PROJECT ONE: Troubadours

One of the last and most renowned troubadours was Adam de la Halle. Research his life and times. Write a two-page paper about his life, his family and his music.

1. Choose two of the following musical instruments from the medieval period:
1. hurdy-gurdy
2. bagpipes
3. psaltery
4. rebec
5. dulcimer
6. tambor
2. To which section of the orchestra is each instruments most closely related?
3. How does each instrument create its sound?
4. Find a recording of each instrument and describe its sound.

Monasteries were cloistered (i.e., shut off from the world) communities of men or women living together under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to an abbot (for men) or abbess (for women). Such celibate group homes were very popular during the medieval period, with as much as 1 percent of the population in some areas living the monastic life.

1. Research a European monastery and answer the following questions:
1. When was it founded?
2. Is it still being used today?
3. What order of monks or nuns founded the monastery?
4. What was daily life like in a monastery during the medieval period?
2. Listen to Gregorian chant at the following Web site and describe what you hear.

http://www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/chantbook/main.htm