MEDIEVAL,

RENAISSANCE
AND BAROQUE
PERIODS
MEDIEVAL
PERIOD
HISTORY OF MUSIC DURING MEDIEVAL
PERIOD
• During the earlier medieval period, liturgical music was
monophonic chant; Gregorian chant became the
dominant style. Polyphonic genres, in which multiple
independent melodic lines are performed simultaneously,
began to develop during the high medieval era, becoming
prevalent by the later 13th and early 14th century.
FAMOUS ARTIST DURING
MEDIVAL PERIOD
 Adam De la Halle
Adam de la Halle (1245–50 – 1285–8/after 1306) was a French poet-
composer trouvère.[1] Among the few medieval composers to write
both monophonic and polyphonic music, in this respect he has been
considered both a conservative and progressive composer, resulting in
a complex legacy: he cultivated admired representatives of older
trouvère genres, but also experimented with newer dramatic works.[2]
Adam represented the final generation of the trouvère tradition and
"has long been regarded as one of the most important musical and
literary figures of thirteenth-century Europe"
Guillaume de Machaut
• Guillaume de Machaut was a French composer and poet who
was the central figure of the ars nova style in late medieval
music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern
musicologists use his death to separate the ars nova from the
subsequent ars subtilior movement.
RENAISSANCE
PERIOD
MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE
PERIOD (1400-1600)
• Music was an essential part of civic, religious, and courtly life in the
Renaissance. The rich interchange of ideas in Europe, as well as political,
economic, and religious events in the period 1400–1600 led to major
changes in styles of composing, methods of disseminating music, new
musical genres, and the development of musical instruments. The most
important music of the early Renaissance was composed for use by the
church—polyphonic (made up of several simultaneous melodies) masses
and motets in Latin for important churches and court chapels. By the
end of the sixteenth century, however, patronage had broadened to
include the Catholic Church, Protestant churches and courts, wealthy
amateurs, and music printing—all were sources of income for
composers.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
RENAISSANCE MUSIC
• Mostly polyphhonic
• imitation among the voice is common
• use of word painting in texts and music
• melodic lines move in a flowing manner
• melodies are easier to perform because
• these move along a scale with a few large leaps.
VOCAL MUSIC OF THE
RENAISSANCE PERIOD
1.MASS- Is a form of sacred musical composition that sets texts of the
Eucharistics liturgy into music.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MASS:
• Polyphonic
• May be sung a cappella or with orchestral accompaniment
• Text may syllabic (one note set to each syllable),
nuematic(a few notes set to one syllable),or
melismatic (many notes to one syllable)
FIVE MAIN SECTIONS OF
MASS
1. Kyrie “lord have mercy”
2. Gloria “Glory to god in the Highest”
3. Credo “Apostle’s Creed”or “Nicean Creed”
4. Sanctus and Benedictus”Holy ,holy”.and “Blessed is he”
5. Agnus Dei “lamb of god”
2.MADRIGAL
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance
(15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1600–1750)[citation needed]
periods, although revisited by some later European composers.[1] The
polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number of voices varies
from two to eight, but the form usually features three to six voices, whilst the
metre of the madrigal varies between two or three tercets, followed by one
or two couplets.[2] Unlike verse-repeating strophic forms sung to the same
music,[3] most madrigals are through-composed, featuring different music
for each stanza of lyrics, whereby the composer expresses the emotions
contained in each line and in single words of the poem being sung.
CHARACTERISTICSS OF THE
MADRIGAL
• Sung a cappella
• Meaning without instrumental accompaniment
• Polyphonic texture, in which each singer has a separate
musical line
FAMOUS ARTIST DURING
RENAISSANCE PERIOD
FAMOUS COMPOSERS OF THE
RENAISSANCE PERIOD
• Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina(ROME,1525-FEBRUARY 2, 1594)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian composer
of late Renaissance music. The central representative of
the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás
Luis de Victoria, Palestrina is considered the leading
composer of late 16th-century Europe.
THOMAS MORLEY-1557-FUBRUARY 2, 1602
Thomas Morley (born 1557/58, Norwich, England—died October
1602, London) was a composer, organist, and theorist, and the
first of the great English madrigalists.

Morley held a number of church musical appointments, first as

master of the children at Norwich Cathedral (1583–87), then by
1589 as organist at St. Giles, Cripplegate, in London, and by 1591
at St. Paul’s Cathedral. In 1592 Morley was sworn in as a
gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE
PERIOD(1685-1750)
MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE PERIOD(1685-
1750)
• Derived from the Portuguese barroco, or “oddly shaped pearl,” the
term “baroque” has been widely used since the nineteenth century to
describe the period in Western European art music from about 1600
to 1750. Comparing some of music history’s greatest masterpieces to
a misshapen pearl might seem strange to us today, but to the
nineteenth century critics who applied the term, the music of Bach
and Handel’s era sounded overly ornamented and exaggerated.
Having long since shed its derogatory connotations, “baroque” is now
simply a convenient catch-all for one of the richest and most diverse
periods in music history.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BAROQQUE MUSIC
• High levels of ornamentation.
• Intricate and complex details.
• Heavily contrasting elements.
• High movement, especially compared to the music of other time
periods.
• A sonorous, continuous bass line, which allowed the higher voices of
the music to be as expressive as the composer wished.
NEW FORMS OF BAROQQUE MUSIC
• Prelude
• Fugue,
• Cantata
• Concerto
• Oratorio
• Sonata
• Opera
BAROQQUE MUSIC GENRES
• CONCERTO
Concerto is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an
instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists
accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble.
• CONCERTO GROSSO
The concerto grosso is a sub-genre of concerto that follows all of
the characteristics of the concerto in general (it is multi-movement,
written for an instrumental ensemble, and subdivides that
ensemble into two sub-groups) but specifically utilizes multiple
soloists rather than a single one.
BAROQQUE FAMOUS
COMPOSERS PERIOD
BAROQQUE FAMOUS COMPOSERS
• Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach is regarded as
one of the greatest composers of all
time. He is celebrated as the creator of
many masterpieces of church and
instrumental music. His compositions
represent the best of the Baroque era.
• Developer of Concerto grosso
BAROQQUE FAMOUS COMPOSERS
• Antonio ViValdi
He is known mainly for composing many
instrumental concertos, for the violin
and a variety of other instruments, as
well as sacred choral works and more
than forty operas. His best-known work
is a series of violin concertosknown as
The Four Seasons.
BAROQQUE FAMOUS COMPOSERS
• George Friedrich Handel
George Frideric Handel, a German-born
English composer of the late Baroque
era, was known particularly for his
operas, oratorios, and instrumental
compositions. He wrote the most
famous of all oratorios, Messiah (1741).
ASSIGNMENT:
List down at least three (3) famous
works of Adam De la Halle
and Guillaume de Machaut.
UNIT II
MUSIC OF THE
CLASSICAL PERIOD
The Classical Period was an era of classical music between roughly 1750 and 1820.[1]

The classical period falls between the Baroque and Romantic periods.Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque
music but a more varying use of musical form, which is, in simpler terms, the rhythm and organization of any given piece of
music. It is mainly homophonic, using a clear melody line over a subordinate chordal accompaniment,[3] but counterpoint was by
no means forgotten, especially in liturgical vocal music and, later in the period, secular instrumental music. It also makes use of
style galant which emphasizes light elegance in place of the Baroque's dignified seriousness and impressive grandeur. Variety
and contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before, and the orchestra increased in size, range, and power.
MUSIC OF THE CLASSICAL PERIOD
(1750-1820)
• Also called “Age of Reason”, is the period from 1750 - 1820. The
cultural life was dominated by the Aristocracy, as patrons of musicians
and artists generally influenced the arts. Signinficant changes in
musical forms and style were made.
• In the middle of the 18th century, Europe began a new style of
architecture, literature and art known as “Classicism”. It also changes
towards the economic order and social struture.
• The most important historical event occured in the west during the
era where French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, the American
dclaration of independence in 1776 and the American Revolution.
COMPOSERS OF
CLASSICAL PERIOD
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732 -
1809)
• one of the most prominent composers of the
Classical Period.
• His life is described as a “rags-to-riches” story.
• His music reflects his character and personality:
mainly calm, balanced, serious but with touches of
humor.
• was able to compose over 100 symphonies and
developed them into long forms for a large
orchestra.
• was named “Father of the Symphony”.
• Most of his symphonies have nicknames such as the
“Surprise Symphony”, “The Clock”, “The Military”.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 -
1791)
• is a child prodigy and the most amazing genius in
musical history.
• at age of 5, he was already playing the violin and the
hapsichord; at 6, he was recognized as an exeptional
pianist, and at 7, he was already composing excellent
music. At age 13, he had written sonatas, concertos,
symphonies, religious works, and operas and
operettas.
• He experimented in all kinds of music and composed
over 700 works.
• He composed wonderful concertos, symphonies and
operas such as “The Marriage of Figaro” (1786),
“Don Giovanni” (1789), and “The Magic Flute” which
became popular.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 -
1827)
• born in Bonn, Germany to a family of musicians and
studied music at an early age.
• the composer ho bridged the late Classical era and
the early Romantic era.
• his famous compositions include 32 piano sonatas,
21 set of variations, 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for
piano, 16 string quartets, and choral music.
• his works include the “Missa Solemnis” (1818-1823)
and opera “Fidelio” (1805).
• His known symphonies are: Symphony no. 3
(“Eroica”), no. 5, no. 6 (“Pastoral”), and no.
9(“Choral”) which adds voices to the orchestra.
VOCAL AND
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
SONATA
• A multi-movement work for solo instrument, Sonata
came from the word Sonare which means “to make a
sound.” This term is applied to a variety of works for a
solo instrument such as keyboard or violin.
• Below is an excerpt from the 3 movements of the
Sonata no. 16 in C Major K545 by W.A Mozart.
SONATA ALLEGRO FORM
• The most important form that developed during the
classical era consist of three distinct sections:
Exposition, Development and Recapitulation.

Example: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - by W. A. Mozart

CONCERTO
• A multi-movement work designed for an instrument
soloist and orchestra.
• It is a classical form of music intended primarily to
emphasize the individuality of the solo instrument and
to exhibit the virtousity and interpretative abilities of
the performer.
• solo instruments in classical concertos include violin,
cello, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, and piano.
• has three movements: fast, slow and fast.
3 MOVEMENTS
1st movement - Fast: sonata-allegro form with
expositions of the orchestra and then by the soloist.
2nd movement - Slow: has more ornamentation than
the first movement.
3rd movement - Fast: Finale: Usually in a form of rondo,
resembling the last movement of the symphony and
usually a short cadenza is used
SYMPHONY
• A multi-movement work for orchestra, the
symphony is derived from the world sinfonia
which literally means “a harmonious sounding
together.” it is a classical music for the whole
orchestra, generally in four movements.
4 MOVEMENTS
1st movement - Fast: sonata-allegro form
2nd movement - Slow: Gentle, Lyrical - typical ABA form
or theme and variation.
3rd movement - Medium/Fast: Uses a dance form
(Minuet or scherzo)
4th movement - Fast: Typically Rondo or Sonata form.
CLASSICAL OPERA
• Opera is a drama set to music where singers and musicians
perform in a theatrical setting.
• two distinct styles of opera, Opera Seria and Opera Buffa, were
developed during the Classical period.
• Opera Seria - (serious opera) usually implies heroic or tragic
drama that employs mythological characters which was
inherited from the Baroque period.
• Opera Buffa - (Comic Opera) from Italy made use of everyday
characters and situations, and typically employed spoken
dialogues, lengthy arias and was spiced with sight gags, naughty
humor and social satire.
ASSIGNMENT:

1. Listen to a Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical

period music.
2. Describe the musical piece.
3. In the chart provided, put a check in the box of
the corresponding characteristic element.