Readings—

• J. Peter Burkholder, A History of Western Music
• Preface to the Eighth Edition, p. xxiii-xxxiv
• Part One—The Ancient and Medieval Worlds, p. 2-3
• Chapter 1—Music in Antiquity, p. 4-21
• Chapter 2—The Christian Christian Church in the First Millenium, p. 22-46
• Chapter 3—Roman Liturgy and Chant, p. 47-67
• Chapter 4—Song and Dance in the Middle Ages, p. 68-83
• J. Peter Burkholder, Norton Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 1 (NAWM)
• Making Connections: How to Use this Anthology, p. xi-xx
• NAWM 1-13, p. 1-57
• Benedictines of Solesmes, eds., The Liber usualis (RESERVE)
•  Rules for Interpretation, pp. xvii ff.
• Pp. xvii ff. also available in Encounter Readings for Encounter 1 in the Assignments module, but you need to hold this book in your hands to do Part I, 1 below!
• Barbara Lachman, The Journal of Hildegard of Bingen (RESERVE)
• Also available in Encounter Readings for Encounter 1 in the Assignments module.
• Jan LaRue, Guidelines for Style Analysis, Second Edition (RESERVE)
• Also available in Encounter Readings for Encounter 1 in the Assignments module.
• New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (REFERENCE)
• Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World: A History in Documents (RESERVE)
•  St. Basil’s discussion of the importance of singing, from The Church Fathers on Psalmody, pp. 25-26
•  Description of liturgical drama tropes, from Embellishing the Liturgy, pp. 47-48
•  Music in Courtly Life, pp. 55-59
• Also available in Encounter Readings for Encounter 1 in the Assignments module.

I. The Liber usualis, Chant Notation, and Transcription
Sources for Chant Scores/Interpreting Early Notation

2) Read the “Rules for Interpretation” on pp. xvii and following (and on p. 8 in your Norton Anthology of Western Music) to help you figure out how to read chant notation.

3) Turn to pp. 7-25 in your Norton Anthology of Western Music. These pages contain the music for the Mass for Christmas Day, taken straight from the Liber usualis. Choose any one of the chants below and transcribe only the first line (first staff) into modern notation on a sheet of manuscript paper (REAL manuscript paper—NO handwritten staff lines, please). No barlines or note-stems are necessary, but please write in the Latin words where they belong under your notes.

• NAWM 3a—Introit: Puer natus est nobis
• NAWM 3b—Kyrie
• NAWM 3c—Gloria
• NAWM 3f—Credo
• NAWM 3g—Offertory: Tui sunt caeli
• NAWM 3h—Sanctus
• NAWM 3i—Agnus Dei
• NAWM 3j—Communion: Viderunt omnes

II. The Life of Hildegard of Bingen
Historical Fiction/Models for the Final Paper

• December 1, 1151
• June 5, 1152
• August 3, 1152
• October 21, 1152
• December 24, 1152
• December 27, 1152

Answer the following questions about these journal entries.

1. What do we learn about Hildegard’s theology and attitudes toward her Christian faith? Do her views seem more traditional or more progressive (given the time and place). For example, what about her views on the nature of men and women? And how do you explain her visions?
2. What was the Benedictine Rule? Why was it important in daily life at the Rupertsberg abbey?
3. Describe musical practices at the abbey? How did they learn songs? When and how often did they sing? Did they do anything special on important feast days (church holy days)? Do the Hildegard recordings in the Listening Assignment below sound anything like Lachman’s descriptions here?

III. Paper Preparation
Library Sources for Music Research

The Music Reference Section

Go to the Reference section on of Buehler Library’s main floor (SE corner). Find the music section (R780s). Find these items:

• New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (most recent edition in 29 volumes). New Grove is THE place to go when you begin any research project, so you need to know exactly where it is! Look up a few articles on topics that interest you, including a composer, a musical term, a foreign country, and any other subject, that interests you. New Grove (and Grove Music Online) uses the same format for every article (brief introduction, outline, works lists for composers, etc.). Browse just long enough so you know what to expect when you have to use it for real (note the bibliography at the end of every article!). In the blank below, provide a complete citation for any one of the articles you looked at, exactly as it would appear in a bibliography. Use MLA format (go to MLA Works Cited Page: Books/Article in a Reference Book) or copy the MLA citation that appears when you click the “Cite” link near the top of every Grove Music Online article.

• ____________________

• A MULTIPLE-volume (4 or more) GENERAL history of music. (General means general—it covers the history of all Western music, not just jazz, or just American music, or just rock.) Write the title here:

• ____________________

• A ONE-volume GENERAL (again, for all music, not just one style) music dictionary or encyclopedia. Write the title here:

• ____________________

• Browse through the music reference shelves to see what else is there. Pay special attention to the variety of different subjects these books cover. List three subjects you were surprised to find here.

Chant and the Music of Hildegard of Bingen

The listening portion of the Middle Ages Quiz will include examples of both sacred chant and secular song along with several questions drawn from the Study Questions below.

For the chant section we will play three chant excerpts, one of which you may not have heard. The main focus will be on your ability to describe stylistic features of chant. For each chant example you will identify the:

•  Type of psalmody—direct, responsorial, or antiphonal?
•  Text setting—syllabic, neumatic, or melismatic?
•  Two other audible style features associated with chant—describe features of melodic motion and contour, rhythm, texture, color, form, place in the liturgy, or mode, for example

To prepare, read Burkholder’s material on “Characteristics of Chant” and on “Genres and Forms of Chant” on textbook pp. 52-61 before you begin listening. Since this course will focus on stylistic analysis, also take a look at the one-page outline of the five SHMRG categories from Jan LaRue’s Guidelines for Style Analysis (on RESERVE or on Blackboard under Assignments/Encounter Readings/Encounter 1).

For the secular song section, we will play two examples from the listening list. Again, the primary focus will be on description of stylistic features of secular songs. For each secular song example you will identify the:

•  Likely composer—identifying the right composer & title is not required for this quiz, but you should at least know the names of a couple of secular song composers you can plug in here
•  Likely century of composition—during what centuries were troubadours and trouvères writing their songs?
•  Two other audible style features associated with secular song—describe features of melodic motion, rhythm, texture, genre classification, or specific instruments present in the recording, for example

Each cluster of works listed below is accompanied by a set of Study Questions. The recorded examples and Study Questions together are designed to help you prepare for the first quiz. For all NAWM recordings you really want to read the notes on each work and follow the score while you listen!

Listening List

Mass and Vespers—Traditional Plainchant

A) NAWM 3a-3j—Mass for Christmas Day—NRAWM CD1, tracks 4-23

B) NAWM 4a-4b—Vespers for Christmas Day—NRAWM CD1, tracks 24-28

C) NAWM 5—Sequence from the Mass for Easter Day: Victimae paschali laudes—NRAWM CD1, track 29

Study Questions on A-C:

1. Which chant melodies are syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic? What is the effect of each of these three types of text setting? Why do you think some chants are syllabic while others are melismatic?
2. Which chant melodies are direct, antiphonal, and responsorial (i.e., what type of psalmody does each one use)?
3. Psalmody and text setting help us divide chant into categories and they sensitize us to chant’s variety of expression, but they do not help us understand the overall style features of chant. Using Jan LaRue’s five SHMRG categories as a reference (just inside the cover), what features do all of these chant melodies have in common? Consider melody, rhythm, texture, tone color, form, text, etc. What mood is created by these style features? Why is this style so appropriate to music of the church in the Middle Ages?
4. What is the overall effect of the antiphon/psalm-tone pairs used in the Vespers service? What purpose does this type of chant melody serve?
5. Describe important differences between the music of the Mass and the music for Vespers. What musical forms are used in Vespers but not in the Mass? Which service uses more examples of melismatic text setting? Which uses more syllabic writing? Why do you think that is?
6. Read St. Basil’s discussion of the importance of singing on pp. 25-26 of Weiss & Taruskin’s Music in the Western World (RESERVE). What style features of chant fit best with his description of music and its importance? What does Basil say that helps you understand why chant is the way it is?
7. In what ways does “The Experience of the Mass” (the textbook box on pp. 50-51) help you understand the Mass better?

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Additions to the Liturgy

D) NAWM 5—Sequence for the Easter Mass, Victimae paschali laudes—NRAWM CD1, track 29.

E) NAWM 6—Trope (Liturgical Drama), Quem quaeritis in praesepe—NRAWM CD1, tracks 30-32.

Study Questions on D-E:

1. These two works represent later additions to the Mass liturgy. How do they differ from the movements of the Mass you listened to above? Where exactly do these pieces fit into the Mass?
2. Read Notker on the sequence (textbook p. 63) and the description of liturgical drama tropes on pp. 46-48 of Weiss & Taruskin’s Music in the Western World (RESERVE). According to Notker, how and why did the sequence come into existence? Why were liturgical dramas like the one described by Ethelwold so important?

Music by Hildegard of Bingen: Plainchant & Performance Practice

F) Hildegard of Bingen, Ordo virtutum—In principio omnes (two versions)

• a. NAWM 7—NRAWM CD1, tracks 33-35
• b. Hildegard von Bingen: In Portrait DVD (RESERVE VIDEO 782.3222 H642)—Disc One, track 8 (“Thanks to God”)

Study Questions on F:

1. What are the essential differences between traditional plainchant style (as heard in A-B) and Hildegard’s plainchant style. Which seems more expressive? Why?
2. Read the translation of the words for NAWM 7. How do Hildegard’s words differ from those found in the Mass or Vespers services above?
3. The NRAWM and DVD recordings offer performances of the same chant by two different performing ensembles. How do these recordings differ in their overall atmosphere? What similarities and differences do you find in the use of voices, ornamentation, rhythm, instruments (?), and so on.

Troubadour & Trouvère Songs & Dance Music

G) NAWM 8—Bernart de Ventadorn, Can vei la lauzeta mover (troubadour chanson)—NRAWM CD1, track 36

H) NAWM 9—Beatriz, Countess of Dia, A chantar mes al cor (trobairitz canso)—NRAWM CD1, track 37

I) The Courts of Love - Music in the Time of Eleanor of Aquitaine CD—Blackboard RESERVE

• Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, Kalenda maia (Troubadour Dansa)
• See Assignments module/Encounter Listening/Encounter 1/Kalenda maia

J) NAWM 10—Adam de la Halle, Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion, “Robins m’aime” (trouvère rondeau)—NRAWM CD1, track 38

K) NAWM 13—Anonymous, La quarte estampie royale, from Le manuscrit du roi (estampie)—NRAWM CD1, tracks 41-47

Study Questions on G-K:

1. How would you describe the important style features and overall mood of these 5 songs? In what ways do they differ from plainchant? Should they be different? Why?
2. What are the important differences between these songs? Focus on significant stylistic features and differences between the written score and choices made by the performers. Which ones add instruments, and if so, what instruments do they add? Which ones are metric and which ones are rhythmically free? Which ones seem most “valid,” historically speaking? How can you tell?
3. Can you find any similarities between the forms of these 5 songs (G-K)? Do you notice any patterns that are used frequently?
4. Read the excerpt on Music in Courtly Life from pp. 55-58 of Weiss & Taruskin (RESERVE). How does this reading (about Raimbaut!) affect your understanding of Raimbaut’s Kalenda maia? How do the final two minutes of our Kalenda maia performance differ from the beginning?
5. Read the excerpt on Music in Courtly Life from pp. 58-59 of Weiss & Taruskin (RESERVE). How does this reading affect your understanding of the relationship between notation (what’s written in the score) and performance practice (decisions made by the performers about instrumentation, rhythm, ornamentation, etc.).

Extra Credit Ideas—

Church of the Ascension, an Episcopal church on Chicago’s near north side, still uses plainchant on a regular basis in their Sunday worship services. For extra credit, attend the 11:00 a.m. worship service on any of the following Sundays (September 4, 11, 18, or 25) and write a one-page report that focuses on the overall effect of chant used in worship as well as its stylistic features, liturgical function, role in worship, and so on. Attach a bulletin or some other form of documentation that verifies your attendance. The church is located at 1133 N. LaSalle Blvd. (at Elm St.). Call 312.664.1271 for further information.

Buehler Library RESERVE

• MCD H642c—Hildegard, Canticles of Ecstasy (Sequentia)
• MCD H642L—Hildegard, Lauds of St. Ursula (Early Music Institute)
• VIDEO 782.3222 H642—Hildegard von Bingen: In Portrait DVD (Ordo Virtutum)
• MCD M489—The Medieval Experience (Monks & Troubadours), CDs 1 & 2 (Chant titles are in boldface)
• MCD D489 1998—Development of Western Music Recordings (DWMA), 3rd edition, Volume I, CD1-2
• DWMA 4—Salve Regina (Marian Antiphon)—CD1, track 4
• DWMA 5—Missa in Dominica resurrectionis (Mass for Easter Sunday)—CD1, tracks 5-15
• DWMA 5a—Introit—CD1, track 5
• DWMA 5b—Kyrie—CD1, track 6
• DWMA 5c—Gloria—CD1, track 7
• DWMA 5d—Gradual—CD1, track 8
• DWMA 5e—Alleluia—CD1, track 9
• DWMA 5f—Sequence—CD1, track 10
• DWMA 5g—Credo—CD1, track 11
• DWMA 5h—Offertory—CD1, track 12
• DWMA 5i—Sanctus—CD1, track 13
• DWMA 5j—Agnus Dei—CD1, track 14
• DWMA 5k—Communion—CD1, track 15
• DWMA 6—Absolve, Domine (Tract)—CD1, track 16
• DWMA 7—Thomas of Celano, Dies irae (Sequence from Requiem Mass)—CD1, track 17
• DWMA 9—Quem quaeritis in sepulchro? (Liturgical Drama Trope to Introit of Easter Mass) —CD1, track 18
• DWMA 10—Ut queant laxis (Plainchant)—CD1, tracks 19
• DWMA 26—Hildegard of Bingen, Ordo virtutum excerpt (Liturgical Drama)—CD2, track 1
• DWMA 29—Guillaume d’Amiens, Prendés i garde (Trouvère Rondeau)— CD1, track 40
• DWMA 30—Adam de la Halle, Dieus soit (Trouvère Ballade)—CD1, track 41
• DWMA 31—A l’entrada del tens clar (Troubadour Ballade)—CD1, track 42
• DWMA 32—Or la truix (Troubadour Virelai)—CD2, track 2
• DWMA 37—Walter von der Vogelweide, Palästinalied (Minnesänger Crusade Song)—CD2, track 8
• MCD G684s—The Spirits of England and France, Vol. 2: Songs of the trouvères (Gothic Voices)

• 8.554257—Music of the Troubadours
• 8.553442—Under the Greenwood Tree, tracks 1-4
• 8.553131—Chominciamento di gioia: Virtuoso Dance Music—Virtuoso Dance Music from the Time of Boccaccio’s Decamerone
• 8.553618—Codex Faenza: Instrumental Music of the Early 15th Century, tracks 3, 5 & 9