.

Answer 22

i. B-flat, F-sharp, E-flat, and C-sharp are used occasionally
ii. to avoid emphasizing tritones in the melody
iii. to transpose modes to other pitch levels

Question 23

What were some later chant developments?

Answer 23

a. New chants continued to appear after the establishment of the Gregorian repertory
b. Existing chants were also modified and expanded indifferent ways
c. Trope— new addition to an existing chant
d. Sequence
e. Liturgical drama

Question 24

In later chant developments, a Trope.

Answer 24

Trope — new addition to an existing chant

i. New music

1. Extending existing melismas or adding new ones
2. Melisma — chant passage with many notes sung to one syllable of text

ii. New text
1. Adding words to existing melismas
iii. New music and text

Question 25

In later chant developments, describe a Sequence.

Answer 25

i. Chant genre (category of composition) of late Middle Ages
ii. Began as a trope at the end of the Alleluia (a section of the Mass Proper)
iii. Split off to form a separate chant, after the Alleluia (sequence = to follow)

Question 26

In later chant developments, describe Liturgical drama.

Answer 26

i. Chant genre (category of composition) of late Middle Ages
ii. Began as a trope of the Introit (from the Mass Proper)
iii. Introits were often little dramatic scenes, especially on holidays like Easter

Question 27

Who was Hildegard von Bingen?

Answer 27

Hildegard von Bingen (c. 1098–1179)

a. Important composer of sequences and other laterplainchant genres
b. Also an abbess, poet, scientist, theologian, andmystic (who experienced many religious visions)
c. Wrote Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the Virtues)

Question 28

Describe Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the Virtues) by Hildegard von Bingen.

Answer 28

i. A morality play sung in plainchant
ii. Hildegard wrote the music and the text
iii. Allegorical representation of moral codes
iv. Intended for the edification of Hildegard’s nuns