Terms Divine Office, Opus Dei or liturgy- sung cycle of prayer (4 or more hours a day) Lauds- Morning; Vespers- Sunset; Compline- Last service before bedtime Monophony- one voice, unaccompanied melody line Polyphony-more than one voice, each with its own melodic line Pedal- repeated sustained note Perfect intervals: fourth, fifth, octave Dissonance- intervals that create a feeling of pain, confusion or agitation Consonance- intervals that create a sense of harmony, rest, beauty and ease A Perfect Fifth (Kaamalot)- comedic videotape about the development of harmony
Pythagoras and Orpheus Early Christian frescoes of Christ as Orpheus Harmony of the Spheres St. Benedict Hildegard of Bingen Dante Robert Fludd
The rise of Western monasticism Ora et labora: The Rule of St. Benedict Psalm 139 Hildegard of Bingen “Ordo Virtutem" (The Play of the Virtues)
Pilgrimage and Monasteries: The Llibre Vermell (Montserrat, Spain) Carmina Burana (Goliards in Germany) Cantigas de Santa Maria (Santiago Compostella in Spain): Cycle of 420 songs gathered together and/or composed by King Alfonso X, "El Sabio" in praise of the Virgin Mary Chartres Cathedral and the Seven Liberal Arts Being able to see the sacred in each of these seven topics was the pre-requisite for studying theology: Grammar (Latin) Rhetoric Logic Music Arithmetic Geometry Astronomy
Fas et Nefas- Song about Right and Wrong from the 13th century Carmina Burana In Taberna- drinking song from Carmina Burana
Recommended Viewing and Recordings Into Great Silence- film about a year in the life of Chartreuse monastery, France Vision- German film about the life of Hildegard of Bingen LLibre Vermell Cantigas de Santa Maria
Below are two extremes of the Medieval era- the sublime Cantiga No.100," Santa Maria,Strella Do Dia from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, performed by Hesperion XX under Jordi Savall, and the raucous Medieval drinking song "In Taberna", performed by the Clemenic Consort