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The fall of the roman empire leads to the start of the Medival era.
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At this point, music was only fit into two categories: divine, meaning the music either came from God or was used to praise him, and cosmic, meaning the music was actively being created in the movements of the stars and planets. Music and poetry are also treated as one.
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Plainchant was an extremely popular type of music during the Medival era, which consisted of monophonic sacred song, unaccompanied and limited range, with free rhythm and using the 8 church modes.
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During the Medival era, music was written in notes called nuemes, and texts were written in syllabic, melismatic, and newmatic declamations. Guido d'Arezzo is credited with "inventing" the staff. All music was written by hand by either the composers themselves or by a transcriber.
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Organum, a form of polyphony, is described as plainchant "melody" with an added melody, which resulted in a musically sung piece of parallel 4ths and 5ths. 3rds were considered dissonant and should not be used.
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Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179) was a prolific Medival composer and founder of the convent at Rupertsberg, Germany. She was famous for her prophetic powers and revelations and often wrote liturgical dramas and relgiious poetry. First known female composer to recieve extensive scholary research by contemporary musicologists.
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Leonin (1150 - 1201) was the first composer of polyphonic music whose name we know. He was a cantor at the Cathedral of Notre Dame and believed to have studied with Leonin. He is credited with compiling the Magnus liber organi (Big book of organums).
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Philippe de Virty (1291 - 1361) was a French composer, music theorist and poet. He was an accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, and may also have been the author of the Ars Nova treatise.
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The Ars Nova (1300 - 1350), which translates to new art, was a period during the 14th century which composers and theorists began writing new rhythmic polyphony in motets. The motets served as the musical composition that could handle radical innovations.
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With instrumental music on the rise, new instruments were being created to play these songs. These instruments crumhorns, vielle, lute, dulcimer, psaltery, shawm, rebec, and the theorbo.
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Franscesco Landini (1325 - 1397) was a music theorist, composer, poet and organist: famous because he was blind. He was by far most famous composer of the 14th century.
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A terrible illness known as the "Black Death" caused a plague that killed over 75 million people in the 1340s.
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John Dunstable (1390 - 1453) was a European composer who highly influenced musical style in Europe. He popularly used 3rds and 6ths in his musical harmonies, resulting in a modern interpretation of triadic music. His complete works were not published until 1953.
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Guillaume Dufay (1397 - 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer who was a central figure of the Burgundian School. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a leading composer of the mid 15th century. He was uniquely contrapuntal and demonstrated influential exchange of musical ideas among artists around the world.
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Johannes Ockeghem (1420 - 1497) was was the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School in the last half of the 15th century, and is often considered the most influential composer between Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez. He was very respected by his peers and thought to be prolific, and was also regarded for his low bass voice.
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Chants were an extremely popular form of music, usually composed and performed in the church. This type of musics approach was often paraphrased with extra notes and introduced new rhythms. Chants could be performed accapella or with accompainment.
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Emphasis in music had only, from that point, been solely used for function or praise. Composers during this time began to write music to express beauty and nature instead of religion.
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Usually, voices in music were kept monophonic. During the Renaissance era is where we begin to see polyphony, which is when two or more voices/melodies sing at the same time. Transformed melodies also began being placed in the top voice instead of the middle or bottom voices.
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Number of voices and instruments changed during this time, which is when choirs and ensembles began to make appearances. Vocals changed from 4 parts to now 5 - 8, and instrumental music brought the action of blending instruments.
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Johannes Tinctoris (1435 - 1511) was a composer and music theorist from the Low countries. He wrote about contemporary music and is credited to write the first dictionary of musical terms. He believed the fountain and origin of what he discovered was a distinct new musical style.
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Josquin des Prez (1450 - 1521) was arguably the most revered Renaissance composer of the Franco-Flemish school. He is widely considered by music scholars to be the first master of the high Renaissance style of polyphonic vocal music that was emerging during his lifetime
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Heinrich Issac (1450 - 1517) was a prolific german composer who wrote masses, motes, songs, and instrumental music. A significant contemporary of Josquin des Prez, Isaac influenced the development of music in Germany
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Adrian Willaert (1490 - 1562) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance and founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers who moved to Italy and transplanted the polyphonic Franco-Flemish style there.
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After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus touches down in the Bahamas, believing he's made it to East Asia, when he has actually made it into the new world.
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The Last Supper, one of the Western world's most recognizable paintings, is finished by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.
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Thomas Tallis (1505 - 1585) was an English composer who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. He is most notably known for his creation of the 40-part voice motet.
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Phillippe de Monte (1521 - 1603) was a Flemish composer of the late Renaissance active all over Europe. He was a member of the 3rd generation madrigalists and wrote more madrigals than any other composer of the time.
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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 - 1594) was arguably the most popular composer of the renaissance era. A graduate of the Roman School of music, he was appointed maestro di cappella by Pope Julius III. His music took on its own style and established his own 'rules.'
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William Byrd (1543 - 1623) was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard, and concert music. Although he produced sacred music for Anglican services, he later during the 1570s became a Roman Catholic and wrote sacred Catholic music.