FIRST QUARTER MUSIC 9 – MONTH 1

LESSON 1: MEDIEVAL MUSIC

What is Medieval Music all about? What is the historical and cultural
background?
Medieval or Middle Ages (Dark Ages)
- 700 -1400
- after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 16th century AD
- Age of Reawakening and Discovery
- Poets and musicians of the 11th and 12th centuries called troubadours, trouvères, and
mintrels influenced this era of music.
- considered as both sacred and secular music
- Church music was preserved.

Examples of instruments are:

Flute

Lyre

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Mandore

Gittern

Zither

The music of medieval period, like any other kind of music it, expressed feelings that are
difficult to put into words, and that cannot remain silent.

KINDS OF MUSIC CREATED DURING THIS ERA

 Music for the Knights

 For the nobles in the castles
 Chants for the priests

What is troubadour and its music?

TROUBADOUR
- They played secular music, or one not bound by the traditions of church.
It is usually monophonic.
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sometimes with improvised accompaniment

tells chivalry and courtly love
originated in France

The monophonic melodies of these musicians, to which may have been added improvised
accompaniments, were often rhythmically lively and had themes that pertain to love, joy, and
pain.

Adam de la Halle
 one of the famous trouvères
 composer of one of the oldest secular music theatre piece
known in the West, Le Jeu de Robin et Marion
 a French poet, musician, composer, and trouvère
 known for his uniqueness and versatility

“Le Jeu de Robin et Marion”

- known as the first comic opera
- one of the oldest secular music theater piece

It’s Net Time 1!

Listen to “Le Jeu de Robin et
Marion” by Adam de la Halle on your
LMS account.

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What is your impression upon listening to the music? Write a short essay on page
9.

Monophonic – musical texture consisting of one

melodic line. This type of texture does not have any
harmony. It was popular during the Medieval period
(Gregorian Chant).

What is Gregorian chant?

- named after Pope Gregory I

- It is also named as plainsong or plainchant.
- It is monophonic and sung without accompaniment.
- It is set to sacred Latin text.
- male voices sing in unison
- Originally, it was a chant passed along by oral tradition but later on, they were noted.

The melodies of Gregorian chants are traditionally written using neumes.

Neumes - an early form of music notation

Organum - multi or several voice elaborations of a Gregorian chant

- It is sung by choirs of men and boys.

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What are the Elements of Music?

Melody – is the LINEAR/HORIZONTAL presentation of

pitch (the word used to describe the highness or lowness of a
musical sound)

Rhythm – is the element of "TIME" in music

These include:
DURATION – how long a sound (or silence) lasts
METER – beats organized into recognizable/
recurring accent patterns

Tempo – speed of the BEAT

Tone Color – or TIMBRE

- register, range, instrumentation
- is the characteristic that allows us to distinguish the sound of one instrument
from another. Every instrument produces its own tone color. For example, when
you hear a clarinet and a guitar play the exact same pitch, the tone color of each
instrument allows you to tell the difference between the sounds that you hear.

Harmony – is thought of as the art of combining

pitches into chords

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Kindly see your LMS account for additional input about the Elements of Music.

ACTIVITY 1
1. Encircle the time signature used in Medieval Instrumental video piece. (refer to
“Organum,Alleluia” on your LMS account)
2 3 4
4 4 4

2. What language was used in the chant? Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

a. Latin b. Spanish c. English

3. What place may chants be commonly sung? Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

a. schools b. government offices c. churches

4. Did the singers in unison or in a single-voice melody?

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5. Draw any of scenes reflected by medieval music.

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ACTIVITY 2
Write a short essay about “Le Jeu de Robin et Marion” by Adam de la Halle.
RUBRICS FOR GRADING YOUR ESSAY
CRITERIA 1 = 20 POINTS 2 = 12 POINTS 3 = 8 POINTS SCORE
Content (20%) Substantive Some knowledge With limited content

Choppy with limited

Organization (20%) Well organized Ideas clearly supported support or non-fluent
with ideas disconnected

Sophisticated range of Limited range of Little knowledge of

Vocabulary (20%) vocabulary vocabulary vocabulary
Effective but simple Showed major problems
Effective complex construction with main in sentence construction
Language (20%) construction problems in sentence
construction

No mastery of
Shows mastery of Occasional errors of convention with frequent
Mechanics (20%) conventions spelling or punctuation errors of spelling,
punctuations and
paragraphing

TOTAL SCORE:

“Le Jeu de Robin et Marion”

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