Medieval music is a style of music that covers the 6th to 15th centuries AD. If we want to talk about the history of medieval music, we must say that this period is the first and longest period of Western music in history. This era ended during the Renaissance. This type of music focused on the church and had two genres, medieval church music, and non-church music. Most of the pieces left from medieval period music are classified as religious and church music.
During the period of the Middle Ages music, the church didn’t allow women to sing in church. Little boys were taught to sing church chants in church-affiliated schools.
Different stages of medieval music
The medieval time period music consisted of four stages in which music gradually developed. In the rest of the article, we will get to know these four steps briefly.
Monophonic chant
In early mediaeval music, classical music was in the form of monophonic chants. This means that the vocals had a single melodic line. These chants were religious therefore monks sang them in ceremonies such as Mass in the Catholic Church. Musicians called monophonic songs also plainchant and for instance, we can mention Gregorian chant medieval as the most famous of these chants.
Heterophonic and polyphonic chant
In the middle of the medieval period, the Western world experienced a great economic boom. During this period, the church did not lag behind these developments and grew significantly. Among the developments of the church during this period, we can mention polyphonic medieval church music. The church singers added the second part to the Gregorian chants. In medieval period music this voice moved as a second voice in parallel with the main melody in fourth or fifth intervals. Later, this form of church chant was called Organum.
It was in the 9th century that Organum was developed. Organum was a type of heterophonic chant that described two or more different voice lines and monks sang it according to measured rules. The organum, which composers formed during mediaeval music, we can consider as the initial form of counterpoint, which was the beginning of classical music harmony in today’s style.
The first polyphonic chants in the 13th century were very popular medieval era music under the title of motet. The composers of the Renaissance and Baroque eras continued to write motets appropriate to their period.
Medieval secular music
In the Middle age music, classical music had two main genres, religious and non-religious music. Medieval secular music became popular with the advent of the motet and people mostly sang in the vernacular. During the Middle Ages, as in any other age, people used music for entertainment and ceremonies.
In medieval music, Troubadours and Trouveres are some of the most important native non-Latin vocal treasures whose poems originated from courtly love, politics, and pastoral. The tradition of Troubadours first spread to the south of France and then to the north of France. They were itinerant musicians who played music with various instruments for ceremonies and celebrations and made a living in this way.
In Medieval secular music, the subjects of the poems included political satires, plays, love songs, and moral issues. Rhythms are unknown in secular music and were mostly syllabic.
Ars Nova
At the end of the Middle Ages, that is, in the 14th century, Ars Nova entered the field of medieval music in France. Ars Nova in Latin means new art and its style is secular. Classical music in the Ars Nova style was polyphonic. We can mention one of the greatest achievements of that time as innovation in rhythm.
With the emergence of the Ars Nova period in medieval music, musicians called the style of music in the past centuries Ars Antica. In Ares Nova style music, rhythms became more flexible, and musical sentences generally started and ended with fourth and fifth intervals.
Composers of the Middle Ages
Few works have been left from the middle age music, but we can mention the following people among the musicians and composers of the medieval period music.
Léonin: Léonin was a French composer who pioneered the polyphonic organum style. He is the greatest and most well-known composer in this style of medieval music and was the first member of the Notre Dame school. He lived and worked in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Pérotin: Pérotin was a French composer who was a contemporary of Léonen. Like Leonen, his compositions were in Notre Dame polyphonic style. Proton’s famous works include Salvatoris Hodie and Magnus liber organi.
Hildegard von Bingen: von Bingen was a German female composer who composed monophonic sacred chants for the Catholic Church. He worked as a composer, writer, and doctor in the Middle Ages. The most important works of Hilgard in medieval era music include Ordo virtutum, 43 antiphons, and 18 responsories.
Guillaume de Machaut: Guillaume de Machaut is one of the greatest French composers of the Ares Nova school. He also wrote many poems on secular subjects like love. Messe de Nostre Dame is one of his works.
medieval instruments
Although the medieval period music was vocal, musicians used several musical instruments also at that time. Many of the instruments of the Middle Ages were primitive forms of today’s instruments. For example, the flute was made of wood, and unlike today’s flute, which has complex keys, it only had a few holes. In the following, we will learn about some instruments from medieval times.
Vielle
The most important stringed instrument in medieval music was the vile, which is the earliest form of the modern violin. They had different shapes and sizes, but the most common one had five wires.
Hurdy-Gurdy
It has three wires and looks like a Vielle. There are keys on it that the musician can use to change the tuning of the strings.
Medieval trumpet
This instrument was made as a straight tube without a piston and it was not bent like the modern trumpet.
Conclusion
As we said in this article, medieval period music is the first and most primitive form of today’s classical music. With the progress and development of music in this era, the first pitches were written and polyphonic music was born. If you want to learn about other eras of classical music, you can refer to the article on the classical music eras on the Chang.education website.
