The%20History%20of%20Music

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The History of Music

• Mrs. Harner
• 8th Grade
• General Music

The end of all good music is to affect the
soul. Claudio Monteverdi
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Music History
A. Timeline of Music History
Antiquity --- Pre-400 AD

• Middle Ages --- 400 AD - 1400 AD
• Gregorian chant (named for Pope Gregory)

• Renaissance --- 1400 AD - 1600 AD
• Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Galileo, Medici
  Family, Martin Luther (Reformation)

• Baroque --- 1600 AD - 1750 AD
• Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Ornamentation

• Classical --- 1750 AD - 1825 AD
• Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn

• Romantic --- 1825 AD - 1900 AD
• Schubert, Saint-Saens, Chopin, Brahms

• 20th Century --- 1900 AD - 1991 AD
• Gershwin, Copland, Stravinsky

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Music History
The Middle Ages
400-1400 A.D.
(or the Medieval Period)
A.D. means Anno Domini in the year of Our Lord
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Music History
The Middle Ages/Medieval Period

• The Medieval period represents almost a thousand
  years
• of the music history of Europe.
• This period is also called the Middle Ages and
  the Dark Ages.

• Many people died of disease during this
  period.  (Black Death)
• It was a dark time in history because of
  sickness, and death.  
• Much of the music of this time has been lost. 
• Most of the composers of this time are
  anonymous. 
• This means we don't know who they are.  They
  didn't want to
• be thought of as bragging, so they didn't
  sign their work.

• The Catholic Church had the strongest influence
  over all music

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Music History
The Middle Ages/Medieval Period
Write this down!

• 2 kinds of music

SACRED religious music or music of the Church
SECULAR entertainment music everyday life

• Notation  During the Medieval period most music
  was not written down.
• Composers who did write their music down usually
  worked for
• the Catholic Church. 
• The Church could afford to buy the materials the
  composers
• would need to write music. 
• People outside the Church were too poor to buy
  what was
• needed to compose music.  

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Music History
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
Take these notes!
1. Most important type of music
a. Gregorian Chant
-named after Pope Gregory the Great
-also known as plainchant, plainsong, and chant
-definition one melody sung in unison only
sung by males during this time period, no
accompanying instruments (just voices), sacred
(religious)

• Neumes were used to notate music before
• the modern-day Five-line staff

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Music History
Take these notes!
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
2. Three divisions of people during the Middle
Ages
a. nobility
-rich and elite
-kings, queens, princes, etc. made up this class
b. clergy
-religious scholars
-worked for the Catholic Church
c. peasants
-extremely poor, lower class citizens
-worked for the nobility
-lived to be about 30 years old
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Music History
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
2. Three divisions of people during the Middle
Ages

• The clergy and nobility made up only 5 of the
• population, while the peasants made up about 95.

-The peasants could not get an education,
therefore they did not know very much about
music. This is why there was not very much music
created during the Middle Ages.
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Music History
Take this note!
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
3. Sacred Music
a. Gregorian Chant (monophonic or only one
melody)
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Music History
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
Take these notes!
3. Sacred Music
b. Leonin and Perotin
-two Catholic priests who were also composers
-they put two different Gregorian chants
together and singing them at the same time
-this was the beginning of polyphonic music (two
or more different melodies)
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Music History
Take these notes!
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
4. Secular Music

• Simple songs about love, nature, mythology,
• heroic battles, etc.

• sung by traveling musicians who were called
• troubadours.

-troubadours sang and played guitar-like
instruments called lutes.
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Music History
C. Middle Ages ----- 400 - 1400 AD
5. The end of the Middle Ages

• The fall of a large city called Constantinople
  signaled
• the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of
  the
• Renaissance.

-The Renaissance began at this time because all
of the musicians, artists, scholars, and
scientists in the city moved to other countries
when the city was conquered.