What to hand in for Encounter 1?—

• Part I: 3 paragraphs (total) that answer my 3 questions about Lachman’s Journal of Hildegard.
• Part II: A one-page summary of your presentation notes and a bibliography in MLA format with at least six sources (due on the day of the presentation).
• Part III: Fill in the blanks to answer my questions about music books in the library Reference collection.
• Listening: Nothing to hand in for the listening assignment. The Middle Ages Quiz will test you on this material.

Readings—

• Burkholder, J. Peter, A History of Western Music, 10th edition
• Preface to the Tenth Edition, p. xxv-xxx, xxxiii-xxxv
• Part One—The Ancient and Medieval Worlds, p. 2-3
• Chapter 1—Music in Antiquity, p. 4-19
• Chapter 2—The Christian Christian Church in the First Millenium, p. 20-41
• Chapter 3—Roman Liturgy and Chant, p. 42-62
• Chapter 4—Song and Dance Music to 1300, p. 63-79
• Burkholder, J. Peter, Norton Anthology of Western Music, 8th edition, Vol. 1 (NAWM)
• Making Connections: How to Use this Anthology, p. xi-xxii
• Pitch Designations, p. xxv
• NAWM 1-13, p. 1-72
• 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.
• Lachman, Barbara, The Journal of Hildegard of Bingen (RESERVE)
  • Also available in Encounter Readings for Encounter 1 in the Assignments module.
• LaRue, Jan, 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)
• Weiss, Piero 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
• All three W&T readings also available in Encounter Readings for Encounter 1 in the Assignments module.

I. The Life of Hildegard of Bingen

• 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?
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? What special music did they do on important feast days (church holy days)?

II. Group Presentation 1
Chant, Troubadours, & Organum

• Group I—NAWM 3a, Introit. Puer natus est nobis—Friday, September 11
• Group II—NAWM 3e, Alleluia. Dies sanctificatus—Friday, September 11
• Group III—NAWM 6b, Sequence. Dies irae—Monday, September 14
• Group IV—NAWM 9, Beatrix, Comtessa de Dia, A chantar—Wednesday, September 16
• Group V—NAWM 15, Anonymous, Alleluia. Justus ut palma—Monday, September 21

Due to the late start date for this course, Group I will give their first presentation on Friday, September 11, on the same day as the first Group II presentation. In addition, Groups I and II may turn in their Part II outlines and bibliographies with the rest of their Encounter 1 materials on Monday, September 14.

Each group will give a 10-minute Powerpoint presentation on their assigned piece. Ideally, you will play the piece for the class, talk about the piece, and then play it again at the end. Each presentation will cover whatever seems most important, but be sure to include the following items:

Questions for every group:

• Who is the composer? (could be Anonymous)
• Where would this music be performed?
• Who would perform it? Who would be there to listen? Who would not be there?
• Who would benefit or profit from the performance?
• What function would this work serve in the performance context?
• What is the genre?
• How does this work compare with other works in the same genre?
• What features of this work are unique or unusual?
• What style is used?
• How does this work use the elements of music?
• Describe how this work uses melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, texture, color (timbre), form, text setting, and so on.
• What scale (mode) is this work based on? What pitches are emphasized?
• What type of psalmody is used (direct, responsorial, or antiphonal)?
• What type of text setting is used (syllabic, neumatic, or melismatic)?
• Which elements are typical of the style? Which are not?
• Describe the form (sections, phrase relationships, and so on).
• What are the important differences between the notated scores in NAWM and recorded performances of these works?
• What performances practices would be used in singing this piece?

• Group V—For NAWM 15, the Alleluia. Justus ut palma, describe the degree of melodic and rhythmic independence between voices, the role of improvisation vs. composition, the number of voices, and so on.

• articles in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Oxford/Grove Music Online)
• relevant materials from the Readings list above
• period histories (a comprehensive book covering the history of music in a particular era)
• books or articles on performance practice
• books or articles that deal specifically with your topic

Thinking about Elements of Music

• Melody—high or low? moves by step or leap? wide or narrow range? regular or uneven phrase lengths? melodic shape and contour?
• Texture—how many things going on simultaneously? monophonic? polyphonic (with imitation?)? homophonic (homorhythmic or melody & accompaniment?)?
• Rhythm—clear beat or not? meter? tempo? rhythmic patterns? syncopation? how does time pass?
• Color—specific instrumental colors? high, medium, or low register? interesting color combinations? overall color? articulation (legato, staccato, etc.)? attack, sustain, and decay characteristics?
• Harmony—diatonic or chromatic? scale type? stable or unstable? simple (triads) or complex chords? consonant or dissonant?
• Dynamics—loud or soft? accents? sudden or gradual changes?
• Form—repetition? contrast? return? variation? overall shape? specific forms?

III. Preparation for Final Paper
Music Reference Sources in the Library

The Music Reference Section

In a normal year you would go to the Reference section of the Buehler Library and explore the variety of sources in the music section (R780s). This year some of you are taking this course from remote locations, so we will focus primarily on the starting point for any research project in music:

• 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 nearly 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 blanks below, provide a complete citation for any two of the articles you looked at (one should be a composer biography), exactly as it would appear in a bibliography. Copy the MLA citations that appear when you click the “Cite” link near the top of every Grove Music Online article.

• ____________________

• ____________________

Chant and the Music of Hildegard of Bingen

Study Questions

The best way to do well on quizzes, exams, and other assignments in this course is to know the assigned listening well. Listen to each work below as often as you can, study the scores, and learn what the NAWM notes say about each one. For each work you want to be able to answer the following Study Questions:

• What is the genre?
• What is its form?
• What is the name of the style in which it is written?
• How does these melodies use the elements of music? What features of the work are typical of the style? What features are not?
• To answer this, look at the ways these melodies use melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, texture, color (timbre), form, text setting, and so on
• How does the work compare with other works in the listening assignment (especially those in the same genre)?
• What features of the work are unique or unusual?
• For this encounter:
  • Pay special attention to psalmody (direct, responsorial, or antiphonal) and text setting (syllabic, neumatic, or melismatic)
  • What are the important differences between the notated scores in NAWM and recorded performances of these works?

In some cases, additional Study Questions below will draw attention to particularly interesting, unique features of particular works. These Study Questions, NAWM scores, and recordings together will help you prepare for the Middle Ages i Quiz. They require no written report.

Notes on the Middle Ages i Quiz

For the Middle Ages i Quiz, you will see score excerpts for NAWM chant melodies. For each of these chant examples you will:

• Identify these elements:  
  • type of psalmody (direct, responsorial, or antiphonal)
  • text setting (syllabic, neumatic, or melismatic)
  • two other style features associated with chant (such as melodic motion and contour, rhythmic features, texture, color, form, place in the liturgy, or mode)
• Answer further questions adapted from Study Questions for this encounter as described above

Before you listen, use Encounter 1 readings to guide your understanding of characteristic features of this music and the composers and works on the Listening List below. Pay special attention to Burkholder’s material on “Characteristics of Chant” and on “Genres and Forms of Chant” on textbook pp. 48-56. Challenge yourself to identify these features when looking at the score and listening. For all NAWM works, you really want to read the NAWM notes, listen to the recording, and follow the score!

Listening List

Mass and Vespers—Traditional Plainchant

A1) NAWM 3a-3k—Mass for Christmas Day

A2) NAWM 4a-4b—Vespers for Christmas Day

A3) NAWM 6a-b—Sequences Victimae paschali laudes and Dies irae

Study Questions on A1-A3:

1. 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? What mood is created by these style features? Why is this style so appropriate to music of the church in the Middle Ages?
2. 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?
3. 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?
4. In what ways does the textbook box on pp. 44-45 (“The Experience of the Mass”) help you understand the Mass better?

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Additions to the Liturgy

B1) NAWM 5a-c—Tropes on Chants from Mass for Christmas Day

B2) NAWM 6a-b—Sequences Victimae paschali laudes and Dies irae

Study Questions on B1-B2:

1. Read Notker on the sequence (textbook p. 58) 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? Where exactly do these pieces fit into the Mass?

Music by Hildegard of Bingen: Plainchant & Performance Practice

C1) Hildegard of Bingen, Ordo virtutum—In principio omnes (two versions)

• a. NAWM 7
• b. Hildegard von Bingen: In Portrait DVD (RESERVE VIDEO 782.3222 H642)—Disc One, chapter 8 (“Thanks to God”)

Study Questions on C1:

1. What are the essential differences between traditional plainchant style (as heard in A-B) and Hildegard’s plainchant style. Which seems more expressive? Explain. How do Hildegard’s words differ from those found in the Mass or Vespers services above?
2. 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

D1) Bernart de Ventadorn, Can vei la lauzeta mover (troubadour chanson)—two versions

• a. NAWM 8
• b. from Music of the Troubadours (Naxos)—Blackboard RESERVE
• See Assignments module/Encounter Listening/Encounter 1/Quan vei la lauzeta mover
• Second recording also available in the Naxos Music Library (track 11)

D2) Beatriz, Countess of Dia, A chantar mes al cor (trobairitz canso)—two versions

• a. NAWM 9
• b. OLD Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music (4th ed.)—RESERVE CD1, track 23
• Second recording also available in Assignments module/Encounter Listening/Encounter 1/A chantar

D3) Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, Kalenda maya (Troubadour Dansa)—two versions

• a. DWMA 28—RESERVE MCD D489 1998—DWMA CD1, track 39
• Also available in Assignments module/Encounter Listening/Encounter 1/Kalenda maya
• b. from Under the Greenwood Tree (Naxos)—Blackboard RESERVE
• See Assignments module/Encounter Listening/Encounter 1/Kalenda maya
• Second recording also available in the Naxos Music Library (track 4)

D4) NAWM 10—Adam de la Halle, Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion, “Robins m’aime” (trouvère rondeau)

D5) NAWM 13—Anonymous, La quarte estampie royale, from Le manuscrit du roi (Estampie)

Study Questions on D1-D5:

1. There are three pairs of alternate performances in D1-D3. What are the important differences between each pair. Focus on significant stylistic features and differences between the written score and choices made by the performers. For each pair, which one is the more “valid” performance, historically speaking? How can you tell?j. 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?
   • Bernart’s Can vei la lauzeta mover—NAWM 8 vs. Music of the Troubadours (Naxos)
   • Beatriz’s A chantar mes al cor—NAWM 9 vs. OLD NAWM CD1
   • Raimbaut’s Kalenda maya—DWMA 28 vs. Under the Greenwood Tree (Naxos)
2. Read the excerpt on Music in Courtly Life from pp. 55-58 of Weiss & Taruskin (RESERVE). How does this reading change your understanding of the Raimbaut Kalenda maya pair? On the basis of the two Medieval performances described in the reading, is one of the modern recorded performance more “valid” than the other, or are both valid? Explain.
3. 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—

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 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