music in Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque.

Music in the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque

By C. Lorente 6ºA

Middle Ages

GREGORIAN CHANT

Period: from the fall of the Roman Empire (476) to the beginning of the Renaissance, in the 15th Century (Around 1450)

Religious Music

Gregorian chant, whose texts are in Latin, was sung at masses and solemn festivals. The first musical writing system was established, with four lines to place the notes. There is no accompaniment of instruments, no specific pulsation or rhythm.

Secular Music

It has no sacred character. Performed by the menestrelli, who are: Troubadours: higher social status, they are aristocrats and composers. Minstrels: wandering characters who amuse and entertain illiterate people, sometimes using juggling and satire. These are lyrical and narrative works, with some accompanying instrument. They sing poetry based on verses about politics, literature, epic and love stories.

The Arabs, settled in Spain and Sicily, developed a very advanced civilization. In Cordoba they built 600 mosques, immense libraries, and even provided street lighting. Their music influences habits as well as the manufacture of instruments throughout the continent.

I'll call her tonight, where there was fire, there's still ashes...

Instruments evolve due to wars and travel, which facilitate their circulation.

Haven´t you got an electric guitar?

Parrot, we´re not in the XX´s yet...

1- Rabel 2- Tambourine 3- Hurdy-gurdy 4- Horn 5- Timpani 6- Horn

Renaissance

Period: 1400-1600 XV-XVII - It is a music of greater complexity, due to the introduction of techniques such as polyphony, with more melodic lines to create compositions, along with the independence of the voices, tensions and resolutions in relation to the distance between one note and another. - The works took the musical scale as a harmonic basis for the composition. - The unit of musical pulse was the figure of "the round". - Religion was still the main motif of the compositions, such as the mass and the motet.

RENAISSANCE gag

Did you see the Duchess's new dress? What a bad taste!

Will you attend the king's next hunt?

Cristobal Morales

Cristobal morales Morales was born around 1500 in Seville, as suggested by the fact that he appears as Christophorus Morales Hyspalensis in the titles of many of his works, although there is no documentary evidence of his formative years. His music is a sacred polyphony that makes use of a continuous imitative counterpoint, without fissures established by textural or sectional contrasts or by delimited cadences. Morales's life, like that of most composers of his time, was a continuous coming and going from one cathedral to another, looking for the best position and salary. In 1551 he occupied the teaching position of the cathedral of Malaga and in 1553 he died, without being able to fulfill his intention of returning to Toledo.

Except for a few secular works, madrigals and carols, Morales' production is sacred and its typology is the usual one of the composers of his time: Masses, motets, lamentations, Officium defunctorum and versions of the Magnificat. With poor health, apparently bad character (as can be deduced from references that speak of his controversies with the cathedral chapters) and many gaps in the documentation about his life, Cristóbal de Morales is undoubtedly one of the greatest composers in history. of Spanish Music.

Magdalena Casulana

The Italian Maddalena Casulana (c.1544–c.1590) was the first composer whose works appeared in print, which is why she is remembered as the first woman with published work in the history of Western music. Maddalena was born in a town near Siena, although all biographical data on this 16th century woman are scarce and confusing. However, the same does not happen with the numerous creations of his authorship that we know, since 66 of his madrigals are preserved.

The first of the works of this singer and lutenist is dated 1566. It was a compilation with four madrigals that she titled Il Desiderio. Two decades later, Il primo libro di madrigali appeared in Venice, a printed edition with four-voice madrigals, a successful work that would be followed by other publications in the city. Maddalena's personality and the time in which she lived were captured in the dedication she signed for her friend Isabel de Médicis in one of her madrigal books. Her words were a reflection of the situation in which she found herself to carve out a place for herself in a completely male musical world: "I wish to show to the world, as much as I can in this musical profession, the mistaken conceit that only men possess the gifts of art and intellect, and that these gifts are never given to women".

Baroque

PERIOD: 1600-1750 Baroque music is a complex and elaborate musical style that developed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, where all the formal rules of classical music are established. The musical forms are: -Vocal: opera, oratorio cantata.-Instrumental: sonata, concerto grosso, suite, prelude, toccata, fantasy and fugue.

Stages of Baroque Music

Early stage The first baroque (or early age) spanned from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century. During this era, baroque music was characterized by ornamentation, basso continuo, and polyphony. Additionally, during this time the style of opera was developed, which became a popular art form throughout Europe. Instrumental music also began to become more important during this stage, and new musical forms were developed, such as the concerto and the sonata. Middle stage The middle stage of Baroque music took place during the second half of the 17th century. During this period, baroque music became a more sophisticated and elaborate musical style. Composers began using the basso continuo technique, which consisted of a bass line played continuously throughout the piece, and combined with more complex harmonies and melodies. Furthermore, opera began to be an important musical form during this stage. Late stage The late stage of Baroque music took place during the 18th century. During this period, baroque music reached its peak and maturity. Composers further developed the basso continuo technique, and instrumental music became an even more important art form. Furthermore, opera became a more refined and sophisticated musical form, and new musical forms emerged, such as the oratorio and the suite.

Main characteristics of Baroque Music

Ornamentation: One of the most distinctive characteristics of baroque music is its ornamentation. Composers added flourishes and embellishments to existing melodies and harmonies, creating a sense of richness and complexity. Continuous bass: This style of music involves a bass line that is played continuously throughout the piece, and is combined with more complex harmonies and melodies. Basso continuo was often played with a keyboard instrument, such as the organ or harpsichord. Polyphony: This musical style involves the combination of several simultaneous melodies and harmonies, creating a dense and rich musical texture. Complex rhythms: Baroque music is also characterized by its complex and elaborate rhythms. Baroque composers experimented with different rhythmic patterns and created works that were extremely challenging for the musicians who performed them. Rich instrumentation: Baroque composers used a wide variety of instruments, from string instruments such as the violin and viola to wind instruments such as the oboe and flute. The combination of these instruments created a rich and varied sound palette.

It is not easy to compose around twenty children who scream and cry...

I can hardly get inspired!!

This is a quiet day, as you may see..

Bach Gag

Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach Born in Germany in 1685, and is considered one of the most important composers in the history of music. During his lifetime, he composed more than 1,100 works, including cantatas, oratorios, concertos, and fugues. His style is characterized by complexity and emotional depth, and his music is considered some of the most influential and enduring of all time.

Antonio Stradivari

Antonio Stradivari was born in Cremona (Italy) in 1644 and at the age of 22 he was an apprentice in the workshop of Nicola Amati (an Italian violin maker, member of the Cremona school of violin makers and the best craftsman in his family). His fame as a creator of musical instruments spread and he began to modify the violins of his teacher Amati: in the bow, the thickness of the wood, the varnish, the neck... Later, Stradivari set up his own production and when his teacher Amati died in 1684, he settled in his same building, in Piazza San Domenico in Cremona, since Amati's children inherited their father's business, but lacked the skills necessary to know how to wear it and Stradivari then carried out a large part of the orders. His sons, Francesco and Omobono, took care of his legacy when the luthier died in 1737, but it should be noted that he remained active supervising his workshop until the last moment. Stradivari not only built violins throughout his long career – more than 70 years – (although the violin was the instrument most manufactured by the Italian luthier), but also harps, guitars, violas and cellos, among others, reaching 1,200 instruments, of which approximately 450 violins and 200 of other kinds are preserved.

Stradivari Gag

I´ll just pretend I'm deaf...

Can I play with the violin, pa?

Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre

Born Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, around 1666; died on June 27, 1729, in Paris, France. Daughter of musician Claude Jacquet, married Marin de la Guerre, in 1684 (died 1704); children: one son (died young). Elisabeth was born around 1666 into a family of Parisian instrument makers and musicians. She and her siblings were trained in music by her father, an organist and harpsichord maker. Widely regarded as a prodigy, she first performed on the harpsichord before King Louis XIV when she was four. Her talent won her the lifelong support and protection of Louis and the subsequent admiration of Paris. In 1677, an article calling Elisabeth-Claude "the marvel of our century" appeared in a Parisian magazine, noting that she had already distinguished herself as a singer, harpsichordist, and composer. She continued to play frequently at the royal court, where the king placed her under the protection of his mistresses, Madame de Montespan and Madame de Maintenon , and provided her an annual stipend.

In 1682, Elisabeth-Claude declined the king's invitation to move with his court to Versailles, preferring to remain in Paris, where she enjoyed a long and successful career which brought her considerable wealth. In 1684, she married a Parisian organist, Marin de la Guerre, with whom she had one son who died as an infant. Neither marriage, motherhood, nor widowhood (her husband died in 1704) affected the pursuit of her music. She composed for the harpsichord and for ballet scores, performed professionally as a singer and musician, mostly in the salons of the nobility but also in popular public recitals. She became widely known for her improvisational techniques. She also wrote at least one opera, Cephale et Procris (1694), along with sonatas and Biblical cantatas. Although she wrote a book of harpsichord music around 1687 and a ballet in 1691, these works have been lost. However, her opera and several later books of music, published after 1700, have survived. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre continued to write and give concerts in Paris until her retirement in 1717, after almost 50 years as a performer. A commemorative medal was struck in her honor after her death in 1729, at age 63.

Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre