Exam 13: The Medieval Synthesis in the Arts

Correct Answer:

Verified

The Romanesque style featured heavy use of stone,resulting in massive and dense buildings.Romanesque architects employed round arches and a uniform system of stone vaults in the upper zones of the nave and side aisles.The new system of stone vaulting allowed medieval architects to build on a grander scale than ever before.Because of all this stone,there was a revival of monumental stone sculpture-a medium that,for the most part,had been abandoned since Roman antiquity.Scenes from the Old and New Testaments-carved in high relief and brightly painted-usually appeared on the entrance portals of the church,as well as in the capitals of columns throughout the basilica and its cloister.
The Gothic cathedral extended the concept of vaulted ceilings even further,using innovative architectural techniques (the pointed arch,the rib vault,and stained glass windows)to create light,airy,and vast interiors.In contrast to the Romanesque church,with its well-defined cubic volume and its simple geometric harmony,the Gothic cathedral was an intricate web of stone,a dynamic network of open and closed spaces that evoked a sense of unbounded extension.In the cathedral,the medieval synthesis was realized:sculpture appeared in its portals,capitals,and choir screens;stained glass diffused divine light through its windows;painted altarpieces embellished its chapels;religious drama was enacted both within its walls and outside its doors;liturgical music filled its choirs.

Correct Answer:

Verified

In medieval times,music was considered a scholarly pursuit and,as such,most major musical developments of the Early Middle Ages came out of the monasteries.These developments include notation,developed by Benedictine monks over several centuries.
Early church music took the form of unaccompanied monophonic chant.These chants were embellished with tropes and sequences.As more and more dramatic incidents were added to the texts for these Masses,fully fledged music-drama emerged.Eventually,liturgical plays broke away from the liturgy and were performed in the intervals between the parts of the Mass.
Later,polyphonic music (music consisting of two or more lines of melody)developed in the churches.The earliest polyphonic compositions consisted of Gregorian melodies sung in two parts simultaneously,with both voices moving note-for-note in parallel motion (parallel organum),or with a second voice moving in contrary motion (free organum),perhaps also adding many notes to the individual syllables of the text (melismatic organum).As medieval polyphony encouraged the addition of voices and voice parts,the choir areas of Gothic cathedrals were enlarged to accommodate more singers.Performed within the acoustically resonant bodies of cathedrals,the polyphonic Mass produced an aural effect as resplendent as the multicolored light that shimmered throughout the interior.
The motet was another form of religious music developed towards the end of the Middle Ages.It was a short,polyphonic 
choral composition based on 
a sacred text.Performed both 
inside and outside the church,
 it was the most popular kind
 of medieval religious song.Medieval
 motets usually
 juxtaposed two or more uncomplicated themes,each with its own lyrics and metrical pattern,in a manner that was lilting and lively.Motets designed to be sung outside the church often borrowed secular tunes with vernacular words.
Finally,instruments also became more important during this time,supporting both sacred and secular music.Medieval string instruments included the harp,the psaltery,and the lute (all three are plucked),and bowed fiddles such as the vielle and the rebec.Wind instruments included portable pipe organs,recorders,and bagpipes.Percussion was produced by chimes,cymbals,bells,tambourines,and drums.Instrumental music performed without voices accompanied medieval dancing.