Middle Ages works Flashcards
Who wrote Messe de Nostre Dame?
Guillaume de Machaut
[p. 33]
Describe Rose, liz
charming four-voice chanson
Machaut’s courtly elegance is projected
two musical phrases are arranged to reflect the poetic structure
[p. 35]
Name the tune used by Guido of Arezzo to teach sight singing.
Ut queant laxis
[p. 13]
Who wrote De ma dame vient/Diex, comment porroie/Omnes?
Adam de la Halle
[p. 21]
Name a piece by Moniot d’Arras.
Ce fut en mai
[p. 22]
Describe “Robin m’aime”
secular song, translates “Robin loves me”
from 13th-century musical play Je de Robin et Marion
by Adam de la Halle
consists of a monophonic, modal melody
[p. 26]
Describe Istampita Palamento
14th-century Italian dance
derived from the French estampie
has sectional form, with open and closed endings
[p. 30]
Who wrote Ma fin est mon commencement?
Guillaume de Machaut
[p. 35]
Who wrote Rose, liz?
Guillaume de Machaut
[p. 35]
Describe Dies irae
text drawn from Requiem Mass; describe the “Day of Wrath” or “Judgment Day”
melody attributed to Thomas of Celano (ca 1250)
quoted in works by Berlioz, Liszt, and Sondheim
tune has come to symbolize death and the supernatural
[p. 12]
Name the example of organum quadruplum written by Perotin.
Sederunt principes
[p. 17]
O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies
Genre:
Composer:
Composition date:
Sources of text:
Language:
Performing forces:
Texture:
O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies
Genre: polytextual motet, from Bamberg Codex
Composer: anonymous
Composition date: 13th century
Sources of text: poems in praise of the Virgin Mary; Haec dies
Language: Latin
Performing forces: three voices, lowest voice sometimes play by an instrument
Texture: polyphonic
[p. 18]
Who wrote the chanson Douce dame jolie?
Guillaume de Machaut
[p. 35]
Describe Ordo virtutum
translates Play of Virtues
allegorical morality play, or sacred drama
by Hildegard von Bingen
her longest and best-known work
remarkable not only for its length, but also for its musical design
[p. 12]
Name the hymn to John the Baptist.
Ut queant laxis
[p. 13]
Name two rondeaux by Guillaume de Machaut.
Rose, liz and Ma fin est mon commencement
[p. 35]
“Royal Estampie No. 4”
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“Royal Estampie No. 4”
Genre: dance music
Composer: anonymous
Composition date: late 13th century
Texture: monophonic
Form: sectional structure, with open and closed endings
Performing forces: variable (instruments)
Collection: Chansonnier du Roy
[p. 29]
Describe Kalenda maya
a dance-song celebrating the first of May (May Day)
[p. 26]
Who wrote the treatise Ars nova?
Philippe de Vitry
[p. 32]
Haec dies (organum)
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Haec dies (organum)
Genre: organum (Notre Dame style)
Composer: anonymous, in the style of Leonin
Composition date: ca 1175
Source of text: Old Testament - Psalms
Language: Latin
Performing forces: soloist & chorus
Texture: polyphonic, with monophonic sections
Number of voices: two
Haec dies (chant)
Genre:
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Haec dies (chant)
Genre: Gregorian chant
Composer: anonymous
Composition date: early Middle Ages
Mass component: Gradual, from the Mass for Easter Day
Source of text: Psalm 118:1/24; Old Testament
Language: Latin
Performing forces: soloist and chorus
Texture: monophonic
Key: Dorian mode
Performance style: responsorial singing
What is the Liber Usualis?
translates Book of Common Use
an important source containing the music and text of many of the chants used in the Roman Catholic services
compiled in late 19th century by monks of Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes, France
[p. 12]
Ce fut en mai
Genre:
Composer:
Composition date:
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Texture:
Ce fut en mai
Genre: monophonic chanson [courtly trouvere song]
Composer: Moniot d’Arras
Composition date: mid-13th century
Source of text: secular poem
Language: old French
Performing forces: solo singer
Texture: monophonic, with improvised accompaniment on some recordings
[p. 23]
Name the morality play by Hildegard von Bingen.
Ordo virtutum
[p. 12]
Who wrote the motet Hareu! Hareu! Le feu/Helas/Obediens?
Guillaume de Machaut
[p. 35]
Describe Ut queant laxis
hymn to St. John the Baptist
used by Guido of Arezzo as an aid in teaching sight singing
11th century
[p. 13]
Who wrote the chanson Puis qu’en oubli?
Guillaume de Machaut
[p. 35]
Name a piece derived from the French estampie.
Istampita Palamento
[p. 30]
What composer created a four-voice texture that would become the standard for sacred choral settings and in which work?
Guillaume de Machaut
Messe de Nostre Dame
[p. 33]
What important treatise did Philippe de Vitry author?
Ars nova
[p. 32]
Describe Chansonnier du Roy
French for “Songbook of the King”
anonymous 13th-century French manuscript
contains troubadour and trouvere songs as well as 8 monophonic dances
contains some of the earliest examples of notated dance music
[p. 29]
What are chansonniers?
songbooks of chansons
[p. 22]
What is the significance of Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame?
first complete polyphonic setting of the Ordinary of the Mass by a single, known composer
In composing the various Mass movements as a musically unified whole, de Machaut was the first composer to impart a creative design and overall cohesion to music that had previously been regarded as purely functional.
also introduced another voice into the traditional three-voice style: the “contratenor” voice created counterpoint in a range overlapping with the tenor voice, resulting in a four-voice texture that would become the standard for sacred choral settings for centuries to come
[p. 33]
What is the significance of the words in the title O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies?
they reflect the opening words of each voice in this polytextual motet
[p. 18]
What book contains some of the earliest examples of notated dance music?
Chansonnier du Roy
[p. 29]
Describe De ma dame vient/Diex, comment porroie/Omnes
late 13th-century motet
demonstrates the juxtaposition of sacred & secular elements
cantus firmus drawn from a Gregorian chant
text in the top voice is a secular poem
[p. 21]
What book did Leonin write/compile?
Magnus Liber Organi
(Great Book of Organum)
[p. 15]
What is the Bamberg Codex?
manuscript consisting of two treatises on music theory and a collection of 13th-century polyphonic works
[p. 18]
Kyrie from Messe de Nostre Dame
Genre:
Composer:
Composition date:
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Borrowed Materials:
Form:
Kyrie from Messe de Nostre Dame
Genre: Kyrie, the first movement of the Mass Ordinary
Composer: Guillaume de Machaut
Composition date: ca 1350
Source of text: Mass Ordinary
Language: Greek
Texture: polyphonic
Number of voices: four (triplum, motetus, tenor, countertenor)
Performing forces: singers; parts may have been reinforced by instruments
Borrowed Materials: cantus firmus in tenor is based on the plainchant Kyrie cunctipotens genitor Deus from Gregorian Mass IV
Form: three sections; text follows ABA form
[p. 33]
From what collection do we get O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies?
the Bamberg Codex
[p. 18]
Describe the Musica Enchiriadis.
Latin for “Music Handbook”
anonymous 9th-century treatise
contains the earliest examples of notated polyphony in Western art music
includes parallel oranum
scholars believe this was a book for theorists, not used in performance
[p. 14]
What two pieces did Adam de la Halle write?
De ma dame vient/Diex, comment porroie/Omnes
[p. 21]
“Robin m’aime” from Jeu de Robin et Marion
[p. 26]
Who wrote “Roman de Fauvel?”
Gervais du Bus
[p. 33]
Describe Ma fin est mon commencement
three-voice rondeau
excellent example of the love for complexity associated with ars nova style
upper voices are both based on the same material; they sing the same melody in a mirror image, meeting in the middle
the bottom voice sings a mirror image of itself in each half (retrograde canon)
[p. 35]
What is the significance of the Bamberg Codex?
important source for understanding the style of notation that was developing at the time
close to 100 three-voice motets composed between 1260-1290
[p. 18]
What is the translation of Messe de Nostre Dame?
“Mass of Our Lady”
[p. 33]
Ordo virtutum - plot summary & characters
The 82 original monophonic melodies reveal a creative approach in the recurrence of motives and a wider range.
The work was written to teach Christian values to a largely illiterate audience.
Its allegorical characters include the Virtues (such as Humility, Hope, Charity, Discipline) who battle the Devil for possession of the Soul (Anima). Ironically, the only male character, the Devil, is not required to sing; according to Hildegard, he is incapable of creating celestial harmony.
[p. 12]
What is catalogued in Ars nova?
changes that had already taken place in music and art in the 14th century
evolution of polyphony (sacred & secular) was spurred on by the perfection of pitch notation coupled with more sophisticated rhythmic notation
rhythmically coplex music could be notated in a much clearer way than had previously been possible
chanson became an elegant, courtly song
vocal music of the period often derived its shape from the poetry itself
[p. 32]
Who wrote Magnus Liber Organi?
Leonin
[p. 15]
What melody is attributed to Thomas of Celano?
Dies irae chant
[p. 12]
Name the collection compiled by Benedictine monks in Solesmes, France.
Liber Usualis
[p. 12]
