Music in the Middle Ages The Middle Ages, also known as the medieval period, began around 450 A.D. with the fall of the Roman empire and lasted until 1450 A.D. , the rise of Renaissance. During the middle ages, the Catholic Church was one of the most powerful and influential institution in society; music was also centered around the church, thus, sacred music was the prevalent music. Much of the medieval music was vocal. In the early years of the medieval period, many music manuscripts do not indicate tempos, dynamics, instruments, nor rhythms. Nonetheless, the Middle Ages was one of the significant period through the history of music. Beginning with Gregorian chant, to the development of polyphonic music called organum, to secular music in the fourteenth century, the changes in musical style during the period lie the foundation of the traditions of the current western music. For over 1000 years, Gregorian chant was the official music of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant is a monophonic, one-line music that is sung in Latin by men without accompaniment. Its rhythm is known for its flexibility and free- flow because there are no meter notated in the music manuscripts to indicate the definite time value. The music is sung in a …show more content…
She was the first woman composer whose works have survived. One of her well-known work is O successores, one of the highly expressive example of Gregorian chant. It was originally composed to be sung by the nuns in Hildegard’s convent. This chant is notated as a single melodic line, without accompaniment. The melody is set to sing one to four notes per syllable, and only at the end, the final syllable is sung with many notes. This creates a sense of progression as it moves towards the end of the song. Hildegard’s chant has a larger range of pitch and more wide leaps, which creates a greater feeling of motion as the progresses to the climax near the
Gregorian Chants have been around for the longest time, the music is a form of monks getting together and singing and they sang like church like choirs with a magnificent sound. Monks had skills behind this because of rhythm and their accents were soft. Being that the monks had two or three notes or beats to go along with the better the process of singing these chants it became.
How would a clarinetist go about searching for a piece from the Medieval to the very end of the Baroque period? Well, that clarinetist should first realize that the repertoire from this timeframe is incredibly difficult to find on the internet. Not only that, the clarinet did not come into existence until around the 1700s, which would give it a mere fifty years in order to develop any sort of solo literature. So, how would one go about looking for early music to perform?
God. The chant was considered a very strict and functional type of music that was
The European middle ages lasted from the 5th century to the 15th century, which started the fall of the Western Roman Empire and moved to the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period were the divisions to the early, high, and late middle ages. The gothic awakening was in England during the 1750s, caused by the medieval forms. Medieval Europe was awakening from a feudal war and ignorance. The new way of learning was spread in the western society. In the gothic awakening age, towns and kingdoms flourished and built churches across Europe.
In this style of composition, it was very common for composers to use a Gregorian chant as a base to compose original pieces. As a general rule, the tenor voice sang the Gregorian chant, and the upper voices have new original material. Machaut followed this line by putting the chant Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes on the tenor voice in his piece; whereas, Philippe De Vitry composed original music for all voices. Although the piece by De Vitry is called a motet, it might be just labeled as a polyphonic composition since all the voices have original music.
The music was played very often as a normal routine. People considered it a must to know how to play an instrument, sing, or be involved somehow with music in this age of time. Instruments in the 1600’s were able to make any type of music; the amazing part was no matter how many instruments you used it would always sound pure and the same. Another unique thing about the music and culture in the 1600’s is that it was also healthy for the body. During the Elizabethan Era the people would gather together to dance and dance for hours, their stamina must have been incredible. Music was use to entertain most people. Before the music became a big part in people life during the Elizabethan Era theatre played a really big part during this time. It was out of the ordinary for women to take part in or be a part of the theatre during this period of time. Do to the fact that women were not allowed to play in any of the plays or drama, younger boys who were still young played the role of women.
Music has evolved too many different forms that we recognize today. We trace this development throughout time. Beginning in the middle ages, we have seen advancement from the Gregorian chant all the way to the Jazz of the 20th century. The current events, politics, religion, technology and composers can shape musical eras during time. Here I will look at the middle ages, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and twentieth century periods. I hope that a better understanding can be reached to why, when, where and who are the reasons for musical evolution.
“For over one thousand years the official music of the Roman Catholic church had been Gregorian Chant, which consists of melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung without accompaniment” (Kamien 67). The credit for developing Gregorian chant music, also known as plain...
Current western classical music did not occur overnight. It was a long process that had its beginnings in the sacred music of the Middle Ages. War, disease, famine, political unrest and advancements in science brought changes, to not only how music was perceived, but also in how it was presented, giving modern western classical music its rich history today.
WAS THE TIME PERIOD BETWEEN 400 AD AND 1400 AD A “DARK AGE” FOR EUROPE?
Taking a look back into our history, it is very hard to graze over the fact that music has reigned as one of the most influential components of artistic expression in our time. It has been a part of numerous peoples' lives across the globe since the beginning of time. Music has been able to not only define the people that craft it, but encompass and define a whole time period and culture in its own, leaving a very bold mark upon history. Two pieces of music that have played integral roles during their time are “In Paradisum” (by an anonymous individual) during the middle ages (600-1450), and “Same Love,” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert during the 21st century (2001-2100, specifically released in 2012). These musical pieces, although from two very different spectrums in history, share a few notable similarities, as well as some remarkable differences that embody the ever so changing sound of art in time.
McGee, Timothy J. Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer’s Guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985.
Music throughout the ages has changed dramatically. Starting in the Medieval period, from 400-1475, music was in the form of what is called the Gregorian chant. Instruments were very rarely used at this time. Since songs during this period were either troubadour or trouvere these chants had no real harmony. One example of this type of medieval composition is “Viderunt Omnes” by Leoninus. Like most Gregorian chants the texture of this piece is monophonic and polyphonic. “Viderunt Omnes” is a typical Gregorian chant in that it uses diatonic, not chromatic notes of the scale. Musical compositions during the Medieval period was made mostly by members of the church for the church. It was and is a very slow and steady movement that was meant to create a feeling of peace for worship purposes.
The medieval period references to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. to the beginning of the Renaissance in approximately the 15th century A.D. During this time period the Church ruled the people, there were only the rich versus the poor, and the every day life of common folk was consumed with the thought
Most of the early music that we have today still in print is primarily sacred music. This music, for the most part, is in the form of sections of the Mass, such as the Gloria, Kyrie and Agnus Dei. Most people of the Middle Ages were poor peasants who worked all day for meager wages and had no idle time lounging the way the upper classes did. Therefore, there are few extant secular compositions of music from this era. The rise of a new middle class, however, gave financial freedom for some people to spend time and money on entertainment in the form of music and dance. Thus, the rise of the middle classes also gave way to the rise in composition and performance of secular music, which became the music of choice for composers of that day.