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5. cathedrals: Notre Dame in Paris, musical center
a. polyphony notated, integrated into worship
b. organum developed, tribute to divine power
c. first named composers of Western tradition:
Léonin, Pérotin
III. Markets and Courts
A. Late Middle Ages: trade routes throughout Eu rope
1. merchant class arose outside feudal society
2. music: necessity and recreational, crucial
commodity
B. Flowering of music in vernacular
1. Crusades: era of vio lence
a. universal cult of the Virgin Mary
b. raised status of women, age of chivalry
2. songs of court minstrels: adored women with
fervor
a. faithful knight worshiped his lady from afar
b. inspired to deeds of daring and self- sacrifice
3. troubadours and trouvères: French poet- musicians
a. first extensive notated tradition of love song
b. introduced complex instruments
c. instruments and song styles adapted from
Middle Eastern tradition
IV. Looking Out and Looking In
A. Early Re nais sance (1450–1520)
1. compass: voyages, discovery
2. invention of printing (c. 1455), Johannes
Gutenberg
3. fall of Constantinople (1453): Greek and Roman
ancient writings distributed
a. increased interest in human concerns (secular)
b. infiuenced architecture, painting, and sculpture
c. palaces, villas: classical style, order and
balance
V. Musicians in Medieval and Re nais sance Society
OUTLINE
I. Music Enhances Communication
A. Eu ro pean musical tradition infiuential throughout
the world
1. notation: sound to paper
a. defined the development of Western music
b. infiuence of Eu ro pean musical style surpasses
language or religion
c. in ven ted to further goals of Christian worship
2. music as product, commodity
a. preserved, taught and learned, bought and sold
3. social activity: recreational and spiritual
a. sacred music: essential to Christian worship
b. early worship: music traditions shift to meet
needs of changing society
c. secular music: social, entertainment, personal
expression
II. From Antiquity to the Middle of Things
A. Ancient Mediterranean cultures: foundation of
Western music
B. Fall of Roman Empire (476 ce): beginning of
Middle Ages
C. Early Middle Ages (500–1000)
1. power from kings, approval of Roman Catholic
Church
2. Charlemagne (742–814), progressive monarch
a. strong centralized government
b. encouraged education
c. systematic use of music notation
D. Later Middle Ages (1000–1450)
1. po liti cal, cultural consolidation
2. universities founded
3. cities emerged: cultural centers
4. literary landmarks shaped languages
PRELUDE 2 Music as Commodity and Social Activity
40 | Prelude 2
4. To understand the Re nais sance as an era that witnessed
the beginnings of music printing and the spread of musi-
cal literacy among the cultivated middle and upper
classes
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Describe the “telephone” (or “grapevine”) game to your
students, explaining that the typical outcome is one in
which the phrase understood by the last person in the
game differs from the initial phrase. Invite the class to
consider how this prob lem might apply to the issue of
oral transmission of music, and use this to introduce the
concept of notation. Next, ask the class why the preser-
vation of music through notation might have concerned
po liti cal and religious leaders during the Carolingian age
(ninth century), when the Holy Roman Empire assumed
power over an expansive geo graph i cal space. Use student
responses to introduce the earliest systematic use of
musical notation in the West during Charlemagne’s
reign.
2. Share with your class a few exemplars of early printed
music. To illustrate the two main methods of music print-
ing in the early sixteenth century, it might be helpful
to explain and show an example of Petrucci’s triple-
impression method alongside Attaingnant’s single-
impression method. Emphasize the technological
differences in these methods as well as the economic
advantages of the single- impression method.
A fair- use digital copy of a first edition of Petrucci’s
Odhecaton harmonices A (1501) housed in the Library
of Congress is available here: http:// imslp . org / wiki
/ Harmonice _ Musices _ Odhecaton _ (Vari ous)#
IMSLP212836
as is Attaingnant’s second book of dances from 1547
here: http:// imslp . org / wiki / Second _ Livre _ de _ Danceries
_ (Attaingnant, _ Pierre)
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Gutenberg’s printing press was a significant agent of
change in the prevalence of literacy in the West. One
A. Supported by chief institutions of society
1. church, city and state; royal and aristocratic courts
a. choirmasters, singers, organists, instrumental-
ists, copyists, composers, teachers, instrument
builders, music printers (16th century)
2. supporting musical institutions
a. church choirs and schools, music- publishing
houses, civic wind bands
3. opportunities for apprentices
a. master singers, players, instrument builders
4. few professional women: court singers
B. Rise of merchant class
1. new group of music patrons
2. cultivated middle and upper classes
3. emergence of amateur musicians
4. printed music books available, affordable
a. music literacy spread
VI. Per for mance Matters
A. Early music per for mance open to speculation
1. leeway in modern per for mances
2. basic princi ples applied
3. sacred genres: ensemble vocal music
a. small groups, all- male ensembles
b. women prohibited from singing in church
4. secular music, no real restrictions
a. varied per for mances, voice and instrument
combinations
b. notational subtleties absent in early music
OVERVIEW
This section provides a cultural and historical introduction
to the Middle Ages and Re nais sance, with a focus on how
music emerged as a commodity and a center of social activ-
ity. The Middle Ages are cast as a time of po liti cal consoli-
dation, with increasing trade and commerce resulting from
the Crusades. The Re nais sance is notable for the emergence
of humanism, the beginning of world discovery, the devel-
opment of printing, and the spread of literacy among the cul-
tivated middle and upper classes.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
TEACHING CHALLENGES
The subject of the Crusades may be a timely yet sensitive
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Atlas, AllanW. Re nais sance Music. New York: Norton, 1998.
Brown, Howard Mayer, and LouiseK. Stein. Music in the Re nais-
the Palästinalied (Palestine Song) by the German Min-
nesinger Walther von der Vogelweide, dates from the
early thirteenth century. An En glish translation of the
to which one so much honor assigns.
To me has happened what I have always prayed for,
I have come to the city
where God walked as a human being.
Lord over all the multitude of angels,
was that not absolutely a miracle?
3. Here He in purity was baptized,
so that each person could be pure;
then he let himself be sold,
