PERIODS OF MUSIC

Advanced Higher
Understanding & Analysing Music
Medieval & Renaissance Periods
 Music History
All of the different styles of music we listen to today have evolved over a long
period of time. Musical styles have not always been so diverse, in fact
before c.1450 music was pretty simplistic.
In order to understand modern music we must first understand its origins,
history and development through the ages.

In this unit you will learn about the development of music through the following
periods of time:
 Medieval & Renaissance (1450 – 1600)
 Baroque (1600-1750)
 Classical (1750-1830)
 Romantic (1830-1900)
 20th Century (1900 – Present Day)

These eras describe the style and characteristics of that period in time,
particularly in the areas of science, art, architecture, literature and music.
Unit Learning Intentions
• Listen to and discuss the main features of Medieval
and Renaissance music
• Complete aural analysis tasks
• Research and present a social/cultural commentary on
a chosen feature of Renaissance music

Unit Success Criteria

• I can listen to and identify features of Medieval and
Renaissance music in a variety of musical examples.
• I can effectively describe and explain in depth the
social and cultural context of a chosen musical
feature.
• I have developed my music literacy skills through
analysis and annotation of music.
 Medieval & Renaissance Periods
1450 - 1600
During the Medieval and Renaissance periods music was quite simplistic
in that the voice was the main means of musical expression, as the
use of the major and minor scale system was yet to be developed.
• Modes – early music used a system of scales called modes. You can
play a mode on the piano by starting on a white note, say D, and
going upwards by step but keeping to the white notes only. Each
mode has a different name.
• We can describe much of the music from these periods as having a
modal tonality.
 Sacred Music
• Early church music known as plainchant was sung in Latin and without
accompaniment. Plainchant melodies usually moved by step, and the rhythms
are irregular, freely following the rhythms of the Latin text.

• Some of the vocal music produced in the Medieval and Renaissance periods
is sung antiphonally. Antiphonal music consists of one choir or group singing
in alternation with another, rather like surround sound in stereo speakers.
• Another type of composition, whose origins date from the 1300s, is
the mass – the musical setting of the Latin text at a Roman Catholic
church service. It is usually sung a cappella and with a polyphonic
texture.

• The mass is usually divided into five main sections:

• Kyrie
• Gloria
• Credo
• Sanctus
• Agnus Dei

• When listening to an example of a mass you should listen out for the
names of each section in the text. Here is an example of the Kyrie
from Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices
• Kyrie - Byrd Mass for Four Voices
• The motet was a smaller scale sacred work developed in the
Renaissance period. Like the mass it was also set to a Latin text,
with a polyphonic texture, though more often sung a cappella.

• Palestrina 'Tu es Petrus'

• In England, as well as the motets and masses composed for the

Catholic church services, some Elizabethan composers wrote
anthems to be sung during services in Protestant churches. An
anthem is the counterpart of the motet, but sung in English.

• Tallis - Heare the Voice and Prayer

Concepts
CONCEPT DEFINITION
Medieval Music up to 1450, mainly monophonic (single line).
Renaissance Music from 1450 – 1600, features contrapuntal
textures.
Modes/Modal Early scale e.g. D-D playing all the white notes.
Plainchant Also known as plainsong and Gregorian chant.
Unaccompanied melody set to words of the Roman
Catholic text.
Antiphonal Dialogue between voices or instruments – one group of
voices or instruments answers the other.
Mass Sacred choral work in five sections, sung in Latin
(Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei).
Motet Renaissance sacred choral work with Latin text and
polyphonic texture, usually sung a cappella.
Anthem Short sacred choral piece sung in English. Sometimes
sung by a choir a cappella and sometimes accompanied
by an organ and featuring solo parts. The Protestant
equivalent of the motet.
 Secular Music
• Renaissance composers began to take a keener interest in writing secular
music, including music for instruments independent of voices.

• In the late 1500s English composers began to write their own madrigals,
inspired by those from Italy but with English words. These were performed
usually with one singer per part.

• Gibbons - The Silver Swan

• During this period one of the voices commonly heard in both sacred and
secular vocal music was the counter tenor. This was a male adult voice
whose range was higher than a tenor’s.

• In England there were different types of madrigal including the ballett and
ayre.
 Secular Music
• The ballett has a clear-cut dance-like rhythm where the texture is mainly
homophonic and chordal. The ballett is written in strophic form with two or
more verses set to the same music. The most notable feature of the ballett
is the ‘fa-la-la refrain’ which is heard at section endings.

• Morley - Now Is The Month of Maying

• The ayre (or air) could be performed in a variety of different ways such as
solo voice with lute accompaniment; by a solo voice accompanied by other
instruments such as viols; or with all parts sung by voices with or without
instrumental accompaniment.

• Dowland - Flow, My Tears

 Secular Music
• Until the beginning of the 16th century, instruments were considered to be
far less important than voices. They were used for dances and to
accompany vocal music but played the same music as the voices. During the
16th century composers took a keener interest in writing music especially for
instruments, not only for dancing but for playing and listening.

• Renaissance instruments included lutes, viols, trumpets and percussion.

Elizabethans called a group of instruments playing together a consort.
Instruments from one family were called a whole consort and a broken
consort was a mixture of instruments from different families.

• Crumhorn consort
• Byrd - In nomine for five viols
 Secular Music
• During the Renaissance period dances were often written in pairs,
contrasted in mood and rhythm – a slow stately Pavan in two beats in a bar,
followed by a spritely Galliard in three beats.

• Pavan & Galliard

• Dowland - Earle of Essex Galliard
• Byrd - Pavan & Galliard (viol consort)

• In this example listen out for the tierce de picardie at the end. This was a
common feature in music of this period in which a piece of music with a
minor tonality, the final chord is major.
Concepts
CONCEPT DEFINITION
Madrigal Secular vocal music in English, features polyphonic
texture, imitation, word painting, usually sung a
cappella, often through composed in form
Ballett A type of madrigal in strophic form, features a fa-la-la
refrain
Ayre/Air A type of madrigal featuring solo voice and
instrumental accompaniment such as lute or viol
Counter tenor Male voice higher than a tenor, often used as a male
soprano
Consort A group of instruments playing together
Pavan Slow and stately Renaissance dance with 2 beats in a
bar
Galliard Lively and spritely Renaissance dance with 3 beats in a
bar, follows the pavan
Tierce de The final chord of a piece of music in the minor key is
picardie changed to major