Periods of Music

The Medieval Period of music is the period from the years c.500 to 1400.
It is the longest “period” of music (it covers 900 years!!) and runs right through from around the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance.
Here is an overview of several features of Medieval music that is good for you to have an understanding of.

Monophonic Music

The vast majority of medieval music was monophonic – in other words, there was only a single melody line. (“mono-phonic” literally means “one sound”).
The development of polyphonic music (more than one melody line played at the same time (“poly-phonic” means “many sounds”)) was a major shift towards the end of era that laid the foundations for Renaissance styles of music.

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant, consisting of a single line of vocal melody, unaccompanied in free rhythm was one of the most common forms of medieval music.
This is not surprising, given the importance of the Catholic church during the period. The Mass (a commemoration and celebration of The Last Supper of Jesus Christ) was (and still is to this day) a ceremony that included set texts (liturgy), which were spoken and sung.

Have a listen to this example of Gregorian Chant:

      Play Procedamus in Pace

By Paterm (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons]

The chants were also based on a system of modes, which were characteristic of the medieval period.
There were 8 church modes – (you can play them by starting on a different white note on a piano and playing a “scale” of 8 notes on just the white notes. For example, if you start on a D and play all the white notes up to the next D an octave higher, you will have played the “Dorian Mode”).

The Development of Polyphonic Music

As the Medieval Period progressed, composers began to experiment and polyphonic styles began to develop.

Organum

Organum was a crucial early technique, which explored polyphonic texture.
It consisted of 2 lines of voices in varying heterophonic textures.
The 3 main types of organum are:

Parallel organum (or “strict organum”)
One voice sings the melody, whilst the other sings at a fixed interval – this gives a parallel motion effect.
Have a listen to this synthesised example of parallel organum:

      Parallel Organum audio example

Free organum
The 2 voices move in both parallel motion and/or contrary motion.
Have a look at this example of free organum and listen to the track of the beginning being played on a synthesised choir sound:

      Free Organum audio example

Melismatic organum
An accompanying part stays on a single note whilst the other part moves around above it.
Have a listen to this synthesised example – notice how the 2nd voice stays on the same note whilst the 1st voice “sings” the melody:

      Melismatic Organum audio example

Here are some other recorded examples of organum, which are worth listening to:

Sheet Music in the Medieval Period

The Catholic Church wanted to standardise what people sung in churches across the Western world.
As a result, a system of music notation developed, allowing things to move on from the previously “aural” tradition (tunes passed on “by ear” and not written down).

Nuemes

These were signs written above chants giving an indication of the direction of movement of pitch.
Here is an example of an 11th century manuscript containing nuemes:

As the medieval period prgressed, nuemes developed gradually to add more indication of rhythm, etc..

Instruments of the Medieval Period

There were a number of characteristic instruments of the Medieval Period including:

Flutes (made of wood)
Medieval flutes looked more like the modern day recorder as they had holes for fingers rather than keys.

Dulcimer
The medieval dulcimers were originally plucked, but then hit with hammers as technology developed.

Lyra
The lyra is considered to be one of the first known bowed instruments

Other medieval instruments included the recorder and the lute.

The period was also characterised by troubadours and trouvères – these were travelling singers and performers.

Secular Styles of Medieval Music

Ars Nova (“new art”) was a new style of music originating in France and Italy in the 14th century.
The name comes from a tract written by Philippe de Vitry in c.1320.
The style was characterised by increased variety of rhythm, duple time and increased freedom and independence in part writing. These experimentations laid some of the foundations for further musical development during the Renaissance period.
The main secular genre of Art Nova was the chanson.
Examples of Art Nova composers include Machaut in France and G. Da Cascia, J. Da Bologna and Landini in Italy.

Recommended Medieval Music Listening

It is quite difficult to find many recorded albums of medieval music, which offer a range of styles.
The following album called “Discover Early Music” has some fantastic recordings of plainchant and organum in particular.

Click on the album cover to open up a preview on the amazon store.
Hope this helps.

The Renaissance Music Period covers the time from c.1400 – 1600.
We are going to look at the key features of Renaissance music so you can get a good basic understanding of the era.

The Renaissance

The word “Renaissance” is a French term meaning “rebirth”.
It is used to describe an age of new discoveries and exploration from c.1400-1600.
This period was a time of great political and social upheaval – events such as the Protestant Reformation had a huge impact upon the life in the Western world.
There was also an increase in humanistic thought, which challenged the supremacy of the church.
It was also a time of great development in music and the arts. New styles and techniques developed, whilst there was also a “rebirth” of interest in ancient culture as artists and composers often drew on inspiration from Ancient Greece and Rome.

Secular and Sacred Renaissance Music

You will often see the music of the Renaissance period divided into “Sacred” and “Secular”.
Whilst this division has its limitations, it is quite a helpful way of gaining an overview of the period.

Sacred Music

Early Renaissance music was dominated by the Latin Mass due to the supremacy of the Catholic church.
As a result, the sacred music was mostly polyphonic masses and motets in Latin for use in church.
Modal counterpoint was the dominant composition technique (probably due to its close relationship with liturgical plainchant).

Have a listen to these 2 examples of Renaissance sacred music:

Lamentations I by Thomas Tallis

      Play Thomas Tallis Lamentations I recording

(Performed by The Tudor Consort (www.tudor-consort.org.nz) CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons)

Credo from 4-part mass by William Byrd

      Play William Byrd Credo recording

(Performed by Ensemble Morales (MusOpen.org) CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Although there was a steady movement away from the church as humanistic thought increased, churches remained very important places for training musicians and singers.
As the period went on and the Protestant Reformation gathered pace, music was written for use in Protestant churches – i.e. not in Latin and not determined by the structure of the Catholic Mass.

Secular Music

Secular music in the early Renaissance was very dependent upon the courts, which could finance and support musicians.
Secular songs, such as the chanson, the madrigal and the German Lied (pronounced “Leed”) were very popular.

Have a listen to this madrigal by Monteverdi:

Cruda Amarilli by Monteverdi

      Play Monteverdi cruda amarilli performance

(From the Fifth Book of Madrigals, 1st piece: Cruda Amarilli. Performed by MIT Chamber Chorus, Cutter. CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons)

As the period progressed, the secular music pushed the boundaries a bit more and laid the foundation for functional harmony (major and minor keys). Composers tried to get increasing emotion into the pieces.
Secular Renaissance music was mostly vocal music, but instrumental music in its own right developed (instead of just being accompaniment for vocals or dance accompaniment). e.g. fantasia and variations.
Popular vocal genres also influenced composers who used simplified basslines which highlighted a smaller number of closely related harmonies. This laid foundation for the more complex chord progressions of the Baroque era.

Renaissance Composers

Early Renaissance composers mostly came from northern France or the Low Countries because of the strong court system, which supported musicians in these regions..
In the late Renaissance, Italy became an increasingly important musical centre.
Here are some of the most well known Renaissance composers:

Early Renaissance Composers:

Guillaume Du Fay (1397-1474) – wrote music for church based on existing Gregorian chant.
John Taverner (1490-1545)
Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) – composed music during the reigns of 4 monarchs!! (Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I). His masterpiece is Spem in Alium – “Sing and Glorify”, which has 40 separate parts.

Later Renaissance Composers:

Allegri (1582-1652) and Palestrina (1525-1594) – both produced vast choral works.
William Byrd (1543-1623)
Monteverdi (1567-1643) – his operatic works were inspired by the classical world, closely relating poetry and music and using music to stir up emotions.

Recommended Listening

Here are some albums containing a cross section of Renaissance music and composers, which you might want to listen to:

Renaissance Instruments

The Renaissance was a time of great invention and this had a major impact on music in the form of new instruments.
The main instruments associated with Renaissance music are:

Sackbut (a trombone-like instrument)

Lute

Viol da gamba

Keyboard instruments such as harpsichord and organ

Typical Features of Renaissance Music

There are a number of typical features to listen out for in Renaissance music:

• Modes – Renaissance music retained the medieval system of modes
• Polyphony – different melodic lines played by different instruments/voices at the same time
• A strong sense of structure and textural integration.
• Imitative part writing (but moving away from the strict rules of canon).

Renaissance Sheet Music

The invention of the printing press in c.1440 had an enormous impact on the Western musical world (and society in general!). It enabled music to be copied much more easily and so sheet music became more common.
Renaissance notation has some similarities with modern day scores.
Have a look at this example:

An original Renaissance Music Manuscript

However, you can see that there were some notable differences in Renaissance sheet music:

• no barlines,
• mostly used semibreves,
• only single lines of polyphony shown on the sheet music (no overall scores combining different parts).

The distribution of sheet music through the use of the printing press meant that pieces could be performed more widely and techniques could be studied.

I hope this has given you a basic overview of the period and so helpful recommended listening.
Remember, please feel free to fill in the question form on the website if you have any further questions on the topic – I will do my best to answer them quickly and fully!