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Music History- Periods of Music: Medieval Period
History of Western European Classical Music: Medieval Music
Author:Caleb Fortune
Edu Level: CSEC
Date: Dec 18, 2024
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PERIODS OF MUSIC
Music history is vast and spans thousands of years and across many civilizations, contributing to distinct styles, forms and innovations of the art form. This note seeks to provide an overview of the main periods in Western Classical music History, with examples of composers and key works from each period.
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
The medieval period of music spanned from the fall of the Roman Empire through the early Renaissance (500 AD-1400 AD). It laid the foundation for Western Classical music. Medieval music was centred around the church and deeply tied to the religious and social contexts of the time.
History of Medieval Music:
- Gregorian Chant:
The Gregorian Chant is the most popular form of Medieval Music and was primarily used by the Catholic Church for liturgical purposes. Created by Pope Gregory I, the Gregorian Chant was unaccompanied, monophonic singing, typically sung by monks. This style of singing is referred to as a plainchant or a plainsong. The melodies were primarily in Latin and followed specific liturgical texts, sung for the Mass and the Divine office. The chants were performed in a free rhythm, without a regular meter and were sung in a melismatic style (many notes were assigned to each syllable).
The following link is an example of the Gregorian Chant:
- Development of Heterophonic and Polyphonic Texture:
During the latter years of the Medieval period, music became more mainstream and the plainchant/plainsong developed into an organum which is a plainchant melody that added a second voice to the monophonic chant to enhance the harmony. Furthermore, in the 13th century, a motet developed. A motet was a polyphonic style of singing in which additional vocal lines were added against a main melody.
- Development of Secular Music:
As the Medieval period progressed, music shifted from solely for a sacred purpose, to more secular purposes such as love. Troubadours which were French, medieval, lyric poets, travelled across Europe and sang secular plainsongs.
The following is an example of the music of troubadours:
Characteristics of music in the Medieval Period:
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Monophonic Music | Until the end of the Medieval period, the majority of the music was monophonic, meaning it consisted of a single melody without any harmonic accompaniment or counterpoint. This made it relatively simple, as only one melody line was sung or played at a time. |
| Rhythmic Modes |
The concept of rhythmic modes was a key development in Medieval music. These rhythmic patterns were used to structure the rhythm of early polyphonic music, especially in organum. Rhythmic modes provided a way to organize rhythm in a time when exact notation for rhythm had not yet fully developed.
Before rhythmic modes, Medieval music consisted mainly of a free rhythm where the rhythm followed the natural flow of the text without strict time signatures or measures. |
| Ligature Music Notation | A ligature was a group of notes (usually two or more) written as a single unit. They were typically connected by a horizontal line or beam. The ligature indicated that the notes were to be sung or played together as part of the same rhythmic grouping. The exact rhythm (whether the notes were to be sung quickly or slowly) would depend on the type of ligature used, which reflected the rhythmic mode or style of the music. |
| Little to no Instrumentation | In early Medieval music, music was predominantly vocal, as seen by the Gregorian Chant. However, as secular music developed, instruments were added to Medieval music. These instruments include the lyre, harp, lute, rebec, vielle, tambourine, bells, tabour, organ, and crumhorn. |
Notable Medieval Composers and Medieval Pieces:
- Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) (540 AD-604 AD): Credited for organizing and codifying the Gregorian Chant, eg.) “Kyrie”, “Gloria”, “Sanctus”.
- Léonin (1150 AD-1201 AD): One of the first known composers of polyphonic music and a key figure in the Notre Dame School in Paris, eg.) “Viderunt omnes”
- Pérotin (Late 12th Century-Early 13th Century): He succeeded Léonin at the Notre Dame School and is credited for further developing polyphony. Helped to establish rhythmic nodes, eg,) “Sederunt principes”
- Hildegard von Bingen (1098 AD-1179 AD): A prolific female composer, a Benedictine abbess and a mystic. Her compositions are notable for the melismatic style, particularly in liturgical works, eg.) “O vis aeternitatis”