St. Peter’s College

 

Performing Arts

 

Year 7 Medieval Music

Minstrels

 

Minstrel is the name commonly used to describe any kind of professional musician of medieval times - but especially an instrument-player.

Minstrels were often employed by troubadours to play the accompaniments to their songs. Some minstrels were fortunate enough to find steady employment at a court or castle; others wandered freely from one place to another, earning their money `on the road'. A successful minstrel, however, was far more than a mere musician. He was an all-round entertainer, who was expected:

to be good at story-telling and rhyming, and trials of skill.

He must know how to play the drum, the cymbals and the hurdy-gurdy; to juggle with apples, and to throw and catch knives;

to imitate birdsong; to perform card-tricks, and to jump through four hoops;

to play the citole and the lute, the harp and the fiddle, and many other instruments

 

Plainchant and Organum

 

1.               Why did music play an important part in peoples lives from the earliest of times?

2.               Why has some of the early music been ‘lost’ and not passed down?

3.               Who wrote the music down in these early times?

4.               What was the music called and what was it used for?

5.               Describe how their music sounded.

 

 

 

The description above is taken from a 12th century manuscript. Another account of the many skills required of a minstrel points out that:

. . . he should also be able to play chess, tell the adventures of Charlemagne or King Arthur, sing, recite, declaim all kinds of poetry, and even give advice to the lovelorn . . . '

As if the many skills mentioned above were not enough to interest any audience, some minstrels added yet more excitement to their performances by involving trained animals - such as dogs, and even bears!

 

Troubadours and Minstrels

 

1.               What was a Troubadour?

2.               How did their music differ to the church

     music?

3.    What part of the music did the Troubadours      write down?

4.    What was missing from their written music?

5.    What part did minstrels play in the Troubadour’s

music?

6. What else did the minstrel need to be able to do to entertain the audience?

 

Answer the following questions in full sentences in your music book. Use the titles as headings

Draw and label the medieval instruments on page 1 in your book