syllabic chant
chant wherein each syllable of the text has its own note
neumatic chant
chant wherein each syllable is sung to between two and six notes
melismatic chant
chant wherein each syllable is sung to many notes
mass ordinary
Kyrie eleison,
Gloria,
Credo,
Sanctus,
Agnus Dei
diastematic notation
musical notation utilizing a line as reference point for notes
mass proper
changed with the day according to the church calendar
head motive
counterpoint, the most important melodic material is presented first in a single voice, each successively entering voice begins with the same melody
cyclic mass
mass wherein each movement shares a common musical theme
cantus firmus
formes fixes
“fixed forms” – prescribed courtly love poetry styles
tenor
the main sung melody of a chant
duplum, triplum
the second and third voices, respectively, of a polyphonic chant
melismatic organum
polyphonic composition based on plainchant in which a new ornate voice is added above the original voice, moving faster than the original plainchant line. cadences on perfect intervals
parallel organum
consists of two voice parts moving in parallel motion a 4th or 5th apart
converging parallel organum
parallel organum wherein both voices start and end on the same pitch, but are a 4th (or 5th) apart for the duration of the chant
clausula
brief, polyphonic sections of discant organum
rondeau
AABBA AAB, AABBA
ballade
ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC (C is the refrain)
virelai
ABBA
Roman de Fauvel
a novel, musical accompaniment thereto is regarded as the beginning of the Ars Nova movement, with use of ISORHYTHM
hocket
syncopated rhythmic interplay between multiple voices, wherein one voice sounds while the other rests
contenance angloise
“English consonance” – referring to the use of the interval of a 3rd, hockets, and two tenors.
conductus
sacred but non-liturgical composition, sung while the lectionary was carried from its place of safekeeping to the place of reading
canon
a melody, with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration
courtly love
medieval European conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration
strophic form
sectional and/or additive way of structuring a piece of music based on the continual repetition of one formal section or block (A A A; A A’ A”)
cantigas
songs from the Iberian peninsula
bar form
AAB, used by Walther von der Vogelweide, minnesingers
troubadours
minstrels from SOUTHERN France
trouveres
minstrels from NORTHERN France
trobairitz
Female Occitan minstrels (SOUTHERN France)
minnesingers
minstrels from Germany
caccia
canon
motet
polytextual, in the vernacular, secular
troping
new inserted words at any point in the text: Kyrie [cunctipotens etc…] eleison
gloss
commentary added to the chants (in the margins)
musical drama
or “liturgical drama” – staged, sung scenes as part of the worship
motetus
the texted duplum in a motet
contratenor
same range as the tenor, usually less melodic
isorhythm
musical technique that arranges a fixed pattern of pitches with a repeating rhythmic pattern
color (isorhythm)
the pitch series in an isorhythmic composition
talea (isorhythm)
the order of rhythms in an isorhythmic composition
Ars Nova
14th century French music, the title of a treatise on this genre of music
Ars Subtilior
end of the 14th century, characterized by “musical puzzles” – Machaut (ma fin est mon comencement)
under-third cadence
a cadence in which the voice drops a third below the final before resting on the final
Musica Enchiriadis
anonymous musical treatise from the 9th century. It is the first surviving attempt to establish a system of rules for polyphony in western music
Codex Calictinus
12th century illuminated manuscript, a guide and songbook for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain
immitation
process of overlapping voices, in a canon
point of immitation
distinctive thematic units in a canon
paired imitation
Josquin des Prez, division of 4-part harmony into two answering pairs or duos
paired imitation
Josquin des Prez, division of 4-part harmony into two answering pairs or duos
paired imitation
Josquin des Prez, division of 4-part harmony into two answering pairs or duos