The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD) and ends in approximately the middle of the fifteenth century. Establishing the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the Renaissance is admittedly arbitrary; 1400 is used here. Classical music is a term with three distinct meanings: The European tradition of music which is associated with high culture, as distinct from popular or folk forms (including works in this tradition in non-European countries). ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... 20th century classical music, the classical music of the 20th century, was extremely diverse, beginning with the late Romantic style of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Impressionism of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and continuing through the Neoclassicism of middle-period Igor Stravinsky, and ranging to such distant sound-worlds as the complete... In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. ... Someone playing the vielle. ... The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the Medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer body and five (rather than four) gut strings. ... The music of Europe includes the music of Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Roman Empire is not the Holy Roman Empire (843-1806). ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Overview

Styles and trends

The only medieval music which can be studied is that which was written down, and survived. Since creating musical manuscripts was very expensive, due to the expense of parchment, and the huge amount of time necessary for a scribe to copy it all down, only wealthy institutions were able to create manuscripts which have survived to the present time. These institutions generally included the church and church institutions, such as monasteries; some secular music, as well as sacred music, was also preserved by these institutions. These surviving manuscripts do not reflect much of the popular music of the time. At the start of the era, the notated music is presumed to be monophonic and homorhythmic with what appears to be a unison sung text and no notated instrumental support. Earlier medieval notation had no way to specify rhythm, although neumatic notations gave clear phrasing ideas, and somewhat later notations indicated rhythmic modes. A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Monastery of St. ... Monophonic can mean: In rrded audio, a monaural recording with only one channel. ... In music, homorhythm is a texture where there is a sameness of rhythm in all parts (Griffiths 2005, p. ... Neumes are the basic elements of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. ... In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms) imposed on written notes which otherwise appeared to be identical. ...

The simplicity of chant, with unison voice and natural declamation, is most common. The notation of polyphony develops, and the assumption is that formalized polyphonic practices first arose in this period. Harmony, in consonant intervals of perfect fifths, unisons, octaves, (and later, perfect fourths) begins to be notated. Rhythmic notation allows for complex interactions between multiple vocal lines in a repeatable fashion. The use of multiple texts and the notation of instrumental accompaniment developed by the end of the era. Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. ... Polyphony is a musical texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophony). ...

Instruments

The instruments used to perform medieval music still exist, though in different forms. The medieval cornett differed immensely from its modern counterpart, the trumpet, not least in traditionally being made of ivory or wood rather than metal. Cornetts in medieval times were quite short. They were either straight or somewhat curved, and construction became standardized on a curved version by approximately the middle 15th century. In one side, there would be several holes. The flute was once made of wood rather than silver or other metal, and could be made as a side-blown or end-blown instrument. The recorder, on the other hand, has more or less retained its past form. The gemshorn is similar to the recorder in having finger holes on its front, though it is really 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. Three different cornetts: mute cornett, curved cornett and tenor cornett The cornett, cornetto or zink is an early wind instrument, dating from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. ... For Trumpet Winsock, see Winsock. ... The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Various recorders The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle and ocarina. ... The Gemshorn (New German spelling: Gämshorn) receives its name from the German language, and means, literally, a chamois horn. ... The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Temple to Athena, the Parthenon Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around three thousand years. ...

Many medieval plucked string instruments were similar to the modern guitar, such as the lute and mandolin. The hammered dulcimer, similar in structure to the psaltery and zither, was not plucked but struck. 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 such as the Jew's harp were also popular. Early versions of the organ, fiddle (or vielle), and trombone (called the sackbut) existed as well. A medieval era lute. ... A mandolin is a small, stringed musical instrument which is plucked, strummed or a combination of both. ... A diatonic hammered dulcimer made by Masterworks The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. ... A psaltery is a stringed musical instrument of the harp or the zither family. ... Concert zither The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music, most commonly in German-speaking Alpine Europe. ... This article is about the musical instrument. ... Jews harp, from an American Civil War camp near Winchester, Virginia A modern jews harp The Jews harp, jaw harp, or mouth harp) is thought to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world; a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the Medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer body and five (rather than four) gut strings. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... Four sackbutts: bass, alto, tenor, bass The Sackbut (var. ...

Genres

In this era, music was both sacred and secular, although almost no early secular music has survived, and since notation was a relatively late development, reconstruction of this music, especially before the 12th century, is currently subject to conjecture (see authentic performance). Religious music (also sacred music) is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... The authentic performance movement is an effort on the part of musicians and scholars to perform works of classical music in ways similar to how they were performed when they were originally written. ...

Theory and notation

In music theory, the period saw several advances over previous practice, mostly in the conception and notation of rhythm. Previously, music was organized rhythmically into "longs" and "breves" (in other words, "shorts"), though often without any clear regular differentiation between which should be used. The most famous music theorist of the first half of the 13th century, Johannes de Garlandia, was the author of the De mensurabili musica (about 1240), the treatise which defined and most completely elucidated the rhythmic modes, a notational system for rhythm in which one of six possible patterns was denoted by a particular succession of note-shapes (organized in what is called "ligatures"). The melodic line, once it had its mode, would generally remain in it, although rhythmic adjustments could be indicated by changes in the expected pattern of ligatures, even to the extent of changing to another rhythmic mode. A German theorist of a slightly later period, Franco of Cologne, was the first to describe a system of notation in which differently shaped notes have entirely different rhythmic values (in the Ars Cantus Mensurabilis of approximately 1260), 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. A longa with stem facing down. ... Various breve notations A double whole note or breve is a note in music, lasting twice as long as a whole note (or semibreve). ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Johannes de Garlandia (Johannes Gallicus) (fl. ... In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms) imposed on written notes which otherwise appeared to be identical. ... In music notation, a ligature is a symbol that connects multiple notes in some way. ... Franco of Cologne (fl. ...

Philippe de Vitry is most famous in music history for writing the Ars Nova (1322), a treatise on music which gave its name to the music of the entire era. His contributions to notation, in particular notation of rhythm, were particularly important, and made possible the free and quite complex music of the next hundred years. In some ways the modern system of rhythmic notation began with Vitry, who broke free from the older idea of the rhythmic modes, short rhythmic patterns that were repeated without being individually differentiated. The notational predecessors of modern time meters also originate in the Ars Nova; for Franco, a breve (for a brief explanation of the mensural notation in general, see the article Renaissance music) had equalled three semibreves (that is, half breves) (on occasion, two, locally and with certain context; almost always, however, these two semibreves were one of normal length and one of double length, thereby taking the same space of time), and the same ternary division held for all larger and smaller note values. By the time of Ars Nova, the breve could be pre-divided, for an entire composition or section of one, into groups of two or three smaller semibreves by use of a "mensuration sign," equivalent to our modern "time signature." This way, the "tempus" (denoting the division of the breve, which ultimately achieved the same primacy over rhythmic structure as our modern "measure") could be either "perfect," with ternary subdivision, or "imperfect," with binary subdivision. Tempus perfectus was indicated by a circle, while tempus imperfectus was denoted by a half-circle (our current "C" as a stand-in for the 4/4 time signature is actually a holdover from this practice, not an abbreviation for "common time", as popularly believed). In a similar fashion, the semibreve could in turn be divided into three "minima" or "minims" (prolatio perfectus or major prolation) or two (prolatio imperfectus or minor prolation) and, at the higher level, the longs into three or two breves (modus perfectus or perfect mode, or modus imperfectus or imperfect mode respectively). Philippe de Vitry (October 31, 1291 – June 9, 1361) was a French composer, music theorist and poet. ... Ars nova was a stylistic period in music of the Late Middle Ages, centered in France, which encompassed the period from the publication of the Roman de Fauvel (1310 and 1314) until the death of Machaut (1377). ... Various breve notations A double whole note or breve is a note in music, lasting twice as long as a whole note (or semibreve). ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Figure 1. ... In music, a half note (American) or minim is a note played for one half the duration of a whole note, hence the name. ... Prolation is a term used in the theory of medieval music to describe its rhythmic structure on a small scale. ... A longa with stem facing down. ... In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms) imposed on written notes which otherwise appeared to be identical. ...

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. In the highly syncopated works of the Ars subtilior, different voices of the same composition would sometimes be written in different tempus signatures simultaneously. Ars subtilior (more subtle art) is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Avignon in southern France, at the end of the fourteenth century (Hoppin 1978, p. ...

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. The first definitely identifiable scholar to accept and explain the mensural system was Johannes de Muris (Jehan des Mars), who can be said to have done for it what Garlandia did for the rhythmic modes. Jean de Muris (1290-1351) was a French philosopher and mathematician, best known for his promotion of ars nova over ars antiqua. ... Jean de Muris (1290-1351) was a French philosopher and mathematician, best known for his promotion of ars nova over ars antiqua. ...

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. Saint Isidore of Seville (Spanish: or ) (c. ... Aurelian of Réôme (Aurelianus Reomensis) (fl. ... Saint Odo of Cluny ( 878 - 18 November 942), a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was the second abbot of Cluny. ... Statue of Guido in Arezzo Guido of Arezzo or Guido Aretinus or Guido da Arezzo or Guido Monaco or Guido DArezzo (991/992 – after 1033) was a music theorist of the Medieval era. ... Hermannus Contractus (also called Hermannus Augiensis, Hermann of Reichenau) (1013 July 18 – 1054 September 24) was an 11th century scholar, composer, and music theorist. ... Johannes Cotto (John Cotton, Johannes Afflighemensis) (fl. ... Jean de Muris (1290-1351) was a French philosopher and mathematician, best known for his promotion of ars nova over ars antiqua. ... Franco of Cologne (fl. ... Johannes de Garlandia (Johannes Gallicus) (fl. ... Anonymous IV was an English student working at Notre Dame in Paris, most likely in the 1270s or 1280s. ... Marchetto da Padova (Marchettus of Padua) (b. ... Jacob of Liège, also known as Jacobus Leodiensis or Jacques de Liège, is believed to have written the Speculum Musicae, The Mirror of Music, during the second quarter of the 14th century. ... Johannes de Grocheio (Grocheo) (ca. ... Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix) was active as a cleric, composer and theorist in the late part of the 13th century. ... Philippe de Vitry (October 31, 1291 – June 9, 1361) was a French composer, music theorist and poet. ...

Early medieval music ( -1150)

Early chant traditions

Chant (or plainsong) is a monophonic sacred form which represents the earliest known music of the Christian church. The Jewish Synagogue tradition of singing psalms was a strong influence on Christian chanting. Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song of the Roman Catholic Church. ... In music texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the number of voices in the music and to the relationship between these voices (see below). ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Psalms (from the Greek: Psalmoi (songs sung to a harp, originally from psallein play on a stringed instrument), Ψαλμοί; Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh or Old Testament. ...

Chant developed separately in several European centres. The most important were Rome, Spain, Gaul, Milan, and Ireland. These chants were all developed to support the regional liturgies used when celebrating the Mass there. Each area developed its own chants and rules for celebration. In Spain, 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. Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... Mozarabic chant (also known as Hispanic chant, Old Hispanic chant, Old Spanish chant, or Visigothic chant) is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Mozarabic rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant. ... North Africa has contributed much to popular music, especially Egyptian Arab classical and al-jil, Algerian raï and Moroccan chaabi. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Ambrosian chant (also known as Milanese chant) is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant. ... Saint Ambrose, Latin Sanctus Ambrosius, Italian SantAmbrogio (circa 340 - April 4, 397), bishop of Milan, was one of the most eminent fathers of the Christian church in the 4th century. ... Beneventan chant is a liturgical plainchant repertory of the Roman Catholic Church, used primarily in the orbit of the southern Italian ecclesiastical centers of Benevento and Montecassino, distinct from Gregorian chant and closely related to Ambrosian chant. ... Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. ... Gallican chant refers to the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Gallican rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Gaul, prior to the introduction and development of elements of the Roman rite from which Gregorian chant evolved. ... Celtic chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Celtic rite of the Roman Catholic Church performed in the British Isles and Brittany, related to but distinct from the Gregorian chant of the Sarum use of the Roman rite which officially supplanted it by the 12th century. ...

Around 1011 AD, the Roman Catholic Church wanted to standardize the Mass and chant. 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. This body of chant became known as Gregorian Chant. 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. Events Emperor Sanjo ascends to the throne of Japan. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus Christ and led by the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter. ... A Medieval Low Mass by a bishop. ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article, refers to the sui juris particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church that developed in the area of western Europe and northern Africa where Latin was for many centuries the language of education and culture. ... The Gallican Rite is a historical sub-grouping of Christianity in western Europe; it is not a single rite but actually a family of rites within the Western Rite which comprised the majority use of most of Christianity in western Europe for the greater part of the 1st millennium AD... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ...

Gregorian chant

Early polyphony: organum

Around the end of the ninth 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 in mostly perfect fourths or fifths with the original tune (see interval). This development is called organum, and represents the beginnings of harmony and, ultimately, counterpoint. Over the next several centuries organum developed in several ways. Abbey of St. ... The human voice consists of sound made by a human using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, screaming. ... In music theory, contrary motion is the general movement of two melodic lines or pitches in opposite directions. ... The perfect fourth or diatessaron, abbreviated P4, is one of two musical intervals that span four diatonic scale degrees; the other being the augmented fourth, which is one semitone larger. ... The perfect fifth or diapente is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees; the others being the diminished fifth, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented fifth, which is one semitone larger. ... In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ... Organum (pronounced , though the stress is now sometimes incorrectly put on the second syllable) is a technique of singing developed in the Middle Ages, and is an early form of polyphonic music. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity, and therefore chords, actual or implied, in music. ... In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm, and interdependent in harmony. ...

The most significant 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. Events William II of England dies in a hunting accident - Henry I becomes King of England King Henry I proclaims the Charter of Liberties, one of the first examples of a constitution. ... The St. ... Consonance is a stylistic device, often used in poetry. ... In music, see the following intervals: Major third Minor third The mediant, and the chord built on the mediant, is often called simply the third, as it is the third degree of the diatonic scale. ... The group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1170 to 1250, along with the music they produced, is referred to as the Notre Dame school, or the Notre Dame School of Polyphony. ...

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, and the Winchester Troper. Look up anonymous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Detail from the Codex Calixtinus Folio 4r, showing Saint James the Great The Codex Calixtinus is a 12th century illuminated manuscript formerly attributed to Pope Callixtus II, though now believed to have been arranged by the French scholar Aymeric Picaud. ... Location map of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Santiago de Compostela (also Saint James of Compostela) is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. ... The oldest large collection of organum style pieces, consists of two 11th century English manuscripts used at Winchester Cathedral. ...

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. Saint Gregory redirects here. ... Godric of Finchale (c. ... Hildegard of Bingen (German: Hildegard von Bingen; Latin: Hildegardis Bingensis; 1098 – September 17, 1179), also known as Blessed Hildegard and Saint Hildegard, was a German magistra and later, abbess. ... Hucbald (Hucbaldus, Hubaldus) (c. ... Notker of St. ... Odo of Arezzo or Abbot Oddo ( late 10th century) was a Medieval composer and theorist who worked in Arezzo. ... Saint Odo of Cluny ( 878 - 18 November 942), a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was the second abbot of Cluny. ... Saint Tuotilo (Tutilo, Tutilo von Gallen, Tutilo of Gall, Tutilo of Saint Gall) (ca. ...

Liturgical drama

Main article: Liturgical drama

Another musical tradition of Europe originated during the early Middle Ages was the liturgical drama. In its original form, it may represent a survival of Roman drama with Christian stories - mainly the Gospel, the Passion, and the lives of the saints - grafted on. Every part of Europe had some sort of tradition of musical or semi-musical drama in the middle ages, involving acting, speaking, singing and instrumental accompaniment in some combination. Probably these dramas were performed by travelling actors and musicians. Many have been preserved sufficiently to allow modern reconstruction and performance (for example the Play of Daniel, which has been recently recorded). The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ... Hagiography is the study of saints. ... The Play of Daniel, or Ludus Danielis, refers to either of two medieval liturgical dramas, one of which is accompanied by monophonic music. ...

Goliards

The Goliards 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 Latin. Although many of the poems have survived, very little of the music has. They were possibly influential — even decisively so — on the troubadour-trouvère tradition which was to follow. Most of their poetry is secular and, while some of the songs celebrate religious ideals, others are frankly profane, dealing with drunkenness, debauchery and lechery. The Goliards were a group of clergy who wrote bibulous, satirical Latin poetry in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. ... This article is about the Christian buildings of worship. ... A troubadour composing lyrics, Germany c. ... Trouvère is the Northern French (langue doïl) version of troubador (langue doc), and refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadors but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France. ...

High medieval music (1150-1300)

Ars antiqua

The flowering of the Notre Dame school of polyphony from around 1150 to 1250 corresponded to the equally impressive achievements in Gothic architecture: indeed the centre of activity was at the cathedral of Notre Dame itself. Sometimes the music of this period is called the Parisian school, or Parisian organum, and represents the beginning of what is conventionally known as Ars antiqua. This was the period in which rhythmic notation first appeared in western music, mainly a context-based method of rhythmic notation known as the rhythmic modes. The group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1170 to 1250, along with the music they produced, is referred to as the Notre Dame school, or the Notre Dame School of Polyphony. ... Events Åhus, Sweden gains city privileges City of Airdrie, Scotland founded King Sverker I of Sweden is deposed and succeeded by Eric IX of Sweden. ... // April 30 - King Louis IX of France released by his Egyptian captors after paying a ransom of one million dinars and turning over the city of Damietta. ... Interior of Cologne Cathedral Gothic architecture is a style of architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. ... Notre Dame de Paris: Western Facade For the novel by Victor Hugo, see The Hunchback of Notre Dame. ... Ars antiqua is a term which refers to the music of Europe of the late Middle Ages between approximately 1170 and 1310, covering the period of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the subsequent years which saw the early development of the motet. ... For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms) imposed on written notes which otherwise appeared to be identical. ...

This was also the period in which concepts of formal structure developed which were attentive to proportion, texture, and architectural effect. Composers of the period alternated florid and discant organum (more note-against-note, as opposed to the succession of many-note melismas against long-held notes found in the florid type), and created several new musical forms: clausulae, which were melismatic sections of organa extracted and fitted with new words and further musical elaboration; conductus, which was a song for one or more voices to be sung rhythmically, most likely in a procession of some sort; and tropes, which were rearrangements of older chants with new words and sometimes new music. All of these genres save one were based upon chant; that is, one of the voices, (usually three, though sometimes four) nearly always the lowest (the tenor at this point) sung a chant melody, though with freely composed note-lengths, over which the other voices sang organum. The exception to this method was the conductus, a two-voice composition that was freely composed in its entirety. The term musical form refers to two related concepts: the type of composition (for example, a musical work can have the form of a symphony, a concerto, or other generic type -- see Multi-movement forms below) the structure of a particular piece (for example, a piece can be written in... In music, the word texture is often used in a rather vague way in reference to the overall sound of a piece of music. ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals (a caesura) or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ... In music, melisma (commonly known as vocal runs or simply runs) is the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a syllable of text while it is being sung. ... In medieval music, conductus is a type of liturgical vocal composition for one or more voices. ... In music, a trope is one of three things. ...

The motet, one of the most important musical forms of the high Middle Ages and Renaissance, developed initially during the Notre Dame period out of the clausula, especially the form using multiple voices as elaborated by Pérotin, who paved the way for this particularly by replacing many of his predecessor (as canon of the cathedral) Léonin's lengthy florid clausulae with substitutes in a discant style. Gradually, there came to be entire books of these substitutes, available to be fitted in and out of the various chants. Since, in fact, there were more than can possibly have been used in context, it is probable that the clausulae came to be performed independently, either in other parts of the mass, or in private devotions. The clausulae, thus practised, became the motet when troped with non-liturgical words, and was further developed into a form of great elaboration, sophistication and subtlety in the fourteenth century, the period of Ars nova. In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions. ... Pérotin was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century. ... Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo) (fl. ...

Surviving manuscripts from this era include the Codex Montpellier, Codex Bamberg, and El Codex musical de Las Huelgas. The Montpellier Codex (Montpellier, Bibliothèque Inter-Universitaire, Section Médecine, H196) is an important source of 13th century French polyphony. ... The Bamberg Codex () is a manuscript containing two treatises on music theory and a large body of 13th century French polyphony. ... A page from the manucript: note red staff and capital The Codex Las Huelgas (E-BUlh) is a music manuscript or codex from 1300 which originated in and has remained in the Cistercian convent of Santa María La Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, in northwestern Spain, then Castile. ...

Composers of this time include Léonin, Pérotin, W. de Wycombe, Adam de St. Victor, and Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix). Petrus is credited with the innovation of writing more than three semibreves to fit the length of a breve. Coming before the innovation of imperfect tempus, this practice innagurated the era of what are now called "Petronian" motets. These late 13th-century works are in three, sometimes four, parts and have multiple texts sung simultaneously. These texts can be either sacred or secular in subject, and with Latin and French mixed. The Petronian motet is a highly complex genre, given its mixture of several semibreve breves with rhythmic modes and sometimes (with increasing frequency) substitution of secular songs for chant in the tenor. Indeed, ever-increasing rhythmic complexity would be a fundamental characteristic of the 14th century, though music in France, Italy, and England would take quite different paths during that time. Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo) (fl. ... Pérotin was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century. ... W. de Wycombe (Wicumbe, and perhaps Whichbury) (late 13th century) was an English composer and copyist of the Medieval era. ... Adam of St. ... Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix) was active as a cleric, composer and theorist in the late part of the 13th century. ...

Troubadours and trouvères

The music of the troubadours and trouvères was a vernacular tradition of monophonic secular song, probably accompanied by instruments, sung by professional, occasionally itinerant, musicians who were as skilled as poets as they were singers and instrumentalists. The language of the troubadours was Occitan (also known as the langue d'oc, or Provençal); the language of the trouvères was Old French (also known as langue d'oil). The period of the troubadours corresponded to the flowering of cultural life in Provence which lasted through the twelfth century and into the first decade of the thirteenth. Typical subjects of troubadour song were war, chivalry and courtly love. The period of the troubadours ended abruptly with the Albigensian Crusade, the fierce campaign by Pope Innocent III to eliminate the Cathar heresy (and northern barons' desire to appropriate the wealth of the south). Surviving troubadours went either to Spain, northern Italy or northern France (where the trouvère tradition lived on), where their skills and techniques contributed to the later developments of secular musical culture in those places. A troubadour composing lyrics, Germany c. ... Trouvère is the Northern French (langue doïl) version of troubador (langue doc), and refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadors but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France. ... Monophonic can mean: In rrded audio, a monaural recording with only one channel. ... Occitan, or langue doc is a Romance language characterized by its richness, variability, and by the intelligibility of its dialects. ... OC redirects here. ... Provençal (Provençau in Provençal language) is one of several dialects spoken by a minority of people in southern France and other areas of France and Italy. ... The langue doïl language family in linguistics comprises Romance languages originating in territories now occupied by northern France, part of Belgium and the Channel Islands. ... Coat of arms of Provence Provence (Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a former Roman province and is now a region of southeastern France, located on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to the Italian border. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Bors Dilemma - he chooses to save a maiden rather than his brother Lionel Chivalry[1] is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood. ... Court of Love in Provence in the 14th Century (after a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris). ... The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209 - 1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the heresy of the Cathars of Languedoc. ... Pope Innocent III (c. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catharism. ...

The music of the trouvères was similar to that of the troubadours, but was able to survive into the thirteenth century unaffected by the Albigensian Crusade. Most of the more than two thousand surviving trouvère songs include music, and show a sophistication as great as that of the poetry it accompanies.

The Minnesinger tradition was the Germanic counterpart to the activity of the troubadours and trouvères to the west. Unfortunately, few sources survive from the time; the sources of Minnesang are mostly from two or three centuries after the peak of the movement, leading to some controversy over their accuracy. Walther von der Vogelweide (Codex Manesse, ca. ...

For information about specific composers writing secular music in middle medieval era, see Berenguier de Palou, Arnaut Daniel (one of the finest poets of the age, in addition to being a composer), Giraut de Bornelh, Marcabru, Peire Cardenal, Raymond Lull, Bernart de Ventadorn, Bertran de Born (Dante), Jaufré Rudel, Alfonso X of Castile, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Walther von der Vogelweide, and Niedhart von Reuenthal. Arnaut Danièl was a Provençal troubadour of the 13th century, praised by Dante as il miglior fabbro (the better craftsman/creator, literally the best smith) and called Grand Master of Love by Petrarch. ... Giraut de Bornelh (c. ... Marcabru (fl. ... Pèire Cardenal (1180 - 1278) was a Provençal troubadour known for his satirical pieces and for his dislike of the clergy. ... Ramon Llull. ... A medieval depiction of Bernart de Ventadorn. ... Bertran de Born (c. ... Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ... Jaufre Rudel dies in the arms of Hodierna of Tripoli (MS of troubadour songs, 13C North Italian, ) Jaufré Rudel, Lord of Blaye, was a troubadour of the early-mid 12th century, who probably died during the Second Crusade, in or after 1147. ... Alfonso X and his court. ... Portrait of Wolfram from the Codex Manesse. ... Portrait of Walther von der Vogelweide. ...

Composers of the middle and late Medieval era

Late medieval music (1300-1400)

France: Ars nova

The beginning of the Ars nova is one of the few clean chronological divisions in medieval music, since it corresponds to the publication of the Roman de Fauvel, a huge compilation of poetry and music, in 1310 and 1314. The Roman de Fauvel is a satire on abuses in the medieval church, and is filled with medieval motets, lais, rondeaux and other new secular forms. While most of the music is anonymous, it contains several pieces by Philippe de Vitry, one of the first composers of the isorhythmic motet, a development which distinguishes the fourteenth century. The isorhythmic motet was perfected by Guillaume de Machaut, the finest composer of the time. Ars nova was a stylistic period in music of the Late Middle Ages, centered in France, which encompassed the period from the publication of the Roman de Fauvel (1310 and 1314) until the death of Machaut (1377). ... The Roman de Fauvel was first published in Paris in 1314, in a climate of political instability. ... [edit] Events May 11 - In France, 64 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake for heresy Abulfeda becomes governor of Hama. ... Events June 24 - Battle of Bannockburn. ... A Lai was a song form composed in northern Europe, mainly France and Germany, from the 13th to the late 14th century. ... A Rondeau is a form of French poetry with 13 lines written on two rhymes, as well as a corresponding musical form developed to set this characteristic verse structure. ... Philippe de Vitry (October 31, 1291 – June 9, 1361) was a French composer, music theorist and poet. ... Isorhythm (iso or same) consists of an order of durations or rhythms, talea (cutting, plural taleae), which is repeated within a tenor melody whose pitch content or series, color (repetition), varied in the number of members from the talea. ... Guillaume de Machaut (around 1300 – 1377), was a French composer and poet of the late Medieval era. ...

During the Ars nova era, secular music acquired a polyphonic sophistication formerly found only in sacred music, a development not surprising considering the secular character of the early Renaissance (and it should be noted that while this music is typically considered to be "medieval", the social forces that produced it were responsible for the beginning of the literary and artistic Renaissance in Italy—the distinction between Middle Ages and Renaissance is a blurry one, especially considering arts as different as music and painting). The term "Ars nova" (new art, or new technique) was coined by Philippe de Vitry in his treatise of that name (probably written in 1322), in order to distinguish the practice from the music of the immediately preceding age.

The dominant secular genre of the Ars Nova was the chanson, as it would continue to be in France for another two centuries. These chansons were composed in musical forms corresponding to the poetry they set, which were in the so-called formes fixes of rondeau, ballade, and virelai. These forms significantly affected the development of musical structure in ways that are felt even today; for example, the ouvert-clos rhyme-scheme shared by all three demanded a musical realization which contributed directly to the modern notion of antecedent and consequent phrases. It 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 Kyries, Glorias, etc., but Machaut composed what is thought to be the first complete mass conceived as one composition. The sound world of Ars Nova music is very much one of linear primacy and rhythmic complexity. "Resting" intervals are the fifth and octave, with thirds and sixths considered dissonances. Leaps of more than a sixth in individual voices are not uncommon, leading to speculation of instrumental participation at least in secular performance. Chanson is a French word for song, and in English-language contexts is often applied to any song with French words, particularly a cabaret song. ... Formes fixes (English: fixed forms) are French poetic forms of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries which were translated into musical forms, particularly the forms of songs. ... Guillaume de Machaut (around 1300 – 1377), was a French composer and poet of the late Medieval era. ...

Surviving French manuscripts include the Ivrea Codex and the Apt Codex. The Ivrea Codex (Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, 115) is a manuscript containing a significant body of 14th century French polyphonic music. ...

For information about specific French composers writing in late medieval era, see Jehan de Lescurel, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, Borlet, Solage, and François Andrieu. Jehan de Lescurel (also Jehannot de lEscurel) (died May 23, 1304) was a medieval poet and composer. ... Philippe de Vitry (October 31, 1291 – June 9, 1361) was a French composer, music theorist and poet. ... Guillaume de Machaut (around 1300 – 1377), was a French composer and poet of the late Medieval era. ... Borlet was a 14th and 15th century composer whose life we know extremely little about. ... Solage (fl. ... François Andrieu was a composer, most likely French, of the late 14th century. ...

Italy: Trecento

Main article: Music of the Trecento

Most of the music of Ars nova was French in origin; however, the term is often loosely applied to all of the music of the fourteenth century, especially to include the secular music in Italy. There this period was often referred to as Trecento. Landini, the most famous composer of the trecento, playing a portative organ (illustration from the 15th century Squarcialupi Codex) The trecento was a period of vigorous activity in Italy in the arts, including painting, architecture, literature, and music. ... From mille trecento, Italian for 1300. ...

Italian music has always, it seems, been known for its lyrical or melodic character, and this goes back to the 14th century in many respects. Italian secular music of this time (what little surviving liturgical music there is, is similar to the French except for somewhat different notation) featured what has been called the cantalina style, with a florid top voice supported by two (or even one; a fair amount of Italian Trecento music is for only two voices) that are more regular and slower moving. This type of texture remained a feature of Italian music in the popular 15th and 16th century secular genres as well, and was an important influence on the eventual development of the trio texture that revolutionized music in the 17th.

There were three main forms for secular works in the Trecento. One was the madrigal, not the same as that of 150-250 years later, but with a verse/refrain-like form. Three-line stanzas, each with different words, alternated with a two-line ritornello, with the same text at each appearance. Perhaps we can see the seeds of the subsequent late-Renaissance and Baroque ritornello in this device; it too returns again and again, recognizable each time, in contrast with its surrounding disparate sections. Another form, the caccia ("chase,") was written for two voices in a canon at the unison. Sometimes, this form also featured a ritornello, which was occasionally also in a canonic style. Usually, the name of this genre provided a double meaning, since the texts of caccia were primarily about hunts and related outdoor activities, or at least action-filled scenes. The third main form was the ballata, which was roughly equivalent to the French virelai. The Trecento-Madrigal is an Italian musical form of the 14th century (ca. ... In Baroque music, ritornello was the word for a recurring passage for orchestra in the first or final movement of a solo concerto or aria (also in works for chorus). ...

Surviving Italian manuscripts include the Squarcialupi Codex and the Rossi Codex. Illustration from the Squarcialupi Codex, showing Francesco Landini playing a portative organ The Squarcialupi Codex (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Med. ... The Rossi Codex (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rossi 215), is a music manuscript collection of the 14th century. ...

For information about specific Italian composers writing in the late medieval era, see Francesco Landini, Gherardello da Firenze, Andrea da Firenze, Lorenzo da Firenze, Paolo da Firenze (Paolo Tenorista), Giovanni da Firenze (aka Giovanni da Cascia), Bartolino da Padova, Jacopo da Bologna, Donato da Cascia, Lorenzo Masini, Niccolò da Perugia, and Maestro Piero. for the tractor manufactorer, see Landini (tractor) Landini playing a miniature organ (illustration from the 15th century Squarcialupi Codex) Francesco Landini or Landino (around 1325 – September 2, 1397) was an Italian composer, organist, singer, poet and instrument maker. ... Gherardello da Firenze (also Niccolò di Francesco) (c. ... Andrea da Firenze (Andreas da Florentia) (died 1415) was an Italian composer and organist of the late medieval era. ... Lorenzo da Firenze (Magister Laurentius de Florentia, Masini) (d. ... Paolo da Firenze (Paolo Tenorista, Magister Dominus Paulas Abbas de Florentia) (c. ... Bartolino da Padova (also Magister Frater Bartolinus de Padua) (fl. ... Jacopo da Bologna (fl. ... Donato da Cascia (also da Firenze or da Florentia) (fl. ... Niccolò da Perugia (also Nicolò) (fl. ... Maestro Piero (Magister Piero, Piero) (b. ...

Germany: Geisslerlieder

The Geisslerlieder were the songs of wandering bands of flagellants, who sought to appease the wrath of an angry God by penitential music accompanied by mortification of their bodies. There were two separate periods of activity of Geisslerlied: one around the middle of the thirteenth century, from which, unfortunately, no music survives (although numerous lyrics do); and another from 1349, for which both words and music survive intact due to the attention of a single priest who wrote about the movement and recorded its music. This second period corresponds to the spread of the Black Death in Europe, and documents one of the most terrible events in European history. Both periods of Geisslerlied activity were mainly in Germany. In medieval music, the Geisslerlieder were the songs of the wandering bands of flagellants, who overspread Europe during two periods of mass hysteria: the first during the middle of the 13th century, and the second during the Black Death in 1349. ... Flagellants, from a fifteenth century woodcut Flagellants are practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their own flesh by whipping it with various instruments. ... Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411) The Black Death, or Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. ...

There was also French-influenced polyphony written in German areas at this time, but it was somewhat less sophisticated than its models. In fairness to the mostly anonymous composers of this repertoire, however, most of the surviving manuscripts seem to have been copied with extreme incompetence, and are filled with errors that make a truly thorough evaluation of the music's quality impossible.

Mannerism and Ars subtilior

The rondeau Belle, Bonne, Sage by Baude Cordier, an Ars subtilior piece included in the Chantilly Codex

As often seen at the end of any musical era, the end of the medieval era is marked by a highly manneristic style known as Ars subtilior. In some ways, this was an attempt to meld the French and Italian styles. This music was highly stylized, with a rhythmic complexity that was not matched until the 20th century. In fact, not only was the rhythmic complexity of this repertoire largely unmatched for five and a half centuries, with extreme syncopations, mensural trickery, and even examples of augenmusik (such as a chanson by Baude Cordier written out in manuscript in the shape of a heart), but also its melodic material was quite complex as well, particularly in its interaction with the rhythmic structures. Already discussed under Ars Nova has been the practice of isorhythm, which continued to develop through late-century and in fact did not achieve its highest degree of sophistication until early in the 15th century. Instead of using isorhythmic techniques in one or two voices, or trading them among voices, some works came to feature a pervading isorhythmic texture which rivals the integral serialism of the 20th 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 of sophistication being practised for its own sake, a malady which some authors have felt infected the Ars subtilior. Image File history File links Cordier. ... Image File history File links Cordier. ... A French composer from Rheims. ... The Chantilly Codex (Chantilly, Musee Conde MS 564) is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the Ars Subtilior. ... Ars subtilior (more subtle art) is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Avignon in southern France, at the end of the fourteenth century (Hoppin 1978, p. ... A French composer from Rheims. ...

One of the most important extant sources of Ars Subtilior chansons is the Chantilly Codex. The Chantilly Codex (Chantilly, Musee Conde MS 564) is a manuscript of medieval music containing pieces from the style known as the Ars Subtilior. ...

For information about specific composers writing music in Ars subtilior style, see Anthonello de Caserta, Philippus de Caserta (aka Philipoctus de Caserta), Johannes Ciconia, Matteo da Perugia, Lorenzo da Firenze, Grimace, Jacob Senleches, and Baude Cordier. Ars subtilior (more subtle art) is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered around Avignon in southern France, at the end of the fourteenth century (Hoppin 1978, p. ... Johannes Ciconia (circa 1335 or circa 1373 – between June 10 and July 12, 1412) was a late Medieval composer and music theorist. ... Matteo da Perugia (fl. ... Lorenzo da Firenze (Magister Laurentius de Florentia, Masini) (d. ... Grimace (also Grymace or Grimache) was a French composer active in the 14th century. ... (Jacob Senlechos; Jacopinus Selesses) French composer, fl. ... A French composer from Rheims. ...

Transitioning to the Renaissance

Demarcating the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the Renaissance, with regards to the composition of music, is problematic. While the music of the fourteenth century is fairly obviously medieval in conception, the music of the early fifteenth century is often conceived as belonging to a transitional period, not only retaining some of the ideals of the end of the Middle Ages (such as a type of polyphonic writing in which the parts differ widely from each other in character, as each has its specific textural function), but also showing some of the characteristic traits of the Renaissance (such as the international style developing through the diffusion of Franco-Flemish musicians throughout Europe, and in terms of texture an increasing equality of parts). The Renaissance began early in Italy, but musical innovation there lagged far behind that of France and England; the Renaissance came late to England, but musical innovation there was ahead of continental Europe.

Music historians do not agree on when the Renaissance era began, but most historians agree that England was still a medieval society in the early fifteenth century (see a discussion of periodization issues of the Middle Ages). While there is no consensus, 1400 is a useful marker, because it was around that time that the Renaissance came into full swing in Italy. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

The increasing reliance on the interval of the third as a consonance is one of the most pronounced features of transition into the Renaissance. Polyphony, in use since the 12th century, became increasingly elaborate with highly independent voices throughout the 14th century. With John Dunstaple and other English composers, partly through the local technique of faburden (an improvisatory process in which a chant melody and a written part predominantly in parallel sixths above it are ornamented by one sung in perfect fourths below the latter, and which later took hold on the continent as "fauxbordon"), the interval of the third emerges as an important musical development; because of this Contenance Angloise ("English countenance"), English composers' music is often regarded as the first to sound less truly bizarre to modern, unschooled audiences. English stylistic tendencies in this regard had come to fruition and began to influence continental composers as early as the 1420s, as can be seen in works of the young Dufay, among others. While the Hundred Years' War continued, English nobles, armies, their chapels and retinues, and therefore some of their composers, travelled in France and performed their music there; it must also of course be remembered that the English controlled portions of northern France at this time. John Dunstable or Dunstaple (c. ... Faux bourdon (also commonly fauxbourdon) - French for wrong buzz - is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. ... Du Fay (left), with Gilles Binchois Guillaume Dufay (Du Fay, Du Fayt) (?August 5, 1397 – November 27, 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance. ... Combatants France Castile Scotland Genoa Majorca Bohemia Crown of Aragon Brittany England Burgundy Brittany Portugal Navarre Flanders Hainaut Aquitaine Luxembourg Holy Roman Empire The Hundred Years War was a conflict between France and England, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453. ...

English manuscripts include the Worcester Fragments, the Old St. Andrews Music Book, the Old Hall Manuscript, and Egerton Manuscript. The Old Hall Manuscript (sometimes Old Hall MS) (British Library, Add. ...

For information about specific composers who are considered transitional between the medieval and the Renaissance, see Roy Henry, Arnold de Lantins, Leonel Power, John Dunstaple, Guillaume Dufay, and Gilles Binchois. Roy Henry (King Henry) (fl. ... Arnold de Lantins (fl. ... Leonel Power (1370 to 1385 – June 5, 1445) was an English composer of the late Medieval and early Renaissance eras. ... John Dunstable or Dunstaple (c. ... Du Fay (left), with Gilles Binchois Guillaume Dufay (Du Fay, Du Fayt) (?August 5, 1397 – November 27, 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer and music theorist of the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance. ... Gilles de Binchois or Bins (c. ...

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Medieval music

• See List of Medieval composers.
• The Schoyen Collection: Music (scans of medieval musical notation)
• Bauska castle - location of Medieval Music festival.

Classical music is a term with three distinct meanings: The European tradition of music which is associated with high culture, as distinct from popular or folk forms (including works in this tradition in non-European countries). ... Renaissance music is European classical music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 to 1600. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... 20th century classical music, the classical music of the 20th century, was extremely diverse, beginning with the late Romantic style of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Impressionism of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and continuing through the Neoclassicism of middle-period Igor Stravinsky, and ranging to such distant sound-worlds as the complete... In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... // Early Medieval composers ( -1150) Adam de St. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Bauska Castle (Latvian: ) is a complex of a castle ruins and a later palace at the edge of the Latvian city Bauska. ...

External links

• Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments photos, descriptions, and sounds of early musical instruments
• Medieval Music & Arts Foundation
• Wine, Women, and Song: Mediaeval Latin Students' songs, trans. John Addington Symons (1884).

Further reading

• Ardis Butterfield. Poetry and Music in Medieval France. Cambridge University Press
• Hoppin, Richard H. Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton, 1978.
• McKinnon, James, ed. Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
• Parrish, Carl. The Notation of Medieval Music. London: Faber & Faber, 1957.
• Reese, Gustave. Music in the Middle Ages. New York: W. W. Norton, 1940.
• Seay, Albert. Music in the Medieval World. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1965.
• Yudkin, Jeremy. Music in Medieval Europe. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.

The Treaty of Rome signing ceremony This article gives an account of the history of the continent of Europe. ... // Paleolithic Lower Paleolithic: Europe was populated by species of Homo since c. ... Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western Europe and its first colonies which spans the time between the Middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution that has created modern society. ... The term Modern Times is used by historians to loosely describe the period of time immediately following what is known as the Early Modern Times. ... Contemporary history describes the term of historical events, that are immediately relevant to the present time. ...