Music 1010: Analysis of Gregorian Chant and Renaissance Music Concepts

This assignment explores key concepts in music history, focusing on Gregorian chant and Renaissance music. The student addresses questions on Gregorian chant's characteristics, development, and performance, as well as the impact of the printing press on music dissemination. The assignment also examines the challenges faced by Renaissance composers in incorporating ancient Greek musical concepts and how they overcame them. Additionally, it includes a comparative analysis of medieval compositions like Hildegard von Bingen's "O Rubor Sanguinis," Perotinus's "Viderunt omnes," and the "Agincourt Carol," highlighting their melodic, rhythmic, textural, and formal qualities. The student provides historical context, composer backgrounds, and personal reflections on each piece, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

Running head: MUSIC 1010
Music 1010 questions
Student’s Name
Institution
Date

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QUESTION 1
The Gregorian chant was developed in the central and western Europe in the 9th and 10th century.
It was traditionally performed by choirs of boys and men or women and men in churches. Chant
was usually performed in unison (Hiley, 2009).
There are certain characteristics that distinguish the chant from other types of music. It is
monophonic, a cappella, has a free rhythm and it is a prayer.
QUESTION 2
The invention of the music printing press came with so many advantages, it created classic
looking printed music. It also allowed consumers from any type of background to access the
music in a simpler manner and led to growth of the music. The printing press was influential in
many places, this places included more than 100 European cities, Venice and Rome. Music
became widely spread in almost the whole world (Spilsbury, 2012).
QUESTION 3
Renaissance is a word that meant rebirth. The artist and scholars formed a revolt against the
church dogma. The modern Italy was more of religious and the hard part was them accepting the
new era of renaissance. This was due to the fact that there was introduction of the secular aspect,
in that area renaissance was seen as passing phase and less of a rebirth that is glorious. Public
reading places were created to accelerate the process of renaissance (Boss, 2014).

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QUESTION 4
Hildegard Von Bingen was a great icon both in music and in the church aspect. Some part of the
Roman Catholic Church have named her a saint. Sixty nine of her composition still exist one
titled ‘O Rubor Sanguinis’. The composition consists of a text which has its own music, different
lengths for each phrases and has 2 or 1 notes in each syllable. It has a syllable with many notes
and has no rhythm.
‘Vidurent Omnes’ was written by Perotinus, it’s a traditional Gregorian chant with the original
author unknown. It included of a 4 voice composition. The tenor voice would sing the chant and
give harmonic back up to other voices. Unlike the ‘O Rubor Sanguinis’, this composition has
triple meter rhythms. The four voices creates a drastic effect, it brings a feeling of harmony.
The Angincourt carol was written in the 15th century by Ernest Farrar for soldiers, they recounted
the kind gestures and deeds of King Henry during his campaign. Another aspect is that it was
sung by soldiers coming from battle. This composition recounts historical events, each text gives
emphasis on the enemies who were captured. The text written were often alike to the phrases,
they incorporated certain words (Poggio, 2015).
QUESTION 5
The song ‘Ave Maria’ is an intercessional prayer to Mary the mother of God. The song is
polyphonic, tends to bring flexibility and convey the message of prayer clearly. The singers don’t
start singing the stanzas before the others sing the last part of the song, this brings out the respect
given to the Virgin Mary. The use of polyphony throughout the song reveals the differentiated
and hierarchical nature of heaven. The polyphony moves in levels, showing the aspect of human

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beings and heavenly beings. The text painting makes the relationship between the singer and
Mary personal. The singer refers Mary to ‘mother’ instead of ‘virgin’. Near the end of the prayer
there is dramatic change in mood and texture which brings out the virtue of humility. This
reminds people of the importance of prayer (Rothenberg, 2016).
The song “As Vesta Was from latmos hill by Welkes” literally interprets the lyrics. The use of
polyphonic turnover illustrates how the music moves down the hill. There is also use joyful and
bright homophony, to describe the lyric of the song. The writer interprets the lyrics literally and
conveys the music. When the text goes to ascending, the pitches go downwards, when the text
ascends, the pitch moves upward. The part if the text being ‘two by two’, the voices become two,
the part of ‘together’ is sung by six parts and the alone part is sung by a solo voice. The different
aspects of the song are interpreted.
References
Boss, J., Osborn, B., & Pack, T. S. (2014). Analyzing the Music of Living Composers (and
Others). Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Hiley, D. (2009). Gregorian Chant. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Poggio, M. R. (2015). Ave Maria: See, Learn, and Meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary.
New York, NY: Paulist Press.
Rothenberg, D. J. (2016). Music and Culture in the Middle Ages and Beyond: Liturgy,
Sources, Symbolism. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Spilsbury, R., & Spilsbury, L. (2012). The Printing Press. Raintree.

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Upton, E. R. (2013). Music and Performance in the Later Middle Ages. London, England:
Palgrave Macmillan.