Medieval and Renaissance Vocal Genres

 

From pre-Christian times:

Hymn  (hymnody)  -  a song to a deity, as old as ancient Egypt.

Psalm setting  (psalmody)  -  settings of the Psalms to music.  Originated in Judaism in Hebrew, 
                         Latin in Christianity up through the Reformation, then sometimes in the vernacular.


From the early Middle Ages c. 300 - 1000:


Marian Antiphons - Hymns to Mary


Mass  (Latin: missa)  -  

    A composition (with or without instrumental accompaniment) that sets the invariable portions 

    of of the Eucharistic liturgy (principally that of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism) to music.  Most masses are settings of the liturgy in Latin, the liturgical sacred language of the Catholic Church's Roman liturgy, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship has long been the norm.  For example, there are many masses (often called "communion services") written in English for the Church of England.  Musical masses take their name from the Catholic liturgy called "the mass" as well.  Many masses, especially later ones, were never intended to be performed during the celebration of an actual mass.



From the High Middle Ages (after 1000):

Secular feudal song forms:

    Chanson  (a general name - see below for different types of chansons)

    Chanson de geste  (1080 - 1250)  Epic poems of knighthood bravery sung by lower class minstrels

    Canso  -  Aristocratic troubadour songs 

    Chanson courtoise (or Chanson D'Amour, or Grand Chant)  -  Troubadour songs of courtly love

    Burgundian chanson

    Motet  (c. 1200 in the Notre Dame school of Léonin and Pérotin into the 20th century, but drops off significantly after J.S. Bach.


Form-Fixes  (French Poetry and Musical Forms - types of chansons)  1300 - 1500 only 

     Ballade

     Rondeau

     Virelai


From the Renaissance  (1400 - 1600):

      Madrigal  (1530 - 1630)  influenced Baroque cantatas

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