Medieval Period - Continued450 - 1450

Polyphony

The combination of two or more simultaneous melodic lines.

Helped bring about meters and precise notation and pitch

From 700 - 900, composers would write a line in parallel motion to the chant at a fixed interval of a fifth or a fourth above the original line.

From 900 – 1200, the upper line moved independently of the original chant.

After 1100, upper lines even began gaining rhythmic independence.

Organum

A Gregorian chant to which additional lines were added is called organum.

The original Gregorian chant on which the upper lines are based is called the cantus firmus.

Organum Significant Composers

•Leonin- He is the first known composer to use measured rhythm in his compositions.

•Perotin- He is the first known composer to write three simultaneous, distinct lines.

•Leonin was the director of music at the Notre Dame Cathedral and Perotin, his pupil, succeeded him. These two composers and their students are thus appropriately referred to as the School of Notre Dame.

Sacred music was primarily vocal.

Due to the connection of instruments to pagan rituals.

Nevertheless, instruments did become more important over the span of the Medieval Period.

The most important instrument of sacred music in the Medieval Period is the organ.

Early organs are not like modern organs; though they were loud, they were much more difficult to operate and required a great deal of physical strength.

Early Medieval Motet

Toward the end of the 13th century, musicians began writing new texts for the upper voices of organum – resulting in the Motet

The motet is a polytextual (more than one text) vocal composition, either sacred and/or secular, which sometimes had instrumental accompaniment.

Secular Music

Unlike sacred music, secular music had a more clearly defined beat and its texture was closer to homophony or polyphony. (It was not true homophony since chords were only implied).

Like sacred music, the texture was primarily vocal, though it didn’t regard instruments with as much suspicion as the Church.

Troubadours & Troubavères

Much secular music during the Medieval Period was written by troubadours and troubavères. These were French nobles and they often wrote music to gain prestige.

Significant Composers

•Guillaume IX, duke of Aquitaine •Chastelain di Couci •Beatriz de Dia (a woman troubadour)

Jongleurs

Jongleurs also composed and performed secular music. Jongleurs were wandering minstrels that would entertain towns with music, juggling, and drama.

They had no civil rights but were important parts of society since they spread news from town to town.

One form of music they played is the estampie. An estampie is a fast dance in triple meter.

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Ars Nova

Around 1350, a new style of music called Ars Nova (New Art) emerged.

Ars Nova includes both sacred and secular music, though secular music gained importance during this period.

Important characteristics of Ars Nova are:•Development of polyphony •Use of duple meter •Syncopation

Ars Nova Sacred Music

Ars Nova saw the appearance of a grand form for sacred music- the mass ordinary. The mass ordinary consists of five prayers set to music as five different movements.

The prayers are:•Kyrie •Gloria •Credo •Sanctos •Agnus Dei

Ars Nova Secular Music

Because of diminishing influence of the Church, secular music became more prominent in the Ars Nova Period.

Instruments were used more often, though the music was still primarily vocal.

A new secular form of the Ars Nova period was the chanson – generally set to courtly love poems.

Ars Nova Significant Composers

•Guillaume de Machaut Important works Notre Dame Mass - This is the first known polyphonic mass.

•Francesco Landini Important works Ecco la Primavera - This is an example of an Ars Nova ballata.

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Instruments of the Period

•Organ •Pipe •Rebec •Psaltery •Fiddle •Lute •Sackbut •Shawm