Ye Olde Music

1
Ye Olde Music

• An Overview of Music from Ancient through
  Medieval Times
• Presented by Mrs. Jones

2
In Ancient times

• People sang and played instruments
• Strings
• Drums
• Woodwinds
• The Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote treatises and
  theories

3
The Ancient Philosophers Said
4
But Times Changed

• Ancient writings were lost or destroyed
• Ancient theories were disregarded
• Commoners banned from practicing or performing
  music
• Music taught and studied only in church

5
Music in the Medieval Period

• Began to resemble the music we read today
• Staff with four lines
• Neumes with specific count values
• Location of neume on staff represents pitch
• Predecessors of modern clefs, dots, bar lines,
  and accidentals

6
Musical Style

• Gregorian Chant
• Groups of monks singing in unison
• Adagio Tempo
• Hollow, Somber Tone
• Polyphony
• Angular and crude sounding to the modern ear
• 1-2 voices drone, 1-2 voices move independently
• No regard for parallel octaves, fourths or fifths

7
Noteworthy Composers

• Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
• One of the earliest known female composers
• Had visions as a result of migraines
• Music is the means of recapturing the original
  joy and beauty of paradise
• Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)
• Followed and developed the Ars Nova
• Developed isometric rhythmic technique
• Wrote Messe de Nostre Dame, one of the first
  polyphonic settings of the Mass Ordinary

8
Schools of Thought

• Cirillo
• Music of the Ancient Greeks and Romans was
  Perfect
• Was dissatisfied with the music of his day
• Wanted to recapture the greatness of the Ancients

• Zarlino
• Music of the Ancient Greeks and Romans was
  Great
• Thought that the music of his day paralleled the
  Ancients
• Wanted to learn from the ancients, and then
  progress

9
Thought, Practice, and Innovation

• Paved the way for the Renaissance
• More people were allowed to learn about music
• More inventive styles of music
• More refinement in music theory
• More subjects were appropriate (no longer sacred
  music only)
• Music as a form of entertainment