Western Music

GOOD DAY
STUDENTS
SIR GILBERT N. LAJARA
TEACHER IN MAPEH 9
MUSIC
WESTERN
MUSIC
Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the performance practice
(setting, composition, role of
composers)
2. describe musical elements of given
western music
3. Sing selection of western music with
correct pitch, harmony and rhythm.
Music of
Medieval period
What is MEDIEVAL?
Music of the MEDIEVAL
The word Medieval is derived from the
Latin word “medius” meaning “middle.”
The Medieval Period in Western history is
also known as the Middle Ages or also the
Dark Ages. It was a period in the history of
Western civilization when civilization
broke down in various ways and became
quite primitive.
Music of the MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Medieval Period of Western History lasted
from about 476 A.D to 1400 A.D. (different
sources vary as to the exact dates)
One of the 3 broad periods of Western
history: Classic / Medieval / Modern
Founding of universities
Building of cathedrals and castles
Monody – Monophonic Music (meaning “one

sound”)
Single line melodies with no accompaniment
Known as “chant,” “plainchant” or
“plainsong”
Used as music for the early Christian church
Sung by monks practicing the “Divine Office”
eight times a day at the specific hours
Examples of musical instruments

used in the medieval period are
the flutes, lyre, lute, mandore,
gittern and zither.
The music of the medieval period,

just like the other kind of music,
expressed the feelings that were
difficult to put into words, and
words that remain unspoken.
Gregorian Chant
 Official music of the Roman Catholic
Church
 Named after Pope Gregory I
 It is also named as plainsong or
plainchant
 Set to sacred Latin text
 It is monophonic
 It does not have harmony nor
counterpoint.
Gregorian Chant
 Sung without any accompaniment
 Male voices sing in unison.
 Originally it was a chant passed along by oral tradition
but later on, they were notated.
 They used the neume notation.
 The Gregorian neume is written on a four-line staff
Gregorian Chant
A method called Centonization is also used to create
families of related chants. This chants can be sung
using six note pattern called hexachords.
 NEUMES are early form of music notation from which
the modern four line and five line staff developed.
 Multi or several voice elaborations of a Gregorian
chant, known traditionally as Organum is sung by
choirs of men and boys.
Troubadours
• Came from the word trobar meaning
“to compose”, “to discuss” or “to find”
• They performed chivalry and courtly
romantic music.
• They play for both commoners and
nobility.
Trouveres
• They are composer-performers
• Their counterparts in Germany were
called minnesingers.
• Their songs are about love, crusades,
dance songs, spinning songs
Adam de la Halle
• He was a French trouvere,
poet and composer and a musician,
a history maker in the world of music during
the medieval period.
 He was a self proclaimed genius often
describing himself as Maistre (Master)
because of his completion of some advanced
studies.
Adam de la Halle
• He had also explored and
mastered his expertise in
monophonic composition and in its
more complex form – MOTET.
Adam de la Halle
• He is an accomplished composer of
–Rondeux (two-part refrains)
–Chansons
–Motets ( polyphonic choral compositions)
–Jeux-partis (dialogues between 2 parties)
Adam de la Halle
• He composed one of the
oldest secular music theater
pieces known in the west as Le
Jeu de Robin et de Marion.
RENAISSANCE MUSIC
Music of the Renaissance Period (1400 – 1600)
 The term Renaissance comes from the word renaitre
which means “rebirth, revival, and rediscovery. It is also
called rinascimento in Italian. The Renaissance Period is
a period of looking back to the Golden Age of Greece and
Rome. The invention of printing in the 1400’s paved the
way for a wide distribution of renaissance compositions.
With the emergence of the bourgeois class, renaissance
music became popular as entertainment and activity for
amateurs and the educated. Lute was the prominent
instrument of the renaissance era.
Music of the Renaissance Period
(1400 – 1600)
The influence of the Roman Catholic Church
started to decline as the new music genre arose.
Though sacred music was still of great
importance, secular music became more
prominent in the renaissance period. This era
was also known as the Golden age of A Capella
(Italian term for chapel) choral music.
Characteristic of Renaissance music
 Mostly polyphonic
 Imitation among the voices is common
 Use of word painting in texts and music
 Melodic lines move in a flowing manner
 Melodies are easier to perform because these move
along a scale with a few large leaps
REVIEWING MUSICAL ELEMENTS
1. HARMONY- is the simultaneous

occurrence of musical tones whether
consonant or dissonant. It refers to the
vertical structure of music while melody
pertains to the horizontal elements of
music.
2.RHYTHM – may be broadly

defined as the combination of
long or short duration of
musical sounds.
3. MELODY – it pertains to the
horizontal element of music. It is the
pleasing succession of tones forming a
line of individual significance and
expressive value. It is also known as the
tune, voice, or line or music.
4.DYNAMICS. refers to the words

or signs indicating degrees or
changes in the loudness and
softness of a musical sound or
passage.
5.TEMPO – time; the rate of speed

of a composition or section as
indicated by tempo marks or by
metronome indications.
WHAT IS A MASS?
One of the most important
and sacred forms of music
during the Renaissance was the
Mass.
Mass music was said to be
polyphonic and sang without
musical instruments. It is used
to communicate spiritual truth
to one’s mind.
WHAT IS A MADRIGAL?
A Madrigal is a piece of several
voices set to a short poem, usually
about love. The composer of a
madrigal tries to express the
feelings enclosed in each line, and
sometimes even that of the
individual words of a well known
poem.
WELL KNOWN
RENAISSANCE
COMPOSERS
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina-Rome
1525 - February 2, 1594
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is said
to be the greatest master of Roman
Catholic Church music during the
Renaissance period. Majority of his
compositions are sacred music.
His career reflects his commitment to the
music of the church. He received his early
training and spent the majority of his career in
various churches in Rome, including the pope’s
chapel. He was as an organist and choir master
at both the Sistine Chapel and at St. Peter's
which may have influenced his distinctively
pure and restrained style in musical
compositions.
Thomas Morley 1557 – 1602
Morley was born in Norwich, East England, the
son of a brewer. He was a singer in the local
cathedral from his boyhood, and he became
master of choristers there in 1583.Thomas
Morley was the most famous composer of
secular music in his time. He received his
Bachelor’s degree in Oxford and became an
organist at St. Paul’s in London.
His works include:
Fire, Fire, My Heart
Sing and Chant It
Fantasie
April Is In My Mistress‟ Face
It Was A Lover and His Lass
Baroque music
WHAT IS BAROQUE MUSIC?
Baroque came from the Portuguese
word barroco, or oddly shaped pearl.
The term baroque has been
extensively used since the 19th
century to portray the episode in the
Western European music from about
1600 to 1750.
The music of Baroque period was just as
extreme as the new changes. Many of the
illustrious personalities from the early
part of the baroque period such as Antonio
Vivaldi and Claudio Monteverdi came from
Italy. Later composers from Germany like
Johann Sebastian Bach and George
Frederic Handel began to take center
stage in baroque music composition.
The various styles of baroque period
came together and were brought to
perfection in the music of Johann
Sebastian Bach. He wrote the Christmas
Oratorio. This highlighted the story of
Christ’s crucifixion.
GEORGE FRIDERICK HANDEL
-Born of February 23, 1685 in Halle Germany
-Composed church, secular, and theater music for
illustrious patrons in Florence, Rome, Naples, and
Venice.
-Accepted in 1791 as Kapellmeister to the Elector of
Hanover
-His opera titled Rinaldo premiered in 1711 in
London.
-Became the music director of the newly founded
Royal Academy of Music in 1719.
THANK YOU

Western Music

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Western Music

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Western Music

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GOOD DAY

Monody – Monophonic Music (meaning “one

Examples of musical instruments

The music of the medieval period,

1. HARMONY- is the simultaneous

2.RHYTHM – may be broadly

4.DYNAMICS. refers to the words

5.TEMPO – time; the rate of speed

You might also like