Introduction to Music History and Literature – MUL 2014 (Fall 2009) - Warfield

Review Sheet # 2 - Medieval Music

This review sheet covers materials presented in Forney & Machlis, Enjoyment of Music, Unit III (Chapters 11-13), which will be tested on the second test in MUL 2014 on Wednesday, 14 October 2009.

The following concepts and terms in boldface (as well as a few others not specifically listed, but indicated in these review questions) will be included on the first of the three larger mid-term tests. You should know all of these terms, including their (1) spelling, (2) definition, and (3) be able to use them correctly in speaking and writing about music.

Dictionary definitions may be found in glossary section of your textbook or in the glossary section of the publisher-sponsored web site that supports your textbook.

Additionally, you should know by sound the four music examples (Listening Guides 2,3 4, and 5) that support this portion of the textbook.

    CHAPTER 11

  1. What is the rough span of the Middle Ages (or the Medieval Era), how might the era itself be divided, and what are the eras on either side of it?
  2. Who or what is the dominant institution that preserves and transmits general knowledge and also music in this era? What is patronage, and why is this institution the most important patron of music in the era?
  3. What are monasteries and churches, and why are they important in the transmission of knowledge and the arts in this era?
  4. What two basic types/categories of music were made in the Medieval era, which is the more important (or at least the more plentiful in surviving sources), and why?

    5. CHAPTER 12

  5. What is chant, and what are its most important stylistic traits (how do you know it when you hear it)?
  6. Who was Gregory the Great, and what happened to the liturgy of the church under his leadership?
  7. What are liturgy and the mass, and why is some of it Ordinary and some of it Proper? What effect would this have on how this music was passed down, and what are neumes?
  8. What is the only texture in which chant is sung, in what language is Gregorian chant, and what are three different ways in which the words of a chant may be set musically?
  9. Who was Hildegard of Bingen, and why is she important in the history of music? For what other sorts of things beside music is she remembered?
  10. At what famous church (in what city) was sacred polyphony first developed, and who were two of the composers who helped to develop this new style?
  11. What important notational problem had to be solved before polyphony could be written? (Which of the 4 basic elements of music is the most important for controling the interaction of two or more voice parts?)
  12. What is the Great Book of Organum, and what is organum, i.e., how was chant decorated in polyphony?

    13. Listening Guide 2 (p. 73, Chant by Hildegard)

  13. What kind of piece (genre) is this, and who composed it?
  14. When and where might this piece have been sung?
  15. What are the primary musical traits of this piece, e.g., texture, rhythm, melodic characteristics, language, etc.? (How do you know it when you hear it?)
  16. What are melismas and why might they be used in this piece? Also, what are syllabic and neumatic text setting?
  17. What are some musical ways in which the most important words of the text are emphasized in this piece?

    18. Listening Guide 3 (p. 75, Notre Dame Organum)

  18. What kind of piece (genre) is this, and who composed it?
  19. When and where might this piece have been sung?
  20. What are the primary musical traits of this piece, e.g., texture, rhythm, melodic characteristics, language, etc.? (How do you know it when you hear it?)
  21. How (and why) is rhythm particularly important in this work? Waht distinguishes the rhythm of this piece?
  22. What is the source of both the bottom voice and the text?
  23. What are the preferred sonorities (intervals) and texture in this piece?

    24. CHAPTER 13

  24. Why does less secular music survive from the Medieval era (as compared to sacred music)?
  25. Who were some types of secular musicians in the Medieval era and where did the work?
  26. Why might troubadours and trouvères be considered superior to other secular musicians?
  27. What kinds of pieces (subjects and performance techniques) did these Medieval secular musicians create? What is an estampie?
  28. What were the ars antiqua and ars nova, and to what specific changes in musical style do they refer?
  29. Who was Guillaume de Machaut, what sort of training did he have, and how did that influence the kinds of music that he wrote?
  30. What is a chanson, and how do the poetic forms of the era influence the musical structures of these works?
  31. What do we know about instruments in the Medieval era, and why is our knowledge somewhat limited? What is iconography, and how does it contribute to our knowledge of instruments (and other aspects of music) in this era?

    32. Listening Guide 4 (pp. 78-9, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, "Kalenda maya" ["The First of May"])

  32. What kind of piece (genre) is this, and who composed it?
  33. When and where might this piece have been sung?
  34. How is this piece organized, and how is that related to the poetic structure of the lyrics? (What is strophic form?)
  35. What are the primary musical traits of this piece, e.g., texture, rhythm, melodic characteristics, language, etc.? (How do you know it when you hear it?)
  36. What sorts of instruments are used in the recording of this work?
  37. What are some musical ways in which the most important words of the text are emphasized in this piece?

    38. Listening Guide 5 (p. 81, Guillaume de Machaut, "Puis qu'en oubli" ["Since I am Forgotten"])

  38. What kind of piece (genre) is this, and who composed it?
  39. When and where might this piece have been sung?
  40. What are the primary musical traits of this piece, e.g., texture, rhythm, melodic characteristics, language, etc.? (How do you know it when you hear it?)
  41. How does the musical structure (form) of this piece reflect the poetic structure?
  42. How do the cadences reflect the form and punctuation of the poetry?

NB. See the textbook, pp. 64-5, for a timeline overview of the Medieval era. Also see the publisher's website (Enjoyment to Music) for additional study guides, practice quizzes, and additional music examples for this era.