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Medieval Music

Code: 100638
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Musicology OB 2

Contact lecturer

Name :
Maria Incoronata Colantuono Santoro
Email :
mariaincoronata.colantuono@uab.cat

Teaching staff (external to UAB)

Maria Incoronata Colantuono

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

A good level of music theory and harmony is recommended

Objectives

To provide students with the theoretical and practical knowledge that will enable them to understand the music of the Western Middle Ages

Learning outcomes

  1. Produce correct, precise and clear argumental and terminological writing of knowledge acquired, both in the area of musical specialisation and dissemination.
  2. Integrate knowledge acquired in the production of clear and concise appropriate to the academic and specialist communication.
  3. Analysing ideas about an artistic phenomenon in a given cultural context.
  4. Analysing the creators of an artistic phenomenon in a specific cultural context.
  5. Analysing the recipients of an artistic phenomenon in a specific cultural context.
  6. Identify the complexity of music reception processes.
  7. Solve problems of a methodological nature in the area of musicology.
  8. Apply the conceptualisation of philosophy, history, literature and anthropology to musical research.
  9. Interrelate technological and scientific changes in each period with the creation and reception of music.
  10. Identifying the specific methods of history and their relationship with the analysis of particular facts.
  11. Identifying the context of the historical processes.
  12. Use specific vocabulary of history correctly.
  13. Use the vocabulary of musicology related to each period of history.
  14. Identify the stylistic properties of each historical period.
  15. Interpret the most important theoretical texts of each period.
  16. Correctly identify the essential repertoire and the main composers of each historical period.
  17. Present knowledge about the history, art or other cultural movements.
  18. Define the processes of periodisation and stylistic classification and usual typology in the historical conceptualisation of the musical fact.
  19. Contextualise new tendencies in musical creation in general historical evolution and observe its incorporation in the sociopolitical panorama in which they are framed.
  20. Consider the subject as a whole and identify the context in which the processes studied are inscribed and their interrelationship with the elements and factors that are involved in their sociohistorical development.
  21. Link the periods of the history of music to periods of the history of art, in their similarities and differences.
  22. Identify phenomena of the circulation of ideas in music proficiency.
  23. Contextualise musical works in their hsitorical and cultural setting from a critical perspective.
  24. Identify and critically place different musical typologies in their historical periods.
  25. Critically identify the different orientations of musical praxis that musicians apply to the music of each hsitorical period.
  26. Recognise in musical praxis element of different cultures and different historical periods.
  27. Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
  28. Propose new experience-based methods or alternative solutions.
  29. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  30. Assess the reliability of sources, select relevant data and contrast information.
  31. Identify and critically assemble the basic bibliography that has shaped the field of study.

Contents

  1. Introduction to Medieval Music
  2. Music in the Medieval Cultural Universe
  3. Origins of Christian Worship: Liturgy and Chant
  4. The Variety of Liturgies and Chants in Christianized Europe
  5. Context of Gregorian Chant: Liturgical Rituals
  6. The Main Musical Notations
  7. Gregorian Aesthetics: Composition Techniques, Styles, and Modality
  8. The Mass
  9. The Monastic World and the Divine Office
  10. Tropes and Sequences
  11. Liturgical Drama
  12. Troubadour Lyric Poetry
  13. Galician Lyric and the Cantigas de Santa Maria
  14. Musical Instruments and Medieval Instrumental Music
  15. Origins of Early Polyphony
  16. Notre-Dame Organum, Conductus, and Motet
  17. French Ars Vetus / Ars Nova: Political Motet, Ballade, and Rondeau
  18. The Italian Trecento: Madrigal and Ballata

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Individual or group Tutorials 1 0.04
Reading of bibliography 20 0.8
Reading of musical illustrations 7 0.28
Lessons 36 1.44
Tutoring of class activities 4 0.16
Participatory debate 4 0.16
Preparation and correction of the notes 20 0.8
Preparation of activities and oral debates 20 0.8
Study of the subjects 32 1.28

Development of the syllabus through lectures open to student participation.
Implementation of cooperative activities, flipped classrooms, and oral debates at the end of each thematic unit.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Partial Exam 30% 1 0.04 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31
Final Exam 50% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31
Questionnaires and oral debates 20% 3 0.12 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

Evaluation

1. Partial exam (30%): students must develop a proposed topic, identify and analyze a musical excerpt, and an audio recording.

2. Final exam (50%): students must develop a proposed topic, identify and analyze two musical excerpts, and two audio recordings.

3. Participation in classes and oral debates for each of the two thematic blocks into which the course is divided (20%).


Assessment Clarifications

  • If the average grade of the partial exam is below 5, the failed content must be reassessed in the recovery exam.
  • Classroom activities (quizzes and oral debates) are non-recoverable.
  • The course cannot be passed with a failed partial exam.
  • The recovery exam will reassess the failed tests.
  • No individual exams will be conducted outside the established date and time, except in cases of duly justified force majeure.
  • A student will be considered \"non-assessable\" if they have not completed the partial or final exam.
  • At the time each assessment activity is carried out, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the procedure and the date for reviewing the grades.
  • If a student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant change in the grade of an assessment act, they will receive a 0 for that assessment act, regardless of any disciplinary process that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in the assessment acts of the same course, the final grade for that course will be 0.
  • If the tests cannot be conducted in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining the weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB's virtual tools. Homework, activities, and class participation will be conducted through forums, wikis, and/or exercise discussions via Teams, etc. The instructor will ensure that the student can access them or will provide alternative means within reach.
  • Exchange students who request to take an exam earlier must submit to the lecturer a written document from their home university justifying their request.
  • USE OF AI
  • Restricted use: “For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, or translations. Students must clearly identify which parts were generated using these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these tools influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in this graded activity will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in partial or total loss of marks for the activity, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.”
  • Single Assessment
  • On a single date, 3 assessment activities will be carried out: one involving the identification and analysis of three excerpts, another based on three listening exercises, and a third consisting of answering a four-question quiz on the course content.
  • The first two activities will each count for 30% of the final grade, and the third will count for 40%.
  • At the time of each assessment, the teacher will inform students via Moodle about the procedure and the review date.
  • The same resit system as in continuous assessment will be applied.

Possible date of the final exam: consult the degree information list.

Bibliography

REQUIRED READING BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fassler, Margot, Music in the Medieval West, New York–London, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014 (trad. La música en el Occidente medieval, ed. Akal Música, 2020)

Fassler, Margot, Music in the Medieval West Anthology, New York–London, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2014

or

Cattin, Giulio, La monodia nel medioevo, Torino, EDT, 1991 (Storia della musica, a cura della Società Italiana di Musicologia, 2), trad. Historia de la Música, Desde la Antigüedad al siglo XIII, ed. española coordinada y revisada por Andrés Ruiz Tarazona, vol. I, pp. 109–296.

Gallo, Alberto, La polifonia nel medioevo, Torino, EDT, 1991 (Storia della musica, a cura della Società Italiana di Musicologia, 3), chapters I–III (Il Duecento, Il Trecento francese, Il Trecento italiano), trad. Historia de la Música, La Música de los Siglos XIII al XVI, ed. española coordinada y revisada por Andrés Ruiz Tarazona, vol. II, pp. 3–52.


GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hoppin, Richard H., Medieval Music (New York, 1978; edic. española, 1991)

Hoppin, Richard H., Anthology of Medieval Music (New York, 1978; edic. española, Madrid, 2002)

Gómez Muntané, Maricarmen, La música medieval en España (Kassel, 2001)

Gómez Muntané, Maricarmen, Historia de la Música en España e Hispanoamérica 1. De los orígenes hasta c.1470, MªC. Gómez ed. (Madrid, 2009)


SPECIFIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books (according to syllabus)

1.

Ferrari, Marco, L’interpretazione della musica antica, ed. Ut Orpheus (2022)

Haynes, Bruce, The End of Early Music (Oxford, 2007)

Leech-Wilkinson, Daniel, The Modern Invention of Medieval Music (Cambridge, 2002)

Sherman, Bernard D., Inside Early Music: Conversations with Performers (Oxford University Press, New York, 1997)

2.

Boynton, Susan – Really, Diane J., Resounding Images: Medieval Intersections of Art, Music, 2015

Fubini, Enrico, Música y estética en la época medieval (Pamplona, 2008)

Panti, Cecilia, Filosofia della musica. Tarda Antichità e Medioevo (Roma, 2017)

Schueller, Herbert M., The Idea of Music. An Introduction to Musical Aesthetics in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Kalamazoo, 1988)

3–4.

Busse Berger, Anna Maria, Medieval Music and the Art of Memory (Berkeley–Los Angeles–London, 2005)

Chailley, Jacques, L’imbroglio des modes (Paris, 1960)

Levy, Kenneth, Gregorian Chant and the Carolingians (Princeton, 1998)

Saulnier, Daniel, Regards sur le plain chant: la liturgie et sa musique, ed. Feuilles (2021)

Treitler, Leo, With Voice and Pen. Coming to Know Medieval Song and How it was Made (Oxford, 2003)

5–10.

Apel, Willi, Gregorian Chant (Bloomington, 1958)

Asensio, Juan Carlos, El canto gregoriano (Madrid, 2003)

Baroffio, Giacomo – Ju Kim, Eun Anastasia, Cantemus Domino Gloriose. Introduzione al canto gregoriano, Saronno, Urban, 2003

Carrillo Rojo, Raquel, Text, Liturgy, and Music in the Hispanic Rite, Oxford University Press, 2021

Colantuono, Maria Incoronata, Música i litúrgia medieval a la Biblioteca de Catalunya, s. IX–XIII. Vol. 3 de la col·lecció Escrits i Memòries. Generalitat de Catalunya: Departament de Cultura

Hiley, David, Western Plainchant. A Handbook (Oxford, 1993)

Schulze, Hendrik, Musical Text as Ritual Object, (ed.) Brepols, 2015

11.

Nardini, Luisi, Chants, Hypertext, and Prosulas, Oxford University Press, 2022

Passamani, Luisa – Gozzi, Marco, Le sequenze domenicane e il manoscritto FC 103 della biblioteca Feininger di Trento (Lucca, 2025)

Ranking, Susan, The Music of the Medieval Liturgical Drama in France and England (New York & London, 1989)

12.

Aubrey, Elizabeth, The Music of the Troubadours (Bloomington–Indianapolis, 1996)

Krause, Kathy M. – Stones, Alison, Gautier de Coinci. Miracles, Music and Manuscripts, ed. Brepols, 2007

Rossell, Antoni, El cant dels trobadors, Ajuntament de Castelló d'Empúries (Castelló d'Empúries, 1992)

Rossell, Antoni, Literatura i música a l'Edat Mitjana, 2 vols. (Lírica i cançó èpica), Dinsic (Barcelona, 2004)

Zuchetto, Gerardo, Terre des troubadours XII–XIIIe siècles (Paris, 1996)

13.

Anglés, Higini, La música de las Cantigas de Santa María del rey Alfonso el Sabio (Barcelona, 1943–64), 3 vols.

Colantuono, Maria Incoronata, Memoria y composición melódica en las Cantigas de amigo de Martin Codax, in Roda de Fortuna, Revista electrónica 2 (2015)

Colantuono, Maria Incoronata, De la vox mortua a la vox viva: sistemas de composición y oralidad en las Cantigas de Santa Maria, in Boitatá, Revista de Literatura oral de la Universidad de Londrina (Brasil), no. 19 (Voz, poesia e performance na Idade Média)

Ferreira, Manuel Pedro, O som de Martin Codax (Lisboa, 1986)

14.

Baldassarre, Enrico, Musica instrumentalis mediaevalis, Il Salentino editore (Melendugno, 2014)

Sainato, Ilaria – Zambon, Rita, La musica dei corpi. La danza dal Medioevo ad oggi (Lucca, 2025)

15–18.

Everist, Mark, French Motets in the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge, 1994)

Gómez Muntané, Maricarmen, El Llibre Vermell. Cantos y danzas de fines del Medioevo (Madrid, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2017)

Leech-Wilkinson, Daniel, Machaut’s Mass. An Introduction (Oxford, 1990)

Walters Robertson, Anne, Guillaume de Machaut and Reims (Cambridge, 2002)

Journals

Early Music [EM]

Early Music History [EMH]

Musica Disciplina [MD]

Plainsong & Medieval Music

Acta Musicologica [AcM]

Archiv für Musikwissenschaft [AfMw]

Journal of the American Musicological Society [JAMS]

Notes

The Musical Quarterly [MQ]

Revista de Musicología [RdM]

Quodlibet

Revista catalana de Musicologia

Rivista italiana di Musicologia

Software

There is no specific software required.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed