Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

MUS112-113 or equivalent

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

• to develop understanding and knowledge of medieval song in its ritual and social contexts;
• to understand the interrelationship of belief systems, doctrines, and ritual actions and musical re repertories;
• to cultivate a holistic approach to musical-historical understanding, through the study of texts (verbal and musical), contexts (social, political, ritual and spatial) and sources;
• to foster the use of primary source materials;
• to bring into the curriculum recent and on-going research projects, for instance the AHRC/ESRC-funded Experience of Worship project.


Module Summary (For pre-entry promotional purposes):
Few musical repertories have enjoyed such a long history of performance, or as enduring an influence, as the chant tradition of Western Europe: plainsong was a familiar part of daily life for more than a millennium, punctuating calendar time, marking universal rites of passage, and giving voice to the most fundamental belief systems. The primary aim of this module is to animate this repertory through study and performance and to place within this context other, perhaps more familiar, repertories such as polyphonic music.

The primary focus for the module is the so-called Use of Salisbury, the predominant form of worship in England during the later Middle Ages. The Use of Salisbury regulated in minute detail the forms and orders of worship to be followed every day throughout the year: which texts were read; which tunes were sung; whether or not the singers were conducted; who did what, where and when; the ways in which sacred space was used; the ringing of bells and lighting of candles; the colour and richness of vestments worn by participants; and the role of children. This makes exceptionally rich material for the study of social, ritual, psychological and spatial contexts.

Outline Of Syllabus

The main emphases will be on performing, transcribing and understanding the music within its wider context. This is reflected in the modes of assessment used. In practical terms you will learn how to read (and sing) plainsong notation, and how to prepare a liturgical ‘reconstruction’ for performance.

The main sequence of lectures will include (inter alia):
1.       What is liturgy?
2.       Psalmody: the Office
3.       The Mass
4.       Space and movement
5.       Marking time: the liturgical calendar
6.       The crux: Holy Week and Easter
7.       Field trip
8.       Reading plainsong
9.       Hearing the modes
10.       Sonic ceremonial: organs, voices, polyphony, improvisation
11.       Places and spaces: the human and institutional contexts;
12.       Making a liturgical reconstruction, 1: principles and objectives;
13.       Making a liturgical reconstruction, 2: the Petre Gradual as case study;
14.       Researching sources: liturgical books and their uses.

In semester two you will undertake a major transcription task that will form the backbone of your final assessment. Seminars and workshops will present opportunities for you to present your editorial work and have it performed. There will be one (or more) field trip(s) to a Benedictine or Cistercian monastery, either ruined or still active (or both).

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of the module participants will:

• know the broad history of sacred song to 1550;
• know the principal liturgical genres and categories (distinctions between such terms as liturgical calendar, festal/ferial days, Mass/Office, and proper/ordinary/common, etc.);
• be familiar with the principal kinds of books used;
• understand and recognise the melodic modes;
• know the fundamentals of square and mensural notation;
• be familiar with the relationships between musical repertories and the spaces in which they were used..

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of the module, participants will be able to:

• read square notation;
• recognise certain broad categories of liturgical chant;
• make a substantial reconstruction of a medieval rite;
• construct plausible rationales for the performance of different kinds of music in a range of contexts (chant, polyphony, organ music, improvised music, etc.);
• be able to prepare and organize a performance of such a reconstruction, either live or recorded.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures introduce historical/thematic topics pertaining to discreet areas of the subject. The musical repertory relating to each theme is then studied during the ensuing practical session. The field trip gives students an opportunity to experience the architectural and ceremonial space within liturgy took place.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The listening test assesses candidates’ mastery of notation, mode and genre; The final project tests participants’ knowledge of the historical and musical issues discussed in the course; it takes the form of an edition and commentary (marked as one aggregated assessment).

General Notes

Original Handbook text: