WEBVTT

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Prof: Today we begin a
slightly different portion of

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our course.

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We'll be talking about the
periods in the history of music

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beginning with the Middle Ages,
and I've pit--put--the names of

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those periods that we will be
covering in our course up here

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on the board.

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Obviously: Medieval,
Renaissance,

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Baroque, Classical,
Romantic, Impressionist,

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Modernism.

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We could even add to that
Post-Modernist now and probably

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throw into that Popular Music in
a general way.

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We're going to begin here with
Gregorian chant,

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talking about the traditional
music of the Roman Catholic

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Church.

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We will not be promoting in
here the values of the Roman

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Catholic Church any more than we
promoted the values of the

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Jewish religion when we listened
to klezmer music or the Islamic

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religion when we listened to the
Adhan or we will be promoting--

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we will not,
in fact, be promoting the

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Lutheran tradition when we deal
with Bach next time.

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This ain't religion in this
course;

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this is art.

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So with that understood,
let's begin with an

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introduction to medieval music
starting with Gregorian chant.

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What is Gregorian chant?

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Gregorian chant is the
monophonic, one-line music--

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monophonic, one-line music of
the Roman Catholic Church as it

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existed from the time of the
earliest church fathers up until

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the time of the Council of
Trent.

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The Council of Trent,
as you may know from your

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history courses,
was a conclave held in the

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northern Italian town of Trento,
Italy, from 1545 to 1563 at

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which time they tried to combat
the effects of the Protestant

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Reformation,
instituting reforms within the

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church,
purifying the existing church

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of Rome--
cleaning up the Catholic Church

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in effect.

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Among the things that got
purified were the art and the

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music.

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No more nudity was allowed in
art and any nudity that was

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already there in religious art
was painted over.

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Any sort of secular tombs were
taken out of the church.

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Snappy rhythms in church music
were proscribed.

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What music was sung henceforth
would be dictated by Rome.

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No more new chant was composed.

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So the composition of chant,
then, began all the way back

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slightly--shortly after the
death of Christ and continued

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into the sixteenth century.

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What we call Gregorian chant
really went on for a period of

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fifteen-hundred years.

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From this, it is obvious then,
that although it takes its name

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from Pope Gregory the First--
and you have his dates on the

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board over there,
Gregory the Great--Gregorian

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chant had almost nothing to do
with Gregory.

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Gregory was a church
administrator,

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a writer of sermons,
and an important theologian,

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but it's only an historical
accident that he is associated

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with this vast repertoire of
chant.

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Gregory had an influential
biographer, John the Deacon,

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who ascribed,
perhaps, more to Gregory than

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he actually accomplished.

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And, generally speaking,
in the Middle Ages there was

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this tendency to ascribe to a
single or a couple of male

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authority figures a lot more
than they actually did.

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The point here is that
Gregorian chant was being

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composed five hundred years
before Gregory set foot on this

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earth and nearly a thousand
years after that.

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What's the purpose of Gregorian
chant?

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What did it do?

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Well, it did two things.

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One, it communicated the
message of the church.

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It allowed for the transmission
of the word of God as they,

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the faithful,
understood the word and

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understood God.

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And it transmitted the
theology, the message,

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of the church.

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Chant, then,
was a medium for the

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broadcast--literally--the
broadcast of the word.

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In a resonant acoustical
environment such as a stone or

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stucco church,
one can project,

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one can impel a text better if
you sing it rather than just

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simply declaim it as usual.

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I could say for example,
"Now let us read the

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Epistle of the Blessed Apostle
Paul to the Romans,"

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but the text projects better if
I sing it >

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in that fashion.

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It goes out better and it can
reverberate better.

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Chant used for direct reading,
directly communicating a text,

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was generally syllabic chant.

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In syllabic chant each syllable
has just one note,

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and in syllabic chant the
musical range tends to be rather

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narrow.

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The second purpose of chant:
Chant also allowed for a period

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of reflection upon the subject
of the preceding reading.

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A sermon, or a passage,
of scripture would be followed

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by a reflective chant,
time for contemplation.

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This music for reflection upon
a preceding religious theme was

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generally melismatic.

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Now a melismatic chant is one
in which there are many notes

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for just one syllable of text,
and in melismatic chant,

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the range tends to be a lot
broader.

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It's more virtuosic.

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So simple chanting for
readings, that's syllabic chant.

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More complex chant for moments
of personal feeling and

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reflection, that's melismatic
chant.

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Let's take an example here.

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I have my venerable Liber
Usualis up here,

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and I'm going to sing the
Alleluia for Easter Sunday--at

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least I'm going to try to sing
it.

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And it's an example of a
melismatic chant and you'll

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notice one syllable here,
"ah"

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is conveyed by probably thirty
notes.

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>

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So that's a melismatic chant,
a moment of joyful celebration

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associated with the resurrection
of Christ.

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So that's what chant did,
and that's what it does today.

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It is firstly a medium for the
projection of sacred text and

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secondly a vehicle for spiritual
contemplation.

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Where was chant sung?

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Well, early on chant was sung
not so much in what we would

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call public churches but more in
sequestered--

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usually rural--monasteries,
religious communities

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segregated by gender--
what, specifically,

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we would call monasteries for
men and convents or nunneries

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for women.

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Remember Hamlet enjoining
Ophelia, "Get thee to a

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nunnery."

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The dominant monastic order for
both male and female in the

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Middle Ages was the Benedictine
Order founded by Benedict of

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Nursia near Rome about five
thirty Common Era,

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the dates and names spelled out
on the board.

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From Benedict,
the church received a code of

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conduct prescribing how monks
and nuns should live the ideal

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spiritual life while on this
earth.

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Here is that book.

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I once purchased this at the
Monastery of Saint John in

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Collegeville,
Minnesota, about sixty miles

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west of Minneapolis.

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So this is the Rule of Saint
Benedict.

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It told the clergy how to spend
the day.

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It applied equally to male and
female communities.

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The day was divided into
periods of work and periods of

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worship--praying,
singing, chanting,

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reading scripture.

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They worked so as to feed
themselves and they prayed so as

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to save their souls.

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They were not so much
interested in good works for the

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community.

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They'd sort of withdrawn from
the community,

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but in personal salvation,
saving their own souls,

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perhaps the souls of others as
well.

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The periods during which they
worshipped were called the

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canonical hours.

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The word "canon"
in Latin literally means

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"rule."

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A canon is a musical
composition that follows a

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strict rule.

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One voice has got to follow
another exactly in terms of

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rhythm and pitch from beginning
to end,

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but here we have something a
little bit different,

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canonical hours following the
rule,

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the canon, of Saint Benedict.

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The hours usually involved
praying and reading scripture

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and in singing.

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And they started early in the
morning about four o'clock in

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most houses at a canonical hour
called Matins.

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Next they would go on to
celebrate Lauds about daybreak,

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and so on around the hours,
ending with Vespers and

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Compline.

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And I might ask you here--we
actually have this service in

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the Yale community,
broadly speaking.

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It's not particularly
religiously oriented at all.

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Have any of you gone to the
Compline service at Christ

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Church across from the Yale
Bookstore?

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As I say, it's not particularly
denominational in any way.

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It's mostly in the dark.

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It's very reflective.

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Yes, Michael has.

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I see some other people have as
well.

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You might check that out Sunday
at ten o'clock in the evening.

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It's just a lovely time for
peace and quiet and reflection,

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and you can think about any god
that you wish in there and think

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about--
and perhaps work through any

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personal issues that you might
want to engage.

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As to the mass of the day--we
usually think of this as the

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principal service.

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That, strictly speaking,
was not a canonical hour.

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It was a special service that
happened, usually,

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at around nine o'clock,
celebrated at the high altar of

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the church.

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So that's what the clergy did
in the Middle Ages by way of

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worship: gathering at these
prescribed times to pray and to

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sing.

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And that's what the clergy
still does in Benedictine houses

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around the world.

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The most authentic of these
Benedictine houses is the one

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that you see on the screen here
at Solesmes,

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about one hundred fifteen miles
south of Paris.

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Some years back I had the
pleasure of living there for ten

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days to study Gregorian chant.

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When you arrive,
the abbot comes out to greet

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you.

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He's attended on either side by
two acolytes,

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and you go through a ceremony
of--in which he washes your

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hands.

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This washing of the hands was a
traditional--still is a

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traditional gesture by the
Benedictines of hospitality,

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and to some extent of humility.

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You, the visitor,
are assigned to a cell.

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Let's have the next slide,
Jacob, please.

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There we go.

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Okay, and I'll just signal
those.

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All right.

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So there we are with the next
slide.

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You are assigned a room.

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All right.

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Let's go back to this.

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You're assigned a room,
and this building has been

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worked over, but that's where,
actually, I stayed--in that

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building.

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In that room you have a light
bulb, you have a desk,

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you have a bed,
some fruit.

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You have no radio.

12:03.090 --> 12:05.500
You have no clock,
no television,

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and certainly no cell phone!

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How then do you get up to
attend the canonical hours

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because in order to be in this
monastery you are required to

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attend all of these canonical
hours?

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What is it that wakes you up
then, would you imagine?

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Hm?

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Student:
>

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Prof: Bells.

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Nice and loud,
please.

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Student: Bells.

12:25.950 --> 12:26.720
Prof: Okay.

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Thank you, Michael.

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Bells.

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Okay, the ringing of the bells.

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They begin to regulate your
existence, for each of these

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signal each of these canonical
hours.

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Indeed we get our word
"clock"

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from the medieval French word
"cloche,"

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"bell,"
and our word--

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the very word "hour"
comes from the Latin

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"ora,"
"to pray,"

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"orazio,"
or "prayer."

12:53.269 --> 12:57.419
So we have the sense of praying
at regular times,

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regular intervals around the
day.

13:00.450 --> 13:06.000
At Solesmes the bells call you
to the church to hear these

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canonical hours.

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They call you to the refectory
to consume your meals.

13:14.639 --> 13:18.139
And I submit that you really
haven't dined in this world

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until you sit down and break
dark brown bread with eighty

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hooded Benedictines speaking in
Latin.

13:24.370 --> 13:29.170
if, when they are not speaking,
they are tapping particular

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signals on the table.

13:31.080 --> 13:33.990
And suddenly everybody will
rise, suddenly everybody will

13:33.985 --> 13:36.875
bow,
and the visitor is sort of left

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perplexed as to what is
transpiring but that's what goes

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on.

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As I have said,
this rule of Saint Benedict

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formulated in the sixth century
prescribed this cycle of

13:48.327 --> 13:49.657
canonical hours.

13:49.658 --> 13:54.868
As the Middle Ages proceeded,
the cycle of hours was adopted

13:54.871 --> 13:59.471
at cathedral churches even
though the strict rule for

13:59.466 --> 14:01.936
communal living was not.

14:01.940 --> 14:06.430
The daily timetable of worship
was kept, but the idea of eating

14:06.433 --> 14:09.193
and sleeping together was
abandoned.

14:09.190 --> 14:12.800
Cathedrals were much more urban
in their location.

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They were not withdrawn.

14:14.019 --> 14:15.029
They were in cities.

14:15.028 --> 14:19.108
The clergy administered to the
spiritual and social needs of

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the community.

14:20.220 --> 14:23.580
The clergy was celibate,
de jure if not de

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facto.

14:24.370 --> 14:29.090
They lived in private homes,
not in a communal dormitory,

14:29.090 --> 14:33.810
in houses that were situated
all around the cathedral.

14:33.808 --> 14:37.298
Let's take a look at a typical
medieval cathedral,

14:37.297 --> 14:40.427
and for this I'm going to
choose Chartres.

14:40.429 --> 14:42.209
Now, it's not typical.

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It's the most beautiful.

14:43.820 --> 14:46.890
If you have one cathedral to go
to, I strongly--and I think I've

14:46.885 --> 14:49.605
been to all--I know that I've
been to all the big ones in

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France-- Romanesque .

14:50.830 --> 16:02.050


16:02.049 --> 16:04.169
What we saw before was gothic.

16:04.168 --> 16:10.988
So here we see a group of
clerics centering around Bishop

16:10.985 --> 16:14.755
Fulbertus there to the right.

16:14.759 --> 16:19.159
This illumination dates from
right around the year 1020.

16:19.158 --> 16:23.838
We'll return to Fulbertus and
hear one of his chants at the

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end of our hour,
but for the moment,

16:26.672 --> 16:30.632
let's pass on to the women on
the left there.

16:30.629 --> 16:32.959
Notice that they are out to the
side.

16:32.960 --> 16:34.030
They've been segregated.

16:34.029 --> 16:36.979
Indeed they are physically
marginalized.

16:36.980 --> 16:41.130
Women were to be silent in the
church according to the

16:41.130 --> 16:45.360
scriptural dictum of Saint Paul:
"Mulier taceat in

16:45.360 --> 16:46.850
ecclesia."

16:46.850 --> 16:50.540
But, as we have seen,
there was ample opportunity for

16:50.541 --> 16:53.881
spiritual contemplation and
creativity for women

16:53.876 --> 16:56.216
specifically in the convents.

16:56.220 --> 17:00.850
One spiritual leader within the
community of Benedictine

17:00.846 --> 17:03.786
convents was Hildegard of
Bingen.

17:03.788 --> 17:06.568
Hildegard lived in the twelfth
century.

17:06.568 --> 17:09.968
She came from the area of
Bingen on the West Bank of the

17:09.965 --> 17:11.505
Rhine River in Germany.

17:11.509 --> 17:14.349
She grew up in a Benedictine
convent.

17:14.348 --> 17:18.748
Here are the ruins of that
Benedictine convent.

17:18.750 --> 17:22.390
And then she went on ultimately
to found her own convent,

17:22.390 --> 17:24.200
and this is the--these are the
ruins--

17:24.200 --> 17:28.790
or a seventeenth-century
drawing of that convent which is

17:28.789 --> 17:30.429
now also in ruins.

17:30.430 --> 17:33.660
Hildegard was a polymath.

17:33.660 --> 17:35.010
She could do many things.

17:35.009 --> 17:37.419
She wrote on church
administration,

17:37.423 --> 17:41.333
on botany, on pharmacology,
on medicine and on music.

17:41.328 --> 17:45.528
Indeed because of this
diversity we can I think fairly

17:45.527 --> 17:49.087
say that the first
"Renaissance Man"

17:49.090 --> 17:52.180
in actuality was a medieval
woman,

17:52.180 --> 17:53.890
Hildegard of Bingen.

17:53.890 --> 17:57.040
Popes and bishops sought her
advice--in part,

17:57.035 --> 17:59.175
because she was a visionary.

17:59.180 --> 18:02.330
She had visions associated with
the Christian story.

18:02.328 --> 18:06.348
Hildegard also wrote Gregorian
chants.

18:06.348 --> 18:08.298
So let's look at some slides of
Hildegard.

18:08.299 --> 18:09.719
She was famous in her day.

18:09.720 --> 18:13.740
Here we have a manuscript put
together in northern Italy about

18:13.740 --> 18:17.300
twenty years after her death
with the representation of

18:17.298 --> 18:19.868
Hildegard up there on the top
left.

18:19.868 --> 18:23.908
The next slide takes us to a
blowup of this and we see the

18:23.910 --> 18:27.880
representation of Hildegard
having a celestial vision.

18:27.880 --> 18:31.350
That's why the wavy lines going
up from her head.

18:31.349 --> 18:33.159
She's receiving the Holy Spirit.

18:33.160 --> 18:38.980
She is copying down what she
perceives--not on a notebook

18:38.981 --> 18:45.321
computer, but on a wax tablet
with a large stylus in her right

18:45.324 --> 18:46.264
hand.

18:46.259 --> 18:50.189
Her assistant--the one male
allowed in this community for

18:50.192 --> 18:53.492
the sacraments--her assistant,
Volmar, peeks in,

18:53.491 --> 18:56.021
astonished at what he is
seeing.

18:56.019 --> 18:58.779
Another illustration of this
same sort,

18:58.779 --> 19:02.459
the phantasmagorical Trinity
here with God the Father,

19:02.460 --> 19:06.690
Christ the Warrior slaying the
devil that is now trampled under

19:06.690 --> 19:10.620
his feet down below--
Hildegard is seeing all this as

19:10.615 --> 19:13.345
we see from this illumination
here.

19:13.348 --> 19:16.618
And a blowup of that again
shows us the wavy lines,

19:16.621 --> 19:20.811
the descent of the Holy Spirit,
the writing on the wax tablet.

19:20.808 --> 19:26.098
This time her assistant,
her favored assistant,

19:26.096 --> 19:31.956
Ricarda, looks in again on this
particular scene.

19:31.960 --> 19:36.270
Hildegard's music is
distinctive, and the texts that

19:36.266 --> 19:40.906
she created for this music are
even more remarkable,

19:40.910 --> 19:43.130
more than any religious poet
that I know--

19:43.130 --> 19:44.850
and I have studied this to some
degree--

19:44.848 --> 19:47.888
religious poet of the Middle
Ages that I know.

19:47.890 --> 19:51.620
Her texts are the most
startling, her imagery the most

19:51.618 --> 19:55.348
vivid, the most graphic,
indeed the most beautiful.

19:55.348 --> 19:58.918
She talks of a saint in terms
of the "sweat of his

19:58.917 --> 20:02.217
goodness shining like a balm on
his forehead,"

20:02.222 --> 20:06.192
of the odor of the sanctity of
the Virgin Mary being "as

20:06.188 --> 20:09.888
sweet as the scent of
honeysuckle and lilac."

20:09.890 --> 20:13.170
Hildegard sees the blood of
Christ "streaming in the

20:13.172 --> 20:14.112
heavens."

20:14.108 --> 20:18.878
In her own musical creation,
with regard to them,

20:18.883 --> 20:24.553
she styles herself simply a
breath--a "feather on the

20:24.553 --> 20:26.943
breath of God."

20:26.940 --> 20:30.460
What an interesting metaphor
but very appropriate for this

20:30.463 --> 20:32.013
very modest individual.

20:32.009 --> 20:34.849
She was but a "feather on
the breath of God"

20:34.848 --> 20:37.258
with regard to her own personal
creations,

20:37.259 --> 20:40.899
carrying out--going wherever
God would send her.

20:40.900 --> 20:43.120
And you have on your CDs for
our course--

20:43.118 --> 20:46.488
it's actually CD one,
track two--Hildegard's "O

20:46.490 --> 20:50.060
Greenest Branch,"
and when you listen to this--

20:50.058 --> 20:52.348
it's actually the basis of a
Listening Exercise that we will

20:52.351 --> 20:54.111
get to--
when you listen to this,

20:54.105 --> 20:57.625
you might be interested to know
that this was recorded right in

20:57.634 --> 20:59.974
the base of Harkness Tower over
there.

20:59.970 --> 21:01.830
It was recorded in Branford
Chapel.

21:01.828 --> 21:04.768
And, although when you read the
liner notes,

21:04.769 --> 21:08.369
it will say the Hildegard
Singers, the Hildegard Singers

21:08.365 --> 21:11.305
were simply some female graduate
students,

21:11.308 --> 21:13.798
ladies that were here
interested in singing early

21:13.795 --> 21:16.065
music that--
for that particular recording

21:16.068 --> 21:18.778
became what I labeled them,
the Hildegard Singers.

21:18.778 --> 21:22.218
So that recording was done over
at Branford Chapel,

21:22.221 --> 21:26.491
but let's listen to another one
from a group of four women from

21:26.490 --> 21:27.730
New York City.

21:27.730 --> 21:29.170
They're called Anonymous Four.

21:29.170 --> 21:30.880
They put out wonderful
recordings.

21:30.880 --> 21:34.280
And it's a good example of
melismatic chant,

21:34.279 --> 21:36.729
again by Hildegard of Bingen.

21:36.730 --> 21:39.390
Now you have the text up on the
board here.

21:39.390 --> 21:41.380
I don't know if we can read it
but I'll read it off to you,

21:41.380 --> 21:45.060
"O rubor sanguinis,"
"O redness of blood,"

21:45.055 --> 21:47.455
"qui de excelso illo
fluxisti,"

21:47.463 --> 21:49.753
"that flow down from
heaven,"

21:49.753 --> 21:51.803
"quod divinitas
tetegit,"

21:51.801 --> 21:53.851
"which divinity
touched,"

21:53.849 --> 21:57.159
"Tu flos est,"
"You are the flower,"

21:57.163 --> 21:59.633
"quod hyems de flatu
serpentis,"

21:59.634 --> 22:03.434
which is "the wintry
breath of the servant--

22:03.430 --> 22:05.660
serpent,"
in other words the devil,

22:05.660 --> 22:09.460
"numquam lesit,"
"will never wound."

22:09.460 --> 22:11.290
So that's the text.

22:11.288 --> 22:15.128
Now let's listen to the music
of Hildegard of Bingen.

22:15.130 --> 23:53.320
>

23:53.318 --> 23:57.318
So what can we say about chant
by way of conclusion?

23:57.318 --> 23:58.998
First of all,
of course, it is monophonic.

23:59.000 --> 24:01.650
We hear only one line there,
monophonic texture.

24:01.650 --> 24:02.980
Chant is monophonic.

24:02.980 --> 24:05.420
Chant is also unaccompanied,
as you heard.

24:05.420 --> 24:09.560
Chant has no meter,
no rhythm to it--no regular

24:09.558 --> 24:11.178
rhythm at least.

24:11.180 --> 24:15.070
It seems to flow as Hildegard
says, "like a feather on

24:15.074 --> 24:16.824
the breath of God."

24:16.818 --> 24:20.708
Now chant is enjoying something
of a rebirth at the moment,

24:20.710 --> 24:24.280
something of a resurgence of
interest ever since the

24:24.278 --> 24:29.098
appearance in nineteen six--
nineteen ninety-six of this CD

24:29.103 --> 24:32.103
simply called "Chant."

24:32.098 --> 24:35.368
It went platinum in its first
year, selling over a million

24:35.368 --> 24:38.178
copies, outselling the Beatles
even for a time.

24:38.180 --> 24:41.720
And it was succeeded by other
chant CDs, all produced,

24:41.720 --> 24:44.460
appropriately enough,
by Angel Records.

24:44.460 --> 24:47.870
We had "Chant II,"
"Chant III,"

24:47.866 --> 24:51.476
"Beyond Chant,"
"Son of Chant."

24:51.480 --> 24:54.350
There were Hildegard knockoffs.

24:54.348 --> 25:00.518
We had "Mad About
Monks."

25:00.519 --> 25:06.269
And if we had the original
Chant CD issued by the

25:06.268 --> 25:10.818
Benedictine Monks of Santo
Domingo,

25:10.818 --> 25:15.928
Spain, so, of course,
we have a knockoff now,

25:15.930 --> 25:19.110
by the Benzedrine Monks of
Santa Monica,

25:19.108 --> 25:20.168
California.

25:20.170 --> 25:20.680
Okay.

25:20.676 --> 25:25.946
Let's go on to the next slide,
which should be blank,

25:25.950 --> 25:30.820
and I don't know what I did
with it but just last

25:30.817 --> 25:33.147
month--here it is.

25:33.150 --> 25:36.260
I don't have a good picture,
but just last month I went on

25:36.259 --> 25:36.969
CNN online.

25:36.970 --> 25:38.850
You know, you can see the
headlines there.

25:38.848 --> 25:40.768
There was a headline:
"Move Over,

25:40.769 --> 25:41.599
Madonna."

25:41.598 --> 25:43.748
I think this was the other
Madonna.

25:43.750 --> 25:45.170
"Move over, Madonna.

25:45.170 --> 25:49.090
A CD of Gregorian chant by a
group of Cistercian is a

25:49.089 --> 25:53.839
surprise cross-over bestseller
reaching the pop charts."

25:53.838 --> 25:58.948
And you can actually buy this,
as I did, on Amazon or wherever

25:58.950 --> 26:00.710
you want to buy it.

26:00.710 --> 26:02.260
Why all this interest in chant?

26:02.259 --> 26:05.789
Because it has much in common
with so-called "New

26:05.789 --> 26:06.989
Age" music.

26:06.990 --> 26:10.510
Chant is non-confrontational,
non-assertive.

26:10.509 --> 26:13.479
It is somewhat laid back,
if you will,

26:13.483 --> 26:17.743
as the mind and the spirit are
allowed to contemplate,

26:17.743 --> 26:20.963
to form a divine communion,
perhaps.

26:20.960 --> 26:24.350
Chant is the very opposite of
the music of Beethoven.

26:24.348 --> 26:27.658
Beethoven tries to convince you
to feel a particular way about

26:27.661 --> 26:29.131
every moment,
every measure,

26:29.126 --> 26:30.046
in his music.

26:30.048 --> 26:33.518
It is very much rhetorical
music.

26:33.519 --> 26:38.709
Chant, on the other hand,
you can take on your own terms.

26:38.710 --> 26:41.180
It is non-authoritarian.

26:41.180 --> 26:44.950
It is non-assertive,
non-aggressive.

26:44.950 --> 26:46.850
It floats unfettered.

26:46.848 --> 26:50.348
And many of these same
characteristics are found in

26:50.346 --> 26:53.416
"New Age"
music--hence the newfound

26:53.422 --> 26:55.732
popularity of medieval chant.

26:55.730 --> 26:59.840
Now let's turn our attention
away from chant,

26:59.838 --> 27:04.158
away form monophonic music to
early polyphony,

27:04.160 --> 27:07.150
multi-voice music,
music of the church of the

27:07.150 --> 27:09.890
Middle Ages,
the polyphonic music.

27:09.890 --> 27:15.200
Early polyphonic music for the
church was called organum.

27:15.200 --> 27:19.600
It was first created in the
great urban gothic cathedrals of

27:19.595 --> 27:22.515
France,
most particularly at Notre-Dame

27:22.523 --> 27:24.813
of Paris,
so let's visit here our

27:28.894 --> 27:32.854
of the famous laterally-added
flying buttresses around to the

27:32.845 --> 27:35.345
south side there,
the southeast side.

27:35.348 --> 27:41.608
It is likely not coincidental
that the high walls of this new

27:41.607 --> 27:45.257
gothic style were being
created--

27:45.259 --> 27:51.149
these courses of stone laid one
on top of the other--

27:51.150 --> 27:54.720
at precisely the same time,
around twelve hundred,

27:54.720 --> 27:58.760
that verticality was being
introduced to music.

27:58.759 --> 28:02.319
What I mean is that all
cathedral organum was built

28:02.319 --> 28:06.159
upward above a pre-existing
chant, above a pre-existing

28:06.164 --> 28:07.594
Gregorian chant.

28:07.588 --> 28:11.548
The composer took the chant and
placed it in the bottom voice

28:11.548 --> 28:14.978
and then added other voices up
on top of it to form a

28:14.980 --> 28:16.830
counterpoint against it.

28:16.828 --> 28:20.168
It was the job of the tenor to
take the chant and to hold it

28:20.167 --> 28:21.297
out in long notes.

28:21.298 --> 28:25.528
That's why the tenor is called
what it is.

28:25.528 --> 28:29.358
Originally, it comes from the
word Latin "teneo,"

28:29.357 --> 28:31.867
"I hold"
or "tenir"

28:31.866 --> 28:34.276
in modern French,
"to hold,"

28:34.280 --> 28:35.340
the infinitive there.

28:35.338 --> 28:37.188
So that we have this idea of
one voice,

28:37.190 --> 28:39.620
the chant, holding on in the
long notes underneath--

28:39.618 --> 28:42.368
was kind of the basis of the
music,

28:42.368 --> 28:46.368
and then up above the composer
would create new polyphony.

28:46.368 --> 28:52.578
What you see on the screen is
an example of this medieval

28:52.579 --> 28:53.689
organum.

28:53.690 --> 28:58.630
You can see we have four lines
in each brace,

28:58.632 --> 28:59.982
in effect.

28:59.980 --> 29:03.340
The one with "Vi"
has just one pitch.

29:03.338 --> 29:05.248
You can see the big
illumination there,

29:05.250 --> 29:08.070
"V,"
and then the pitch F out to the

29:08.068 --> 29:10.328
right of it,
and it just sits there because

29:10.330 --> 29:12.270
it just holds out the
>

29:12.269 --> 29:14.569
"Vi"
as the music goes on for many,

29:14.567 --> 29:17.017
many, many, many,
many, many seconds and finally

29:17.022 --> 29:18.592
goes >

29:18.588 --> 29:20.028
"de,"
holds that out,

29:20.028 --> 29:22.908
and then finally down to the
bottom, >

29:22.910 --> 29:25.740
"runt,"
as all of this other polyphony

29:25.743 --> 29:26.893
goes on up above.

29:26.890 --> 29:31.020
Let's listen to an example of
some of this medieval sound.

29:31.019 --> 30:46.079
>

30:46.078 --> 30:46.828
All right.

30:46.825 --> 30:48.685
And we'll stop it there.

30:48.690 --> 30:51.600
So it's very different,
but it's very complex at the

30:51.604 --> 30:52.294
same time.

30:52.288 --> 30:55.028
Again, a good example of
medieval organum,

30:55.027 --> 30:56.427
medieval polyphony.

30:56.430 --> 31:00.220
But let's turn our attention
now away from the music of the

31:00.221 --> 31:03.621
Middle Ages in Paris to the
Renaissance and Rome--and

31:03.619 --> 31:06.169
specifically to the Sistine
Chapel.

31:06.170 --> 31:10.940
The Sistine Chapel was the most
famous of all churches in the

31:10.942 --> 31:14.442
late fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries,

31:14.443 --> 31:16.993
the core of the Renaissance.

31:16.990 --> 31:17.280
Why?

31:17.279 --> 31:21.129
Because it was the private
chapel of the pope--not St.

31:21.132 --> 31:23.532
Peter's, interestingly enough.

31:23.528 --> 31:25.618
This is a shot of modern-day
St.

31:25.615 --> 31:26.285
Peter's.

31:26.289 --> 31:27.679
Let's go--there we go.

31:27.680 --> 31:31.000
But this was,
during the Renaissance,

31:31.000 --> 31:35.800
only beginning to be
constructed following the design

31:35.795 --> 31:37.635
of who--of whom?

31:37.640 --> 31:40.340
Which famous painter?

31:40.339 --> 31:41.849
Michelangelo.

31:41.848 --> 31:45.568
Yeah, Michelangelo was involved
in the design of St.

31:45.567 --> 31:49.577
Peter's, but this was not in
existence at the time we're

31:49.575 --> 31:53.285
under--discussing here,
big as--and impressive as it

31:53.291 --> 31:54.241
may be.

31:54.240 --> 31:58.380
So where the pope was actually
worshipping for the most part in

31:58.383 --> 32:00.123
this period was not in St.

32:00.119 --> 32:03.189
Peter's, but next door,
in effect, over in this

32:03.193 --> 32:05.603
building in the Sistine Chapel.

32:05.598 --> 32:08.838
And here, of course,
because it was his own place of

32:08.839 --> 32:10.899
worship,
he could command the very

32:10.898 --> 32:13.508
best--the best materials and the
best artists,

32:13.509 --> 32:14.969
the best musicians.

32:14.970 --> 32:20.960
Construction on the Sistine
Chapel began in 1477 during the

32:20.958 --> 32:26.528
reign of Pope Sixtus IV,
hence the name Sistine Chapel,

32:26.534 --> 32:28.604
Sixtus, Sistine.

32:28.598 --> 32:31.718
Obviously, you get the
etymological connection there.

32:31.720 --> 32:35.990
It's one hundred thirty-two
feet long and forty-five feet

32:35.986 --> 32:36.516
wide.

32:36.519 --> 32:39.139
The ceiling,
the famous ceiling of

32:39.138 --> 32:42.788
Michelangelo,
is seventy feet off the floor.

32:42.788 --> 32:45.988
Michelangelo painted,
as you know,

32:45.994 --> 32:50.564
scenes from the Bible,
both the creation and the

32:50.559 --> 32:51.919
expulsion.

32:51.920 --> 32:59.090
He also painted scenes of the
sibyl prophets as written about

32:59.086 --> 33:03.026
by Virgil in the Aeneid.

33:03.028 --> 33:07.598
The side walls are covered with
frescoes of Botticelli,

33:07.598 --> 33:09.628
Perugino, and Raphael.

33:09.630 --> 33:12.250
Here is one by Raphael.

33:12.250 --> 33:17.470
At the east end where the high
altar was situated there is the

33:17.469 --> 33:22.089
famous Last Judgment scene by
Michelangelo himself,

33:22.088 --> 33:24.938
painted somewhat later in the
1530s.

33:24.940 --> 33:27.830
Just as the pope hired the best
painters,

33:27.828 --> 33:30.738
so he engaged the finest
musicians--

33:30.740 --> 33:35.660
the incomparable Josquin des
Prez, who will be the focus of

33:35.660 --> 33:40.530
your Listening Exercise sixteen,
and Giovanni Pierluigi da

33:40.528 --> 33:41.438
Palestrina.

33:41.440 --> 33:44.660
You've probably may heard the
name Palestrina,

33:44.664 --> 33:47.394
a prototypical Renaissance
composer.

33:47.390 --> 33:52.820
They composed and they sang
both chant and polyphony.

33:52.818 --> 33:55.618
They were members of the Papal
Chapel,

33:55.618 --> 33:59.198
so a chapel in this period,
and even today,

33:59.200 --> 34:02.980
can mean two things:
One, the physical building--

34:02.980 --> 34:06.780
let's have another slide--the
physical building,

34:06.779 --> 34:08.479
so that's one kind of chapel.

34:08.480 --> 34:13.390
And two, the musical ensemble,
the choir that performs in this

34:13.393 --> 34:18.433
building,
and the actual Papal Chapel--as

34:18.432 --> 34:22.992
you can see here,
there is a loggia that

34:22.985 --> 34:27.515
sticks out and this is where the
singers such as Josquin des Prez

34:27.523 --> 34:31.573
and Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina would stand when they

34:31.565 --> 34:33.405
sang before the pope.

34:33.409 --> 34:38.519
Now because this Papal Chapel
here sang without any

34:38.521 --> 34:42.921
accompaniment of instruments
whatsoever,

34:42.920 --> 34:45.410
even the organ,
that style of singing came to

34:45.407 --> 34:48.547
be called a cappella,
literally a cappella

34:48.545 --> 34:51.275
Sistina,
so unaccompanied singing means

34:51.284 --> 34:52.614
without instruments.

34:52.610 --> 34:56.230
If you are in an a capella
singing group here at Yale,

34:56.226 --> 35:00.046
you are a descendant of this
tradition of singing without

35:00.047 --> 35:02.637
instruments in the Sistine
Chapel.

35:02.639 --> 35:04.069
That's what a cappella
means,

35:04.070 --> 35:08.330
"in the chapel,"
but literally in Pope Sixtus's

35:08.329 --> 35:10.779
chapel here,
singing without instruments.

35:10.780 --> 35:15.230
In this case the Papal Chapel
performed in the Papal Chapel

35:15.228 --> 35:17.058
standing in,
as mentioned,

35:17.056 --> 35:20.286
the loggia that you see
there on the lower right side of

35:20.288 --> 35:21.068
your screen.

35:21.070 --> 35:24.270
Who were the members of the
Papal Chapel?

35:24.268 --> 35:27.418
Well, they were all male
clerics.

35:27.420 --> 35:30.340
We've said that chant was
segregated by gender.

35:30.340 --> 35:34.020
There were also all-female
ensembles in this period,

35:34.018 --> 35:36.038
but they were in convents.

35:36.039 --> 35:39.829
But in monasteries,
cathedrals, and here in the

35:39.829 --> 35:42.049
Papal Chapel,
then as today,

35:42.052 --> 35:44.692
the ensembles were all-male.

35:44.690 --> 35:49.640
But if they were all male,
who then sang the soprano when

35:49.641 --> 35:51.941
polyphony was performed?

35:51.940 --> 35:56.490
Well, at various times this was
done in one of three ways.

35:56.489 --> 36:02.109
Males could sing in head voice,
which is called falsetto.

36:02.110 --> 36:05.580
Any of the gentlemen in here
ever tried to sing falsetto?

36:05.579 --> 36:19.789
>

36:19.789 --> 36:21.479
It sounds pretty awful. Right?

36:21.480 --> 36:24.580
Okay, but if I practiced that
it ain't bad.

36:24.579 --> 36:27.439
I never practice it,
but if I practiced that--

36:27.440 --> 36:30.440
and you can practice that just
like you can any other voice,

36:30.440 --> 36:33.220
and it begins to sound better
and better and it can function

36:33.224 --> 36:34.174
as a soprano line.

36:34.170 --> 36:36.030
So that was option one.

36:36.030 --> 36:41.110
Option two was to have
choirboys sing this upper part

36:41.114 --> 36:43.954
and,
as this illustration shows,

36:43.949 --> 36:48.409
this in many ways was a popular
medium of performance,

36:48.409 --> 36:51.369
the old men and the young
choirboys.

36:51.369 --> 36:55.359
But a third possibility that
came to be used in the Sistine

36:55.364 --> 36:58.954
Chapel during the sixteenth
century was to assign the

36:58.945 --> 37:03.305
soprano line to a castrato,
a male who had shown a

37:03.306 --> 37:09.576
promising singing voice as a boy
and had therefore been subjected

37:09.579 --> 37:15.459
to the process of castration to
maintain this high voice.

37:15.460 --> 37:19.150
Now, there was some economic
advantage to the castrato

37:19.153 --> 37:22.853
because one castrato could make
as much noise as three

37:22.849 --> 37:25.219
falsettists or four choirboys.

37:25.219 --> 37:29.609
The castrato had a high voice
but a very big body.

37:29.610 --> 37:33.600
Now it has always seemed
profoundly ironic to me that the

37:33.599 --> 37:37.879
one institution most fervently
in favor of castration of boys

37:37.876 --> 37:42.636
to produce this high,
powerful voice was the papacy,

37:42.641 --> 37:45.751
but that is an historical fact.

37:45.750 --> 37:50.900
Indeed the popes continued to
engage and support castrati into

37:50.898 --> 37:53.428
the early twentieth century.

37:53.429 --> 37:57.169
We, in fact,
have a recording made in 1905

37:57.166 --> 38:01.536
of the last castrato to sing in
the Papal Chapel,

38:01.541 --> 38:03.731
Alessandro Moreschi.

38:03.730 --> 38:05.450
His name is on the board.

38:05.449 --> 38:09.269
I will now play a CD of this
voice.

38:09.268 --> 38:13.998
It will sound very unpleasant
for two reasons.

38:14.000 --> 38:18.340
One, the recording was made in
1905 so it's very old,

38:18.335 --> 38:23.085
and it has all the surface
noise that those old recordings

38:23.088 --> 38:23.838
have.

38:23.840 --> 38:27.370
And two, Moreschi himself was
very old.

38:27.369 --> 38:30.129
He was about seventy when this
recording was made,

38:30.128 --> 38:33.228
and who has a good voice,
male or female--who has a good

38:33.226 --> 38:35.026
voice when they are seventy?

38:35.030 --> 38:38.780
So it doesn't present the
castrato at its best,

38:38.780 --> 38:42.650
but at least it will give you
an idea of the sound of this

38:42.652 --> 38:46.732
lost voice so we're going to
listen to a bit of castrato,

38:46.730 --> 38:50.870
Alessandro Moreschi singing the
Bach/Gounod "Ave

38:50.865 --> 38:51.975
Maria."

38:51.980 --> 39:54.410
>

39:54.409 --> 39:54.719
Okay.

39:54.721 --> 39:58.451
Let's turn from that very old
recording to a modern recording

39:58.454 --> 39:58.894
now.

39:58.889 --> 40:02.899
It's a recording of a piece by
Palestrina written around 1590

40:02.902 --> 40:04.912
for the Sistine Chapel here.

40:04.909 --> 40:09.059
It is a Sanctus from a mass.

40:09.059 --> 40:11.919
And for the parts of the
mass--the Kyrie,

40:11.923 --> 40:16.153
the Gloria, etc.--see page
eighty-three of your textbook.

40:16.150 --> 40:18.860
So it's a Sanctus of the mass.

40:18.860 --> 40:22.460
And just as we have the Hebrew
prophet Isaiah--

40:22.460 --> 40:25.570
and I think we can bring that
up now with the next slide--

40:25.570 --> 40:29.390
on the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel painted by Michelangelo--

40:29.389 --> 40:34.039
so we have the voice of Isaiah
in this mass and in this music

40:34.038 --> 40:37.058
for it is from Isaiah that the
text,

40:37.059 --> 40:38.899
"Sanctus,
sanctus, sanctus,

40:38.900 --> 40:42.260
Domine Deus Sabaoth"
comes,

40:42.260 --> 40:45.170
"Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty."

40:45.170 --> 40:49.100
Now this piece by Palestrina,
and I hope you--everybody got

40:49.099 --> 40:50.319
the sheet there?

40:50.320 --> 40:51.630
We've got the sheet of music.

40:51.630 --> 40:55.720
You can--there's enough light,
I think, generally to see what

40:55.719 --> 40:56.879
you have there.

40:56.880 --> 41:02.260
It is written in four-voice
polyphony, but the aesthetic

41:02.259 --> 41:07.929
impact of this polyphony is
pretty much the same as that of

41:07.931 --> 41:08.911
chant.

41:08.909 --> 41:12.969
Instead of one line of chant,
now we have four independent

41:12.972 --> 41:15.112
lines, so we have polyphony.

41:15.110 --> 41:17.760
Palestrina has taken a piece of
chant,

41:17.760 --> 41:20.990
slightly--indeed what it was an
old hymn,

41:20.989 --> 41:24.839
a monophonic hymn--slightly
animated the line through the

41:24.844 --> 41:27.464
addition of simple rhythmic
values,

41:27.460 --> 41:32.720
and placed it in four voices so
as to amplify the sense.

41:32.719 --> 41:36.689
Four voices could do more to
amplify the sense of the chant.

41:36.690 --> 41:40.110
Indeed this Sanctus has the
same relaxed,

41:40.110 --> 41:42.150
non-aggressive,
unassertive,

41:42.148 --> 41:45.468
yet very beautiful style of
chant itself,

41:45.469 --> 41:50.799
even though there are now four
individual parts instead of one.

41:50.800 --> 41:52.910
We've got polyphony instead of
monophony.

41:52.909 --> 41:54.509
So you've got the music there.

41:54.510 --> 41:58.410
Palestrina is overlaying,
sewing together here,

41:58.413 --> 42:03.423
four short chant-like phrases,
and I've numbered them on the

42:03.418 --> 42:05.708
sheet one through four.

42:05.710 --> 42:10.390
Each of these phrases comes in,
in turn in each voice,

42:10.391 --> 42:13.931
each voice imitating the
preceding voice,

42:13.925 --> 42:17.455
so we've got imitative
counterpoint.

42:17.460 --> 42:23.240
These passages of counterpoint
are called points of imitation.

42:23.239 --> 42:26.399
This is what we get a lot of in
Renaissance music.

42:26.400 --> 42:28.810
So we have four points of
imitation.

42:28.809 --> 42:32.019
In point of fact,
it's--they sort of look like

42:32.021 --> 42:34.951
four very short expositions in a
fugue.

42:34.949 --> 42:38.429
But in this Sanctus,
in this imitative Sanctus of

42:38.432 --> 42:40.592
Palestrina,
each exposition,

42:40.592 --> 42:43.452
each of these four little
expositions,

42:43.449 --> 42:47.229
has its own subject,
its own theme here rather than

42:47.233 --> 42:49.733
one dominating the whole fugue.

42:49.730 --> 42:50.500
Okay.

42:50.500 --> 42:55.230
So here are the
>.

42:55.231 --> 43:00.351
This is number one,
>

43:00.347 --> 43:05.717
, and then number-- point
number two begins

43:05.719 --> 43:09.299
>.

43:09.300 --> 43:15.160
Number three across the page
>

43:15.159 --> 43:25.939
and then finally
>

43:25.940 --> 43:27.890
in that fashion.

43:27.889 --> 43:30.279
So as we listen to this
recording now,

43:30.278 --> 43:32.408
I have a question for you here.

43:32.409 --> 43:35.269
Who is singing the soprano part?

43:35.269 --> 43:37.399
Are these women singing this?

43:37.400 --> 43:39.030
Are these choirboys singing
this?

43:39.030 --> 43:40.580
Are these falsettists singing
this?

43:40.579 --> 43:42.759
Are these castrati singing this?

43:42.760 --> 43:43.650
Let's listen.

43:43.650 --> 45:47.490
>

45:47.489 --> 45:52.059
So that imitative style,
relaxed, in terms of its

45:52.063 --> 45:56.693
expressive content,
is very much the essence of the

45:56.690 --> 46:01.020
a cappella style of
Renaissance vocal music,

46:01.018 --> 46:04.358
and who was singing the soprano
part there,

46:04.360 --> 46:05.460
of our four options?

46:05.460 --> 46:06.720
Any thoughts about that?

46:06.719 --> 46:10.789
Elizabeth, I can--
Student: Falsettos?

46:10.789 --> 46:11.929
Prof: Falsettists, yeah.

46:11.929 --> 46:15.809
That was a male falsettist
voice singing it--not women,

46:15.811 --> 46:17.821
not choirboys,
and of course,

46:17.824 --> 46:21.714
castrati are no longer an
option, so it was falsettists

46:21.706 --> 46:22.566
there.

46:22.570 --> 46:22.910
Yeah.

46:22.905 --> 46:26.335
I'd like to end with one final
thing and that is--

46:26.340 --> 46:29.950
enjoying myself today,
indulging myself,

46:29.949 --> 46:31.719
dressing up,
getting ready for Halloween--

46:31.719 --> 46:36.359
but the point of this,
in a way, is to try to give you

46:36.362 --> 46:41.002
a sense of what this music,
and it's a very esoteric kind

46:40.998 --> 46:42.618
of music,
is about--but really,

46:42.621 --> 46:44.881
to do it in a classroom we
would have to take this whole

46:44.876 --> 46:47.216
class and have to go to the
Cathedral of Chartres and we'd

46:47.215 --> 46:49.795
have to sit there and we have to
be in front of a statue,

46:49.800 --> 46:51.220
look at the beauty of that
statue.

46:51.219 --> 46:53.149
We'd have to look at the
architecture all around us.

46:53.150 --> 46:54.830
We'd have to look at the
beautiful copes on the back of

46:54.826 --> 46:55.226
the clergy.

46:55.230 --> 46:59.570
We would have to see the
beautiful stained glass.

46:59.570 --> 47:02.710
We would have to smell the
incense that is lighted.

47:02.710 --> 47:04.950
I thought about doing that but
the fire marshal would probably

47:04.954 --> 47:05.584
shut this down.

47:05.579 --> 47:08.819
And what we can try to do
here--I think I have about a

47:08.822 --> 47:11.122
minute left--
is go back to the Cathedral of

47:11.121 --> 47:13.821
Chartres,
so let's--we have a slide here

47:13.815 --> 47:16.775
and it's a slide,
once again, of Bishop Fulbertus.

47:16.780 --> 47:20.800
He is the composer of the music
that you are about to hear,

47:20.802 --> 47:24.202
and again it's sung by a female
group, however.

47:24.199 --> 47:27.109
And as this music plays just
sit back and relax,

47:27.105 --> 47:30.195
pretend you area having a
transcendental experience

47:30.195 --> 47:30.995
yourself.

47:31.000 --> 47:34.580
Sit back, relax,
and look at some of this

47:34.583 --> 47:39.513
glorious stained glass and
architecture that has been in

47:39.510 --> 47:43.990
this cathedral since the late
twelfth century.

47:43.989 --> 49:18.029
>

49:18.030 --> 49:20.330
So that's all for today.

49:20.329 --> 49:21.779
Ite--ite in pacem.

49:21.780 --> 49:22.860
Pax vobiscum.

49:22.860 --> 49:25.390
Congregatio missa est.

49:25.389 --> 49:29.789
I'll turn on the lights so we
don't kill ourselves .

49:29.789 --> 49:56.159
>

49:56.159 --> 50:05.999