Week 2 Listening 1

I hopped on pandora.com and typed in "medieval," to which Pandora responded with "Sequentia Ensemble for Medieval Music, Cologne, Hildegard von Bingen: Canticles of Ecstasy." So, that is the channel that I listened to.

The First song, "O Ignis Spiritus" featured responsorial content as far as I could tell. Because this music is in a different language, I couldn't tell if it was repeated material or if the texture just alternated between virtuosic high soprano and a group. This recording was of all women. I needed to look up the word, "Canticles" on dictionary.com, and it is defined as a nonmentrical hymn or chant.

The second song, contrary to the first, seems as though it is in a major tonality. This song is called, "Guillaume de Machaut." Pandora seems to agree, as it just popped up a comment box saying it featured another female singer but in a major tonality. I think this might not be totally correct because we have discussed nothing but modes thus far in class.

The third song seems much more modal, especially in the harmony. There is a droning harmony in the background and a moving line on top, as the soloist. This recording seems as though it is in a very, very large cathedral or monastary because its resonance provides an overwhelming echo. I wonder if this is accurate, as female singers were not allowed to sing sacred music in services, so why would it be in a monastary or cathedral? This is called, "Gregorian Chant 1000: A Mass for the End of Time," by Anonymous 4. I think that I remember from Music Lit that composers of chant usually did not indicate who they were on the composition, but the chants were in collections and they seem to be able to group many chants together under a single composer.