Early Music

1450 - 1600
Sacred Vocal Music

Read the definition of each of the sacred vocal music types, take note of the MAIN
features and teach these to the rest of your group.

As you listen, try to identify some of the additional concepts listed below.

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Solo
Mens voices
Mixed voices
A Capella
Imitation
Melismatic - meaning more than one note per syllable
Syllabic - meaning only one note per syllable
Monophonic
Homophonic
Polyphonic

Plainchant or Plainsong

 The earliest music we know consists of a single

melodic line the kind of texture we call
MONOPHONIC. This early music was called
PLAINSONG and was sung without accompaniment
A CAPPELLA
Plainchant would have been sung by monks as part of
their daily services you will hear mens voices
only.
Plainchant was sung in Latin.
It is difficult to hear a rhythm or pulse in the music
since it had NO TIME SIGNATURE. The music
depended on the words for its pulse.

Examples of Plainchant include:

Pastor Animarum by Hildegarde von Bingen, a
German nun.
(You Tube example 1)
Caritas Pater Est by Etienne de Liege, Bishop of
Liege from 901 to 920
(You Tube example 2)

Mass
The Mass, a form of
sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that

sets the parts of the Eucharistic liturgy of the Catholic

Church to music.
The five main parts of the mass are:
KYRIE
GLORIA
highest
CREDO

God have mercy

Glory

God

in

the

I believe in one God

SANCTUS and BENEDICTUS

Blessed is He
AGNUS DEI

to

Holy, Holy

and

Lamb of God

The Renaissance mass was sung A Cappella and in LATIN

and was performed by mixed voices
A mass would be polyphonic in texture and would have
examples of IMITATION.
Composers who wrote Masses include:
Guillaume de Machaut
Dame

Grande

Messe

de

Notre

This is the earliest known example

of a mass setting.
Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina Missa Papae Marcellus
Mass for Pope Marcellus
TASK
Compare and write note on the two examples of the KYRIE, one
by MACHAUT and one by PALESTRINA. You will find both on You
Tube.
What differences and similarities are there?

KYRIE - Missa Papae Marcellus, Palestrina

NOTABLE FEATURES

KYRIES - Grande Messe de Nostre Dame, Machaut

NOTABLE FEATURES