Vocal Traditions Lesson 1

What is the origins of choirs in the Western Musical Tradition?

Where does the term Choral Music come from?

How did the shift to Polyphony and also Secular Music contribute to what we sing in Choir now?

MEDIEVAL - RENAISSANCE† During the Middle Ages, musical texture was monophonic, meaning it has a single melodic line. Sacred vocal music such as Gregorian chants were set to Latin text and sung unaccompanied. It was the only type of music allowed in churches, so composers kept the melodies pure and simple. Later on, church choirs added one or more melodic lines to the Gregorian chants. This created polyphonic texture, meaning it has two or more melodic lines.

FOLLOW ALONG 7 MINUTES

Howard Goodall quickly explains the significant changes in choir sung Sacred Music up until the Renaissance:

Gregorian up to Harmony - 700 years in 7 minutes

GREGORIAN

CHANTS

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song of the western Roman Catholic Church. It is also called Sung Bible.

GREGORIAN† "Gregorian" chant was named for and credited to Pope Gregory I (r. 590-604) is an accident of politics and spin doctoring.†Type of liturgical chant most widely used in Latin Churches.†To be distinguished from the chants used by the Ambrosian, Mozarabre and other rites.†Took definite from after some centuries of development after Pope Gregory I set the standards of chant.

Pope Gregory I

Pope from 590 to 604, reformer and excellent administrator, “founder” of the medieval papacy, which exercised both secular and spiritual power. His epithet, “the Great,” reflects his status as a writer as well as a ruler. As the fourth and final of the traditional Latin “Fathers of the Church,” Gregory was the first exponent of a truly medieval, sacramental spirituality.

POPE GREGORY I (THE GREAT )

†Pope, Saint and Doctor of the Church.†Set standards for the church ceremony that brought the chant into popular use which then fixed the GREGORIAN CHANT. †Italian composer Ottorino Respighi composed a piece named St. Gregory the Great (San Gregorio Magno) that features as the fourth and final part of hisChurch Windows (Vetrate di Chiesa) works, written in 1925.

Characteristics of Gregorian Chant

monophonic Free meter Modal Usually based on Latin liturgy

Use of Neume notation

Monophonic  the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. This

may be realized as just one note at a time, or with

the same note duplicated at the octave (such as often

when men and women sing together). 

Modal

Modal music uses diatonic scales that are not necessarily major or minor and does not use functional harmony as we understand it within tonality.

Use of Neume Notation

A neume ; sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and

Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the

invention musical staff notation we

still use today.

TROUBADOURS

Troubadour A troubadour (English , French: ; Occitan:  trobador,IPA: ) was a composer and

performer of lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz.

The role of the troubadours  changed to part of an elite society of royalty and nobles.

They are usually thought of as poets that came from Southern France

†The troubadours' praise of physical love stood in direct contrast to traditional Christian morality†Their ideal of love and praise of women influenced many writers, including Dante and Petrarch 

Troubadours’ Tales Music: Usually monophonic Sometimes with improvised

accompaniment Tells of chivalry and courtly love Originated in France Written in the French language

Differences Between Medieval And Renaissance

Medieval RenaissanceMonophony >

PolyphonyDry Shell harmony

> Sweet True harmony

Portions of scripture were set to traditional Roman melodies.

Revival of classical culture