A Cappella

Voices only, without instruments.

Plainsong
medieval sacred music with a single melody.
Monophony

single, unaccompanied melody

Minstrel

a medieval musician who travelled around and sang, recited poetry, and told of news.
Sacred

religious
Secular

non-religious, popular
Gregorian Chant

Famous type of plainsong, named after Saint Gregory.

Hildegard von Bingen

medieval female composer

Neumes

Early "notes"; they were square and diamond shaped.

requiem

mass for the dead

kyrie, gloria, credo, sanctus, agnus dei
ordinary of the mass
ordinary
fixed

proper

variable
cantus fimus

fixed melody
chanson

song set to courtly love poetry

pavanne

stately court dance

saltarello

italian jumping dance

ronde
circle dance
syllabic
1 note per syllable
neumatic
2 or 4 notes per syllable
melismatic
many, many notes per syllable
neumes

middle age notes

organum

second voice added to gregorian chant

motet

new text added to organum

melody

a coherent succession of single pitches

conjunct
connected
disjunct
disconnected
rhythm
overall movement of music in time
harmony
relationship of intervals and chords
consonant

gives sensation of relaxation

dissonant

gives sensation of tension

texture

the way melody, rhythm and harmony is combined in a composition

form

structure of composition
binary
A-B

ternary
A-B-A

tempo
speed of music
goliards
clergy who expressed dissension through song
jongleurs
minstrels

troubadours

court poet-musicians
minnesingers

german poet-musicians
chansons

generally set to courtly love poems

estampie

stately french dance

strophic

form in which the same melody is repeated with every stanza

rebec

bowed string instrument

pipe

wind instrument
guitarra moresca
4 string guitar
nakers

small drums played in pairs

ars nova

new art that developed rhythm and harmony

ars antiqua
old art

rondeau, virelai, ballade

poetic forms for courtly love poems

soft instruments

recorder, lute, harp, relec

loud instruments

shawn, tabor, nakers, slide trumpet, sackbut

regal
small type of organ (r)
portative and positive
two small types of organs (p)
Music style periods

Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romanticism, Impressionism

Middle Ages (450- 1450)

A period in European history that began with the collapse of the

Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.
Hildegard of Bingen
first woman composer whose biography is known (Middle ages).
Syllabic singing
one note sung to each syllable.
Ornament (embellishment)

musical flourishes that serve to decorate or "ornament" the line. Many

ornaments are performed as fast notes surrounding a central note. Some examples include the trill, the
mordent, the appoggiatura, etc.
Trill

a rapid alternation of two neighboring pitches.

Melisma

When in singing, one vowel spread out over many notes

Melismatic singing

When many notes are sung to just one syllable of text.

Polyphony

a musical texture involving two or more simultaneously sounding lines; the lines are
often independent and create counterpoint.
Counterpoint
the harmonious opposition of two or more independent musical lines
Renaissance (1450-1600)
a cultural movement that began in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and
later spread to the rest of Europe.
Sacred music

music written for the Church with a sacred text in Latin, such as the motet
Motet

a composition for choir or larger chorus setting a religious text; often sung a cappella.
Secular music

non-sacred music written with a vernacular text, such as the madrigal.

Madrigal

a popular genre of secular vocal music that originated in Italy during the Renaissance, in
which usually four or five voices sing love poems.
Troubadour
a type of secular poet-musician that flourished in southern France during the 12th and
13th centuries.
Vocal music

music exclusively sung, either a cappella or with instrumental accompaniment.

A cappella

a term applied to unaccompanied vocal music (performed by voices alone, without any
instrumental accompaniment.)
Instrumental music
music exclusively played by musical instruments (excluding the voice.)
Martin Luther
German religious reformer of the Renaissance era.
Council of Trent (1545-1563)
a two-decade-long conference at which the Catholic Church
undertook a reform, including its music
Imitation

a compositional procedure where one or more voices duplicate in turn the notes of a
melody

Soprano

the highest female vocal part.

Mezzo-soprano

a female vocal range between alto and soprano.

Alto (contralto)

the lower of the two female voice parts, the soprano being higher.
Tenor

the highest male vocal range.

Bass
the lowest male voice range.
Baritone
a male voice part of a middle range, between the higher tenor and the lower bass.
Word painting
When the music reflects the meaning of the words through a descriptive musical
gesture.

Josquin Desprez

one of the greatest masters of the Renaissance motet.

Palestrina

Reformer of music that wrote over 100 Masses in the conservative style of the CounterReformation.
Pavane

a slow, gliding Renaissance dance in duple meter

Galliard

a fast, leaping Renaissance dance in triple meter.

Chant

Earliest body of song preserved through notation. plainsong, plain chant. Different types: Ambrosian,
Cistercian, Mozarabic, Gallican, and Gregorian.
Gregorian chant

named after Pope Gregory I who organized appr. 3000 church melodies. Latin text that dictates the

rhythm and influences the contour of the melody. Set syllabically and melismatically. Monophonic and
typically sung acapella by male singers. No dynamics or accents. Sometimes with responsorial passages
and antiphonal sections. Modal, non-metric, monophonic, conjunct, Latin, used neumatic notation.
Constitutes the majority of the music of the Middle Ages.

Formes Fixes

forms that affected musical forms of song setting during 14th and 15 centuries. Involved complex
repetition patterns with a refrain. (Machaut) Virelais, Rondeau, Ballade
Virelais
one of the formes fixes, cultivated in the 13th ,14th, 15th centuries. Strophic. AbbaA
Rondeau
the most long-lasting of the Fr. Formes-fixes, cultivated in the 13th, 14th, 15th centuries. AbaAabAB
form (A and B are refrains)
Ballade

one of the French forms fixes of the 13th, 14th, 15th centuries. Strophic, typically of love.
Antiphonal psalmody

chanting of psalmodic texts by alternating choirs or soloists with the addition of 1 or more refrains
(antiphon/antiphona) after each verse.
Antiphon

section of chant sung as a REFRAIN to the verses of a psalm. Served as a frame to psalm verse (intro and
end).
Ars Nova
Transitional era (14th century) between Medieval and Renaissance. Musical centers in France and Italy.
Marked by developments in notation (Philippe de Vitry treatise, Ars Nova 1322). Use of isorhythm was

an important development and a key characteristic. Characterized by the use of duple and triple meter,
use of shorter note values, isorhythm, and harmonic development (use of open 5th for cadence point)
Increased secular music. Less use of cantus firmus. Simpler textures. Florid vocal style. (Started in

France, then Italy) (Beginnings of the madrigal). Major developments in secular music and in sacred

(not to the same degree). First mass cycles - thematically related sections of Mass Ordinary - Messe de
Notre Dame.
Isorhythm
Technique using a repeated rhythmic (talea) and melodic (color) pattern as a structural element.

Cantilena Style
Predominant vocal top line supported by less complex and usually instrumental tenor and countertenor
lines.

Carol

an English or Latin song with uniform stanzas with a refrain (after each stanza).
Ambrosian chant

Early chant repertory associated with Milan. Associated with St. Ambrose (1st century) who reorganized
singing and tonality in the Christian Church.
Antiphoner

Liturgical book of the Roman rite containing the chants of the Office Hours (Matins, Lauds, Prime,
Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline).
Ars Subtilior

Musical style of the late 14th century/early 15th century. French vocal music. Intricate rhythms, exotic
harmonies. ('more subtle art') Isorhythmic motets and secular songs. Intricate notation.
Ballata

poetic and musical form in Italian secular songs (14th/15th centuries). Form: (A) ripresa, 2 (B) piedi, (a)
volta. AbbaAbbaA. Landini.
Caccia

14th century canonic piece with Italian text. Often dealing with hunting or nature. Hunting style.
Voices performed in strict canon with an underlying third part, followed by a ritornello. Often with
"animated" additions: horn calls, bird calls, dialogue.
Cantigas de Santa Maria

(Canticles of the Virgin Mary) - Collection of 420 songs about the Virgin Mary (1270-1290). Most in
the form of a virelai.
Carmina Burana

copied collection of music of Notre Dame school and troubadour music into 13th century German
manuscript.

Choirbook format
large format manuscript used by choirs. Allows everyone to read from the single book.
Clausulae
1. (Notre Dame) The concluding of a passage, similar to the idea of a cadence but not a harmonic tool).
2. A polyphonic composition based on part melismatic fragments of chants. Developed into the 13th
century motet and given words of its own.
Color

Melodic repetition in the tenors of medieval motets and organa. Term originated in rhetoric (meaning
repetition).
conductus
Metrical Latin sacred song originating in France in 12th century. Often written in the Notre Dame
school. Superseded in 13th century by the motet.
Chanson

any French-texted secular song. Strophic, through-composed, or in a formes fixe.

Discant

a type of (12th/13th centuries) medieval polyphonic technique using a melismatic plainchant tenor.

Moves in a note-against-note, contrary movement between voices. Interchange of 5th, 4th, 8va. Used
rhythmic modes, and formally balanced phrase-shapes.
Gradual
melodically elaborated responsorial chant. Consists of a response and single verse.
Rhythmic Modes

rhythmic patterns governing performance of measured sections of Notre Dame organum, motets,
conductus. All patterns employ triple meter
Lai

an extended song form with several stanzas each using a different metrical form, rhyme scheme, and
melody (Lyrical Lai). Troubadours and trouveres repertory. Monophonic usually Machaut monophonic and polyphonic.

Liturgical drama
sung religious dialogues, ceremonies, and plays in Latin
Mass
the central rite of the church, celebrating a reenactment of the Last Supper. 2 series of prayers:
Ordinary and Proper. The Ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus dei.
Mass Ordinary

Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus dei. Texts don't vary

Modes

Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian

Motet

a polyphonic genre in which the upper voice or voices are texted (different texts) and the bottom voice
(tenor) is untexted. Tenor is usually taken from a solo section of a chant and is set to rhythm and

manipulated. Early motets were religious but later included secular texts. Developed in the 13th century
from the Clausulae.
Jongleur

Fr. Professional entertainer (secular vocal music). Sang, played instruments, juggled, and acrobatics.
Goliard

student musicians (secular vocal music)

Minnesingers

German - Of aristocratic origins. Sumer is icumen in

Meistersinger

German - Merchant class

Musica Enchiriadis

9th century treatise by Hucbald. Earliest surviving source of polyphony.

Organum

chant sung with two distinct parts: melody (tenor) and harmony (duplum). Same melody separated by a
4th or 5th at first. (Beginning of polyphony and ultimately harmony.) As organum evolved, the duplum
obtained independence. The borrowed tenor line was augmented, maintaining the cantus firmus, while
the duplum became more active, ornamented, and florid. Notre Dame played a key role in the
development of it in the 12th/13th centuries - 2 to 4 parts.
Modified organum
addition of a voice a 4th or 5th above melody.
Modified parallel organum
allowed the pattern to be broken at the beginning and ending of phrases.
Free Organum
contrary motion within a phrase.
Florid/Melismatic Organum

consists of a series of notes in the upper voice that are sung over longer notes in the lower voice (cantus
firmus).

Panisorhythm

the use of isorhythm in all voices

Psalm

type of sacred song dating back to antiquity.

Romanesque Style

(Balbulus, composer) following early Medieval Era. Plainsong, plainsong mass, passion, Sequence Trope,
organum, liturgical drama, conductus.
St. Martial
Former monastery at Aquitaine in SW France. Important repertoire of polyphonic and monophonic
music associated with it.
Trecento

Italian period at the end of the Medieval Period

Trouvere

N. France. Nobility who composed secular songs. Adam de la Halle important. Wrote Le Jeu de Robin et
Marion

Worcester Fragments
more than 100 anonymous polyphonic compositions between early 13th century and mid-14th
century.

Ars Antiqua

a term used to refer to the "old style" typical of 12th century Notre Dame organum and of the 13th

century motet and conductus. Characteristized by predominance of triple meter and limited rhythmic
vocabulary rhythmic modes, mostly 3-part, "Perfect" rhythm.
Copula
style of Notre dame organum in which the top voice is measured but the bottom voice is unmeasured.
Gallican chant
early Medieval. France. Before the imposition of Roman chant.
Mozarabic chant
early Medieval chant. Spain
Hocket
Polyphonic device where the melody is divided between two voice parts. Uses rests to facilitate the
alternation of the notes. Many motets by Machaut contain hocket passages.
Jubilus

an elaborate melisma of the final syllable of the word "Alleluia".

Magnus Liber Organi

collection of 2-voice plainchant setting for liturgical use. Notre Dame. Attributed to Leonin and revised
by Perotin. The most important surviving work of the period.
Mass proper

sections of the mass whose texts change according to the church calendar.
Mensural Notation

rhythmic notation using shapes. Divided into groups of 2 (imperfect) or 3 (perfect). Distinct from
rhythmic modes.
Notre Dame School

(1150-1250) Cathedral in Paris in mid-12th century. Leonin and Perotin (successor). Cultivated
organum, conductus, and liturgical motet. Large repertoire collected in Magnus Liber Organi.

Transformation of polyphony from a performing practice into "composition", utilized multiple voices.
Utilized rhythmic modes to coordinate voices and made other achievements in notation.
Old Hall Manuscript
15th century English manuscript
Rhythmic Mode

Divided music into beat groups: Perfect - 3 (for sacred - representing the trinity) and Imperfect - 2 (for
secular)
Talea

a rhythmic pattern which is repeated exactly in an isorhythmic tenor.

Trope

an addition to a pre-existent chant. The insertion of extra texts and melodies between verses of wellknow chants. May be monophonic or polyphonic, usually syllabic and sung by soloist. ex. Quem
Queritis (trope and Introit)
Estampie

instrumental dance from the ars nova.

Bamberg Codex
contains motets

Calixtinus Codex

12th century manuscript

Cistercian

Monastic order. Produced plainchant.

Trobairiz

female composers of French secular music.

Quadrivium

the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. arithmetic, geometry, music,
and astronomy.
Franco of Cologne
Theorist and musician. Devised rules for a system of notation referred to as Franconian Notation. "Ars
Cantus Mensurabilis"
Adam de la Halle

Important trouvere. Work: Jeu de Robin et de marion which has songs for soloists and choruses, and
instrumental dances.
Francesco Landini

primary Italian composer of the Ars Nova.

Machaut

(Notre Dame Mass). Primary French composer of the Ars Nova. Brought Ars Nova to its height. Sacred
and secular monophonic and polyphonic music. Built on the style of the late trouveres. Clarity of
texture.
Perotin

Key figure in the Notre Dame School. Successor of Leonin. Wrote liturgical music in style of Ars

Antiqua. Important in the development of polyphony. More concerned with rhythm rather than
harmony.
Leonel Power
important composer of Burgundian style

Philippe de Vitry
Treatise, Ars Nova. New techniques for notation - rhythm and harmony. Isorhythmic motets.
Boethius
Greek philosopher and mathematician. Related music of his time to theories of ancient Greek and
Roman philosophers. "De Institutione"
John Dunstable

Primary English composer of the Ars Nova. ex. Quam pulcra es

Hildegard of Bingen

wrote para-liturgical music (monophonic music on sacred themes but not part of the liturgy)
Leonin

Key figure in the Notre Dame School. Compiled Magnus Liber which contained polyphonic chants used
at Notre Dame. Important in the development of polyphony, especially organum.
Petrus de Cruce
composer who brought the Ars Antiqua style to its height. Wrote motets with complexity.