1. Antiquity and Middle Ages

	We are going to learn to...	Basic skills
Performance and creation	Develop techniques of musical performance (vocal, instrumental and movement) and expression, individually as well as in groups. Take part in the musical activities with the proper disposition in order to overcome any difficulties and to enrich the group. Recognize the basic elements of the language of music and use the proper technical vocabulary to describe them. Improvise and carry out short compositions using the elements of the language of music that are more common in the style, or the music forms that we studied. Read music in the context of the activities of the class as backup for the tasks of performance and creation.	CMCT CPAA CSC SIE
Listening	Appreciate silence as a requirement for taking part in the listening. Listen to musical pieces from the most important repertoire of the music of Antiquity and the Middle Ages and appreciate their value as sources of knowledge as well as cultural and personal enrichment. Recognize the musical examples that we studied in class and link them with the corresponding age, composer and musical form. Exercise acoustic immersion as a base for active hearing in order to identify the main characteristics of the pieces we listened to. Read music in the context of the activities of the class as backup for the tasks of listening.	CPAA CSC SIE CEC
Musical and cultural contexts	Recognize the characteristics and functions of the music from Antiquity and the Middle Ages; and apply the proper terminology to critically describe and value them. Know the origins of western music: the importance of music in Greece, its social function and technical characteristics. Know the main characteristics of medieval music: its chronology and most important manifestations of religious and secular vocal music. Know the main manifestations of medieval music in Spain. Connect the technical issues that we learnt with the evolution of the history of music. Build personal opinions and criteria by means of a critical analysis of the different social uses of music; and apply them to everyday situations while appreciating the contribution of music to our personal lives as well as to the community. Show interest in discovering types of music with different characteristics, from different ages and cultures; and in expanding and diversifying their own musical tastes by adopting an open and respectful attitude.	CCL CSC SIE CEC
Music and technology	Use on their own the different sources of information in order to investigate and carry out class works about artistic, historic and literary sources linked to Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Handle the technological resources necessary to learn music and to carry out simple musical productions. Surf the internet and different audiovisual sources to find examples of different musical manifestations from Antiquity and the Middle Ages and then carry out a personal evaluation.	CCL CPAA SIE CD

The history of western art music began in the ancient Greek civilization. They understand music as an art of divine origins and gave it a great teaching value in the education of young people.

The Middle Ages, which lasted from the Decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th century until the 15th century, gathered all the knowledge from Antiquity. During all these ten centuries, music, like the rest of arts, was in the hands of the Church.

Around monasteries and cathedrals appeared a wide repertoire of religious music, the first attempts of musical notation, and the technical breakthroughs that ended up in the birth of polyphony.

Secular music was developed at the same time as religious music under the protection of great feudal lords.

1.1. The divine origin of music

For Greek people, music was an art of divine origin. From this conception derives the term «music» (musiké, art of the Muses) and also from the abundant legends told by Greek mythology that link music to the gods. Music was thought to have magical powers that could cure illnesses and modify behaviors. That is way it was seen as an essential discipline in the education of young people.

The Myth of Orpheus

Orpheus was a poet and musician, son of the muse Calliope and the god Apollo, from whom he received the lyre, becoming then an excellent musician, without a rival among mortals. Orpheus' music was capable of dominating all creatures, of taming beasts and bewitching trees and rocks.

Orpheus married Eurydice, but not long after their wedding, his young wife was bitten by a viper and died. Full of pain and unable to live without his loved one, Orpheus decided to descend into the underworld in order to rescue Eurydice. With the help of his singing and his lyre, Orpheus managed to convince Hades, the God of the dead, to let him and his wife go back, provided that he did not turn his head back to look at her until they had reached the outer world of the living.

When they were almost done climbing, Orpheus, under the control of anxiety and love, turned back to check if Eurydice was following him. The unfulfilled promise made Eurydice vanish forever in the world of the dead.

1.2. Characteristics of Greek music

The concept of music encompasses music, poetry and dance

The term music did not only mean the art of sounds; it was conceived together with poetry and dance.

Musical system based on modal scales

They used the four basic modal scales which are organized in descending order and receive a different name depending on the first note. The different distributions of tones and semitones of each scale caused a different sonority associated with the «ethos» or particular feeling.

Music in education

Great philosophers like Plato (428-347 B.C.) and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) studied the influence that music has on the education and the character of citizens.

Since different scales can reflect different feelings, they could also pass on those emotions.

Convinced of the ability of music to influence the behavior, they legislated the scales or modes that, because of their effects, were considered good or bad for the education of young people.

It makes use of a monodic texture with a heterophonic accompaniment

This music had a monodic texture (with just one melodic line). Instruments played a heterophonic accompaniment by sharing the melody with the voice and introducing little ornaments.

Alphabetic notation for the pitch of sound, and metrical feet for the rhythm

They used alphabetic notation (letters) in order to reflect different pitches of sound. Musical rhythm was bound to the verses of the text, coming to terms with the combinations of long and short sounds set by the «metrical feet» of the poem.

The most important instruments were the lyre and the aulos

The lyre (plucked string) was associated with the god Apollo, the most powerful god of all, warrior, musician and athlete. The aulos (wind with double reed) was associated with the worship of Dionysus, god of wine and enjoyment.

They also used small percussion instruments like zills (small cymbals) and brass instruments like the salpinx (brass trumpet) used as a signal instrument.

↑ Musical instruments in Ancient Greece.

ACTIVITIES

Listen to the Seikilos Epitaph, one of the few fragments that were preserved of the music from Ancient Greece. It appeared carved on a funerary pillar in Seikilos (Tralles). But far from being a mournful lament, it is a song that encourages us to enjoy our short lives.

While you live, shine, have no grief at all.

Life exists only for a short while and time demands its toll.

What scale or mode is it written in? What ambitus does it have?

What musical instruments can you distinguish? What type of accompaniment are they?

2.1. Religious vocal music: the Gregorian chant

Religious music in the Middle Ages began to grow long before the emperor Constantine granted freedom of religious worship for Christians in the year 313. Since then, Christianism began to expand and organize its liturgy, in which singing was an essential element.

The main driving force of this task of expansion and unification of the liturgy was Pope Gregory the Great (590-604). Considered by tradition as the creator of the Christian singing (hence the name «Gregorian»), he actually did not invent it. He encouraged its organization as a way of strengthening the feeling of Christian unity.

Characteristics of the Gregorian chant

It is a type of music destined for the liturgy (celebration of the Mass and the hours of Office), which makes use of Latin as its main language. Its function is to heighten the word of God by strengthening the prayer with singing.

It has a monodic texture and a single melodic line without instrumental accompaniment.

It uses a special notation by means of neumes: symbols that approximately reflect the pitch and duration of sound.

The musical rhythm is free, determined by the expression and accentuation of the text to which it serves.

There are three styles of singing depending on the relation between music and text:

– Syllabic: one note per syllable.

– Neumatic or ornamented: two or three notes per syllable.

– Melismatic or florid: more than three notes per syllable.

It uses a system of eight modal scales derived from the Greek modes with a different distribution of tones and semitones. Therefore, it has different sonority and character, which are bound to different uses.

Neumatic notation

Neumes were symbols whose writing derived from the movement of the hand when conducting the singing.

They began being used in the 8th century, placed above or below the text to approximately indicate the melodic motion and to help monks remember the singings.

Neumatic notation evolved until achieving an exact representation of the pitches of sound by means of the introduction of reference lines and clefs, until the almost modern square notation.

The eight Gregorian modes appear from four main modes, defined by a final note. Each of these four modes is divided into two versions: an authentic mode (of higher register) and a plagal mode (of lower register) depending on the note of the recital.

The character of the modes

The monk Adam de Fulda wrote the following verses about the character of the eight modes:

The first mode lends to anyfeeling, the second is suitablefor the sad things, the third is vehement, the fourth hastender effects, the fifth is convenient for those who are happy, the sixth for thoseof proven piety, the seventh belongs to the youth, the eighth one to the knowledge.

ACTIVITIES

Listen to these three examples of Gregorian chant. Follow the track with the help of the scores.

Videns dominus flentes

When the Lord saw the sisters of Lazarus in tears near the tomb, he wept in the presence of the Jews and cried:

«Lazarus, come forth.» And out he came, hands and feet bound, the man who had been dead for four days.

Puer natus est nobis

Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Dominion is on his shoulder and his name shall be called theAngel of Great Counsel.

(Psalm) Sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has accomplished wondrous deeds.

Kyrie fons bonitatis

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Trope:
Lord, fountain of goodness from which good
comes from, have mercy.

version of the same Kyrie with trope:

The inventionof the «tropes»

Tropes were new texts that were added to melismatic passages in order to turn the singing into syllabic, and to make its learning easier. Therefore, each note of the melisma had a corresponding syllable from the made up text.

Analyze the music-text relation and indicate what type of singingthis piece belongs to.

Compare the neumatic notation of the first two scores with the almost modern square notation, indicating their connections.

Pay attention to the last piece. The original Kyrie appears first, and then another version with trope, that is, with new text added to the melisma. Which one is easier to sing?

2.2. Secular vocal music: Troubadoursand Minstrels

Secular vocal music, represented by troubadours, was developed at the same time as religious music under the protection of feudal lords.

Troubadours appeared in the south of France in the 11th century and expanded rapidly throughout Europe.

Troubadours were poet-musicians, generally of noble birth. Minstrels were traveling musicians who went over castles and villages entertaining people with songs, representations and acrobatics.

Characteristics of the music of troubadours

These were songs written in the vernacular languages of each area, whose main subjects were «courtly love» and the knightly spirit of the heroes from the crusades.

It is a type of vocal music with a monodic texture but with instrumental accompaniment. The instruments carry out a heterophonic accompaniment, improvising variants and ornamentations of the melody, and doubling the voices.

It makes use of Gregorian modal scales; but due to its popular character its rhythm is more marked.

The songs of troubadours were collected in luxuriously decorated song books. They often included a brief text telling the story of troubadours and exaggerating their virtues.

In Spain, the music of troubadours was represented by Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X the Wise. These were 417 songs written in Galician-Portuguese and dedicated to the Virgin.

Goliards

There were also secular songs in Latin called «songs of goliards».

Goliards were students and vagabond friars that performed satirical, political or religious critique, and carnal love songs.

The songs of goliards are gathered in a 13th century song book called Carmina Burana.

ACTIVITIES

Listen to the cantiga No. 47 by Alfonso X the Wise called Virgen Santa María.

It is a cantiga of «miragre» which tells how the Virgin saved a friar from the temptations of drinking.

Virgen Santa Maria guardanos, se te praz
da gran sabedoria que eno demo jazz

Virgin Saint Mary deliver us, if you please
from the great wisdom of the devil.

ACTIVITIES

Perform now the cantiga No. 100 called Santa Maria Strela do Dia. It is a cantiga of «loor» or praise, which presents the Virgin as a star capable of guiding the devoted towards Heaven.

Santa Maria, star of the day,
show us the way towards God and guide us.
You achieve that those lost
and mistaken because of their sins
understand that they are guilty
but you forgive themfor the boldness that makes
them do bad things which
they should not.
show us the way towards
God and guide us.

Miniature instruments

The Cantigas de Santa Maria are preserved in four codexes decorated with luxurious miniatures in which more than thirty different instruments are drawn. That is why we can deduce that they were sung with instrumental accompaniment.

2.3. The birth of polyphony

In the late 9th century, polyphony (different melodic lines at the same time) appeared in western music. This fact marked the posterior development of music, and probably appeared spontaneously with the desire of decorating and enriching the Gregorian chant.

Primitive polyphony (9th-12th centuries)

Polyphony is built by improvising upon the base of Gregorian chant. The main forms of primitive polyphony are:

Organum: it is the oldest and most rudimentary. It appeared in the late 9th century and consisted of adding a parallel voice of 4^th or 5^th below the Gregorian chant.

The original Gregorian melody receives the name vox principalis, and the one that is added, vox organalis.

Parallel organum

A third voice could be added by doubling the organalis an octave higher.

Melismatic organum: the Gregorian melody is developed in long values over which the vox organalis sings long melismas.

Ars antiqua (12th-13th centuries)

The evolution of musical notation made the development of more complex polyphonic forms easier. Music abandoned the Gregorian free rhythm and began to measure it due to the need of synchronizing the different voices of the polyphony.

In order to measure the durations of sound, musicians had to resort to the old Greek rhythm by using their main metrical feet.

The most important musical centre of this period was the so called «Notre Dame School» in Paris. And its main composers were Leonin (1150-1180) and Perotin (1183-1238).

New polyphonic forms appeared, like the conductus, composed upon newly created melodies (not Gregorian) and the motet, with several voices that move in different rhythms singing different texts.

Music and architecture

The monodic texture of the Gregorian chant is associated with Romanic art, an architectural style with sturdy and dark buildings that invite to isolation and contemplation.

Polyphony has it equivalent in the longing for elevation and light of gothic art, with high towers and ogive pointed arches.

Ars Nova (14th century)

Polyphony started liberating itself from the Gregorian chant in order to find a type of music closer to humanity, typical of an era that underwent the birth of urban societies and grew apart from medieval theocentrism.

Mensural notation appeared, in which particular values were designated for each sound. Secular music became increasingly important, making room for polyphonic forms of songs like the canon, the ballad and the chanson.

The most important composers were Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361), Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) and Francesco Landini (1335-1397).

New Art - Ancient Art

The term «Ars Nova» owes its name to the composer Philippe de Vitry who wrote in 1322 a treatise called Ars Nova, to differentiate new techniques of composition and notation of his period, from the former ones from «Ars Antiqua».

ACTIVITIES

Listen to the organum cuadruplum Sederunt principes by Perotin.

How would you define the sonority that this polyphony produces? What type of rhythm do the higher voices follow? What does the lower voice do? What consonances are produced in the cadences?

Perform this anonymous English canon called Sumer is icumen in and compare its sonority with the previous example, explaining the differences.

Choose the correct answers for the following question:

What polyphonies were developed in Spain since the 21st century?

Classifies the following characteristics according to the group to which they belong:

Music of troubadours

Gregorian chant

All ancient civilizations practiced dancing as a way of accompaniment and celebration of all kinds of social events. However, Greece was the first civilization that gave dance, included in music, a fundamental role in the education of citizens.

The Roman civilization did not give music the same importance. But, being the heir of Greece, they included singing and dancing in their theatrical spectacles and in every popular celebration and festivity.

The arrival of Christianism tried to eliminate dancing, associated with pagan rites (considered dangerous for the devoted). However, profane or even religious celebrations were still accompanied by dances.

Since the 12th century we find references to dancing. Some of them sung and others exclusively instrumental.

In many manuscripts, these dances appear with the generic name estampie. They use monodic textures and are structured in several phrases or «puncta» that are repeated: the first time, they are repeated with an open ending and the second time, with a closed ending.

Medieval instruments

There is a great variety of instruments, and there are a lot of names for them. The instrumental performance is improvised and it has two functions: to accompany songs, and the performance of dances and processions.

The most used instruments were string instruments (harp, lyre, psaltery, qanun, lute, viola, hurdy gurdy), wind instruments (horn, trumpet, dulzaina, chirimia, flutes, bagpipes, organ) and percussion instruments (hand drums, rattle drums, cymbals, triangle, bells, rattles).

Dance for warriors

Greek people also used dances for the training of warriors. The measure imposed by the music allowed them to march in perfect order. The typical discipline of the performance trained them in the most suitable role for their task.

Socrates even said that «the best warrior is the one that can dance».

ACTIVITIES

Listen to the song Kalenda maya by Raimbaut de Vaqueiras. It is a sung dance and, according to what they say, the troubadour wrote the lyrics of the song for the melody of an estampie some troubadours were playing in the north of France.

Analyze the rhythm and the different musical phrases.

Compare the track with the Gregorian chants that you heard and explain the differences.

Dare to dance: the estampie was probably a circle dance in which dancers moved in circles with strong steps while holding hands.

«Pythagoras' monochord»

The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (6th century B.C.) was the first one to connect mathematics with music. He discovered the relations between numbers and sounds, and educationally captured them in the monochord.

*Monochord (National German Museum in Nüremberg).*

The monochord is a rectangular wooden box with a tight string attached to both ends. The shifting of the movable bridge allows to obtain different sounds when modifying the length of the string in different proportions.

The proportion 1:2 divides the string of the monochord in half and allows to obtain the sound of the octave (an octave higher in relation to the base sound of the string). For example: C and C'.

The proportion 2:3 divides the string into two thirds and allows us to obtain the sound of the fifth (a fifth higher in relation to the base sound of the string). For example: C and G.

The proportion 3:4 divides the string into three fourths and allows us to obtain the sound of the fourth (a fourth higher in relation to the base sound of the string). For example: C and F.

Therefore, these three proportions allow to obtain the three basic degrees of the scale: I, IV and V.

Build a monochord and draw a graduated scale on its board with the different proportions that correspond to the sounds of the octave, fourth and fifth. Take into account that the ratios between numbers 12, 9, 8 and 6 are the same as the ones between 1, 3:4, 2:3, and 1:2.
Complete the rest of the scale by taking the tone distance produced between the proportions of fourth and fifth as a reference. Then apply it from the base note C and from G until putting all the notes.

Solve this word search puzzle by answering the definitions shown below:

Across

1. Polyphonic form of Ars Antiqua composed upon newly created melodies and not upon Gregorian chant.

2. Simple singing style with one note per syllable.

3. Gregorian mode with D as a final note.

4. Polyphonic form of Ars Antiqua in which the voices move in different rhythms, singing different texts.

5. Christian singing unified under the pontificate of Gregory the Great.

6. Students and vagabond friars who sang secular songs in Latin.

7. Feet used to measure the durations employed in Greece and by the musicians of Ars Antiqua.

8. First form of primitive polyphony based on the parallel movement of voices at a fourth or fifth distance.

9. Greek mode upon the initial note C in descending order.

10. Feelings that provoked the different Greek scales and that were also gathered by the Gregorian modes.

11. Polyphonic song of Ars Nova in which the voices perform the same melody but with successive entrances at different times.

12. Gregorian mode with E as its final note.

13. Greek mode upon the initial note B in descending order.

14. Style of ornamented singing with two or three notes per syllable.

15. Plucked string instrument from the Ancient Greece associated with the worship of Apollo.

16. Double reed wind instrument from the Ancient Greece associated with the worship of Dionysus.

Down

1. Instrumental accompaniment used in Greece and in the music of troubadours, imitating or repeating parts of the vocal melody.

2. Poet and musician of noble origin who sang in his language about courtly love and the knightly spirit.

3. Generic name for some medieval dances with phrases that were repeated with open and closed endings.

4. Type of florid singing with more than three notes per syllable.

5. Greek mode upon the initial note D in descending order.

6. Greek mode upon the initial note E in descending order.

7. Name of the songs of troubadours in Spain.

8. Primitive texture with just one melodic line, used in Greece and in the Middle Ages.

9. Different scales depending on the initial note, used in Greece and in the Middle Ages.

10. Traveling musician that entertained his audience with secular songs.

11. Texture with several voices at the same time that appeared in the late 9th century with the intention of ornamenting the Gregorian chant.

12. First notation symbols employed to remember the Gregorian chant.

13. New text that was added to the melismas in order to turn the chant into syllabic.

14. Gregorian mode with F as its final note.

15. Luxurious manuscript that gathered troubadour's songs.

Complete the following statements:

Music was for Greeks an art of origin.
The concept of music in Greece encompasses .
Music in Greece had a texture with accompaniment.
The four main scales or modes of Greek music are .
The most important instruments of Ancient Greece were .
The driving force of the unification and expansion of the Christian chant was .
The Gregorian chant was destined for , it has a texture with a text in and rhythm.
The eight Gregorian modes are .
The music of troubadours appeared in .
The songs of troubadours are written in and have a texture.
Polyphony appeared and developed into three periods.
Medieval dances are called and are structured in .
Instruments were used in the Middle Ages to .
The main examples of music of troubadours in Spain are .

Relate the following melodic fragments with their corresponding title:

Videns dominus flentes. Gregorian chant
Sederunt principes by Perotin
Virgen Santa María by Alfonso X the Wise
Kalenda maya by Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Seikilos Epitaph

Indicate whether the following phrases are true or false.

Perform this song by the trouvère Adam de la Halle called Robins m'aime.
It is a song that belongs to Jeu de Robin et Marion, a staged pastorela with characters, dialogs and sung fragments, that was represented in the Neapolitan court of Charles of Anjou around the year 1284.

Robin loves me, Robin has me.
Robin asked for me, and he will have me.
Robin bought me a satchel
and a silk purse;

Why shouldn't I love him?
Hurrah!
Robin loves me, Robin has me.
Robin asked for me, and he will have me.

– Analyze the formal structure, the modal scale, the ambitus and the rhythm.

Adam de la Halle (1245-1287)

Recognized as the greatest of the French trouvères, he worked in the court of Charles of Anjou, who would later become Charles II of Naples.

The Jeu de Robin et Marion can be considered one of the precedents of the ópera comique.

Carl Orff (1895-1982)

German composer and educator from the Neoclassicism of the 20th century, his works reflect great structural simplicity and a primitive character in order to reach the widest possible audience.

The fundamental element of his compositions and his method of musical teaching is the rhythm. It is the factor that generates the melody and balances feelings and reason.

Listen to the famous piece by Carl Orff that begins his Carmina Burana.

The name Carmina Burana refers to the collection of over two hundred profane Latin poems from the 13th century found in the Benedictine monastery of Beuron (Germany). They are secular songs that represent a great deal of the goliards' repertoire from the Middle Ages.

Orff composed a cantata for the stage in the year 1936 about 24 of these poems, in a version of impressive sonority written for soloists, choir and orchestra. Its style is simple and with great rhythmic strength, which accentuates its original popular character.

Read the translation of the text and follow the track with the help of the simplified score we show you. You can also use it to perform it:

Fortuna imperatrix mundi

O Fortuna, velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem, potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata et velata
mihi quoque niteris,
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis et virtutis
mihi nunc contraria,
est affectus et deffectus
semper in angaria;
hac in hora sine mora
corde pulsum tangite,
quod per sortem sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite.

Fortuna: Empress of the World

Oh Fortune, like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing and waning;
hateful life
first oppresses and then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty and power
it melts them like ice.
Fate, monstrous and empty,
you whirling wheel,
you are malevolent,
well-being is vain
and always fades to nothing,
shadowed and veiled
you plague me too;
now through the game
I bring my bare back
to your villainy.
Fate is against me
in health and virtue,
driven on and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me!

The sound of the Middle Ages

During the whole Middle Ages the sound of vocal music, based on the model of Gregorian chant with modal melodies, narrow ambitus and arch designs, prevailed.

The sonority of the new forms of polyphony is supported by the fundamental consonances of 4^th, 5^th and 8^th, which give music a primitive and rough character.

The sound of instruments is high and penetrating, with small groupings of soloists.

1

The Greek civilization regarded music as an art of divine origin. Their legends attribute the invention of instruments to particular gods that gave music supernatural powers

2

The concept of music in Greece encompassed the art of sounds, poetry and dance.

Music had a monodic texture with heterophonic accompaniment. They used alphabetic notation for the pitches and metrical feet to measure durations.

3

Greek scales were modal, and their different sonority provoked different «ethos» or behaviors that made music a fundamental discipline in education.

4

The Middle Ages lasted from the 5th to the 15th centuries, a period dominated by the power of the Church and by a profound theocentrism that made room for the predominance of religious music.

5

The Gregorian chant was the liturgical chant of the Christian church. Its text is in Latin and has a monodic texture. It uses modal scales and a free rhythm based on the accentuation and the phrasing of the text.

6

Secular music was represented by the songs of troubadours. They used monodic textures and the scales of the Gregorian chant. But they were sung in vernacular languages accompanied by instruments and had a marked rhythm.

7

Polyphony appeared in the late 9th century and was developed in three stages:

Primitive polyphony (9th-12th C.): improvised polyphony upon the base of Gregorian chant.
Ars Antiqua (12th-13th C.): voices are measured using Greek metrical feet.
Ars Nova (14th C.): mensural notation and the secular polyphonic song appeared.

8

Dancing was used in Ancient Greece asa fundamental part of education.

Christianism forbade dances, but in the Middle Ages we find examples generically called estampies.

9

Medieval instruments presented a great variety of forms and names. They were used to accompany secular songs and to perform dances and processions.

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1 Greece

1.1. The divine origin of music

1.2. Characteristics of Greek music

The concept of music encompasses music, poetry and dance

Musical system based on modal scales

It makes use of a monodic texture with a heterophonic accompaniment

Alphabetic notation for the pitch of sound, and metrical feet for the rhythm

The most important instruments were the lyre and the aulos

2 Middle Ages

2.1. Religious vocal music: the Gregorian chant

Characteristics of the Gregorian chant

2.2. Secular vocal music: Troubadoursand Minstrels

Characteristics of the music of troubadours

2.3. The birth of polyphony

Primitive polyphony (9th-12th centuries)

Ars antiqua (12th-13th centuries)

Ars Nova (14th century)

3 Dance in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Medieval instruments

Challenge

Self-assessment

Performance - Creation

Listening

To sum up

The sound of the Middle Ages

My progress