Terms
Pitch – sound in music
Meter: Duple, Triple, Quadruple – recurring pattern of strong and weak beats
Melody – logical succession of pitches
Rhythm – how long or short the sound or silence is refer to the duration
Cadence – stopping points in music; equivalent to punctuation
Syncopation – strong beats are shirted
Monophony – a single melodic line, no harmony, unison
Homophony - a single melodic with harmonic support
Polyphony – 2 or more independent melodic lines simultaneously
Harmony – 2pitches sounding simultaneously
Chord – 3or more pitches sounding simultaneously
Consonance – harmonies/ chords that are pleasing to our ears
Dissonance – harmonies/ chords clash
Beat – steady pulsation
Middle Ages (c.476-1450) – Early Christian church and state were the center of the power, religious and sacred music because of the sponsorship of the church
Gregorian chant – The music of early Christian church, features monophonic, nonmetric melodies set in one of the church modes, or scales
Text settings: syllabic, neumatic, & melismatic – categories that Chant melodies fall into based on how many notes are set to each syllable of text
Organum – the earliest type of polyphony with two-, three-, or four- voice parts sung in fixed rhythmic patterns and modes in 12th and 13th century
Proper Mass – the most solemn ritual of the Catholic Church, texts that vary according to the day
Ordinary Mass – the most solemn ritual of the Catholic Church, texts that remain the same for every Mass
Canonical Hours/ Offices – Official set of prayer of the Roman Catholic Church that is known variously as the Divine Office
Ministrels – wandering musicians; topic range from current event to gossip
Motet – religious vocal work in Latin
Troubador – Poet musician; Southern France; Topics are range from love, war politics, dance songs
Trouvère – Poet musician; Northern France; Topics are range from love, war politics, dance songs
Ars antiqua (old art) -
Ars nova (new art) – 14th century in France, New development in melody, harmony, and rhythm; more refined and complex than Ars antiqua
Chanson –lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular
Round – polyphonic, all voices are derived from one, staggered entrances
Forme fixe: Rondeau – AbaAabAB, the most popular chord in Ars Nova, Chansong
Ostinato – phrase that persistently repeate the same musical voice usually at the same pitch
Renaissance (c.1450-1600) – Golden age of a cappella style, imitative polyphony, harmony, carefully controlled dissonant, and duple meter
Early Renaissance ( 1450-1520) – Belgium, northern France, Josquin des Prez
Later Renaissance ( 1520-1600) – Italy, Giovanni Palestrina
Humanism – Inspired by ancient cultures of Greece & Rome; Italy center; cultural and artistic rebirth
Ordinary of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, & Agnus Dei – Renaissance Mass, Polyphonic mass, setting the ordinary and fixed portion of the mass
A cappella – voices holy
Paratactic form – different music/ rhythm/ melody for each stanza of text: ABCD
Cantus firmus – Fixed and preexisting melody, entire mass based on one melody, Gregorian chant or popular song
Imitation/ pervading imitation – all voices sing the same melodic material in sequence
Reformation/ Counter Reformation – Protestant Revolt and Catholic’s response to Reformation
Italian madrigal – Vocal genre, most important genre of the 16th century and also for Italy, Voices only usually
Through-composed – Every stanza of text has different music
Word paining/ madrigalism – Musically depict the text
Prima Prattica – Music is more important than the text
Second Prattica – Words are more important than the music
Strophic – Same music for each stanza of text
Musica transalpine - a book of Italian Madrigals translated into English

People and Places
Notre Dame Cathedral: Léonin & Pérotin
Leonin – Composer at Cathedral of Norte Dame, complied Great Book of Organum