Posted on 10/21/2010 9:37:26 AM PDT by Salvation
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Music of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Any assistance will be appreciated.
Obviously, where we get the word, "aria"?
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From Wikipedia:
Ars antiqua, also called ars veterum or ars vetus, refers to the music of Europe of the late Middle Ages between approximately 1170 and 1310, covering the period of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the subsequent years which saw the early development of the motet. Usually the term is restricted to sacred music, excluding the secular song of the troubadours and trouvères; however sometimes the term is used more loosely to mean all European music of the thirteenth century and slightly before. The term ars antiqua is used in opposition to ars nova, which refers to the period of musical activity between approximately 1310 and 1375.
Almost all composers of the ars antiqua are anonymous. Léonin (fl. late 12th century) and Pérotin (fl. c.1180 c.1220) were the two composers known by name from the Notre Dame school; in the subsequent period, Petrus de Cruce, a composer of motets, is one of the few whose name has been preserved.
In music theory the ars antiqua period saw several advances over previous practice, most of them in conception and notation of rhythm.
Basically this style of music grew out of chant. Singers started by singing the chant melody in octaves (pretty inevitable when men and boys sang together), then started singing the same melody in parallel but on a fourth or fifth interval (this is sometimes called "parallel organum". Then composers invented the idea of counterpoint by taking the original chant melody and singing it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y in one voice part (the cantus firmus, usually carried by the tenors), and singing variations (usually a completely different melody or intensely ornamented versions of the cantus firmus) on top of it.
Leading exponents of this style hung around Paris, particularly the Cathedral of Notre Dame and its choir school. Many of the compositions we have are anonymous, but the best known composers of the period are Leonin and Perotin (who always seem to be bracketed together like Abbott & Costello), Franco of Cologne, Pierre de la Croix, and a German abbess, St. Hildegard of Bingen.
Here are some examples. It sounds very weird to modern ears -- the Ars Nova that came immediately afterwards was one of the big watersheds in music history:
Leonin, O dulce lignum
Perotin, Organum 4 Vocum
Anonymous, Alleluia/Ave Maria
St. Hildegard of Bingen, "Qui Sunt Hic" from Ordo Virtutem ("The Play of Virtues", an early morality play)
Aside from church music, it’s very difficult to find musical pieces this old. My college choir did one in Polish, and there are a few troubador songs for which melodies are guessed at.
Thanks for the additions. I was lost as to the ancient music.
The problem is, "old" keeps changing. We are anxiously awaiting the day when "On Eagles Wings" and "Here I Am Lord" become 'old music', never to be seen again ever. But I bet by 2075 somebody will be doing a centennial revival.
We do have popular songs that found their way into church music as the underlying basis for early polyphonic masses . . . the most famous one comes from a later period, early 15th or possibly late 14th century:
L'homme armé "The armed man, the armed man should be feared. Everywhere it has been proclaimed, that each man should arm himself with a coat of iron mail."
Guillaume DuFay, one of the great composers of the 15th century, wrote a Mass based on this melody (so did about half the composers of the time, it seems - there are over 40 settings based on the tune). See if you can pick it out of the Kyrie:
DuFay: Missa l'Homme Armé: Kyrie
Johannes Ockhegem: Missa l'Homme Armé: Kyrie
The third of the great trinity of composers of the fifteenth century was Josquin des Prez - usually just known as "Josquin".
Josquin: Missa l'Homme Armé: Kyrie
Josquin also wrote one of the sweetest and saddest laments ever sung, for his master Ockhegem.
La Déploracion de Johannes Ockheghem
Translation provided in the comments below by yrs truly.
A perfectly period-correct performance would have a very nasal tone . . . think country Sacred Harp singing in the Appalachians . . . but as our music director says, nobody could stand it. I'll settle for no vibrato!
I like it. Bill turned up and said, “The electric guitar kicks in at :40, right?” and then Elen arrived, “Is this all they do?” I’m reminded of Anoreth’s telling the Greek Orthodox that they needed to “update.”
It is an absolute nightmare to sing. Intervals don't work the way we're used to, tempi are strange, harmonies don't sound "right" to our 21st century ears.
Parish choir did the Josquin "Tu pauperum refugium" awhile back. Drove us nuts. I finally found a decent performance online (but a horrible recording with cellphones and squeaks and all sorts of awful stuff in the background) here.
My husband is the backup guitarist for our "Youth Mass Combo" - he's an old rocker (and a pretty good one) who dabbles in classical guitar, and he can't stand the stuff they play. He says it's not good rock, not good pop, and not good church music either. I never go to hear him because I would point and laugh. It really is very dated 70s pop, and not the best the 70s had to offer either.
We’ll have a capella ladies’ Spanish choir on Sunday. DP will be in Myrtle Beach, the alternate musician’s wife is having a baby shower, and the occasional substitute guitarist caught me looking at him last week and zipped out of the church before I could catch him!
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