A polyphonic vocal style of composition. Popular in the middle ages, when it consisted of a tenor foundation upon which other tunes were added. The texts of these voices could be sacred or secular, Latin or French, and usually had little to do with each other
A Capella
unaccompanied
Ars Antiqua
French sacred polyphonic musical style of the 13th century Troubadors and Trouvers
Ars Nova
French musical style of the 14th century
Church Modes
A form of scales used in Gregorian Chant
Word Painting
Writing music which imitates the text
Drone
2 or more long notes accompanying a melody
Estampie
One of the oldest surviving purely instrumental forms of the 13th and 14th centuries.
Gregorian Chant
A melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung unaccompanied
Melismatic Chant
Many notes per syllable. Used to emphasize text.
Monophonic Texture
Music that is written for only one voice or part
Neumatic Chant
2-3 notes per syllable
Polyphonic Texture
A style of composition that has many voices, each with its own melody
Sacred Music
Music performed inside the church
School of Notre Dame
Pioneered the usage of measured rhythm
Secular Music
Music performed outside of the church
St. Thomas Aquinas
Influential priest, wrote Summa Theologica
Dante Allighieri
Wrote Divine Comedy- 1st to write in language other than Latin (vernacular)
Syllabic Chant
One note per syllable
Terpsichore
Greek Muse of Dance
The Divine Office
the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at predetermined times by the clergy
The Madrigal
A piece set for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love