Mediaeval Music

Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissance music; the two eras comprise what musicologists generally term as early music, preceding the common practice period. Following the traditional division of the Middle Ages, medieval music can be divided into Early (500–1150), High (1000–1300), and Late (1300–1400) medieval music.

Medieval music includes liturgical music used for the church, and secular music, non-religious music; solely vocal music, such as Gregorian chant and choral music (music for a group of singers), solely instrumental music, and music that uses both voices and instruments (typically with the instruments accompanying the voices). Gregorian chant was sung by monks during Catholic Mass. The Mass is a reenactment of Christ's Last Supper, intended to provide a spiritual connection between man and God. Part of this connection was established through music.

During the medieval period the foundation was laid for the music notation and music theory practices that would shape Western music into the norms that developed during the Common Practice period of shared music writing practices which encompassed the Baroque era (1600–1750), Classical era (1750–1820) and Romantic era (1800–1910). The most significant of these is the development of a comprehensive music notational system which enabled composers to write out their song melodies and instrumental pieces on parchment or paper. Prior to the development of musical notation, songs and pieces had to be learned "by ear", from one person who knew a song to another person. This greatly limited how many people could be taught new music and how wide music could spread to other regions or countries. The development of music notation made it easier to disseminate (spread) songs and musical pieces to a larger number of people and to a wider geographic area. However the theoretical advances, particularly in regard to rhythm—the timing of notes—and polyphony—using multiple, interweaving melodies at the same time—are equally important to the development of Western music.

Overview

Genres

Medieval music was composed and, for some vocal and instrumental music, improvised for many different music genres (styles of music). Medieval music created for sacred (church use) and secular (non-religious use) was typically written by composers, except for some sacred vocal and secular instrumental music which was improvised (made up on the spot). During the earlier medieval period, the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant done by monks, was monophonic ("monophonic" means a single melodic line, without a harmony part or instrumental accompaniment). Polyphonic genres, in which multiple independent melodic lines are performed simultaneously, began to develop during the high medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th and early 14th century. The development of polyphonic forms, with different voices interweaving, is often associated with the late medieval Ars nova style which flourished in the 1300s. The Ars Nova, which means "new art", was an innovative style of writing music that served as a key transition from the medieval music style to the more expressive styles of the post-1400s Renaissance music era.

The earliest innovations upon monophonic plainchant were heterophonic. "Heterophony" is the performance of the same melody by two different performers at the same time, in which each performer slightly alters the ornaments they are using. Another simple form of heterophony is for singers to sing the same shape of melody, but with one person singing the melody and a second person singing the melody at a higher or lower pitch. Organum, for example, expanded upon plainchant melody using an accompanying line, sung at a fixed interval (often a perfect fifth or perfect fourth away from the main melody), with a resulting alternation between a simple form of polyphony and monophony. The principles of organum date back to an anonymous 9th century tract, the ''Musica enchiriadis'', 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. The motet would become the most popular form of medieval polyphony. While early motets were liturgical or sacred (designed for use in a church service), by the end of the thirteenth century the genre had expanded to include secular topics, such as courtly love. Courtly love was the respectful veneration of a lady from afar by an amorous, noble man. Many popular motets had lyrics about a man's love and adoration of beautiful, noble and much-admired woman.

The medieval motet developed during the Renaissance music era (after 1400). During the Renaissance, the Italian secular genre of the Madrigal became popular. Similar to the polyphonic character of the motet, madrigals featured greater fluidity and motion in the leading melody line. The madrigal form also gave rise to polyphonic canons (songs in which multiple singers sing the same melody, but starting at different times), especially in Italy where they were called ''caccie.'' These were three-part secular pieces, which featured the two higher voices in canon, with an underlying instrumental long-note accompaniment.

Finally, purely instrumental music also developed during this period, both in the context of a growing theatrical tradition and for court performances for the aristocracy. 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.

Instruments

Many instruments used to perform medieval music still exist in the 21st century, but in different and typically more technologically developed forms. The flute was made of wood in the medieval era rather than silver or other metal, and could be made as a side-blown or end-blown instrument. While modern orchestral flutes are usually made of metal and have complex key mechanisms and airtight pads, medieval flutes had holes that the performer had to cover with the fingers (as with the recorder). The recorder was made of wood during the medieval era, and despite the fact that in the 21st century it may be made of synthetic materials such as plastic, it has more or less retained its past form. The gemshorn is similar to the recorder as it has 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 used many plucked string instruments like the lute, a fretted instrument with a pear-shaped hollow body which is the predecessor to the modern guitar. Other plucked stringed instruments included the mandore, gittern, citole and psaltery. The dulcimers, similar in structure to the psaltery and zither, were originally plucked, but musicians began to strike the dulcimer with hammers in the 14th century after the arrival of new metal technology that made metal strings possible.

The bowed lyra of the Byzantine Empire was the first recorded European bowed string instrument. Like the modern violin, a performer produced sound by moving a bow with tensioned hair over tensioned strings. The Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih of the 9th century (d. 911) cited the Byzantine lyra, in his lexicographical discussion of instruments as a bowed instrument equivalent to the Arab rabāb and typical instrument of the Byzantines along with the ''urghun'' (organ), ''shilyani'' (probably a type of harp or lyre) and the ''salandj'' (probably a bagpipe). 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 jew's harp were also popular. Early versions of the pipe organ, fiddle (or vielle), and a precursor to the modern trombone (called the sackbut) were used.

Notation

During the medieval period the foundation was laid for the notational and theoretical practices that would shape Western music into the norms that developed during the common practice era. The most obvious of these is the development of a comprehensive music notational system; however the theoretical advances, particularly in regard to rhythm and polyphony, are equally important to the development of Western music.

The earliest medieval music did not have any kind of notational system. The tunes were primarily monophonic (a single melody without accompaniment) and transmitted by oral tradition. As Rome tried to centralize the various liturgies and establish the Roman rite as the primary church tradition the need to transmit these chant melodies across vast distances effectively was equally glaring. So long as music could only be taught to people "by ear," it limited the ability of the church to get different regions to sing the same melodies, since each new person would have to spend time with a person who already knew a song and learn it "by ear." The first step to fix this problem came with the introduction of various signs written above the chant texts to indicate direction of pitch movement, 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 of the voice. A singer reading a chant text with neume markings would be able to get a general sense of whether the melody line went up in pitch, stayed the same, or went down in pitch. Since trained singers knew the chant repertoire well, written neume markings above the text served as a reminder of the melody but did not specify the actual intervals. However, a singer reading a chant text with neume markings would not be able to sight read a song which he or she had never heard sung before; these pieces would not be possible to interpret accurately today without later versions in more precise notation systems.

These neumes 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. Thus 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. These new ''neumes''—called ligatures—are essentially combinations of the two original signs.

The first music notation was the use of dots over the lyrics to a chant, with some dots being higher or lower, giving the reader a general sense of the direction of the melody. However, this form of notation only served as a memory aid for a singer who already knew the melody. 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 size 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 to the earlier ones. 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. The completion of the four-line staff is usually credited to Guido d' Arezzo (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.

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 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 ''ligature''s (the characteristic notations by which groups of notes are bound to one 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 recognized 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 perfectum''), with ternary subdivision, or "imperfect" (''tempus imperfectum''), 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 perfectum'' was indicated by a circle, while ''tempus imperfectum'' was denoted by a half-circle (the current symbol , used as an alternative for the time signature, is actually a holdover of this symbol, not a letter ''C'' as 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 (or 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, characterized 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 mensurations simultaneously. The rhythmic complexity that was realized in this music is comparable to that in the 20th century.

Polyphony

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 textural 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 octave-plus-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 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 Afflighemensis. In his work he describes three defining elements to each mode: the final (or ''finalis)'', the reciting tone (''tenor'' or ''confinalis''), and the range (or ''ambitus''). The ''finalis'' is the tone that serves as the focal point for the mode and, as the name suggests, is almost always used as the final tone. The reciting tone is the tone that serves as the primary focal point in the melody (particularly internally). It is generally also the tone most often repeated in the piece, and finally the range delimits the upper and lower 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 B 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 Byzantine tradition. This system is called ''octoechos'' 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 Arezzo, 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 (500–1000)

Early chant traditions

Chant (or plainsong) is a monophonic sacred (single, unaccompanied melody) form which represents the earliest known music of the Christian church. Chant developed separately in several European centres. Although the most important were Rome, Hispania, Gaul, Milan, and Ireland, there were others as well. These styles were all developed to support the regional liturgies used when celebrating the Mass there. Each area developed its own chant and rules for celebration. In Spain and Portugal, Mozarabic chant was used and shows the influence of North African music. The Mozarabic 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 AD 1011, the Roman Catholic Church wanted to standardize the Mass and chant across its empire. At this time, Rome was the religious centre of western Europe, and Paris was the political centre. The standardization effort consisted mainly of combining these two (Roman and Gallican) regional liturgies. Pope Gregory I (540–604) and Charlemagne (742–814) sent trained singers throughout the Holy Roman Empire (800, 962–1806) to teach this new form of chant. This body of chant became known as Gregorian Chant, named after Pope Gregory I. 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 Mozarabic chant in a few specially designated Spanish chapels. Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) was one of the earliest known female composers. She wrote many monophonic works for the Catholic Church, almost all of them for female voices.

Early polyphony: organum

Around the end of the 9th century, singers in monasteries such as St. Gall in Switzerland 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 counterpoint and, ultimately, harmony. 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 emphasizing 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, the Magnus Liber, 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 Arezzo, Odo of Cluny, and Tutilo.

Liturgical drama

Another musical tradition of Europe originating during the early Middle Ages was the liturgical drama.

Liturgical drama developed possibly in the 10th century from the tropes—poetic embellishments of the liturgical texts. One of the tropes, the so-called Quem Quaeritis, belonging to the liturgy of Easter morning, developed into a short play around the year 950. The oldest surviving written source is the Winchester Troper. Around the year 1000 it was sung widely in Northern Europe.

Shortly, a similar Christmas play was developed, musically and textually following the Easter one, and other plays followed.

There is a controversy among musicologists as to the instrumental accompaniment of such plays, given that the stage directions, very elaborate and precise in other respects, do not request any participation of instruments. These dramas were performed by monks, nuns and priests. In contrast to secular plays, which were spoken, the liturgical drama was always sung. Many have been preserved sufficiently to allow modern reconstruction and performance (for example the ''Play of Daniel'', which has been recently recorded at least ten times).

High medieval music (1000–1300)

Goliards

The Goliards were itinerant poet-musicians of Europe from the tenth to the middle of the thirteenth century. Most were scholars or ecclesiastic