Medieval/Renaissance Period Flashcards
What is plainchant also known as?
Gregorian chant
What is plainchant?
Pure melody with no supporting harmony and no regular beat. It is based on a system of 8 modes and has religious words. It is monophonic and sometimes accompanied by a drone
What are church modes?
The eight modes of the plainchant.
When did the medieval period occur?
450-1450 (1000 years)
History in the medieval period?
- barbarians overthrew the Roman Empire
- Christian culture emerged in Western Europe
- churches and monasteries were the main centres for learning
- music was centred on cathedrals
- priests and monks were important musicians
Music in the medieval period?
- many types of instruments
- organ used for church music, others for signing and dancing
- music played from memory or improvised
- accompaniment was drones or untuned percussion
What were some instruments in the medieval period?
Shawm, natural trumpet, bagpipes, pipe and tabor, harp, rebec, nakers and tambourines
What is strophic?
Has the same melody for each verse
When was the Renaissance period
1450-1600
History in the Renaissance period
- Kings and nobility set up own bands
- music was for worship, entertainment and ceremonies
- Renaissance instruments often used in families called consorts
- shift from church to man
- means “rebirth”
- new ideas
- non-religious songs performed
What is a consort?
Different sized instruments ranging in pitch
What is a broken consort?
A mixed group of instruments
What are some instruments from the Renaissance period?
Viols, recorders, crumhorns, cornetts, shawms, sackbuts and trumpets
What is a cadence?
Chords at the end of a phrase or piece to finish and make sound final
What is a perfect cadence?
Sounds most final, chord 5 to 1
What is a part song?
- written for a group of 2-7 unaccompanied voices
- polyphonic texture
- imitation
- metre not always constant
- follows flow of words
- tonality based on modes
- word painting
What is word painting?
Depiction of words or idea by musical means like rhythm, contour, harmony, texture, timbre eg. Word sad= minor chord
What is a madrigal?
- expresses intense emotions, drama and descriptive ideas
- musical setting of light-hearted verse often pastoral or romantic
- lines of poetry frequently repeated with new music for each line or idea
- word painting
- homophonic and polyphonic textures with some imitation
- mainly diatonic harmony but with some chromaticism
- written for 2-7 voices with one voice per part sung a Cappella
