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476
Fall of Rome
Start of the Medieval Era -
Period: 476 to 1435
Middle Ages
Period of time dominated by divine and cosmic music.
Most music was controlled by the Catholic Church.
Mostly plainchant. Monophonic, non-metrical and modal. -
Period: 480 to 542
Boethius
Important Roman music theorist who wrote "De Instituione Musica" meaning "The Fundamentals of Music" in the early 500s -
Period: 715 to 731
Pope Gregory's rule
Reorganized and cataloged Gregorian chants -
Period: 850 to 1150
Romanesque Period
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Period: 991 to 1033
Guido d'Arezzo
Credited with inventing the first staff which used a red line for F and a yellow line for C -
Period: 995 to 1050
Wipo of Burgundy
We believe he was a poet, priest and composer -
Period: 1098 to 1179
Hildegard von Bingen
Began to compose liturgical poetry and music in the 1140s.
In 1150 she began to collect the manuscripts of her many works for use in the convent.
Founder and abbess of the convent at Rupertsberg, Germany.
Famous for her prophetic powers and revelations.
Wrote liturgical dramas and religious poetry.
First female composer to receive extensive scholarly research. -
Period: 1130 to 1200
Bernart de Ventadorn
Famous troubadour with the most music still in existence. -
Period: 1135 to 1201
Leonin [Leoninus]
"Magnus Liber," collection of organum at the Cathedral of Notre Dame -
Period: 1150 to 1450
Gothic period
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1152
Ordo virtutum
Morality play by Hildegard. Genre she invented. Notable piece "Alleluia, O virga mediatrix"
PLainchant from the Mass Proper -
Period: 1155 to 1207
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Killed in battle serving his patron
Wrote at least 35 poems; 7 survive with music -
Period: 1170 to 1230
Walther von der Vodelweide
wrote the earliest surviving minnesinger melody -
Period: 1180 to 1238
Perotin [Perotinus]
Master of discant organum at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Wrote 3 and 4 voice organum -
Period: 1212 to 1212
Comtessa Beatriz de Dia
Famous female troubadour who composed the only surviving melody by a female troubadour. -
Period: 1213 to 1239
Moniot d'Arras
Monk at Arras who wrote in several genres and forms -
Period: 1245 to 1288
Adam de la Halle
One of the last Trouveres. Used polyphony -
Period: 1291 to 1361
Philippe de Vitry
Known as the "Inventor of New Art."
Established new tradition of mensural notation -
Period: 1291 to 1361
Philippe de Vitry
First composer of the Ars Nova
Describes the Ars nova in the first half of the 14th century -
Period: 1300 to 1377
Guillaume de Machaut
Most famous composer and poet of the time -
Period: 1300 to 1377
Guillaume de Machaut
"Mass of Notre Dame" leading composer and poet or Ars Nova.
Machaut’s Puis qu’en oubli "Since I am forgotten" -
Period: 1300 to 1350
Ars nova-new art
New rhythmic polyphony in the motets -
Period: 1325 to 1397
Francesco Landini
Most celebrated musical personalities of the Treccento. Instrument maker and known for his cadences and virtuoso organist.
Ecco la primavera "Here is Spring" -
Period: 1340 to 1349
Bubonic Plague
killed millions -
Period: 1386 to 1466
Donatello
Famous Renaissance artist who crafted the Bronze Statue of David -
Period: 1390 to 1453
John Dunstable (Dunstaple)
Used more 3rds and 6ths in his music resulting in triads.
Influential across Europe. Complete works not published until 1953.
Puisque M’Amour attributed to him by 2 separate sources (Rondeau for 3 voices) -
Period: 1397 to 1474
Guillaume Dufay
First Renaissance composer. Used older medieval cadences -
Period: 1410 to 1497
Johannes Ockeghem
Very famous during this period. A low bass -
Period: 1430 to
Renaissance
Shift from a focus on God and religion to a focus on human beings and nature.
Chants begin to paraphrase. More about beauty than function. More parts were added. -
Period: 1435 to 1511
Johannes Tinctoris
Composer and music theorist who wrote about contemporary music.
Wrote around 1470 that the “fountain and origin” of what was thought at the time as distinctly new musical style “lies with the English, whose leading master was Dunstable. -
Period: 1444 to 1510
Sandro Botticelli
Painted The Birth of Venus, 1485-86 -
Period: 1450 to 1521
Josquin des Prez
Most revered Renaissance composer.
Pange lingua Mass (c.1510)
Part of the Sforza family in Milan from 1484-89.
Served as Maestro di cappella to Duke Ercole I d’Este in Ferrara, Italy in 1503.
So popular that many tried to pass off their own work as his. -
Period: 1450 to 1517
Heinrich Isaac
prolific German composer. Court composer to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in Vienna -
Period: 1452 to 1519
Leonardo da Vinci
Renaissance artist.
Painted the "Mona Lisa" and “The Annunciation” -
Period: 1452 to 1518
Pierre de la Rue
Leading composer in the Burgundian court. Frequent use of canon and ostinato -
Period: 1457 to 1505
Jacob Obrecht
Made important contributions to large scale forms of unity. Composer of Masses -
Period: 1466 to 1536
Erasmus
Dutch scholar and philosopher -
Period: 1475 to 1564
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Sculpted “Pieta,” 1499 -
Period: 1483 to 1520
Raphael
Painted “Madonna della Tenda” 1514 -
Period: 1483 to 1546
Martin Luther
German religious reformer and composer. Founder of the Lutheran Church -
Period: 1488 to 1576
Titian [Tiziano Vecellio]
Painted "The Three Ages of Men" -
Period: 1490 to 1562
Adrian Willaert
Father of text expression. complex and continuous polyphony. Worked at St. Mark's Cathedral -
Period: 1500 to 1530
Frottola
Frottola becomes the dominant music.
Usually 4 solo voices, light-hearted and homorhythmic -
Period: 1504 to 1511
Ottaviano Petrucci
One of the most important early music publishers.
Came up with the style of printing where the staff and the notes could be printed at the same time.
Published 11 volumes of frottola. -
Period: 1505 to
Thomas Tallis (1505-85)
English composer who wrote a 40-voice part motet
"Spem in Alium" -
Period: 1507 to 1568
Jacques Arcadelt
One of the earliest Italian madrigal composers.
Composed over 250 madrigals, 125 French chansons, and sacred music. 3 7-voice masses, often homorrhythmic -
Period: 1515 to 1565
Cipriano de Rore
Famous for composing Italian madrigals -
1517
Reformation
Martin Luther inspires religious change through Europe -
Period: 1521 to
Philipp de Monte
Most prolific composer of the Renaissance.
Composed the most madrigals, mixed polyphony and homophony -
Period: 1525 to
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Most famous composer from the Renaissance.
Awarded the most fame after death.
Pope Marcellus Mass (1562) is a good example of High Renaissance style.
First and strongest example of music approved by the Council of Trent -
Period: 1528 to
Paolo Veronese
Painted "The Allegory of Wisdom and Strength” 1580 Almost in a Baroque style -
Period: 1530 to
Madrigal
Medgirgals become the dominant style. (known as Chansons in France).
Italian Madrigals were more serious poetry and music.
English madrigals used nonsense syllables, was the last to develop -
Period: 1532 to
Orlando di Lasso
Ranks with Palestrina and Josquin. Over 200 composition in all languages. One of the most versatile composers -
Period: 1532 to
Andrea Gabrieli
Italian organist, composer, teacher -
Period: 1534 to
Count Giovanni Bardi
Leader of the Florentine Camerata. Italian critic, composer, poet and playwright -
Period: 1535 to
Giaches de Wert
Served the Dukes of Manuta and Parma. Text declamation was important to him. Wrote madrigals for the Concerto della donne. -
Period: 1540 to
William Byrd
Important Catholic English composer working in Protestant England. Greatest English composer of his time. 3 extant masses and lots of protestant music.
“Will Yow Walke the Woods soe Wylde” -
Period: 1545 to 1563
Council of Trent
Meeting as a counter to Martin Luther in an attempt to keep the Catholic Church relevant. Redefined music guidelines for church composers.
Wanted all words clearly sung and anything secular removed from the church. -
Period: 1548 to
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Continues Palestrina's style in Spain. Sacred music composer. Greatest Spanish composer of the Renaissance. -
Period: 1553 to
Luca Marenzio
Leading Madrigal composer of the late 16th century. Influenced the English Madgrigal -
Period: 1557 to
Giovanni Gabrieli
The leading composer of instrumental ensemble music in the late Renaissance.
Took the position of organist at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice in 1585.
One of the first to indicate intended instruments and dynamics. -
Period: 1557 to
Thomas Morley
Famous for composing English madrigals
"Now if the Month of Maying." Contributed to the development of the English Madrigal. important for music publication and printing. "A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke" -
Period: 1561 to
Carlo Gesualdo
Known for Chromaticism. Leading composer of madrigals of his time. Extreme expressive intensity -
Period: 1564 to
Shakespeare
Renaissance playwright. Works used music and heavily influenced musical change during this period -
Period: 1564 to
Galileo (1564-1642)
Famous scientist -
Period: 1567 to
Claudio Monteverdi
Wrote in Baroque and Renaissance.
Madrigals and Operas -
Period: 1570 to
John Farmer
English composer and organist who lived in London and Dublin.
Known for clever word painting and the English madrigal -
Period: 1576 to
Thomas Weelkes
Famous for composing English madrigals. English organist -
Canzona Septimi Toni
From Gabrieli's Sacred Symphonies.
Practices "Cori Spezzati” - the practice of breaking up a choir into multiple separate choirs for one piece. -
Fair Phyllis
Composed by John Farmer.
4 solo voices and word painting.