Musical Textures and History: From Gregorian Chants to Renaissance Composers
Musical Textures: Monody, Polyphony, and Homophony
Monody: The simplest texture, featuring a single melodic line without accompaniment.
Polyphony: This texture results from the simultaneous combination of two or more melodies.
Homophony or Chordal Texture: Music is developed vertically, meaning the voices are aligned. The four notes of the chord are distributed among the four voices, which have the same rhythm. The text becomes comprehensible to the listener because all voices simultaneously sing the same syllable. For deep voices, a different clef is used than the treble clef, called the bass clef on the fourth line. To read it, you can either go up a third or read the line or space above.
Contrapuntal Texture: Canon
In a canon, polyphony is translated in time. The voices do not begin simultaneously but are staggered, creating the feeling that they mimic each other. In imitative counterpoint, the text becomes incomprehensible as multiple voices sing different syllables simultaneously. It develops horizontally.
Flemish Composers: Heinrich Isaac and Arnold von Bruck
Both Heinrich Isaac and Arnold von Bruck were born in Flanders and served as composers for the Emperor of Germany. During this time, the best musicians of Europe moved from one court to another, attracted by economic advantages or the allure of the artistic experiences available in each location. A common compositional method of the time involved writing polyphony based on folk melodies. The composer took an original melody and enriched it by adding one, two, or more additional voices using counterpoint. Dance music was generally considered most appropriate for instruments.
Features of Gregorian Chant
- It is religious vocal music.
- The text is extracted from the Bible, specifically passages from the Old Testament.
- It is written in Latin and features monodic music, a single melody without any musical accompaniment.
- It is a capella music, meaning only voices are heard.
- It is developed in a serene environment that encourages reflection and prayer.
- The aim of Gregorian chant is to convey the word of God. This music is sacred.
- It is written on a tetragram, a four-line staff invented by Guido d’Arezzo.
- Pope Gregory the Great, in the early 17th century, gathered hundreds of religious melodies and grouped them under the name Gregorian chant.
Troubadours and Minstrels: Secular Music of the Middle Ages
Parallel to religious music, another type of music called secular (non-religious) developed during the Middle Ages. It was sung by troubadours, poet-musicians who emerged within the medieval nobility, primarily in the 13th century. The most common theme was love (courtly or unrequited love). Other songs were critical, criticizing the privileged nobility and clergy, while some narrated battles or wars.
- Satirical Songs: These included sexual themes.
- Mocking Lyrics: These mocked and ridiculed individuals with disabilities.
All these troubadour songs were written not in Latin, like Gregorian chant, but in common languages such as Galician, Castilian, and French. Troubadour music had a more marked rhythm than Gregorian chant and was accompanied by instruments like the lute and vihuela. Troubadour music originated in the French region of Provence and spread across Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, two notable troubadours were Martin Codax, who composed songs about a friend, and Alfonso X of Castile, nicknamed the Wise, who encouraged the composition of the Cantigas de Santa Maria, a collection of over 400 tunes dedicated to the Virgin Mary. They are written in old Galician and date back to the 13th century.
Minstrels: The protagonists of popular song during the Middle Ages were the minstrels, people of humble social origin who traveled from town to town, earning a living through magic tricks or trained animals. They also performed music, singing songs of heroic deeds or troubadour music, sometimes making a living in a shameless manner.
Musical Schools of the Renaissance
- Italian School: The Italian school emphasized Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
- Flemish School: The Flemish school highlighted Joaquin des Prez and Orlando di Lasso.
- Spanish School: Notable composers include Francisco Guerrero, Cristobal de Morales, and Tomas Luis de Victoria (considered by Manuel de Falla to be the most important Spanish composer).
Instruments of the Renaissance
Instruments capable of performing several melodies at once, such as the lute, organ, and harpsichord (a predecessor of the piano), were the first to be used by composers. Later, monodic instruments, those that can only interpret one melody at a time, like the flute or viola, came into use in groups, allowing them to perform polyphonic pieces.