Middle Ages Music: Gregorian Chant & Notre Dame Polyphony

The Middle Ages (600-1450)

• Gregorian Chant (Plainchant): Monophonic (single melodic line, no harmony). Syllabic (one note per syllable) and melismatic (multiple notes per syllable) text settings. Timbre: Male voices. Liturgical music (used in religious services).

• Notre Dame Polyphony (c. 1100-1200): Developed at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Leonin and Perotin were key figures. Organum: Early polyphony, where new melodic lines were added to Gregorian chant. Perotin made the music more complex with multiple voices and faster rhythms.

• Hildegard von Bingen (c. 1200): A female composer. Made sacred music, but not biblical. She wrote with a wider vocal range and ornate melodies. Notable for "O vis aeternitatis" and other expressive chants. Lived as an anchorite (religious seclusion).

• Troubadours (c. 1000-1200): Secular poets and musicians who wrote in vernacular (regional language) music. Music often dance-like with a rhythmic drive. Contrasting to sacred music.

• Sacred vs. Secular Music:

  • Sacred: Gregorian chant, Notre Dame Organum, sung in churches, monophonic texture.
  • Secular: Dance rhythms, more complex textures, often with instruments, based on everyday themes.

The Renaissance (1450-1600)

• Dufay (Ave Maris Stella, 1400s): Composer of the early Renaissance, important in transition from medieval modes to more modern tonalities.

• Josquin des Prez (Pange Lingua Mass, 1515s): Introduced "point of imitation," a musical technique where short passages are repeated by different voices. This created polyphony. Known for Kyrie and Gloria in his work.

• Palestrina (Pope Marcellus Mass, 1560): Composed in a homophonic style (clearer, more transparent texture than dense polyphony of the Middle Ages), in response to the Counter-Reformation. Music became clearer in text.

• Acapella: Music performed without instrumental accompaniment. Feature of Renaissance choral music.

• Renaissance Style:

  • Polyphony: Multiple independent melodic voices.
  • Homophony: Harmony accompanying a main melody.
  • Point of Imitation: Successive voices imitate a musical idea.
  • Vocal Timbre: SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) choirs.
  • Mass: Sacred work with 5 parts (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei), evolving from Gregorian chant's basic structure.

Key Questions to Know

• How did Western European music start? With plainchant (Gregorian chant), a form of monophonic, liturgical singing. Early music was sacred, performed in churches, using a syllabic style (one note per syllable).

• What is inflection? Slight rise or fall in pitch in speech or singing, helping convey the natural flow of the text in medieval music.

• Who were the secular entertainers of the Middle Ages? Troubadours and minstrels.

• Difference in texture Pre-Reformation vs. Post-Reformation?

  • Pre-Reformation: Complex polyphony, dense textures.
  • Post-Reformation: Simpler homophonic textures; clarity of the text prioritized.

• Movements of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei.

• First Type of Polyphony? Organum (adding a second voice to Gregorian chant). Key figures for earlier polyphony include Leonin and Perotin.

• Dufay's Innovations: Used cantus firmus (a pre-existing melody), often Gregorian chant, for development into polyphony.

Further Information

• Homophony: Rich chordal quality; interplay of polyphonic lines. Effective contrast with imitation style.
• Final Considerations: General characteristics of sacred vs. secular music are important. Key Renaissance composers like Palestrina, Josquin, and Dufay are crucial to understanding the evolution of music from monophonic plainchant to the polyphonic styles of the Renaissance.

Explore the evolution of music in the Middle Ages (600-1450), focusing on Gregorian Chant and Notre Dame Polyphony. Learn about key figures like Leonin, Perotin, and Hildegard von Bingen, and the transition from monophonic plainchant to early polyphony. Discover the role of troubadours and their secular vernacular music.