REPERTOIRES AND PERFORMANCE

Melodic Ornamentation

6 sessions
Online

Course Description

Melodic ornamentation was a crucial feature in the performance of vocal and instrumental music during the Middle Ages. Singers and instrumentalists used it to color, enhance, amplify, emphasize, or obscure certain elements of the melodic line (or text). It also helped them to create different sounding textures, to catch the interest of the audience, and to display their musical and technical skills. Furthermore, ornamentation placed a piece within certain regional and stylistic contexts and could have even contributed to melodic/textual memorization. The arsenal of ornamentation devices used by medieval performers included pitch inflection, repercussive and tremulous sounds, passing and neighboring tones, and the substitution and transposition of notes and entire melodic segments.

The goal of this course is to learn to ornament medieval vocal and instrumental melodies in different medieval styles and according to different repertoires: Chant, troubadour and trouvère chanson, Parisian conductus, instrumental music.

In this course, students will:

Z

Explore the nature and use of ornaments in medieval musical and rhetorical discourses

Z

Examine the indications given in contemporary treatises (900-1300)

Z

Identify ornamentation recorded in written music

Z

Consider different stylistic traits and the use of ornaments in different repertoires, regions, and periods.

Z

Create ornamentation charts

Z

Apply (both written and extempore) ornaments to a collection of pieces in different styles

Dr. Mauricio MolinaInstructor:
Dr. Mauricio Molina

COURSE INFO

DATES & DURATION

February 17 to June 9, 2025
6 sessions

Location

Online

Price 1.5 credits

1.5 credit ECTS: 340€

v
Languages

English - Spanish

Prerequisites

Student must have basic musical knowledge and be able to read modern music notation.

Syllabus

Session 1 | The Concept of Ornamentation in Medieval Music and Rhetoric

Session 2 | Pitch Inflection and Repercussion I

Session 3 | Pitch Inflection and Repercussion II

Session 4 | Passing and Neighboring Notes

Session 5 | Substitution and Transposition

Session 6 | Long Melismas

Teaching Methodology

This course will be comprised of:

    • 6 tutorial videos of 20-35 minutes each (total 3.5 hours)
    • 6 recorded lectures of 45 minute each (total 4.5 hours)
    • 3 biweekly live Q&A sessions of 1hour and 15 minutes each (total 3.5 hours) conducted through the course. The sessions will be recorded so that students can access them at any time.
    • Downloadable materials and links to additional resources

Schedules and assignments:

    • The course is self-paced.
    • The majority of pre-recorded video lessons, lectures, and study materials will be posted on the first day of the term.
    • Students will have access to all session and their materials until the last day of the term.
    • The student workload to review the materials and complete the assignments is approximately 6.25 hours per session
    • There will be some suggested deadlines to submit assignments
    • Homework will be accepted until a week before the end of the term
    • Students taking the course for credit must complete all assignments and class requirements


Technical Requirements

    • Broadband Internet connection / WIFI

    • External or internal webcam
    • External or internal microphone
    • Speakers or headphones
    • Possibility of printing downloaded materials
    • Possibility of scanning your assignments
    • Possibility of auto-recording (audio and video)

Enroll Now

Places are limited for each section, so sign up early.

REGISTER NOW

The International Course of Medieval Music Besalú offers singers and instrumentalists the possibility of studying the repertoires of monodic and polyphonic music composed between the 11th and 13th centuries.

With the support of: