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The Middle Ages in music is an immense period
stretching from the first years of the Christian era to the
early years of the 15th century. The most highly developed
theoretical discussions from ancient times were those of the
Greeks . These were passed on to the Middle Ages by scholars
such as Boethius in the 6th century. In the practical sphere,
however, only a few pieces of Greek music have survived, and
none by the Romans. The earliest PLAINSONG in notated form
dates only from the 9th to 10th century. Ancient Jewish music
undoubtedly formed the basis of the recitation tones used
for the psalms, and hymnody dates back to the time of Saint
Ambrose in the 4th century. But many of the antiphons and
responds, and particularly the ornate melodies of the MASS
ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus), were products
of the later Middle Ages, from the 11th century on.
At first there were many differing but related repertories
of plainsong; the most important were the Old Roman, the Ambrosian
in Milan, the Gallican in France, and the Mozarabic in Spain.
Their unification and crystallization in Gregorian chant took
place through the efforts of the Frankish kings and the Papal
court in Rome, apparently starting in the 8th century. Few
traces of the Gallican chant exist today, whereas the Ambrosian
repertory is still used in Milan. Mozarabic chant was superseded
in the 11th century.
The impact of the church on all other music of the Middle
Ages cannot be overestimated. Manuscripts were usually written
by clerics, and therefore little secular music was preserved
apart from a few songs in Latin. The first important secular
music in the vernacular was the troubadour song in the Provencal
language. From its beginnings in the 11th century, troubadour
song influenced many other countries for some 200 years, especially
northern France, where the trouveres contributed a large repertory
of music. Only about 300 pieces are preserved with music by
the troubadours, but about 1,700 by the trouveres. The height
of troubadour skill was reached about 1200 with Bernart de
Ventadorn, Guiraut de Bornelh, and Folquet de Marseille. Bernart
is famous for his texts dealing with unrequited love. Some
of the verse forms anticipate the 14th-century ballade with
its 3 stanzas of 7 or 8 lines. Others have texts dealing with
the Crusades, or with a dispute about some amorous trifle.
The pastourelle, found in both troubadour and trouvere literature,
tells a conventional story in several stanzas about a knight
and a shepherdess. Dance songs like the rondeau and virelai
are also found in these repertories. All this monophonic music
may have been accompanied at times by a fiddle or a wind instrument.
It was not until the 14th century that secular song became
regularly polyphonic.
Sacred music is found written in two to four parts from the
9th century; at first it consisted mainly of doubling a melody,
usually plainsong, at the fourth, fifth, or octave. The first
important collection of this so-called ORGANUM was the Winchester
Troper of the early 11th century, containing nearly 200 two-part
settings of solo chants. In the St. Martial repertoire of
the 12th century can be seen the origins of the classic Notre
Dame style. Two-part writing is still the rule, but in the
more expansive Notre Dame style, three and even four parts
are not uncommon. The leading composers were Leonin and Perotin,
who wrote the big four-part organa as well as some in three
parts. In the composition of motets, St. Martial composers
led the way, followed by those of Notre Dame. Motets in both
Latin and French became the most important polyphonic form
of the 13th century.
In other countries, French models were imitated. In Spain
manuscripts from Burgos and Toledo testify to the importance
of the Notre Dame repertory. The monophonic cantigas reveal
a more individual trend in 13th-century songcraft although
like the Italian laude they are addressed to the Virgin Mary.
English composers followed the lead of the French in important
centers like the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds and the cathedral
of St. Paul in London. The technique of CANON was used in
the famous four-part canon Sumer is icumen in over two harmonically
organized bass parts.
In the 14th century, often called the period of Ars Nova in
contrast to the 13th-century Ars Antiqua, polyphony flourished
in vernacular song. The leading composer was the Frenchman
Guillaume de MACHAUT, who produced a large body of mainly
three-part ballades and rondeaux, occasionally venturing into
four and two parts. The virelais and lais are mainly monophonic.
A major achievement of the Ars Nova was a move from primarily
triple time to the modern variety of measures, mainly 3/4,
6/8, 2/4, and 9/8. In Italy the 14th century began with the
cultivation of the two-part MADRIGAL. Instruments such as
the fiddle, portative organ, shawm, and small harp were widely
used. French influence became stronger as the century progressed,
and the virelailike ballata was predominant in the work of
Francesco LANDINI, the most prolific Italian composer of the
Ars Nova. In both France and Italy, the music at the end of
the century was marked by increased rhythmic complexity, helped
by the development of notation and the use of syncopation.
In England polyphony continued to be mainly sacred, borrowing
from France the technique of the isorhythmic motet and the
CHANSON. During the first half of the 15th century, however,
French domination was challenged for the first time by the
novel harmonies and smooth melodic lines of John DUNSTABLE
and his contemporaries. Their influence on the continent and
the great works of Guillaume DUFAY led to a new art culminating
in the classic choral polyphony of JOSQUIN DES PREZ.
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