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The Epitaph of Seikilos is the oldest complete musical composition that has been preserved to our days. The epitaph probably dates from the 1st or 2nd century BC, and is part of a Greek inscription written on a marble column placed over the tomb that Seikilos built for his wife Euterpe. The author is anonymous. It was discovered in 1883 by William Mitchell Connor Ramsey in Turkey.
The inscription consists of two parts: an introductory text and a short song. -
The gregorian chants are simple monodic chants wich were used to teach the word of God.
They don´t have a specific rhythm since it depends of the text they´re singing. They are written in latin and they have no instrumental accompaniment.
There are several types of gregorian chant such as the syllabic, neumatic or melismatic. -
Guido of Arezzo is one of the musicians who gave shape and structure to music. He originated the musical notes as we know them today, inspired by the initial syllables of verses dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, “Ut queant laxis”
He created the tetragram, a system that was used before our today’s pentagram. This system of four horizontal lines allowed the pitch of musical sounds to be fixed, revolutionizing musical notation and making the teaching and transmission of melodies much easier. -
The ars antiqua is the timespan in wich the first poliphonic form of music was developed. There are several types of ars antiqua compositions: organum,conductus, motet.
It developed brilliantly in france during centuries XII and XIII. -
Also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine and the Teutonic prophetess, she is one of the most famous composers of sacred monophony.
She is considered one of the most influential, multifaceted, and fascinating figures of the Late Middle Ages and of Western history.
More of her chants have survived than those of any other composer from the entire Middle Ages, and she is one of the few known composers who wrote both the music and the lyrics. -
Léonin (1150–1201) is, along with Pérotin, the first known composer of polyphonic organum, associated with the Notre Dame School.
He was a French composer, poet, and teacher. From 1150 to 1160, he served as administrator of the cathedral in Paris. In 1192, he was ordained as a priest at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
He created the Magnus liber organi (“Great Book of Organum”), a style of composition from the mid-12th century.
He also composed organum for the Mass and the Office. -
He was a popular troubadour and Provençal poet.
He wrote in Occitan, influenced the development of the poetry of the trouvères in northern France, and is recognized for a simple style of composition called “trobar leu” (“light” or “plain” style), which contrasted with the complexity of other poets. His most famous work is “Poco puede valer el cantar” in which he reflected on love and poetic creation. It is said that he was the patron of Eleanor of Aquitaine. -
Pérotin was a medieval French composer, active around the year 1200 and associated with the Notre Dame School. He is considered the most outstanding composer of his time and is credited with composing the first polyphonic works for three and four voices, such as Viderunt omnes and Sederunt principes. His contributions revolutionized Western music by expanding polyphony beyond the two voices established by Léonin. -
Alfonso X “the Wise” was king of Castilla and León between 1252 and 1284. He reigned for 32 years, from the death of his father, Fernando III, until his own death in 1284. He promoted music in several ways: he commissioned the composition and compilation of works such as the Cantigas de Santa María, a monumental corpus of songs of great historical and artistic value. He also encouraged research and study in musical theory, notation, performance, and instrument making of the time. -
The Ars Nova is a musical period that developed in France and Italy during the 14th century, approximately between 1320 and 1380. It was characterized by rhythmic innovations and greater complexity in polyphony, breaking away from the earlier Ars Antiqua style. It emerged in 14th-century France, and forms such as the isorhythmic motet and the canon were developed or perfected. It was characterized by great freedom and variety of rhythms.
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Guillaume de Machaut is one of the greatest composers of 14th-century France and belongs to the movement known as Ars Nova. In addition to composing secular songs, he also wrote motets and a mass: the Messe de Notre Dame. He was a medieval French cleric, poet, and composer. His influence was immense, and he is historically regarded as the leading representative of the movement known as Ars Nova, being considered the most famous composer of the 14th century. -
Francesco Landini was a 14th-century composer, organist, poet, and instrument maker, considered the most important musician of the Italian Ars Nova. He is famous for composing around 140 ballate, being a virtuous organist, and an innovator in instrument making. He is credited with the “Landini cadence,” although he did not invent it, as he used it in a highly systematic way. -
Johannes Gutenberg was a German goldsmith who invented the movable-type printing press, a system that combined individually cast metal characters, oil-based ink, and a press. In terms of music, this represented a huge advance for its production and dissemination. His printing press played a crucial role in spreading Martin Luther’s ideas, thus propagating the Protestant Reformation.
His most important work is the “Gutenberg Bible,” printed in 1455. -
Juan del Encina was a musician, poet, and playwright of the Spanish Pre-Renaissance, considered one of the great creators of both sacred and secular polyphony at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th.
He left the university in 1492 to work, upon the recommendation of Don Gutierre de Toledo, as Chapel Master -
Martin Luther was a professor of theology, and in 1517 he made public his 95 Theses at the door of a church in Wittenberg, in which he criticized the Church. At the beginning of 1521, he was expelled from the Church.
He then initiated the Protestant Reformation, a religious movement that sought to denounce corruption within the Church, especially the sale of indulgences.
The movement divided Christians into two groups: Catholic Christians and Protestant Christians. -
Cristóbal de Morales was a Catholic priest, chapel master, and one of the most important Spanish composers of Renaissance polyphony.
His Requiem for Five Voices (or Missa pro Defunctis) was published in Rome in 1554 during his time in the papal choir, and from there it became known throughout Europe. He composed many significant works that were widely printed in the 16th century, such as his famous motets Lamentabatur Jacob and Emendemus in melius, both written for five voices. -
Antonio de Cabezón was an organist and keyboard composer who became one of the most important figures of Renaissance Europe and one of the most significant composers in Spanish musical history.
He also stood out as court musician to Charles V and Philip II. He composed important works for keyboard instruments, such as variations (diferencias) and instrumental motets (tientos), and is considered a key figure in the development of keyboard music in the 16th century. -
Andrea Gabrieli fue un compositor y organista italiano de finales del Renacimiento. Tío del quizás más famoso compositor Giovanni Gabrieli, fue el primer miembro de renombre internacional de la Escuela Veneciana de compositores.
Gabrieli compuso una amplia gama de obras, incluyendo música para órgano, piezas instrumentales como canzonas, y música vocal tanto sacra como profana. Destacó por su música ceremonial para la Basílica de San Marcos. -
Maddalena Casulana was an Italian Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist, famous for being the first female composer in Western history whose music was published during her lifetime in a complete volume.
She composed more than 65 madrigals, many of which were included in several collections of her work published in Venice. Her legacy also includes paving the way for future women composers in an era dominated by men. -
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer known for his sacred music.
He composed numerous works, including masses, motets, magnificats, offertories, and madrigals. He is considered the “savior of church music” because his work convinced the Council of Trent that polyphony could be used in the liturgy without losing the clarity of the sacred text. His masterpiece, the Missa Papae Marcelli, is an iconic example of his style. -
Orlando di Lasso was a prolific and versatile Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer, considered one of the most influential musicians of his time. His work included more than 2,000 vocal compositions across multiple genres—motets, madrigals, chansons, and lieder—and in several languages.
He became especially famous as a composer of sacred motets. His musical setting of the Seven Penitential Psalms of David is one of the most renowned psalm collections of the entire Renaissance. -
Tomás Luis de Victoria was a celebrated Spanish polyphonic composer of the Renaissance, considered one of the most important of his time. He composed mainly sacred music, including masses, motets, and psalms, with an innovative style. He was also a Catholic priest and chapel master. His most important works are the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae and the Officium Defunctorum, both collections of liturgical music, the first for Holy Week, and the second for funeral services. -
Giovanni Gabrieli was an influential Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance, considered a transitional figure to the Baroque period. He is known for bringing the Venetian polychoral style to its best era, creating spectacular works that combined choirs, soloists, and instruments.
His most influential work was his collection Symphoniae Sacrae, which includes some of the earliest significant pieces in the symphonic style, and he trained important composers such as Heinrich Schütz. -
Carlo Gesualdo was an Italian composer of madrigals and sacred music, as well as a noble prince. He created intensely expressive and chromatic music that was considered highly experimental for his time.
Among Carlo Gesualdo’s most famous compositions are his madrigals for five voices, his Sacrae Cantiones (Sacred Songs), and the Tenebrae Responsories (Responsories for Holy Week). -
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) fue un compositor, gambista, cantante y sacerdote italiano, considerado una figura crucial en la transición entre la música del Renacimiento y del Barroco. Se le reconoce ampliamente por ser el primer gran compositor de ópera y por sentar las bases del género tal como se conoce hoy en día.
De hecho, la obra de Monteverdi: La fábula de Orfeo se considera la primera ópera maestra y la más antigua que se sigue representando regularmente. -
Giacomo Carissimi (1605–1674) was a distinguished Italian composer and teacher of the early Baroque, and a central figure of the Roman School of music. He is a key figure in the history of sacred music for establishing the defining characteristics of the Latin oratorio, distinguishing it from opera and giving it a form that would endure for centuries.
He was an influential teacher at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome, where he worked as a chapel master from 1629 until his death. -
Barbara Strozzi fue una destacada compositora y cantante italiana del período barroco, reconocida por ser una de las pocas mujeres de su tiempo que logró publicar su música y ganarse la vida como compositora profesional. Es una figura importante en el desarrollo la cantata y el aria. A pesar de vivir en una época en la que el mundo musical estaba dominado por los hombres, logró publicar ocho volúmenes de su propia música entre 1644 y 1664, más que cualquier otro compositor de su tiempo. -
Henry Purcell was an English composer of the Baroque period, regarded by many as the greatest native composer of England and known posthumously as the “Orpheus Britannicus.” Throughout his short life (he died at the age of 36), he created a unique musical style that blended elements of traditional English music with Italian and French influences.
He served the British monarchy during the reigns of Charles II, James II, and Queen Mary. -
Antonio Stradivari was the most prominent Italian luthier in history and the most famous string instrument maker of all time. The Latin form of his name, Stradivarius, is used to refer to his instruments, which are universally recognized for their exceptional tonal quality and meticulous craftsmanship.
He lived to the age of 93 and crafted around 1,200 instruments during his lifetime, about 600 of which are still preserved today. -
Antonio Vivaldi fue un influyente compositor y violinista italiano del Barroco tardío. Es conocido principalmente por su enorme producción de conciertos instrumentales, música sacra y óperas. Su obra más célebre es la serie de conciertos para violín conocida como "Las cuatro estaciones." Aunque fue ordenado sacerdote a los 25 años, su verdadera pasión fue la música, y sus problemas de salud lo mantuvieron alejado de oficios litúrgicos regulares, permitiéndole centrarse en la composición. -
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violinist, and chapel master of the late Baroque period, universally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.
He is distinguished by his profound intellectual depth, technical perfection, and artistic beauty.
He mastered counterpoint like no one else, remained faithful to Baroque forms, and expanded the harmonic and structural boundaries of music. -
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759) was a Baroque composer of German origin who became a central figure in British music.
He is celebrated for his mastery of Italian opera and his monumental English oratorios.
Alongside Johann Sebastian Bach, he was one of the most influential composers of his time.
He showed prodigious musical talent from a young age and, despite his father’s initial opposition, traveled to London in 1712, where he spent most of his life and built his career. -
Georg Philipp Telemann was a German late Baroque composer, universally recognized as the most prolific composer in the history of Western music, with over 3,000 works cataloged.
In his time, he enjoyed even greater fame and popularity than his close friends Bach and Händel.
He integrated influences from German, Italian, French, and Polish styles into his work and held several prestigious musical positions throughout his life, including church director and opera director.