Module 2: What do you hear?

Listening Practice

This guide is to help you recognize the audio examples and prepare for the Module 2 Listening Quiz.

"Agnus Dei" from the Nostre Dame Mass by Guillaume De Machaut

It is in Latin and sounds very "busy" with multiple melodies on top of each other and is an example of a polyphonic setting of the Ordinary of a Mass.

"Ave Generosa" by Hildegard of Bingen

It says the name "Ave Generosa" and is an example of chant from the Middle Ages.

"A Chantar" by Beatriz of Dia

It says the name "A Chantar" in Medieval French and is an example of a 12th Century troubadour song.

"Ave Maria" by Josquin de Prez

It says the name "Ave Maria" several times at the beginning of the music and is an example of a Renaissance motet.

"Fair Phyllis” by John Farmer

It says the name "Fair Phyllis" at the very beginning of the music and is an example of an English madrigal.

"As Vesta was from Latmos Hill Descending" by Thomas Weelkes

It says the name "As Vesta was from Latmos Hill Descending" and is an example of word painting in an English Madrigal

“Flow My Tears” by John Dowland

It says the name "Flow my Tears" at the beginning of the music and is an example of Renaissance lute music.

Three Dances from Terpsichore by Michael Praetorius

This is an instrumental piece with no singing. There is also a very prominent tambourine and wooden flute recorder in the music and it is an example of Renaissance dance music.

Be able to identify the difference between Syllabic and Melismatic text-setting

Syllabic features one note per syllable of text:

Melismatic features multiple notes spread over one syllable of text: