Listening
Anonymous, “La quinta estampie real” (estampie)
Estampie - One of the earliest known types of dance music, it could be strictly instrumental or have a text.
Anonymous, “Haec dies” from the Mass for Easter (chant/gradual)
Performed by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey Münsterschwarzach. [Listen on YouTube]
Here is the text and translation of “Haec dies”
Anonymous, “Haec dies” (organum)
This uses the same text as the “Haec dies” chant above, but this is an organum that features polyphony.
Polyphony: Musical texture in which more than one line of music is sung or played at the same time.
Organum: The polyphonic section of a longer composition in which a pre-existing chant phrase is in the lowest voice called the tenor (“to hold”) and rendered in long-held note values. Above this borrowed and unmetered chant phrase, one or more new metered melodies are added.
Anonymous, “O mittissima / Virgo / Haec dies” (motet)
Motet: A sacred, polyphonic composition with a Latin text.
Text: “0 mitissima-Virgo-Haec dies”
Top voice: 0 sweetest Virgin Mary: beg thy son to give us help and resources against the deceiving tricks of the demons and their iniquities.
Middle voice: Virgin of virgins, light of lights, reformatrice of men, who bore the Lord: Through thee, 0 Mary, let grace be given, as the angel announced: Thou art a Virgin before and after.
Lowest voice: Haec dies
IN YOUR DISCUSSION POST: For each assigned piece, think about the musical element you hear as the most prominent (pick only one!) and write a brief description (a sentence or two) that describes that element in the context of the piece.
Remember that musical elements include the following:
- Melody (pitch)
- Rhythm/beat/meter
- Timbre / tone color (Instrumentation, including the human voice)
- Texture (monophonic, polyphonic)
- Harmony (more than one sonority sounding simultaneously. Here you can think about whether the simultaneous sonorities sound consonant or dissonant to your ear.)
Reading
Who is Hildegard?
In class, we will also discuss and listen to the music of Hildegard of Bingen. Read more below.
Hildegard of Bingen: Oxford Reference, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
Wider Context
OPTIONAL: For a wider context, see Oxford Reference for timelines of world history by century
Extra Resources
From lecture 2: La Quinte estampie réale, performed by AELIS. [Listen on YouTube]
Animated manuscript of “The Harp,” a secular polyphonic work from the late 14th century [Listen on YouTube]
Animated manuscript of “Tout par compas” by Baude Cordier [Listen on YouTube]
