Music History

St Benedict

547

died 547 AD
established monasteries and rules that monks followed and still followed

Charlemagne and his Empire

742

742-814
was king of the Franks, and under his rule, the empire flourished starting schools and building monasteries

Hildegard von Bingen

1098

1098-1179
important because she is the first woman composer that we have documentation of, looked up to my many

Leonin and Perotin

1170

(dates are approximate)
Leonin was a composer, work at notre dame, poet and musician, compiled magnus liber organi / Perotin was leonin’s students, edited the magnus liber organi, excellent “quadrupla” & “trupla”

Ars Antiqua

1170

1170-1310
"old style" referring to musical period

Development of Notation

1200

up to 1200
oral tradition-carried down by mouth / neumes- little symbols above text showing contour of melody and not used to teach used to refresh memory / one line & two lines- pitches C & F, and then four lines published by Guido

Perotin “Viderunt Omnes”

1200

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oaRM1uDsw8 Notre Dame Organum

Magnus Liber Organi

1200

(date is approximate)
used at notre dame, original is lost, but contents survive in manuscripts. several polyphonic chants such as viderunt omnes. leonin and perotin

Troubadours & Trouveres

1200

(south/north) 1200-1400
poets who sang about courtly love during the 11th-13th century in France

Oraganum During This Time

1200

1200-1300
Parallel Organum: 2 voices, the principal (top) voice (original chant) and the organal (bottom) voice (new), these voices move in exact parallel motion, used many P5.
Free Organum: Organal voice is now on top, and parallel, oblique, and contrary motion are used. Voices may cross, used P4, P5 and octaves. Sung by soloists.

Oraganum During This Time Continued

1200

1200-1300 Aquitanian Organum: two voices, lower voice is “tenor” both sang words, duration is not included. Found in Southwest France, it includes settings of chant, sequences and solos from responsorial chant and most are versus, which are latin sacred songs set to a rhymed, rhythmic poem.

Cantigas de Santa Maria

1221

largest collection of monophonic poems from medieval ages written in Galician-Portugese. there are four copies, copy E has illuminations of medieval instruments. important because it shows us what musical instruments were like.

Hildegard "Columba aspexit"

1270

(date is approximate)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpmMeIQywYc
sequence

Bernart de Ventadorn "Can vei la lauzeta"

1270

(date is approximate)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkp2GHBRUiQ troubador song

Franco of Cologne "Ars Cantus Mensurabilis"

1280

(approximate dates) explains Franco's notation/music theory, known as Franconian Notation

Philip DeVitry

1291

poet and composer, however he made money by being a church cannon and administrator

Roman de Fauvel

1300

(14th century) a manuscript that captured the turn of the century (switch from ars antiqua to ars nova). this is an allegorical poem that satires corrupt politicians and church modes. a creature who is half man half ass rises to powerful position, symbolizing world turning upside down

Guillaume de Machaut

1300

(1300-1371) poet and composer, middle class, cleric, took holy orders, first composer to compile his complete works and method, had enough money to pay for illuminated manuscripts (five)

Trecento

1300

Italy in the fourteenth century

Ars Nova

1320

1320-1400 "new style" this term is attributed to DeVitry. music style is different from ars antiqua

"In arboris/Tuba sacre/Virgos Sum"

1320

DeVitry, isorhythmic motet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yo07PlUNs4

Francesco Landini

1327

most famous composer during trecento, blind from smallpox, organist in important churches but wrote no sacred music

Bubonic Plague Begins

1347

Squarcialupi Codex

1350

Illuminated manuscript compiled in florence, largest primary source of music from trecento

"Douce Dame Jolie"

1350

Guillaume de Machaut, virelai, approximate date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z8rt3hHUEY

"Rose, Liz, Printemps Verdour"

1350

Guillaume de Machaut, rondeau, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyuxFgLLlIU (approximate date)

"Non Avra"

1350

Francesco Landini, Ballata

Ars Subtilior

1380

(end of fourteenth century) composers of the court of Avignon pope in Southern France continued Ars Nova traditions. this was happening in france while the trecento was happening in italy

Old Hall Manuscript

1390

source for music in the late 1300s - early 1400s, contains mostly Mass Ordinaries, music on mainland Europe began to be influenced by the English, due to the 100 years war, 3rd and 6ths moving in parallel motion, simple melodies, few dissonance, syllabic and homophonic

Guillaume Dufay

1397

1397- 1474 most famous composers of his time, and traveled throughout his career as chapel musician in Italy/southwest france, being that he traveled so much, his music was largely influenced by this, music found in manuscripts around europe attesting to popularity

Gilles Binchois

1400

1400-1460 worked in the service of english and burgundian nobles
works included, mass movements, motets and secular songs
his works were also widely copied and imitated by others

Johannes Ockeghem

1420

1420-1497 renown composer after Dufay, in northern europe
after 1451 worked in the service of the French Kings, after 1465 became head of kings chapel
traveled only a little, but had contact with Dufay, Binchois, ans Busnoys, so not as cosmopolitan as Dufay
composed:
motets, masses and chansons
designed his own style, synthesizing past, present and his own style elements
known for his unique masses

“De plus en plus” Binchois

1425

3 parts (cantus, tenor, contratenor), uses a hemiola, rondeau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MITDlkxmUgI

Nuper Rosarium Flores Dufay

1436

an isorhythmic motet (old fashioned), connecting to the past for an important reason
was written in dedication to the dome, and there are connections made to the architecture of the church and the dome, the isorhythmic structure and its proportions of the two tenors mimic the design
rests on pythagorean theorem

L’Homme Armè: (the armed man)

1440

written by anonymous / extremely popular song of this time period, meaning is still be argued, so served as borrowed material for over 40 cyclic masses in the 1400s, worked as a good base, emphasizing the interval of the fifth

"Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys” Dufay

1450

mid 1400s, this song says he will miss wine more than the woman he speaks of, rondeau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4esGXmuz4Qg

Missa L’Homme arme “Kyrie" by Dufay

1450

mid 1400s, cantus firmus mass, cyclic mass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLwMEBlBBB4

Josquin des Prez

1450

very influential composer, traveled all over Europe
works:
18 masses
Over 50 motets
65 chansons, including 10 instrumental
many works attributed to him were probably composed to others
fame:
composers emulated his style
works were performed for almost a century after his death
publishers attributed works to him to boost the sales of their books

Josquin's "Ave Maria... Virgo Serena"

1485

early motet, one of the most popular. music setting driven by text, switches from imitation and homophony.

Columbus Reached America

1492

In 1492 christopher columbus said the ocean blue

Josquin "Missa Pagne Lingua"

1495

paraphrase mass, based on plain chant. all four voices sing the chant at least once, and the original chant generates the motives for new work. the chant is paraphrased.

Madrigals (in general)

1500

a madrigal is a form of music that utilizes the technique "word painting." combines poetry and music. the most important genre of secular music in the 16th century. very dramatic music, with just a single stanza form. allowed amateur musicians to part take in music making by singing out of song books

Early Madrigals

1500

through composed, music followed text through the use of the tritone. an example of a composer is Jacques Arcadelt.

Petrucci's "The Odhecaton"

1501

anthology of polyphonic secular songs published by Ottaviano Petrucci in 1501 in Venice it was the first book of polyphonic music ever to be printed using movable type

Michelangelo Finishes David

1504

david is that famous statue

Machiavelli Publishes the Prince

1513

Martin Luther 95 Theses

1517

a list published that disputes the bad things that the catholic church was doing (selling of indulgences), this established lutheranism

Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina

1525

taught at jesuit seminary, saved polyphony from the council of trent, they were going to eliminate it, but he proved that music could be intelligable. a revolutionary composer of his time

Arcadelt's 'Il bianco e dolce cigno"

1538

example of an early madrigal. it is a metaphor (for something explicit), however, the poem says that this majestic white swan dies, and compares himself to the swan "dying" and he loved it so much, that he "died 1000 times a day." includes only four parts, no chromaticism.

Mid Madrigals

1540

consisted of five vocal parts, and had complex word painting. an example of a composer is Cipriano de Rore

the earth has been discovered to revolve around the sun

1543

(non musical event #1) it was always thought that every other planet/star revolved around earth, but a polish astronomer had discovered that the earth actually revolves around the sun

The Council of Trent

1545

revitalized the catholic church through a series of meetings in northern italy. bishops regulated music, and secular songs were used in compositions

Palestrina's "Pope Marcellus's Mass"

1550

(approximate dates) this shows us the essence of Palestrina's style. his style consisted of controlled counterpoint, melodies move in stepwise motion, triads and harmony, chordal spacing, homophony

shaanxi earthquake kills 830,000 people

1556

(non musical event #2 - i know its not from the western world, but it's important to include worldly events) an earthquake with a 8.0 magnitude killed almost a million people and destroyed this province in china

Rore's "De le belle contrade d'oriente"

1566

an example of mid century madrigal. has five voice parts, and this madrigal is different than the others because the poem used explains both sides of a story. starting off with the female, who is sad that the male left, and then the male saying why he did

The Concerto Delle Donne (ferrara)

1580

professional female singers in the late renaissance at the court of ferrara, italy. sang vocal music of that time. interesting because it was only female! (in a time where men had seemed to dominate the music world)

gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII

1582

(non musical event #3) we have come a long way from pope gregory! this is his great-great-great-great-great-great (6 greats) grandfather! this was correcting the julian calendar. it shortened the year by 0.0075 days to stop the drift of the calendar in response to the equinoxes

Late Madrigals

1585

includes chromaticism, vocal lines are harder to sing, standard counterpoint rules are broken to follow text. an example of a composer Luca Marenzio

The Intermedi for Florence's "La Pellegrina"

1589

"La Pellegrina" is a play that was performed in the Medici household (rich family). There are six intermedi which are choral madrigals, with double/triple choirs, solo vocalists, as well as instrumental music. These all were derived from mythological tales/music. is seen as the "forerunner" for opera

Marenzio's "Solo e pensoso"

1599

an example of a later madrigal. based on a sonnet by Petrarch. the poet is walking alone, and the chromaticism increases as the piece goes on. counterpoint rules are broken to reflect text.

The Monteverdi-Artusi Debate

1600

now known as "seconda prattica" or "stile moderno" this was a debate between the composers Monteverdi and Artusi. Monteverdi wanted to embellish sacred music, and Artusi, being a little old fashioned, did not believe in that

Peri's "Orfeo e Eurydice"

1600

peri had actually composed the opera "orfeo e eurydice" before monteverdi. peri's is from 1600 and is the oldest surviving opera we have , even though he did write "Dafne", it has been lost

"The Triumphs of Oriana"

1601

written by thomas morley, its a book of 25 english madrigals, written by 23 different composers, dedicated to queen Elizabeth. this is important because queen Elizabeth (the virgin queen) was extremely concerned with how the public viewed her (alluded to in Weelkes' madrigal "as vesta was"). having something dedicated to made people look up to her

The Premier of Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo

1607

commissioned by patrons, during a wedding event/season of Lent, this was a big "break" in Monteverdi's musical career. very big deal because it the patrons who commissioned it had a big platform

Monteverdi's Move to Venice

1612

this was important for Monteverdi because he got the job of being in charge of all things music (maestro) at St. Mark's cathedral. this expanded his platform and allowed him to get his music out to more people, and more rich people.

First Public Opera House in Venice

1637

opera has become "commercialized" and the term "opera" was first used to describe operas

Monteverdi's "L'Incoronazione de Poppea"

1642

a later opera, however, this was MUCH different from "L'Orfeo." the plot includes explicit behaviors between the characters including sex and murder. based off of real events in roman history, not off of mythology like "L'Orfeo"

Reign of Louis XIV

1643

louis xiv ruled under an absolute monarch, and even controlled music. he created a monopoly on music, and had set up academies where he controlled music being published/performed. louis xiv was also a dancer, so there was a big emphasis on the arts. he also was very concerned with how the public viewed him, and he was very afraid of being over thrown

The "Ballet de la Nuit"

1653

a 12 hour ballet that Louis XIV had performed in when he was 12-13 years old. he played five parts in this ballet. this is important because this shows how much he loved ballet

Jean Baptiste Lully

1662

controlled french music, under king louis xiv. he was the first french composer to write an opera, which he thought to be impossible, because of the way the french language needed to be catered to. his music was all attributed to king louis xiv, and praised him

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre

1665

a female composer/harpsichord virtuoso in france during king louis xiv's reign. it wasn't uncommon for upper class women to play instruments, being that instruments taught them discipline/gave them something to do in their free time. however, Jacquet began to compose and publish trio sonatas and suites.

Lully's "Armide"

1686

lully's opera. it was written in collaboration with philippe quinault, based on tasso's poem La Gerusalemme liberata. this opera was seen as lully's greatest work. tragédie en musique is an genre invented by lully and tasso.

Publication of Jacquet de la Guerre's dance suites

1690

(approximate dates, i dont know when they were published). it is interesting that she, a female, got to publish her music, with king louis xiv's monopoly on music. she attributed her music to louis xiv. she had also been the first woman at that time to write an opera. her dance suites were important as well because king louis xiv LOVED to dance