8/9/2019 Aloha Music Medieval http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/aloha-music-medieval 1/25 Christian and Muslim playing lutesin a miniature from Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire in the fth century and ends sometime in the early fteenth century. Establishing the end of the medieal era and the beginning of theRenaissance is di!cult" the usage in this article is the one usually adopted by musicologists. A musician plays theielle in a fourteenth#century Medieal manuscript $nstruments used to perform medieal music still e%ist& but in di'erent forms. The (ute was once made of wood rather than siler or other metal& and could be made as a side#blown or end#blown instrument. The recorder has more or less retained its past form. Thegemshorn is similar to the recorder in haing nger holes on its front& though it is actually a member of the ocarina family. )ne of the (ute*s predecessors& the pan (ute& was popular in medieal times& and is possibly
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of +ellenic origin. This instrument*s pipes were made of wood& and were graduated
in length to produce di'erent pitches.
Medieal music uses many pluc,ed string instruments li,e
the lute& mandore& gittern and psaltery. The dulcimers& similar in structure to
the psaltery and -ither& were originally pluc,ed& but became struc, in the /thcentury after the arrial of the new technology that made metal strings possible.
The bowed lyra of the 0y-antine Empire was the rst recorded European bowed
string instrument. The 1ersian geographer $bn 2hurradadhbih of the 3th century 4d.
35 cited the 0y-antine lyra& in his le%icographical discussion of instruments as a
bowed instrument e6uialent to the Arab rab7b and typical instrument of the
0y-antines along with the urghun 4organ5& shilyani 4probably a type of harp or lyre5
and the salandj 4probably a bagpipe5.89 The hurdy#gurdy was 4and still is5 a
mechanical iolin using a rosined wooden wheel attached to a cran, to :bow: its
strings. $nstruments without sound bo%es li,e the ;aw harp were also popular in the
time. Early ersions of the organ& ddle 4or ielle5& and trombone 4calledthe sac,but5 e%isted.
Genres8edit9
Further information: Gregorian chant , Ars nova, Organum, Motet , Madrigal, Canon
(music) and allata
Medieal music was both sacred and secular.8<9 =uring the earlier medieal period&
the liturgical genre& predominantly >regorian chant& was monophonic.8?9 1olyphonic genres began to deelop during the high medieal era& becoming
prealent by the later ?th and early /th century. The deelopment of such forms
is often associated with the Ars noa.
The earliest innoations upon monophonic plainchant were heterophonic.
The )rganum& for e%ample& e%panded upon plainchant melody using an
accompanying line& sung at a %ed interal& with a resulting alternation between
polyphony and monophony.8/9 The principles of the organum date bac, to an
anonymous 3th century tract& the Musica enchiriadis& which established the
tradition of duplicating a pree%isting plainchant in parallel motion at the interal of
an octae& a fth or a fourth.8@9
)f greater sophistication was the motet& which deeloped from the clausula genre
of medieal plainchant and would become the most popular form of medieal
polyphony.89 While early motets were liturgical or sacred& by the end of the
thirteenth century the genre had e%panded to include secular topics& such as courtly
loe.
=uring the Renaissance& the $talian secular genre of the Madrigal also became
popular. Bimilar to the polyphonic character of the motet& madrigals featured
greater (uidity and motion in the leading line. The madrigal form also gae rise
to canons& especially in $taly where they were composed under the
title Caccia! These were three#part secular pieces& which featured the two higher
oices in canon& with an underlying instrumental long#note accompaniment. 89
Dinally& purely instrumental music also deeloped during this period& both in theconte%t of a growing theatrical tradition and for court consumption. =ance music&
often improised around familiar tropes& was the largest purely instrumental genre.89 The secular 0allata& which became ery popular in Trecento $taly& had its origins&
for instance& in medieal instrumental dance music.839
Theory and notation8edit9
=uring the Medieal period the foundation was laid for the notational and
theoretical practices that would shape western music into what it is today. The most
obious of these is the deelopment of a comprehensie notational system"
howeer the theoretical adances& particularly in regard to rhythm and polyphony&are e6ually important to the deelopment of western music.
Notation8edit9
The earliest Medieal music did not hae any ,ind of notational system. The tunes
were primarily monophonic and transmitted by oral tradition.8F9 +oweer& this form
of notation only sered as a memory aid for a singer who already ,new the melody.89 Also& as Rome tried to centrali-e the arious liturgies and establish the Roman
rite as the primary tradition the need to transmit these chant ideas across ast
distances e'ectiely was e6ually glaring.8<9 The rst step to % this problem came
with the introduction of arious signs written aboe the chant te%ts& called neumes.8?9 The origin of neumes is unclear and sub;ect to some debate" howeer& most
scholars agree that their closest ancestors are the classic >ree, and Roman
grammatical signs that indicated important points of declamation by recording the
rise and fall of the oice.8/9 The two basic signs of the classical grammarians were
the acutus& G& indicating a raising of the oice& and the gravis& H& indicating a
lowering. These eentually eoled into the basic symbols for neumatic notation&
the virga 4or :rod:5 which indicates a higher note and still loo,ed li,e
the acutus from which it came" and the "unctum 4or :dot:5 which indicates a lower
note and& as the name suggests& reduced the gravis symbol to a point.8/9 These
the acutus and the graviscould be combined to represent graphical ocal in(ections
on the syllable 8@9 This ,ind of notation seems to hae deeloped no earlier than theeighth century& but by the ninth it was rmly established as the primary method of
musical notation.89 The basic notation of the virga and the "unctum remained the
symbols for indiidual notes& but other neumes soon deeloped which showed
seeral notes ;oined together. These new neumesIcalled ligaturesIare essentially
combinations of the two original signs.89 This basic neumatic notation could only
specify the number of notes and whether they moed up or down. There was no
way to indicate e%act pitch& any rhythm& or een the starting note. These limitations
are further indication that the neumes were deeloped as tools to support the
practice of oral tradition& rather than to supplant it. +oweer& een though it started
as a mere memory aid& the worth of haing more specic notation soon became
eident.89
The ne%t deelopment in musical notation was :heighted neumes:& in
which neumes were carefully placed at di'erent heights in relation to each other.
This allowed the neumes to gie a rough indication of the si-e of a gien interal as
well as the direction. This 6uic,ly led to one or two lines& each representing a
particular note& being placed on the music with all of the neumes relating bac, to
them. At rst& these lines had no particular meaning and instead had a letter placed
at the beginning indicating which note was represented. +oweer& the lines
indicating middle C and the D a fth below slowly became most common. +aing
been at rst merely scratched on the parchment& the lines now were drawn in two
di'erent colored in,sJ usually red for D& and yellow or green for C. This was the
beginning of the musical sta' as we ,now it today. 89 The completion of the four#linesta' is usually credited to >uido dK Are--o 4c. FFF#F@F5& one of the most
important musical theorists of the Middle Ages. While older sources attribute the
deelopment of the sta' to >uido& some modern scholars suggest that he acted
more as a codier of a system that was already being deeloped. Either way& this
new notation allowed a singer to learn pieces completely un,nown to him in a much
shorter amount of time.8<9839 +oweer& een though chant notation had progressed
in many ways& one fundamental problem remainedJ rhythm.
The neumatic notational system& een in its fully deeloped state& did not clearly
dene any ,ind of rhythm for the singing of notes. 8<F9
Music theory8edit9
The music theory of the Medieal period saw seeral adances oer preious
practice both in regard to tonal material& te%ture& and rhythm.
Rhythm8edit9
Concerning rhythm& this period had seeral dramatic changes in both its conception
and notation. =uring the early Medieal period there was no method to notate
rhythm& and thus the rhythmical practice of this early music is sub;ect to heated
debate among scholars.8<F9 The rst ,ind of written rhythmic system deeloped
during the ?th century and was based on a series of modes. This rhythmic planwas codied by the music theorist Lohannes de >arlandia& author of the #e
Mensura$ili Musica 4c.<@F5& the treatise which dened and most completely
elucidated these rhythmic modes.8<9 $n his treatise Lohannes de >arlandia describes
si% s"ecies of mode& or si% di'erent ways in which longs and brees can be
arranged. Each mode establishes a rhythmic pattern in beats 4or tem"ora5 within a
common unit of threetem"ora 4a "erfectio5 that is repeated again and again.
semibree*s diision 4termed "rolation5 could be diided into
three minima 4 "rolatio "erfectus or ma;or prolation5 or two minima 4 "rolatio
im"erfectus or minor prolation5 and& at the higher leel& the longs diision
4called modus5 could be three or two brees 4modus "erfectus or perfect mode&
or modus im"erfectus or imperfect mode respectiely5.8<398?F9 itry too, this a step
further by indicating the proper diision of a gien piece at the beginning throughthe use of a :mensuration sign&: e6uialent to our modern :time signature.8?9 'em"us "erfectus was indicated by a circle& while tem"us im"erfectus was
denoted by a half#circle8?9 4our current :C: as a stand#in for the /G/ time signature is
actually a holdoer from this practice& not an abbreiation for :common time:& as
popularly belieed5. While many of these innoations are ascribed to itry& and
somewhat present in the Ars &ova treatise& it was a contemporaryIand personal
ac6uaintanceIof de itry& named Lohannes de Muris 4 Lehan des Mars5 who o'ered
the most comprehensie and systematic treatment of the new mensural innoations
of the Ars &ova8?<9 4for a brief e%planation of the mensural notation in general& see
the article Renaissance music5. Many scholars& citing a lac, of positie attributory
eidence& now consider :itry*s: treatise to be anonymous& but this does not
diminish its importance for the history of rhythmic notation. +oweer& this ma,es
the rst denitely identiable scholar to accept and e%plain the mensural system to
be de Muris& who can be said to hae done for it what >arlandia did for the rhythmic
modes.
Dor the duration of the medieal period& most music would be composed primarily in
perfect tempus& with special e'ects created by sections of imperfect tempus" there
is a great current controersy among musicologists as to whether such sections
were performed with a bree of e6ual length or whether it changed& and if so& at
what proportion. This Ars &ova style remained the primary rhythmical system untilthe highly syncopated wor,s of the Ars su$tilior at the end of the /th century&
characteri-ed by e%tremes of notational and rhythmic comple%ity. 8??9 This sub#
genera pushed the rhythmic freedom proided by Ars &ova to its limits& with some
compositions haing di'erent oices written in di'erent tempus signatures
simultaneously. The rhythmic comple%ity that was reali-ed in this music is
comparable to that in the <Fth century. 8?/9
Polyphony8edit9
)f e6ual importance to the oerall history of western music theory were the te%tural
changes that came with the adent of polyphony. This practice shaped westernmusic into the harmonically#dominated music that we ,now today.8?@9 The rst
accounts of this te%tual deelopment were found in two anonymous yet widely
circulated treatises on music& the Musica and the Scolica enchiriadis. These te%ts
are dated to sometime within the last half of the ninth century.8?9 The treatises
describe a techni6ue that seemed already to be well established in practice.8?9 This
early polyphony is based on three simple and three compound interals. The rst
group comprises fourths& fths& and octaes" while the second group has octae#
plus#fourths& octae#plus#fths& and double octaes.8?9 This new practice is gien the
name organum by the author of the treatises. 8?9 Organum can further be classied
depending on the time period in which it was written. The early organum as
described in the enchiriadis can be termed :strict organum: 8?9 Btrict organum can&
in turn& be subdiided into two typesJ dia"ente 4organum at the interal of a fth5
and diatesseron 4organum at the interal of a fourth5.8?9
+oweer& both of these,inds of strict organum had problems with the musical rules of the time. $f either of
them paralleled an original chant for too long 4depending on the mode5
a tritone would result.8?9 This problem was somewhat oercome with the use of a
second type of organum. This second style of organum was called :free organum:.
$ts distinguishing factor is that the parts did not hae to moe only in parallel
motion& but could also moe in obli6ue& or contrary motion. This made it much
easier to aoid the dreaded tritone.8?39 The nal style of organum that deeloped
was ,nown 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 (orid melismatic
line.8/F9 This nal ,ind of organum was also incorporated by the most famous
polyphonic composer of this timeIOPonin. +e united this style with
measured discant passages& which used the rhythmic modes to create the pinnacle
of organum composition.8/F9 This nal stage of organum is sometimes referred to
as Notre =ame school of polyphony& since that was where OPonin 4and his
student 1Protin5 were stationed. Durthermore& this ,ind of polyphony in(uenced all
subse6uent styles& with the later polyphonic genera of motets starting as a trope of
e%isting Notre =ame organums.
Another important element of Medieal music theory was the uni6ue tonal system
by which pitches were arranged and understood. =uring the Middle Ages& thissystematic arrangement of a series of whole steps and half steps& what we now call
a scale& was ,nown as a mode. The modal system wor,ed li,e the scales of today&
insomuch that it proided the rules and material for melodic writing. 8/9 The eight
as their nal are put into the groups "rotus& deuterus& tritus&
and tetrardus respectiely.8//9 These can then be diided further based on whether
the mode is :authentic: or :plagal.: These distinctions deal with the range of the
mode in relation to the nal. The authentic modes hae a range that is about an
octae 4one tone aboe or below is allowed5 and start on the nal& whereas the
plagal modes& while still coering about an octae& start a perfect fourth below theauthentic.8/@9 Another interesting aspect of the modal system is the uniersal
allowance for altering 0 to 0b no matter what the mode.8/9 The inclusion of this tone
has seeral uses& but one that seems particularly common is in order to aoid
melodic di!culties caused& once again& by the tritone.8/9
These ecclesiastical modes& although they hae >ree, names& hae little
relationship to the modes as set out by >ree, theorists. Rather& most of the
terminology seems to be a misappropriation on the part of the medieal
theorists8/<9 Although the church modes hae no relation to the ancient >ree,
modes& the oerabundance of >ree, terminology does point to an interesting
possible origin in the liturgical melodies of the 0y-antine tradition. This system iscalled otoechosand is also diided into eight categories& called echoi.8/9
Dor specic medieal music theorists& see alsoJ $sidore of Beille& Aurelian of
RPme& )do of Cluny& >uido of Are--o& +ermannus Contractus& Lohannes
Cotto4Lohannes AQighemensis5& Lohannes de Muris& Dranco of Cologne& Lohannes de
>arlandia 4Lohannes >allicus5& Anonymous $& Marchetto da 1adoa 4Marchettus of
1adua5& Lac6ues of OiSge& Lohannes de >rocheo& 1etrus de Cruce 41ierre de la Croi%5&
and 1hilippe de itry.
Early medieal music 4before @F58edit9
Early chant traditions8edit9
Main article: lainsong
See also: Gregorian chant
Chant 4or plainsong5 is a monophonic sacred form which represents the earliest
,nown music of the Christian church.
Chant deeloped separately in seeral European centres. Although the most
important were Rome& +ispania& >aul& Milan& and $reland& there were others as well.
These chants were all deeloped to support the regional liturgies used whencelebrating the Mass there. Each area deeloped its own chants and rules for
celebration. $n Bpain and 1ortugal& Mo-arabic chant was used and shows the
in(uence of North African music. The Mo-arabic liturgy een suried
through Muslimrule& though this was an isolated strand and this music was later
suppressed in an attempt to enforce conformity on the entire liturgy. $n
Milan& Ambrosian chant& named after Bt. Ambrose& was the standard&
while 0eneentan chant deeloped around 0eneento& another $talian liturgical
center. >allican chant was used in >aul& and Celtic chant in $reland and >reat
0ritain.
Around A= F& the Roman Catholic Church wanted to standardi-e the Mass and
chant. At this time& Rome was the religious centre of western Europe& and 1aris wasthe political centre. The standardi-ation e'ort consisted mainly of combining these
two 4Roman and >allican5 regional liturgies. This body of chant became ,nown as
>regorian Chant. 0y the <th and ?th centuries& >regorian chant had superseded
all the other Western chant traditions& with the e%ception of the Ambrosian chant in
Milan and the Mo-arabic chant in a few specially designated Bpanish chapels.
Early polyphony: organum8edit9
Main article: Organum
Around the end of the ninth century& singers in monasteries such as Bt.
>all in Bwit-erland began e%perimenting with adding another part to the chant&generally aoice in parallel motion& singing mostly in perfect fourths or fths aboe
the original tune 4see interal5. This deelopment is called organum and represents
the beginnings of harmony and& ultimately& of counterpoint. )er the ne%t seeral
centuries& organum deeloped in seeral ways.
The most signicant of these deelopments was the creation of :(orid organum:
around FF& sometimes ,nown as the school of Bt. Martial 4named after a
monastery in south#central Drance& which contains the best#presered manuscript of
this repertory5. $n :(orid organum: the original tune would be sung in long notes
while an accompanying oice would sing many notes to each one of the original&
often in a highly elaborate fashion& all the while emphasi-ing the
perfectconsonances 4fourths& fths and octaes5& as in the earlier organa. Oater
deelopments of organum occurred in England& where the interal of the third was
particularly faoured& and where organa were li,ely improised against an e%isting
chant melody& and at Notre =ame in 1aris& which was to be the centre of musical
creatie actiity throughout the thirteenth century.
Much of the music from the early medieal period is anonymous. Bome of the
names may hae been poets and lyric writers& and the tunes for which they wrote
words may hae been composed by others. Attribution of monophonic music of the
medieal period is not always reliable. Buriing manuscripts from this periodinclude theMusica Enchiriadis& Code% Cali%tinus of Bantiago de Compostela& and
the Winchester Troper.
Dor information about specic composers or poets writing during the early medieal
period& see 1ope >regory $& Bt. >odric& +ildegard of 0ingen& +ucbald& Not,er
0albulus& )do of Are--o& )do of Cluny& and Tutilo.
Another musical tradition of Europe originating during the early Middle Ages was
the liturgical drama. $n its original form& it may represent a surial of Roman drama
with Christian stories # mainly the >ospel& the 1assion& and the lies of the saints #grafted on. Eery part of Europe had some sort of tradition of musical or semi#
musical drama in the Middle Ages& inoling acting& spea,ing& singing and
instrumental accompaniment in some combination. These dramas were probably
performed by traelling actors and musicians. Many hae been presered
su!ciently to allow modern reconstruction and performance 4for e%ample the lay
of #aniel& which has been recently recorded5.
Goliards8edit9
Main article: Goliards
The >oliards 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 Oatin. Although many of the poems hae suried& ery little of the music
has. They were possibly in(uential I een decisiely so I on the troubadour#
trouSre tradition which was to follow. Most of their poetry is secular and& while
some of the songs celebrate religious ideals& others are fran,ly profane& dealing with
drun,enness& debauchery and lechery.
)ne of the most important e%tant sources of >oliards chansons is the Carmina
0urana.
+igh medieal music 4@F?FF58edit9
Ars antiqua8edit9
Main article: Ars anti-ua
The (owering of the Notre =ame school of polyphony from around @F to <@F
corresponded to the e6ually impressie achieements in >othic architectureJ indeed
the centre of actiity was at the cathedral of Notre =ame itself. Bometimes the
music of this period is called the 1arisian school& or 1arisian organum& and
represents the beginning of what is conentionally ,nown as Ars anti-ua. This was
the period in which rhythmic notation rst appeared in western music& mainly a
conte%t#based method of rhythmic notation ,nown as the rhythmic modes.
This was also the period in which concepts of formal structure deeloped which
were attentie to proportion& te%ture& and architectural e'ect. Composers of the
period alternated (orid and discant organum 4more note#against#note& as opposed
to the succession of many#note melismas against long#held notes found in the (orid
type5& and created seeral new musical formsJ clausulae& which
were melismatic sections of organa e%tracted and tted with new words and further
musical elaboration" conductus& which was a song for one or more oices to be sung
rhythmically& most li,ely 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 sae one were based upon chant" that is& one of the oices& 4usuallythree& though sometimes four5 nearly always the lowest 4the tenor at this point5
sang a chant melody& though with freely composed note#lengths& oer which the
other oices sang organum. The e%ception to this method was the conductus& a two#
oice composition that was freely composed in its entirety.
The motet& one of the most important musical forms of the high Middle Ages and
Renaissance& deeloped initially during the Notre =ame period out of the clausula&
especially the form using multiple oices as elaborated by 1Protin& who paed the
way for this particularly by replacing many of his predecessor 4as canon of the
cathedral5 OPonin*s lengthy (orid clausulae with substitutes in a discant style.
>radually& there came to be entire boo,s of these substitutes& aailable to be ttedin and out of the arious chants. Bince& in fact& there were more than can possibly
hae been used in conte%t& it is probable that the clausulae came to be performed
independently& either in other parts of the mass& or in priate deotions. The
clausulae& thus practised& became the motet when troped with non#liturgical words&
and were further deeloped into a form of great elaboration& sophistication and
subtlety in the fourteenth century& the period of Ars nova.
Buriing manuscripts from this era include the Montpellier Code%& 0amberg Code%&
and Oas +uelgas Code%.
Composers of this time include OPonin& 1Protin& W. de Wycombe& Adam de Bt. ictor&and 1etrus de Cruce 41ierre de la Croi%5. 1etrus is credited with the innoation of
writing more than three semibrees to t the length of a bree. Coming before the
innoation of imperfect tempus& this practice inaugurated the era of what are now
called :1etronian: motets. These late ?th#century wor,s are in three to four parts
and hae multiple te%ts sung simultaneously. )riginally& the tenor line 4from the
Oatin tenere& :to hold:5 held a pree%isting liturgical chant line in the original Oatin&
while the te%t of the one& two& or een three oices aboe& called the voces
organales& proided commentary on the liturgical sub;ect either in Oatin or in the
ernacular Drench. The rhythmic alues of the voces organales decreased as the
parts multiplied& with the du"lum 4the part aboe the tenor5 haing smallerrhythmic alues than the tenor& the tri"lum 4the line aboe the du"lum5 haing
smaller rhythmic alues than the du"lum& and so on. As time went by& the te%ts of
the voces organales became increasingly secular in nature and had less and less
oert connection to the liturgical te%t in the tenor line.8/39
The 1etronian motet is a highly comple% genre& gien its mi%ture of seeral
semibree brees with rhythmic modes and sometimes 4with increasing fre6uency5
The Minnesinger tradition was the >ermanic counterpart to the actiity of the
troubadours and trouSres to the west. _nfortunately& few sources surie from the
time" the sources of Minnesang are mostly from two or three centuries after the
pea, of the moement& leading to some controersy oer their accuracy. Among the
Minnesingers with suriing music are Wolfram on Eschenbach& Walther on der
ogelweide& and Niedhart on Reuenthal.
Trovadorismo8edit9
Main article: Galician/ortuguese lyric
$n the Middle Ages& >alician#1ortuguese was the language used in nearly all of $beria
for lyric poetry. Drom this language derie both modern >alician and 1ortuguese.
The >alician#1ortuguese school& which was in(uenced to some e%tent 4mainly in
certain formal aspects5 by the )ccitan troubadours& is rst documented at the end
of the twelfth century and lasted until the middle of the fourteenth.
The earliest e%tant composition in this school is usually agreed to be )ra fa- ost* osenhor de Naarra by the 1ortuguese Lo`o Boares de 1aia& usually dated ;ust before
or after <FF. The troubadours of the moement& not to be confused with the
)ccitan troubadours 4who fre6uented courts in nearby Oen and Castile5& wrote
almost entirely cantigas. 0eginning probably around the middle of the thirteenth
century& these songs& ,nown also as cantares or troas& began to be compiled in
collections ,nown as cancioneiros 4songboo,s5. Three such anthologies are ,nownJ
the Cancioneiro da A;uda& the Cancioneiro Colocci#0rancuti 4or Cancioneiro da
0iblioteca Nacional de Oisboa5& and the Cancioneiro da aticana. $n addition to these
there is the priceless collection of oer /FF >alician#1ortugues cantigas in the
Cantigas de Banta Maria& which tradition attributes to Alfonso X.
The >alician#1ortuguese cantigas can be diided into three basic genresJ male#
oiced loe poetry& called cantigas de amor 4or cantigas d*amor5 female#oiced loe
poetry& called cantigas de amigo 4cantigas d*amigo5" and poetry of insult and
moc,ery called cantigas d*escarnho e de mal di-er. All three are lyric genres in the
technical sense that they were strophic songs with either musical accompaniment
or introduction on a stringed instrument. 0ut all three genres also hae dramatic
elements& leading early scholars to characteri-e them as lyric#dramatic.
The origins of the cantigas d*amor are usually traced to 1roen^al and )ld Drench
lyric poetry& but formally and rhetorically they are 6uite di'erent. The cantigasd*amigo are probably rooted in a natie song tradition 4Oang& 3/& Michalis 3F/5&
though this iew has been contested. The cantigas d*escarnho e maldi-er may also
4according to Oang5 hae deep local roots. The latter two genres 4totalling around
3FF te%ts5 ma,e the >alician#1ortuguese lyric uni6ue in the entire panorama of
The beginning of the Ars nova is one of the few clean chronological diisions in
medieal music& since it corresponds to the publication of the 0oman de Fauvel& a
huge compilation of poetry and music& in ?F and ?/. The 0oman de Fauvel is a
satire on abuses in the medieal church& and is lled with medieal
motets& lais&rondeau% and other new secular forms. While most of the music is
anonymous& it contains seeral pieces by 1hilippe de itry& one of the rstcomposers of theisorhythmic motet& a deelopment which distinguishes the
fourteenth century. The isorhythmic motet was perfected by >uillaume de Machaut&
the nest composer of the time.
=uring the Ars nova era& secular music ac6uired a polyphonic sophistication
formerly found only in sacred music& a deelopment not surprising considering the
secular character of the early Renaissance 4while this music is typically considered
:medieal:& the social forces that produced it were responsible for the beginning of
the literary and artistic Renaissance in $talyIthe distinction between Middle Ages
and Renaissance is a blurry one& especially considering arts as di'erent as music
and painting5. The term : Ars nova: 4new art& or new techni6ue5 was coined by1hilippe de itry in his treatise of that name 4probably written in ?<<5& in order to
distinguish the practice from the music of the immediately preceding age.
The dominant secular genre of the Ars Noa was the chanson& as it would continue
to be in Drance for another two centuries. These chansons were composed in
musical forms corresponding to the poetry they set& which were in the so#
called formes %+es of rondeau& $allade& and virelai. These forms signicantly
a'ected the deelopment of musical structure in ways that are felt een today" for
e%ample& the ouvert/clos rhyme#scheme shared by all three demanded a musical
reali-ation which contributed directly to the modern notion of antecedent and
conse6uent phrases. $t 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 2yries& >lorias& etc.& but Machaut composed what is thought to be
the rst complete mass conceied as one composition. The sound world of Ars Noa
music is ery much one of linear primacy and rhythmic comple%ity. :Resting:
interals are the fth and octae& with thirds and si%ths considered dissonances.
Oeaps of more than a si%th in indiidual oices are not uncommon& leading to
speculation of instrumental participation at least in secular performance.
Buriing Drench manuscripts include the $rea Code% and the Apt Code%.
Dor information about specic Drench composers writing in late medieal era&
see Lehan de Oescurel& 1hilippe de itry& >uillaume de Machaut& 0orlet& Bolage&
Most of the music of Ars nova was Drench in origin" howeer& the term is often
loosely applied to all of the music of the fourteenth century& especially to include
the secular music in $taly. There this period was often referred to as 'recento.
$talian music has always& it seems& been ,nown for its lyrical or melodic character&
and this goes bac, to the /th century in many respects. $talian secular music ofthis time 4what little suriing liturgical music there is& is similar to the Drench
e%cept for somewhat di'erent notation5 featured what has been called
the cantalinastyle& with a (orid top oice supported by two 4or een one" a fair
amount of $talian Trecento music is for only two oices5 that are more regular and
slower moing. This type of te%ture remained a feature of $talian music in the
popular @th and th century secular genres as well& and was an important
in(uence on the eentual deelopment of the trio te%ture that reolutioni-ed music
in the th.
There were three main forms for secular wor,s in the Trecento. )ne was
the madrigal& not the same as that of @F<@F years later& but with a erseGrefrain#li,e form. Three#line stan-as& each with di'erent words& alternated with a two#
line ritornello& with the same te%t at each appearance. 1erhaps we can see the
seeds of the subse6uent late#Renaissance and 0aro6ue ritornello in this deice" it
too returns again and again& recogni-able each time& in contrast with its surrounding
disparate sections. Another form& the caccia 4:chase&:5 was written for two oices in
a canon at the unison. Bometimes& this form also featured a ritornello& which was
occasionally also in a canonic style. _sually& the name of this genre proided a
double meaning& since the te%ts of caccia were primarily about hunts and related
outdoor actiities& or at least action#lled scenes. The third main form was
the $allata& which was roughly e6uialent to the Drench virelai.
Buriing $talian manuscripts include the B6uarcialupi Code% and the Rossi Code%.
Dor information about specic $talian composers writing in the late medieal era&
see Drancesco Oandini& >herardello da Diren-e& Andrea da Diren-e& Ooren-o da
Diren-e& >ioanni da Diren-e 4a,a >ioanni da Cascia5& 0artolino da 1adoa& Lacopo
da 0ologna& =onato da Cascia& Ooren-o Masini& Niccol da 1erugia& andMaestro
1iero.
Germany: Geisslerlieder 8edit9
Main article: Geisslerlieder
The >eisslerlieder were the songs of wandering bands of (agellants& who sought to
appease the wrath of an angry >od by penitential music accompanied by
mortication of their bodies. There were two separate periods of actiity of
>eisslerliedJ one around the middle of the thirteenth century& from which&
unfortunately& no music suries 4although numerous lyrics do5" and another from
?/3& for which both words and music surie intact due to the attention of a single
priest who wrote about the moement and recorded its music. This second period
corresponds to the spread of the 0lac, =eath in Europe& and documents one of the
most terrible eents in European history. 0oth periods of >eisslerlied actiity were
mainly in >ermany.
There was also Drench#in(uenced polyphony written in >erman areas at this time&but it was somewhat less sophisticated than its models. $n fairness to the mostly
anonymous composers of this repertoire& howeer& most of the suriing
manuscripts seem to hae been copied with e%treme incompetence& and are lled
with errors that ma,e a truly thorough ealuation of the music*s 6uality impossible.
Mannerism and Ars subtilior 8edit9
Main article: Ars su$tilior
The chanson elle, $onne, sage by0aude Cordier& an Ars su$tilior piece included in
the Chantilly Code%
As often seen at the end of any musical era& the end of the medieal era is mar,ed
by a highly manneristic style ,nown as Ars su$tilior . $n some ways& this was an
attempt to meld the Drench and $talian styles. This music was highly styli-ed& with a
rhythmic comple%ity that was not matched until the <Fth century. $n fact& not onlywas the rhythmic comple%ity of this repertoire largely unmatched for e and a half
centuries& with e%treme syncopations& mensural tric,ery& and een e%amples
of augenmusi 4such as a chanson by 0aude Cordier written out in manuscript in the
shape of a heart5& but also its melodic material was 6uite comple% as well&
particularly in its interaction with the rhythmic structures. Already discussed under
Ars Noa has been the practice of isorhythm& which continued to deelop through
late#century and in fact did not achiee its highest degree of sophistication until
early in the @th century. $nstead of using isorhythmic techni6ues in one or two
oices& or trading them among oices& some wor,s came to feature a perading
isorhythmic te%ture which rials the integral serialism of the <Fth century in its
systematic ordering of rhythmic and tonal elements. The term :mannerism: was
applied by later scholars& as it often is& in response to an impression ofsophistication being practised for its own sa,e& a malady which some authors hae
felt infected the Ars su$tilior .
)ne of the most important e%tant sources of Ars Bubtilior chansons is the Chantilly
Code%.
Dor information about specic composers writing music in Ars su$tilior style&
see Anthonello de Caserta& 1hilippus de Caserta4a,a 1hilipoctus de
Caserta5& Lohannes Ciconia& Matteo da 1erugia& Ooren-o da Diren-e& >rimace& Lacob
Benleches& and0aude Cordier.
Transitioning to the Renaissance8edit9
=emarcating the end of the medieal era and the beginning of the Renaissance&
with regard to the composition of music& is di!cult. While the music of the
fourteenth century is fairly obiously medieal in conception& the music of the early
fteenth century is often conceied as belonging to a transitional period& not only
retaining some of the ideals of the end of the Middle Ages 4such as a type of
polyphonic writing in which the parts di'er widely from each other in character& as
each has its specic te%tural function5& but also showing some of the characteristic
traits of the Renaissance 4such as the international style deeloping through the
di'usion of Dranco#Dlemish musicians throughout Europe& and in terms of te%ture anincreasing e6uality of parts5.
Music historians do not agree on when the Renaissance era began& but most
historians agree that England was still a medieal society in the early fteenth
century 4see periodi-ation issues of the Middle Ages5. While there is no consensus&
/FF is a useful mar,er& because it was around that time that the Renaissance
came into full swing in $taly.
The increasing reliance on the interal of the third as a consonance is one of the
most pronounced features of transition into the Renaissance. 1olyphony& in use
since the <th century& became increasingly elaborate with highly independentoices throughout the /th century. With Lohn =unstaple and other English
composers& partly through the local techni6ue of faburden 4an improisatory
process in which a chant melody and a written part predominantly in parallel si%ths
aboe it are ornamented by one sung in perfect fourths below the latter& and which
later too, hold on the continent as :fau%bordon:5& the interal of the third emerges
as an important musical deelopment" because of this Contenance
Angloise 4:English countenance:5& English composers* music is often regarded as the