MUSIC APPRECIATION-HUMA 118

Medieval Era c.500 – c.1400

Medieval Era was the period from c.500 – c.1400 where there was heightened interest in Art, literature, history and across Europe. The period was also experienced with “Birth of Ideas” because many great artists, thinker and writers emerged. Art and culture were the main practices recognized during the Medieval Era, and this can be revealed back in ancient Greece and Rome. In the old U.S.A, the early civilizations of Aztec, Mayan and Olmec were thriving and became widespread in North and Latin America, Mexico. These civilizations were believed to be indigenous, and they had a complex hieroglyphic writing system, especially the Maya. Just like what Europe was experiencing a lot of discoveries and warfare during the Medieval Ages, the Americas had explored in mathematical and astronomical advances. They also got into civil warfare. In term of music, most of the songs in the Medieval Era reflected cultural practices within society. Medieval music consisted of instrumental pieces and the songs were referred to as liturgical music because they were sacred and used for the church. A good example was Gregorian Chant, which was sacred music and used by monks and during Mass in ancient Roman churches. Other kinds of music during the Medieval Era were secular music and choral music. The instruments used included the flute, gemshorn, lute, citole, gittern, psaltery, dulcimers, lyra, harp and fiddle. Most instruments were made of wood and strings. The medieval music was monophonic and homorhythmic and had a rhythmic notation that allowed multiple vocal lines to interact in a repeated fashion. The polyphony notation develops later in the period, and the songs had a constant interval of harmony. The music did not lack multiple texts and notation that was accompanied instruments. I think Medieval Era discovered a lot in music (Medieval music, 2019, June 13).

“Lauds of St. Ursula”

1.   Medium: Solo voices and piano combinations.

2.   Meter:  The songs sounded with no fixed meter.

3.   Tempo: The speed of the songs is a mixer of Largo and Allegro.

4.   Rhythm: The songs carried metrically set, which was common in the medieval period. s

5.   Melody:  The same contour melodies.

6.   Harmony: The songs had no harmony, and most songs have Pre-tertian sounds and same pitch playing at the same time.

7.   Texture:  Monophonic texture that involves the same pitch, one solo voice, and instrument.

8.   Form: The form of the songs were sequence in a composed form.

9.   Dynamics: The dynamics were not fixed, either loud or soft

10. Text: Most of the songs were in Latin text.  

11. Era: Medieval Era

12. Composer: Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen was a remarkable woman in Medieval Era who was also referred to as “Saint Hildegard of Bingen.” She came from Germany and played significant roles in society, such as an author, poet, artist, and preacher. From her early age, “she became a Benedictine nun at the Monastery of Saint Disibodenberg” (Franciscan Media, 2018, December 27).Apart from being a nun, she worked as a pharmacist and physiologist. According to her “Sin destroyed the original harmony of creation; Christ’s redeeming death and resurrection opened up new possibilities” (Franciscan Media, 2018, December 27). She believed that through creation, humans could get harmony. The Catholic Church through Pope Benedict XVI recognized Hildegard of Bingen as “Doctor of the Church” and a woman who had humility. There is a great relationship between Hildegard of Bingen with St. Ursula. She dedicated her chants, piece of sacred songs, to St. Ursula. She also devoted her hymns and melodies to the church. Hildegard was passionate to see Christians celebrate the love of God. She used St. Ursula as an example of true Christians who died as martyr together other virgins (Saint Ursula, 2019, May 23). I think both Hildegard of Bingen and St. Ursula are legendary stories traced back in Medieval Era.

Troubadour was cultural activity during the Medieval Ages were people who travelled to compose and perform songs. Most troubadours in the Medieval Era were women because they sung love songs (Lombardi, 2019, January 4).

References

Medieval music. (2019, June 13).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_music

Franciscan Media. (2018, December 27). Saint Hildegard of Bingen

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-hildegard-of-bingen

Saint Hildegard of Bingen:

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1118&context=ppr

Saint Ursula. (2019, May 23).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ursula

Lombardi, Esther. (2019, January 4). Introduction to Medieval Literature. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-medieval-period-740717