Medieval Music: Instruments, Scores, and History
The Middle Ages
Chronology
The Middle Ages began in the late 5th century, coinciding with the fall of the Roman Empire and the expansion of Christianity.
Socially, Europe was divided into many small territories in conflict, where feudal lords dominated, and the Pope established monasteries and abbeys throughout Europe.
Culturally, activity was concentrated mainly in monasteries, where monks cultivated the arts and sciences.
Musically, minstrels and troubadours appeared in some courts, but religious music was concentrated in monasteries and abbeys.
Musicians and Music in the Middle Ages
The Christian church in the Middle Ages disapproved of music as mere entertainment. The church conceived of music as a tool for prayer. In the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great united and gathered all the music in the monasteries.
Thus arose the Gregorian chant.
Religious Music in the Middle Ages
Religious music of the Middle Ages was intended to inculcate the ideas of the Catholic Church through singing and prayer.
This type of music, called Gregorian chant, strengthened Christian unity in Europe and became the official song of the Catholic Church.
Secular Music in the Middle Ages
The church disapproved of music that did not have a religious role. The minstrels were the first distributors of this non-religious music. They were considered marginal by the church, which refused them, even in death, the last rites.
The troubadour movement emerged in France in the 12th century, and secular music began to gain prominence. The troubadours were songwriters who composed both the text and music. Their songs were inspired by love and chivalric ideals.
Other variants of the troubadours and minstrels are the Minnesanger.
In Spain, Martin Codax of Vigo is notable, and among his works, seven ballads are preserved.
The term “ballad” was used in the Castilian kingdom until about the 15th century.
The Cantigas de Santa Maria are works dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Medieval Instruments
String Family:
- Plucked strings: Lute, harps, lyre, psaltery, and citole.
- Struck strings: Tympanum.
- Bowed strings: Rebec, vielle, and hurdy-gurdy.
Wind Family:
- Flutes: Fifes.
- Double reed: Oboe, shawm, bagpipe, and bombard.
- Metal: Trumpet, serpent, straight trumpet, sackbut, and horn.
- Wind-mixed: Organ, portable organs.
Percussion Family:
Bedon, cymbals, nakers, darbuka, sherds, tintinnabulum, bells, and triangles.
Medieval Scores
Musical notation is the graphic representation of sounds.
Before, there were only 4 lines, known as the tetragrammaton, and notes were square, not round.
- Syllabic Style: Each syllable coincides with one sound.
- Melismatic Style: There are several sounds for each syllable.
Polyphony
A new way of making music boomed at this time, ousting Gregorian chant.
Organum: The first form of polyphony, it’s a simple method where a voice is added to another at a distance of an octave, a fifth above, or a fourth below.