Music History
Classical Music – The Middle Ages
Lecture Notes
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The Middle Ages – Cultural Context
A. Also called the Dark Ages or Medieval Period
B. Time Period
1. Early Middle Ages: 400 – 1000
2. Late Middle Ages: 1000 – 1400
C. Daily Life
1. Feudal System
a. King
Lords
Landowners
Serfs
b. Daily life is a struggle for common people
c. Serfs work the land for landowners in return for food
d. No days off, no holidays, no education, no arts, no leisure time
activates
e. Many wars during this time and serfs were frequently forced to fight
in the army of their landowner
2. As time went on, life improved.
a. Improvements in agriculture and food storage (could produce more
food and make it last longer)
b. Because of less time needed for agriculture, trades began to develop
(i.e. carpenter, tailor, blacksmith, etc)
c. A more centralized economy began to develop
3. Christianity
a. Began to spread across Europe
b. Monks copied Bibles by hand and began to teach common people to
read and write. (beginning of education)
c. Crusades took place between roughly 1050 – 1300. These were a
series of military campaigns put forth by the Catholic Church to regain
Christian control of the holy land in the Middle East
d. Music was an essential part of the Catholic liturgy. The spread of
Christianity across Europe = spread of music across Europe
Sacred Music vs. Secular Music
A. Sacred Music – music for a religious purpose
1. Liturgical Music – music for the liturgy or Mass
2. Plainchant
a. Most common sacred music from this era
b. Monophonic – only one sound
c. Almost exclusively vocal music
3. Text of the music is Biblical; this is how people learned about their religion,
through the singing of this music
a. Syllabic – one note per syllable (Mary Had a Little Lamb)
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b. Mellismatic – many notes under one syllable (Gloria from Angels We
Have Heard On High)
c. Neumatic – blend of these two
4. Gregorian Chant
a. Pope Gregory I (590 – 604) collected and organized the common
chants of the church
b. These chants were then called Gregorian Chants; this meant that
they were included in that specific collection
c. Today, the term “Gregorian chant” is often used to describe all
plainchant from this time period
B. Secular Music – music for any purpose other than church
1. Troubadours and trouveres – poet composers
a. French musicians
b. Entirely secular
c. Highly sophisticated; many members of the nobility would
participate in the music making with them
d. Traveled around performing in courts for the royalty
e. Related to the “minstrel”, however they were considered more
amateurish and performed for more common people
2. Text of the music is original
a. Poems about friendship, duty, drinking, and mainly love
b. Troubadours/trouveres were mainly men, consequently many of the
songs idealized women
3. Vocal music accompanied by instruments
a. Lute or guitar was most common
b. Instruments used also include the flute or recorder, and small
percussion instruments
Polyphony
A. Polyphony – many sounds
B. Origin
1. Idea first appears in 10th century, but doesn’t become common until
approximately 1200.
2. Center for this was Paris & Notre Dame Cathedral
3. Paris
a. By the late middle ages, Paris had become a major center of culture
and political power in Europe
b. Kings of France lived in or near the city
c. Center of commerce and political power
4. Notre Dame Cathedral
a. Construction began in 1163, with the main structure being
completed in 1240; construction and wasn’t fully completed until
1345.
b. Notre Dame was known as the church of the kings of Europe
because of its grandness and massive structure
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c. With the construction of Notre Dame came the beginnings of one of
the first universities in the world – it would develop into the
University of Paris
Leonius and Perotinus
a. Leonius was a music teacher and official at Notre Dame
cathedral/university
b. Was one of the first to develop polyphony and organum and teach his
students about it
c. Perotinus was a student of Leonius and was considered an early
master of polyphony
d. These are two of the first composers known in the history of western
classical music. Many times, composers wrote things and did not
attach their name to the composition. While it was common for
composers of the day to be aware of their fellow composers
compositions, later generations have found it very difficult to
attribute music from this time period to specific composers. So, as
scholars have studied the works of this time period, they have
numbered the various composers as they have come across their
work – Anonymous 1, Anonymous 2, etc
Organum
a. Specific type of polyphony
b. Generally, one line of plainchant with at least one added voice to
provide harmony; as time progressed, more voices were added with
more ornamentation and embellishment
c. Sometimes included a separate bass line
Magnus Liber Organi
a. Literally, “Big Book” or “Great Book” of polyphony and organum.
b. Contains many polyphonic compositions from this time period, many
of which are composed by Leonius and Perotinus (we know this
because of music scholarship from the Renaissance)
c. Many compositions are labeled for main feast days of the church (i.e.
Easter, Christmas, saints feast days, etc)
d. Retains the original plainchant as well as the ornamentation and
added harmonies
e. First important collection of music in the history of classical music;
provides important insight into the music of this time period as well
as what the music notation looked like
Music Notation
a. From c. 850 - , neumatic notation was in use.
b. System of a various number of lines with text of plainchant written
beneath it; on the lines were dots used to depict whether the pitches
went higher or lower in the music
c. Guido d’Arezzo (c. 990 – 1050) was a monk from the town of Arezzo
in Italy
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d. Developed the modern system (4 lines and 3 spaces) as a way to
teach chant more quickly to singers
e. This system has remained relatively unchanged since it was created
and is still the system that we use today, although with 5 lines and 4
spaces making up the modern staff
End of the Middle Ages - Great Schism
A. For centuries, the Pope (leader of the Roman Catholic Church) had lived in Rome,
regardless of his nationality
B. In the 14th century, a French pope was elected and he decided to set up court in
his hometown of Avignon, France
C. The Italians did not like this and there was much protesting in Italy, so a new
pope was elected
D. From 1378 – 1417, 2 popes lived and ruled simultaneously – this is known as the
Great Schism
E. Why is this important to music history?
1. During this time and event, there was much contact and communication
between the French and Italian courts
2. This communication led to an exchange of many ideas, including musical
styles and compositions
3. This intermingling, as well as the desire to be free of traditions and historical
constraints, becomes the basis for the next time period – the Renaissance
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