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Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages . This era begins
with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century.
Establishing the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the Renaissance is difficult;
the usage in this article is the one usually adopted by musicologists.
Instruments
Instruments used to perform medieval music still exist, but in different forms. The flute
was once made of wood rather than silver or other metal, and could be made as a sideblown or end- blown instrument. The recorder has more or less retained its past form.
The gemshorn is similar to the recorder in having finger holes on its front, though it is
actually a member of the ocarina family. One of the flute's predecessors, the pan flute,
was popular in medieval times, and is possibly of Hellenic origin. This instrument's pipes
were made of wood, and were graduated in length to produce different pitches.
Medieval music uses many plucked string instruments like the lute, mandore, gittern and
psaltery.
The dulcimers, similar in structure to the psaltery and z ither, were originally plucked, but
became struck in the 14th century after the arrival of the new technology that made metal
strings possible. The bowed lyra of the Byz antine Empire was the first recorded
European bowed string instrument. The Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih of the 9th
century (d. 911) cited the Byz antine lyra, in his lexicographical discussion of instruments
as a bowed instrument equivalent to the Arab rabāb and typical instrument of the Byz
antines along with the urghun (organ), shilyani (probably a type of harp or lyre) and the
salandj (probably a bagpipe).[1] The hurdy- gurdy was (and still is) a mechanical violin
using a rosined wooden wheel attached to a crank to "bow" its strings. Instruments
without sound boxes like the jaw harp were also popular in the time. Early versions of the
organ, fiddle (or vielle), and trombone (called the sackbut) existed.
Genres
Further information: Gregorian chant, Ars nova, Organum, Motet, Madrigal, Canon
(music) and Ballata Medieval music was both sacred and secular.During the earlier
medieval period , the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant, was monophonic.
Polyphonic genres began to develop during the high medieval era, becoming prevalent by
the later 13th and early 14th century. The development of such forms is often associated
with the Ars nova.
The earliest innovations upon monophonic plainchant were heterophonic. The Organum,
for example, expanded upon plainchant melody using an accompanying line, sung at a
fixed interval, with a resulting alternation between polyphony and monophony. The
principles of the organum date back to an anonymous 9th century tract, the Musica
enchiriadis (popularly, if dubiously, attributed to the Flemish Monk Hucbald), which
established the tradition of duplicating a preexisting plainchant in parallel motion at the
interval of an octave, a fifth or a fourth.
Of greater sophistication was the motet, which developed from the clausula genre of
medieval plainchant and would become the most popular form of medieval polyphony.
While early motets were liturgical or sacred, by the end of the thirteenth century the
genre had expanded to include secular topics, such as courtly love.
During the Renaissance, the Italian secular genre of the Madrigal also became popular.
Similar to the polyphonic character of the motet, madrigals featured greater fluidity and
motion in the leading line. The madrigal form also gave rise to canons, especially in Italy
where they were composed under the title Caccia. These were three- part secular pieces,
which featured the two higher voices in canon, with an underlying instrumental longnote accompaniment.
Finally, purely instrumental music also developed during this period, both in the context
of a growing theatrical tradition and for court consumption. Dance music, often
improvised around familiar tropes, was the largest purely instrumental genre.The secular
Ballata, which became very popular in Trecento Italy, had its origins, for instance, in
medieval instrumental dance music.
Theory and notation
During the Medieval period the foundation was laid for the notational and theoretical
practices that would shape western music into what it is today. The most obvious of these
is the development of a comprehensive notational system; however the theoretical
advances, particularly in regard to rhythm and polyphony, are equally important to the
development of western music.
Notation
The earliest Medieval music did not have any kind of notational system. The tunes were
primarily monophonic and transmitted by oral tradition. However, this form of notation
only served as a memory aid for a singer who already knew the melody. Also, as Rome
tried to centraliz e the various liturgies and establish the Roman rite as the primary
tradition the need to transmit these chant ideas across vast distances effectively was
equally glaring. The first step to fix this problem came with the introduction of various
signs written above the chant texts, called neumes. The origin of neumes is unclear and
subject to some debate; however, most scholars agree that their closest ancestors are the
classic Greek and Roman grammatical signs that indicated important points of
declamation by recording the rise and fall of the voice. The two basic signs of the
classical grammarians were the acutus, /, indicating a raising of the voice, and the gravis,
\, indicating a lowering. These eventually evolved into the basic symbols for neumatic
notation, the virga (or "rod") which indicates a higher note and still looked like the acutus
from which it came; and the punctum (or "dot") which indicates a lower note and, as the
name suggests, reduced the gravis symbol to a point.These the acutus and the gravis
could be combined to represent graphical vocal inflections on the syllable This kind of
notation seems to have developed no earlier than the eighth century, but by the ninth it
was firmly established as the primary method of musical notation. The basic notation of
the virga and the punctum remained the symbols for individual notes, but other neumes
soon developed which showed several notes joined together.
These new neumes—called ligatures —are essentially combinations of the two original
signs.This basic neumatic notation could only specify the number of notes and whether
they moved up or down. There was no way to indicate exact pitch, any rhythm, or even
the starting note. These limitations are further indication that the neumes were developed
as tools to support the practice of oral tradition, rather than to supplant it. However even
though it started as a mere memory aid, the worth of having more specific notation soon
became evident.
The next development in musical notation was "heighted neumes", in which neumes were
carefully placed at different heights in relation to each other. This allowed the neumes to
give a rough indication of the siz e of a given interval as well as the direction. This
quickly led to one or two lines, each representing a particular note, being placed on the
music with all of the neumes relating back to them.
At first, these lines had no particular meaning and instead had a letter placed at the
beginning indicating which note was represented. However, the lines indicating middle C
and the F a fifth below slowly became most common. Having been at first merely
scratched on the parchment, the lines now were drawn in two different colored inks:
usually red for F, and yellow or green for C. This was the beginning of the musical staff
as we know it today.The completion of the four- line staff is usually credited to Guido d’
Arez z o (c. 1000- 1050), one of the most important musical theorists of the Middle Ages.
While older sources attribute the development of the staff to Guido, some modern
scholars suggest that he acted more as a codifier of a system that was already being
developed. Either way, this new notation allowed a singer to learn pieces completely
unknown to him in a much shorter amount of time. However, even though chant notation
had progressed in many ways, one fundamental problem remained: rhythm. The neumatic
notational system, even in its fully developed state, did not clearly define any kind of
rhythm for the singing of notes.
Music theory
The music theory of the Medieval period saw several advances over previous practice
both in regard to tonal material, texture, and rhythm. Concerning rhythm, this period had
several dramatic changes in both its conception and notation. During the early Medieval
period there was no method to notate rhythm, and thus the rhythmical practice of this
early music is subject to heated debate among scholars.
The first kind of written rhythmic system developed during the 13th century and was
based on a series of modes. This rhythmic plan was codified by the music theorist
Johannes de Garlandia, author of the De mensurabili musica (c.1250), the treatise which
defined and most completely elucidated these rhythmic modes. In his treatise Johannes de
Garlandia describes six species of mode, or six different ways in which longs and breves
can be arranged. Each mode establishes a rhythmic pattern in beats (or tempora) within a
common unit of three tempora (a perfectio) that is repeated again and again. Furthermore,
notation without text is based on chains of ligatures (the characteristic notations by which
groups of notes are bound to on another). The rhythmic mode can generally be
determined by the patterns of ligatures used.Once a rhythmic mode had been assigned to
a melodic line, there was generally little deviation from that mode, although rhythmic
adjustments could be indicated by changes in the expected pattern of ligatures, even to
the extent of changing to another rhythmic mode. The next step forward concerning
rhythm came from the German theorist Franco of Cologne . In his treatise Ars Cantus
Mensurabilis ("The Art of Mensurable Music"), written around 1280, he describes a
system of notation in which differently shaped notes have entirely different rhythmic
values. This is a striking change from the earlier system of de Garlandia. Whereas before
the length of the individual note could only be gathered from the mode itself, this new
inverted relationship made the mode dependent upon—and determined by—the
individual notes or figurae that have incontrovertible durational values, an innovation
which had a massive impact on the subsequent history of European music. Most of the
surviving notated music of the 13th century uses the rhythmic modes as defined by
Garlandia. The step in the evolution of rhythm came after the turn of the 13th century
with the development of the Ars Nova style.
The theorist who is most well recogniz ed in regard to this new style is Philippe de Vitry,
famous for writing the Ars Nova ("New Art") treatise around 1320. This treatise on music
gave its name to the style of this entire era. In some ways the modern system of rhythmic
notation began with Vitry, who completely broke free from the older idea of the rhythmic
modes. The notational predecessors of modern time meters also originate in the Ars
Nova. This new style was clearly built upon the work of Franco of Cologne. In Franco's
system, the relationship between a breve and a semibreves (that is, half breves) was
equivalent to that between a breve and a long: and, since for him modus was always
perfect (grouped in threes), the tempus or beat was also inherently perfect and therefore
contained three semibreves. Sometimes the context of the mode would require a group of
only two semibreves, however, these two semibreves would always be one of normal
length and one of double length, thereby taking the same space of time, and thus
preserving the perfect subdivision of the tempus. This ternary division held for all note
values. In contrast, the Ars Nova period introduced two important changes: the first was
an even smaller subdivision of notes (semibreves, could now be divided into minim), and
the second was the development of "mensuration." Mensurations could be combined in
various manners to produce metrical groupings.
These groupings of mensurations are the precursors of simple and compound meter. By
the time of Ars Nova, the perfect division of the tempus was not the only option as duple
divisions became more accepted. For Vitry the breve could be divided, for an entire
composition, or section of one, into groups of two or three smaller semibreves. This way,
the tempus (the term that came to denote the division of the breve) could be either
"perfect," (Tempus perfectus) with ternary subdivision, or "imperfect,"(Tempus
imperfectus) with binary subdivision. In a similar fashion, the semibreve's division
(termed prolation) could be divided into three minima (prolatio perfectus or major
prolation) or two minima (prolatio imperfectus or minor prolation) and, at the higher
level, the longs division (called modus) could be three or two breves (modus perfectus or
perfect mode, or modus imperfectus or imperfect mode respectively).
Vitry took this a step further by indicating the proper division of a given piece at the
beginning through the use of a "mensuration sign," equivalent to our modern "time
signature. Tempus perfectus was indicated by a circle, while tempus imperfectus was
denoted by a half- circle (our current "C" as a stand- in for the 4/4 time signature is
actually a holdover from this practice, not an abbreviation for "common time", as
popularly believed). While many of these innovations are ascribed to Vitry, and
somewhat present in the Ars Nova treatise, it was a contemporary—and personal
acquaintance—of de Vitry, named Johannes de Muris (Jehan des Mars) who offered the
most comprehensive and systematic treatment of the new mensural innovations of the Ars
Nova (for a brief explanation of the mensural notation in general, see the article
Renaissance music).
Many scholars, citing a lack of positive attributory evidence, now consider "Vitry's"
treatise to be anonymous, but this does not diminish its importance for the history of
rhythmic notation. However, this makes the first definitely identifiable scholar to accept
and explain the mensural system to be de Muris, who can be said to have done for it what
Garlandia did for the rhythmic modes. For the duration of the medieval period, most
music would be composed primarily in perfect tempus, with special effects created by
sections of imperfect tempus; there is a great current controversy among musicologists as
to whether such sections were performed with a breve of equal length or whether it
changed, and if so, at what proportion. This Ars Nova style remained the primary
rhythmical system until the highly syncopated works of the Ars subtilior at the end of the
14th century, characteriz ed by extremes of notational and rhythmic complexity. This
sub- genera pushed the rhythmic freedom provided by Ars Nova to its limits, with some
compositions having different voices written in different tempus signatures
simultaneously. The rhythmic complexity that was realiz ed in this music is comparable
to that in the 20th century.
Of equal importance to the overall history of western music theory were the textural
changes that came with the advent of polyphony. This practice shaped western music into
the harmonically- dominated music that we know today. The first accounts of this textual
development were found in two anonymous yet widely- circulated treatises on music, the
Musica and the Scolica enchiriadis. These texts are dated to sometime within the last half
of the ninth century. The treatises describe a technique that seemed already to be well
established in practice. This early polyphony is based on three simple and three
compound intervals.
The first group comprises fourths, fifths, and octaves; while the second group has octaveplus- fourths, octave- plus- fifths, and double octaves. This new practice is given the
name organum by the author of the treatises. Organum can further be classified
depending on the time period in which it was written. The early organum as described in
the enchiriadis can be termed "strict organum" Strict organum can, in turn, be subdivided
into two types: diapente (organum at the interval of a fifth) and diatesseron (organum at
the interval of a fourth).
However, both of these kinds of strict organum had problems with the musical rules of
the time. If either of them paralleled an original chant for too long (depending on the
mode) a tritone would result. This problem was somewhat overcome with the use of a
second type of organum. This second style of organum was called "free organum". Its
distinguishing factor is that the parts did not have to move only in parallel motion, but
could also move in oblique, or contrary motion. This made it much easier to avoid the
dreaded tritone.
The final style of organum that developed was known as "melismatic organum", which
was a rather dramatic departure from the rest of the polyphonic music up to this point.
This new style was not note against note, but was rather one sustained line accompanied
by a florid melismatic line.
This final kind of organum was also incorporated by the most famous polyphonic
composer of this time— Léonin. He united this style with measured discant passages,
which used the rhythmic modes to create the pinnacle of organum composition.This final
stage of organum is sometimes referred to as Notre Dame school of polyphony, since
that was where Léonin (and his student Pérotin) were stationed. Furthermore, this kind of
polyphony influenced all subsequent styles, with the later polyphonic genera of motets
starting as a trope of existing Notre Dame organums.
Another important element of Medieval music theory was the unique tonal system by
which pitches were arranged and understood. During the Middle Ages, this systematic
arrangement of a series of whole steps and half steps, what we now call a scale, was
known as a mode. The modal system worked like the scales of today, insomuch that it
provided the rules and material for melodic writing. The eight church modes are: Dorian,
Hypodorian, Phrygian, Hypophrygian, Lydian, Hypolydian, Mixolydian, and
Hypomixolydian. Much of the information concerning these modes, as well as the
practical application of them, was codified in the 11th century by the theorist Johannes
fflighemensis. In his work he describes three defining elements to each mode. The finalis,
the reciting tone, and the range. The finalis is he tone that serves as the focal point for the
mode. It is also almost always used as the final tone (hence the name). The reciting tone
(sometimes referred to as the tenor or confinalis) is the tone that serves as the primary
focal point in the melody (particularly internally).
It s generally also the tone most often repeated in the piece, and finally the range (or
ambitus) is the maximum proscribed tones for a given mode. The eight modes can be
further divided into four categories based on their final ( finalis). Medieval theorists
called these pairs maneriae and labeled them according to the Greek ordinal numbers.
Those modes that have d, e, f, and g as their final are put into the groups protus, deuterus,
tritus, and tetrardus respectively. These can then be divided further based on whether the
mode is "authentic" or "plagal." These distinctions deal with the range of the mode in
relation to the final. The authentic modes have a range that is about an octave (one tone
above or below is allowed) and start on the final, whereas the plagal modes, while still
covering about an octave, start a perfect fourth below the authentic.
Another interesting aspect of the modal system is the universal allowance for altering B
to Bb no matter what the mode.The inclusion of this tone has several uses, but one that
seems particularly common is in order to avoid melodic difficulties caused, once again,
by the tritone.
These ecclesiastical modes, although they have Greek names, have little relationship to
the modes as set out by Greek theorists. Rather, most of the terminology seems to be a
misappropriation on the part of the medieval theorists Although the church modes have
no relation to the ancient Greek modes, the overabundance of Greek terminology does
point to an interesting possible origin in the liturgical melodies of the Byz antine
tradition. This system is called oktoechos and is also divided into eight categories, called
echoi.
For specific medieval music theorists, see also: Isidore of Seville , Aurelian of Réôme ,
Odo of Cluny , Guido of Arez z o , Hermannus Contractus, Johannes Cotto (Johannes
Afflighemensis), Johannes de Muris, Franco of Cologne , Johannes de Garlandia
(Johannes Gallicus), Anonymous IV, Marchetto da Padova (Marchettus of Padua),
Jacques of Liège , Johannes de Grocheo, Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix), and
Philippe de Vitry. Early medieval music (before 1150)
Early chant traditions
Main article: Plainsong
See also: Gregorian chant
Chant (or plainsong) is a monophonic sacred form which represents the earliest known
music of the Christian church. The Jewish Synagogue tradition of singing psalms was a
strong influence on Christian chanting.
Chant developed separately in several European centres. Although the most important
were Rome, Hispania, Gaul, Milan, and Ireland, there were others as well. These chants
were all developed to support the regional liturgies used when celebrating the Mass there.
Each area developed its own chants and rules for celebration. In Spain and Portugal, Moz
arabic chant was used and shows the influence of North African music . The Moz arabic
liturgy even survived through Muslim rule, though this was an isolated strand and this
music was later suppressed in an attempt to enforce conformity on the entire liturgy. In
Milan, Ambrosian chant, named after St. Ambrose , was the standard, while Beneventan
chant developed around Benevento, another Italian liturgical center. Gallican chant was
used in Gaul, and Celtic chant in Ireland and Great Britain.
Around 1011 AD, the Roman Catholic Church wanted to standardiz e the Mass and
chant. At this time, Rome was the religious centre of western Europe, and Paris was the
political centre. The standardiz ation effort consisted mainly of combining these two
(Roman and Gallican) regional liturgies. This body of chant became known as Gregorian
Chant.
By the 12th and 13th centuries, Gregorian chant had superseded all the other Western
chant traditions, with the exception of the Ambrosian chant in Milan and the Moz arabic
chant in a few specially designated Spanish chapels.
Early polyphony: organum
Main article: Organum
Around the end of the ninth century, singers in monasteries such as St. Gall in Switz
erland began experimenting with adding another part to the chant, generally a voice in
parallel motion, singing mostly in perfect fourths or fifths above the original tune (see
interval). This development is called organum and represents the beginnings of harmony
and, ultimately, of counterpoint. Over the next several centuries, organum developed in
several ways. The most significant of these developments was the creation of "florid
organum" around 1100, sometimes known as the school of St. Martial (named after a
monastery in south- central France, which contains the best- preserved manuscript of this
repertory). In "florid organum" the original tune would be sung in long notes while an
accompanying voice would sing many notes to each one of the original, often in a highly
elaborate fashion, all the while emphasiz ing the perfect consonances (fourths, fifths and
octaves), as in the earlier organa. Later developments of organum occurred in England,
where the interval of the third was particularly favoured, and where organa were likely
improvised against an existing chant melody, and at Notre Dame in Paris, which was to
be the centre of musical creative activity throughout the thirteenth century.
Much of the music from the early medieval period is anonymous. Some of the names
may have been poets and lyric writers, and the tunes for which they wrote words may
have been composed by others. Attribution of monophonic music of the medieval period
is not always reliable. Surviving manuscripts from this period include the Musica
Enchiriadis, Codex Calixtinus of Santiago de Compostela, and the Winchester Troper .
For information about specific composers or poets writing during the early medieval
period, see Pope Gregory I, St. Godric, Hildegard of Bingen, Hucbald, Notker Balbulus ,
Odo of Arez z o , Odo of Cluny , and Tutilo.
Liturgical drama
Main article: Liturgical drama
Another musical tradition of Europe originating during the early Middle Ages was the
liturgical drama. In its original form, it may represent a survival of Roman drama with
Christian stories - mainly the Gospel, the Passion, and the lives of the saints - grafted on.
Every part of Europe had some sort of tradition of musical or semi- musical drama in the
Middle Ages, involving acting, speaking, singing and instrumental accompaniment in
some combination. These dramas were probably performed by travelling actors and
musicians. Many have been preserved sufficiently to allow modern reconstruction and
performance (for example the Play of Daniel , which has been recently recorded).
Goliards
Main article: Goliards
The Goliards were itinerant poet- musicians of Europe from the tenth to the middle of the
thirteenth century. Most were scholars or ecclesiastics, and they wrote and sang in Latin.
Although many of the poems have survived, very little of the music has. They were
possibly influential — even decisively so — on the troubadour- trouvère tradition which
was to follow. Most of their poetry is secular and, while some of the songs celebrate
religious ideals, others are frankly profane, dealing with drunkenness, debauchery and
lechery.
High medieval music (1150-1300)
Ars antiqua
Main article: Ars antiqua
The flowering of the Notre Dame school of polyphony from around 1150 to 1250
corresponded to the equally impressive achievements in Gothic architecture: indeed the
centre of activity was at the cathedral of Notre Dame itself. Sometimes the music of this
period is called the Parisian school, or Parisian organum, and represents the beginning of
what is conventionally known as Ars antiqua. This was the period in which rhythmic
notation first appeared in western music, mainly a context- based method of rhythmic
notation known as the rhythmic modes.
This was also the period in which concepts of formal structure developed which were
attentive to proportion, texture, and architectural effect. Composers of the period
alternated florid and discant organum (more note- against- note, as opposed to the
succession of manynote melismas against long- held notes found in the florid type), and
created several new musical forms: clausulae, which were melismatic sections of organa
extracted and fitted with new words and further musical elaboration; conductus, which
was a song for one or more voices to be sung rhythmically, most likely in a procession of
some sort; and tropes, which were additions of new words and sometimes new music to
sections of older chants. All of these genres save one were based upon chant; that is, one
of the voices, (usually three, though sometimes four) nearly always the lowest (the tenor
at this point) sang a chant melody, though with freely composed note- lengths, over
which the other voices sang organum. The exception to this method was the conductus, a
two- voice composition that was freely composed in its entirety.
The motet, one of the most important musical forms of the high Middle Ages and
Renaissance, developed initially during the Notre Dame period out of the clausula,
especially the form using multiple voices as elaborated by Pérotin, who paved the way
for this particularly by replacing many of his predecessor (as canon of the cathedral)
Léonin's lengthy florid clausulae with substitutes in a discant style.
Gradually, there came to be entire books of these substitutes, available to be fitted in and
out of the various chants.
Since, in fact, there were more than can possibly have been used in context, it is probable
that the clausulae came to be performed independently, either in other parts of the mass,
or in private devotions. The clausulae, thus practised, became the motet when troped with
non- liturgical words, and were further developed into a form of great elaboration,
sophistication and subtlety in the fourteenth century, the period of Ars nova. Surviving
manuscripts from this era include the Codex Montpellier, Codex Bamberg, and El Codex
musical de Las Huelgas. Composers of this time include Léonin, Pérotin, W. de
Wycombe, Adam de St. Victor, and Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix). Petrus is
credited with the innovation of writing more than three semibreves to fit the length of a
breve.
Coming before the innovation of imperfect tempus, this practice inaugurated the era of
what are now called "Petronian" motets. These late 13th- century works are in three to
four parts and have multiple texts sung simultaneously. Originally, the tenor line (from
the Latin tenere, "to hold") held a preexisting liturgical chant line in the original Latin,
while the text of the one, two, or even three voices above, called the voces organales,
provided commentary on the liturgical subject either in Latin or in the vernacular French.
The rhythmic values of the voces organales decreased as the parts multiplied, with the
duplum (the part above the tenor) having smaller rhythmic values than the tenor, the
triplum (the line above the duplum) having smaller rhythmic values than the duplum, and
so on. As time went by, the texts of the voces organales became increasingly secular in
nature and had less and less overt connection to the liturgical text in the tenor line.
The Petronian motet is a highly complex genre, given its mixture of several semibreve
breves with rhythmic modes and sometimes (with increasing frequency) substitution of
secular songs for chant in the tenor. Indeed, ever- increasing rhythmic complexity would
be a fundamental characteristic of the 14th century, though music in France, Italy, and
England would take quite different paths during that time.
Troubadours and trouvères
Main article: troubadours
The music of the troubadours and trouvères was a vernacular tradition of monophonic
secular song, probably accompanied by instruments, sung by professional, occasionally
itinerant, musicians who were as skilled as poets as they were singers and
instrumentalists.
The language of the troubadours was Occitan (also known as the langue d'oc, or
Provençal); the language of the trouvères was Old French (also known as langue d'oil).
The period of the troubadours corresponded to the flowering of cultural life in Provence
which lasted through the twelfth century and into the first decade of the thirteenth.
Typical subjects of troubadour song were war, chivalry and courtly love. The period of
the troubadours wound down after the Albigensian Crusade, the fierce campaign by Pope
Innocent III to eliminate the Cathar heresy (and northern barons' desire to appropriate the
wealth of the south).
Surviving troubadours went either to Portugal,Spain, northern Italy or northern France
(where the trouvère tradition lived on), where their skills and techniques\ contributed to
the later developments of secular musical culture in those places. The music of the
trouvères was similar to that of the troubadours, but was able to survive into the thirteenth
century unaffected by the Albigensian Crusade.
Most of the more than two thousand surviving trouvère songs include music, and show a
sophistication as great as that of the poetry it accompanies. The Minnesinger tradition
was the Germanic counterpart to the activity of the troubadours and trouvères to the west.
Unfortunately, few sources survive from the time; the sources of Minnesang are mostly
from two or three centuries after the peak of the movement, leading to some controversy
over their accuracy. Among the Minnesingers with surviving music are Wolfram von
Eschenbach, Walther von der Vogelweide, and Niedhart von Reuenthal.
Troubadours wit h surviving melodies
Aimeric de Belenoi
Aimeric de Peguilhan
Albertet de Sestaro
Arnaut Daniel
Arnaut de Maruoill
Beatritz de Dia
Berenguier de Palaz ol
Bernart de Ventadorn
Bertran de Born
Blacasset
Cadenet
Daude de Pradas
Denis of Portugal
Folquet de Marselha
Gaucelm Faidit
Gui d'Ussel
Guilhem Ademar
Guilhem Augier Novella
Guilhem Magret
Guilhem de Saint Leidier
Guiraut de Bornelh
Guiraut d'Espanha
Guiraut Riquier
Jaufre Rudel
Jordan Bonel
Marcabru
Monge de Montaudon
Peire d'Alvernhe
Peire Cardenal
Peire Raimon de Tolosa
Peire Vidal
Peirol
Perdigon
Pistoleta
Pons d'Ortaffa
Pons de Capduoill
Raimbaut d'Aurenga
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Raimon Jordan
Raimon de Miraval
Rigaut de Berbez ilh
Uc Brunet
Uc de Saint Circ
William IX of Aquitaine
France: Ars nova
Main article: Ars nova
The beginning of the Ars nova is one of the few clean chronological divisions in
medieval music, since it corresponds to the publication of the Roman de Fauvel, a huge
compilation of poetry and music, in 1310 and 1314. The Roman de Fauvel is a satire on
abuses in the medieval church, and is filled with medieval motets, lais, rondeaux and
other new secular forms. While most of the music is anonymous, it contains several
pieces by Philippe de Vitry, one of the first composers of the isorhythmic motet, a
development which distinguishes the fourteenth century.
The isorhythmic motet was perfected by Guillaume de Machaut, the finest composer of
the time. During the Ars nova era, secular music acquired a polyphonic sophistication
formerly found only in sacred music, a development not surprising considering the
secular character of the early Renaissance (while this music is typically considered
"medieval", the social forces that produced it were responsible for the beginning of the
literary and artistic Renaissance in Italy—the distinction between Middle Ages and
Renaissance is a blurry one, especially considering arts as different as music and
painting). The term "Ars nova" (new art, or new technique) was coined by Philippe de
Vitry in his treatise of that name (probably written in 1322), in order to distinguish the
practice from the music of the immediately preceding age.
The dominant secular genre of the Ars Nova was the chanson, as it would continue to be
in France for another two centuries. These chansons were composed in musical forms
corresponding to the poetry they set, which were in the so- called formes fixes of
rondeau, ballade, and virelai. These forms significantly affected the development of
musical structure in ways that are felt even today; for example, the ouvert-clos rhymescheme shared by all three demanded a musical realiz ation which contributed directly to
the modern notion of antecedent and consequent phrases. It was in this period, too, in
which began the long tradition of setting the mass ordinary.
This tradition started around mid- century with isolated or paired settings of Kyries,
Glorias, etc., but Machaut composed what is thought to be the first complete mass
conceived as one composition. The sound world of Ars Nova music is very much one of
linear primacy and rhythmic complexity. "Resting" intervals are the fifth and octave, with
thirds and sixths considered dissonances. Leaps of more than a sixth in individual voices
are not uncommon, leading to speculation of instrumental participation at least in secular
performance. Surviving French manuscripts include the Ivrea Codex and the Apt Codex .
For information about specific French composers writing in late medieval era, see Jehan
de Lescurel, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, Borlet, Solage, and François
Andrieu.
Italy: Trecento
Main article: Music of the Trecento
Most of the music of Ars nova was French in origin; however, the term is often loosely
applied to all of the music of the fourteenth century, especially to include the secular
music in Italy. There this period was often referred to as Trecento.
Italian music has always, it seems, been known for its lyrical or melodic character, and
this goes back to the 14th century in many respects. Italian secular music of this time
(what little surviving liturgical music there is, is similar to the French except for
somewhat different notation) featured what has been called the cantalina style, with a
florid top voice supported by two (or even one; a fair amount of Italian Trecento music is
for only two voices) that are more regular and slower moving. This type of texture
remained a feature of Italian music in the popular 15th and 16th century secular genres as
well, and was an important influence on the eventual development of the trio
texture that revolutioniz ed music in the 17th.
There were three main forms for secular works in the Trecento. One was the madrigal,
not the same as that of 150–250 years later, but with a verse/refrain- like form. Threeline stanz as, each with different words, alternated with a two- line ritornello, with the
same text at each appearance. Perhaps we can see the seeds of the subsequent lateRenaissance and Baroque ritornello in this device; it too returns again and again, recogniz
able each time, in contrast with its surrounding disparate sections. Another form, the
caccia ("chase,") was written for two voices in a canon at the unison. Sometimes, this
form also featured a ritornello, which was occasionally also in a canonic style. Usually,
the name of this genre provided a double meaning, since the texts of caccia were
primarily about hunts and related outdoor activities, or at least action- filled scenes. The
third main form was the ballata, which was roughly equivalent to the French virelai.
Surviving Italian manuscripts include the Squarcialupi Codex and the Rossi Codex. For
information about specific Italian composers writing in the late medieval era, see
Francesco Landini, Gherardello da Firenz e, Andrea da Firenz e, Lorenz o da Firenz e,
Giovanni da Firenz e (aka Giovanni da Cascia), Bartolino da Padova, Jacopo da Bologna,
Donato da Cascia, Lorenz o Masini, Niccolò da Perugia, and Maestro Piero.
Germany: Geisslerlieder
Main article: Geisslerlieder
The Geisslerlieder were the songs of wandering bands of flagellants, who sought to
appease the wrath of an angry God by penitential music accompanied by mortification of
their bodies. There were two separate periods of activity of Geisslerlied: one around the
middle of the thirteenth century, from which, unfortunately, no music survives (although
numerous lyrics do); and another from 1349, for which both words and music survive
intact due to the attention of a single priest who wrote about the movement and recorded
its music.
This second period corresponds to the spread of the Black Death in Europe, and
documents one of the most terrible events in European history. Both periods of
Geisslerlied activity were mainly in Germany.
There was also French- influenced polyphony written in German areas at this time, but it
was somewhat less sophisticated than its models. In fairness to the mostly anonymous
composers of this repertoire, however, most of the surviving manuscripts seem to have
been copied with extreme incompetence, and are filled with errors that make a truly
thorough evaluation of the music's quality impossible.
Mannerism and Ars subtilior
Main article: Ars subtilior
As often seen at the end of any musical era, the end of the medieval era is marked by a
highly manneristic style known as Ars subtilior . In some ways, this was an attempt to
meld the French and Italian styles. This music was highly styliz ed, with a rhythmic
complexity that was not matched until the 20th century. In fact, not only was the
rhythmic complexity of this repertoire largely unmatched for five and a half centuries,
with extreme syncopations, mensural trickery, and even examples of augenmusik (such as
a chanson by Baude Cordier written out in manuscript in the shape of a heart), but also its
melodic material was quite complex as well, particularly in its interaction with the
rhythmic structures. Already discussed under Ars Nova has been the practice of
isorhythm, which continued to develop through late- century and in fact did not achieve
its highest degree of sophistication until early in the 15th century. Instead of using
isorhythmic techniques in one or two voices, or trading them among voices, some works
came to feature a pervading isorhythmic texture which rivals the integral serialism of the
20th century in its systematic ordering of rhythmic and tonal elements. The term
"mannerism" was applied by later scholars, as it often is, in response to an impression of
sophistication being practised for its own sake, a malady which some authors have felt
infected the Ars subtilior .
One of the most important extant sources of Ars Subtilior chansons is the Chantilly
Codex. For information about specific composers writing music in Ars subtilior style, see
Anthonello de Caserta, Philippus de Caserta (aka Philipoctus de Caserta), Johannes
Ciconia, Matteo da Perugia, Lorenz o da Firenz e, Grimace, Jacob Senleches, and Baude
Cordier.
Transitioning to the Renaissance
Demarcating the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the Renaissance, with
regard to the composition of music, is problematic. While the music of the fourteenth
century is fairly obviously medieval in conception, the music of the early fifteenth
century is often conceived as belonging to a transitional period, not only retaining some
of the ideals of the end of the Middle Ages (such as a type of polyphonic writing in which
the parts differ widely from each other in character, as each has its specific textural
function), but also showing some of the characteristic traits of the Renaissance (such as
the international style developing through the diffusion of Franco- Flemish musicians
throughout Europe, and in terms of texture an increasing equality of parts).
Music historians do not agree on when the Renaissance era began, but most historians
agree that England was still a medieval society in the early fifteenth century (see a
discussion of periodiz ation issues of the Middle Ages). While there is no consensus,
1400 is a useful marker, because it was around that time that the Renaissance came into
full swing in Italy.
The increasing reliance on the interval of the third as a consonance is one of the most
pronounced features of transition into the Renaissance. Polyphony, in use since the 12th
century, became increasingly elaborate with highly independent voices throughout the
14th century. With John Dunstable and other English composers, partly through the local
technique of faburden (an improvisatory process in which a chant melody and a written
part predominantly in parallel sixths above it are ornamented by one sung in perfect
fourths below the latter, and which later took hold on the continent as "fauxbordon"), the
interval of the third emerges as an important musical development; because of this
Contenance Angloise ("English countenance"), English composers' music is often
regarded as the first to sound less truly biz arre to modern, unschooled audiences. English
stylistic tendencies in this regard had come to fruition and began to influence continental
composers as early as the 1420s, as can be seen in works of the young Dufay, among
others. While the Hundred Years' War continued, English nobles, armies, their chapels
and retinues, and therefore some of their composers, travelled in France and performed
their music there; it must also of course be remembered that the English controlled
portions of northern France at this time. English manuscripts include the Worcester
Fragments , the Old St. Andrews Music Book, the Old Hall Manuscript, and Egerton
Manuscript.
For information about specific composers who are considered transitional between the
medieval and the Renaissance, see Zacara da Teramo, Paolo da Firenz e, Giovanni Maz z
uoli, Antonio da Cividale, Antonius Romanus, Bartolomeo da Bologna, Roy Henry,
Arnold de Lantins, Leonel Power, and John Dunstaple. Study and vocational trainingThe
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, university for old music in Basel, Switz erland, provides
the only full- time practical study course for the music of the Middle Ages. A two- year
vocational training for musicians is offered at the academy Burg Fürsteneck in Germany.
Distinguished expert Kees Boeke coordinates a new Master of Music- Musik des
Mittelalters und des Renaissance for both singers and instrumentalists in the Staatliche
Hochschule für Musik Trossingen , also in Germany.
Influence in contemporary music The influence of medieval music can be seen in
classical music (as example, Johannes Brahms). It influenced the classical rock since
1950 to 1970, what can be seen in music as The House of the Rising Sun and Stay Away,
Joe . In Berlin, 1989, a mix of medieval music and heavy metal created the band Corvus
Corax, that called the style "Mittelalter metal", or Medieval rock, followed by In
Extremo, Subway to Sally, Morgenstern and others else.