Mr



History of Music, Mr. Robert L. Johnston

Plainsong or Plainchant (Notation, Day 5)

Aim:

How, when and where was chant written, and how does it differ from today’s notation?

Instructional Objectives:

At the conclusion of this unit, students will:

I. Have defined Plainsong.

II. Have gained an understanding as to its place in worship.

III. Have a basic understanding of medieval social structure and monastic life and its purposes.

IV. Have an understanding as to its geographical development.

V. Have an understanding as to its development and growth as a musical form.

VI. Have an introduction to some of the key figures of its development.

VII. Have an understanding of its notation.

VIII. Have heard a strong representation of plainsong.

Motivation:

Volunteer to sing/perform the following:

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Development/Procedures:

I. Chant was often learned by ear, and our standardized musical notation saw its beginnings during the Middle Ages.

a. Notation varied considerably from one place to another. (Miller)

b. Notation’s simplest purposes are to indicate pitch and rhythm.

c. Modern notation dates from the early 17th century. (Miller)

d. The history of Western notation begins at the end of the 9th century. (Miller)

II. According to Miller, there were three major systems of notation.

a. Neumatic

i. Neumes are inflection symbols to indicate the general direction of a melody. There were originally three types (Miller):

1. Acute, /

2. Grave, \

3. Circumflex, ^

ii. Originally, these were merely reminders for known chant melodies. (Miller)

iii. Ultimately, there were more than a dozen signs. (Miller)

iv. An example of neumatic notation:

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v. Originally, neumes were only written above the text, without specific indication of pitch. (Miller)

vi. By the early 10th century, they were written higher or lower above the text to give a greater sense of melodic contour. These were called heightened neumes. (Miller)

vii. By the end of the 10th century, a single line staff was employed, the line being “F.” (Miller)

1. Notes as we know them were still not used. The neumes were written relative to the single line.

2. This was the origin of the staff. (Miller)

viii. A further development was the two line staff, “F” and “C” below it. (Miller)

1. Think for a moment what it would be like to read music with only two lines.

2. Oftentimes, these to lines were colored, or illuminated, “F” being red, “C” being green or yellow. (Miller)

3. By the 11th century, Guido d’Arezzo had developed the four line staff, which is still used in modern Gregorian notation. (Miller)

4. Ultimately, the five line staff came into use in the 13th century. (Miller)

5. Clefs were developed by placing one of the actual letters on a particular line.

a. Our modern “F,” “C,” and “G” clefs are derived from this practice.

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b. Modal (square notation)

i. Modal notation is based on rhythmic modes (which we will study in roughly a month’s time).

ii. Modal notation uses note shapes as opposed to the “sweeps” of neumes.

1. There are three types of notes (Miller):

a. Longa (looks like a square quarter note)

b. Brevis (looks like a square, colored in whole note)

c. Semibrevis (diamond-shaped)

2. When used together, these groupings were called ligatures. (Miller)

3. The rhythmic basis of modal notation was perfection. (Miller)

a. This was a triple division of rhythm where each longer note value was equal to three of the next smaller, just like a triplet.

4. The example from our motivation uses modal notation.

a. Note the ligatures.

[pic]

5. Note the “C” clef at the beginning of the line. The top (fourth) line is “C.”

a. The first note is “A,” followed by “Bb,” “A,” “G,” “A,” “Bb,” and so on.

6. Play the opening of the Kyrie from the Mass for Septuagesima Sunday.

a. If time allows, learn the fragment by rote!

c. Mensural (measured notation)

i. Was in use from the second half of the 13th century to the end of the 16th century.

ii. Ultimately achieved a high degree of accuracy in representing relative duration. (Miller)

iii. A style of mensural notation is Franconian notation,

1. Named after Franco of Cologne, who codified it in Ars Cantus Mensurabilis (ca. 1260)

2. This system uses the same kind of notes as modal notation, but the brevis became the basic unit (much like our quarter note) and was still predominantly perfect.

a. This was called Tempus perfectum.

b. Duple divisions were called Tempus imperfectum.

iv. What is the significance of triple meter, or three?

v. If time allows, we will revisit notation in later eras.

vi. The chant in the Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume I is an example of mensural notation using ligatures.

III. Early manuscripts

a. Books, as we know them, were very precious commodities is the Middle Ages.

i. Book making was a many-layered process that involved many different skilled people.

ii. There were no printing presses, and books were made by hand.

b. What types of books were made?

i. Most books were bibles.

ii. If you were a student, you had to copy your own textbooks.

1. Think of the textbooks you currently use, and having to copy them all.

c. How were they made?

i. They were made out of vellum or parchment, both derived from animal skins.

1. Making the “paper” was a craft in and of itself.

ii. Covers were leather or wood, and studded with precious metal, if the owner could afford it.

iii. Ink was derived from among other materials, tree branches, wine and salt.

iv. Illuminated manuscripts, or colored pages, were made out of gold leaf or expensive and exotic inks, such as those derived from lapis lazuli (ultramarine).

d. Refer to

i. All illuminated by hand.

1. Not only by monks in the scriptorium of a monastery, but by craftsmen.

ii. Pictures helped define the story.

e. If this interests you, I suggest referencing

f. Pictures of visit to St. Gallen, summer 1992, including manuscripts by Notker.

Materials of Instruction:

Smart Board

Internet

Norton Anthology Of Western Music, Vol. 1 (Disc 1)

The Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume I

Piano for pitch reference

Summary:

Musical notation still has any differences, not only between different genres (i.e. - classical, jazz, rock), but also within each individual genre. As I have stated, all Western music has its roots in chant and its development, as does notation. Many will assert that this is the most important period of music to study, on all fronts.

Even today, contemporary musicians will use their own form of shorthand that he or she will understand when marking their parts.

It should note that the discussion on manuscript was taken almost exclusively from, “From Monks to Markets: Artistic Production and Patronage in the Middle Ages,”

K. Michelle Hearne, guest lecturer, presented at The Cloisters on July 28th.

Assignment:

Study for quiz on plainsong.

Bibliography:

History of Music, Hugh H. Miller, Barnes & Noble Books, New York. 1972

Shirmer History of Music, Leonie Rosenstiel, general editor, Schirmer Books, New York. 1982





Norton Anthology Of Western Music, Vol. 1 (Disc 1), (c) W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. (p) 1988 Sony Special Music Products

The Norton Anthology of Western Music, Volume I, ed. Claude V. Palisca, W.W. Norton & Company, New York. 1980



Suggested Reference:

History of Music, Hugh H. Miller, Barnes & Noble Books, New York. 1972



Robert L. Johnston

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