Maestro
10thMay2005, 18:15
The 11th Century was crucial in the History, due to the innovative feature cropping up at the first instances of Polyphony.
The eleventh century is of crucial importance in Western history. The years
1000-1100 A.D. witnessed a revival of economic life throughout western
Europe, an increase in population, reclamation of wastelands, and the
beginning of modern cities; the Norman conquest of England, important
strides toward the recovery of Spain from the Muslims, the First Crusade; a
revival of culture, with the first translations from Greek and Arabic, the
beginnings of the universities and scholastic philosophy, and the rise of
Romanesque architecture. The cultural independence of the West was
marked by the growth of vernacular literature and symbolized by the final
schism between the Western and Eastern Churches in 1054.
The eleventh century was equally crucial in the history of music. During this
time certain changes were beginning - changes which, when eventually
worked out, would result in giving to Western music many of its basic
characteristics, those features which distinguish it from other musics of the
world. Those changes may be summarized as follows:
1. Composition slowly replaced improvisation as a way of creating musical
works. Improvisation, in one form or another, is the normal way in most
musical cultures and was probably the exclusive way in the West up to about
the ninth century. Gradually the idea arose of composing a melody once for
all instead of improvising it in each time on traditional melodic pattern
structures; and thence forward a piece of music could be said to "exist,” in
the way in which we ordinarily think of it now, apart from any particular
performance.
2. A composed piece could be taught and transmitted orally, and might be
subject to alterations in the course of transmission. But the invention of
musical notation made it possible to write music down in a definitive form,
which could be learned from the noted piece. The notation, in other words,
was a set of directions which could be executed whether or not the com-
poser was present. Thus composition and performance became separate acts
instead of being combined in one person as before, and the performer's
function became that of a mediator between composer and audience.
Western musical notation has been an evolving system dating back since at least to
Greece and Rome. A simple system of musical notation was probably established in the
ninth century . It was very hard to create and before the basic system, usually only
monasteries and cathedrals used musical notation consistently. For that reason, almost all
the songs were written for the church until the twelfth century. The beginning of musical
notation created one of the features of Western musical customs.
Many things contributed to the development of musical notation. Around 995-1050 a
man named Guido d’Arezzo developed an improved form of musical notation. Guido
was an Italian Benedictine monk. He was known for his contributions to musical
notations and music theory. He invented the system of staff-notation that we still use
today.
Micrologus was his theoretical work which is one of the principal sources of our
knowledge of orqanum, an early form of polyphony.
Organum was used in liturgical music from the late 9th century to about 1250. It was
usually a sign used in the notation of plainsong and a passage of several notes sung to
one syllable of text. It was used as a chant section by a choir at the beginning and end
of a music piece. There were many types of organum that developed during this time
such as parallel organum, modified parallel organum, and free organum. The amount of
voices included in a section of organum determines it name and term. For example,
Organum duplum includes 2 voices, 3 voices are known as organum triplum; etc.
Musical notation continued to evolve throughout the century. In the 17th and 18th
century, the key signature, note forms, time signatures and other things such as staffs
began to become standardized. Clefs and bases, sharps and flats, and other symbols
were also developed and has continued to evolve into what the type of musical
notation we use today.
3. Music began to be more consciously structured and made subject to
certain principles of order - for example, the theory of the eight modes, or
the rules governing rhythm and consonance; such principles were eventually
formulated into systems and set forth in treatises.
The system of dividing the chant repertory into eight modes had its origins in the eight
"echoi" of the Byzantine chant of the Eastern Church. In the Byzantine system, the
"echoi" are melodic types, and thus a "mode" is primarily a property of a particular "tune-
family". The division of Western chant into eight modes was adapted from this, but the
Western repertory existed before the eight-mode classification system was applied to
it, and it had not originally been so conceived. In consequence, the eight modes
functioned in the West more as pre-existent "scales" to which individual chants had to
be assigned.
The Frankish "Gregorian" chant is not the only form of Western Plainchant, although it
has since supplanted all but the Milanese "Ambrosian" chant, which is still sung in Milan
today. Before the triumph of "Gregorian" chant, however, there was a variety of
Western chant traditions, including Old Beneventan, Milanese "Ambrosian", Old
Spanish "Mozarabic", Gallican and Old Roman. Of these only the Frankish
"Gregorian" chant adopted the theoretical system of eight modes.
There are eight different "official" church modes (which is not to say that the modality
of every chant can be explained by one of the eight). In fact, it might be truer to say
that there are four pairs of modes, each pair sharing the same "final", which may in
some respects be compared with the keynote of a major or minor scale. The four
pairs, with finals on D, E, F and G respectively, can be played on the white notes of a
modern keyboard. However, it is important to stress that the modes, unlike modern
scales, are not of fixed pitch. They are, rather, particular arrangements of tones and
semitones, which can be sung at any pitch:
DEFGabcd
EFGabcde
FGabcdef
Gabcdefg
The difference between the two members of each pair is concerned principally with
two things: (1) which other notes beside the final are structurally important in melodies
assigned to the mode in question, and (2) the melodic range of melodies assigned to
the mode. The simplest chant for demonstrating (1) is a psalm tone. In the Divine
Office, "Gregorian" psalmody is sung in conjunction with antiphons. An antiphon is a
short text, often taken from the text of the psalm with which it is used, sung before and
after the reciting of the psalm itself. The melody of the antiphon, its range and final,
determine its assignment to a mode, and the mode of the antiphon in turn determines
the tone to which the accompanying psalm is recited. The predominating "reciting" note
in any psalm tone is also, beside the final, the second structurally important tone in the
mode. The list of eight modes below shows how each of the four of the above list can
be differentiated into two separate modes, both sharing the same final. Reciting notes
appear as bold characters, finals in Italics. The first pair below, for example, share the
final "D", but each has a different melodic range and reciting note, the first reciting on
"a", the second on "F". Note that the even-numbered modes have a smaller range
between final and reciting note. As a result melodies assigned to these modes tend to
have a narrower melodic range than those assigned to the odd-numbered modes:
DEFGabcd (Protus authentus)
ABCDEFGa (Protus plagis)
EFGabcde (Deuterus authenus)
BCDEFGab (Deuterus plagis)
FGabcdef (Tritus authentus)
CDEFGabc (Tritus plagis)
Gabcdefg (Tetradius authentus)
DEFGabcd (Tetradius plagis)
However, perhaps more familiar to modern consciousness because of its adoption in
the modes, derived from the place-names which ancient Greek music theory
associated with the various modes, knowledge of which has passed to the modern
world largely thanks to the writings of Boethius. (c. 480-c. 524). According to
Boethius, the names were applied to ancient Greek modes corresponding roughly to
the "Gregorian" modes, as follows:
1. No-an-no-e-a-ne (a-G-FE-G-FED-D) Phrygian
2. No-e-a-gis (DCDEF-G-FE-D) Hypodorian
3. No-i-o-e-a-ne (G-abc-b-a-Ga-E) Dorian
4. No-e-a-is (EFGFEG-Ga-FG-E) Mixolydian
5. No-i-o-e-a-ne (c-c-cba-c-G-F) Hypolydian
6. No-e-a-gis (EFDCF-Ga-G-F) Lydian
7. No-i-o-e-a-ne (d-d-c-c-da-G) Hypophrygian
8. No-e-a-gis (a-accb-aG-G) (There would appear to be no equivalent in this system to mode 8.)
This terminology was "incorrectly" reapplied to the "Gregorian" repertory in the late
ninth century treatise Alia Musica as follows:
Dorian
Hypodorian
Phrygian
Hypophrygian
Lydian
Hypolydian
Mixolydian
Hypermixolydian
4. Polyphony began to replace monophony. Of course, polyphony as such is
not exclusively Western; but it is our music which, more than any other, has
specialized in this technique. We have developed polyphonic composition to
a unique degree and, it must be admitted, at the expense of rhythmic and
melodic subtleties that are characteristic of the music of other highly
civilized peoples, India and China for example.
It must be emphasized that the changes we have been describing an took
place very gradually; there was no sudden, sharp break with the past.
Monophony continued: some of the finest specimens of monophonic chant,
including antiphons, hymns, and sequences, were produced in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. Improvisation continued after the eleventh century
and many stylistic details of the new composed music were taken over - as
has always been the case - from improvisational practice. Nevertheless, in
looking back over the whole historical development, we can now see that it
was in the eleventh century that the first stages of a new and different
musical system began to be manifest. During the first thousand years of the
Christian era the Western Church had absorbed and converted to its own use
all that it could take from the music of antiquity and the East. By about 600
A.D. the absorption and conversion were practically complete, and during
the next four hundred years the material was systematized, codified, and
disseminated throughout Western Europe. This heritage was not abandoned.
Polyphonic sacred compositions up to the end of the sixteenth century and
even beyond incorporated plainchant along with other borrowed musical
materials. Meanwhile polyphony had begun to develop independently of
such borrowings and independently of the Church. By the sixteenth century
composers were discovering new realms of expression and inventing new
techniques to master them; and this is the period of music history in which
we are still living. (Grout and Palisca, 97-99)
Reference
A history of Western Music, Sixth Edition.
By Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca
Early Music History, Studies in Medieval and early Music.
By Fenlon, Iain. (University of Cambridge)
Medieval and Renaissance Music.
By Mc Gee, Timothy J.
The eleventh century is of crucial importance in Western history. The years
1000-1100 A.D. witnessed a revival of economic life throughout western
Europe, an increase in population, reclamation of wastelands, and the
beginning of modern cities; the Norman conquest of England, important
strides toward the recovery of Spain from the Muslims, the First Crusade; a
revival of culture, with the first translations from Greek and Arabic, the
beginnings of the universities and scholastic philosophy, and the rise of
Romanesque architecture. The cultural independence of the West was
marked by the growth of vernacular literature and symbolized by the final
schism between the Western and Eastern Churches in 1054.
The eleventh century was equally crucial in the history of music. During this
time certain changes were beginning - changes which, when eventually
worked out, would result in giving to Western music many of its basic
characteristics, those features which distinguish it from other musics of the
world. Those changes may be summarized as follows:
1. Composition slowly replaced improvisation as a way of creating musical
works. Improvisation, in one form or another, is the normal way in most
musical cultures and was probably the exclusive way in the West up to about
the ninth century. Gradually the idea arose of composing a melody once for
all instead of improvising it in each time on traditional melodic pattern
structures; and thence forward a piece of music could be said to "exist,” in
the way in which we ordinarily think of it now, apart from any particular
performance.
2. A composed piece could be taught and transmitted orally, and might be
subject to alterations in the course of transmission. But the invention of
musical notation made it possible to write music down in a definitive form,
which could be learned from the noted piece. The notation, in other words,
was a set of directions which could be executed whether or not the com-
poser was present. Thus composition and performance became separate acts
instead of being combined in one person as before, and the performer's
function became that of a mediator between composer and audience.
Western musical notation has been an evolving system dating back since at least to
Greece and Rome. A simple system of musical notation was probably established in the
ninth century . It was very hard to create and before the basic system, usually only
monasteries and cathedrals used musical notation consistently. For that reason, almost all
the songs were written for the church until the twelfth century. The beginning of musical
notation created one of the features of Western musical customs.
Many things contributed to the development of musical notation. Around 995-1050 a
man named Guido d’Arezzo developed an improved form of musical notation. Guido
was an Italian Benedictine monk. He was known for his contributions to musical
notations and music theory. He invented the system of staff-notation that we still use
today.
Micrologus was his theoretical work which is one of the principal sources of our
knowledge of orqanum, an early form of polyphony.
Organum was used in liturgical music from the late 9th century to about 1250. It was
usually a sign used in the notation of plainsong and a passage of several notes sung to
one syllable of text. It was used as a chant section by a choir at the beginning and end
of a music piece. There were many types of organum that developed during this time
such as parallel organum, modified parallel organum, and free organum. The amount of
voices included in a section of organum determines it name and term. For example,
Organum duplum includes 2 voices, 3 voices are known as organum triplum; etc.
Musical notation continued to evolve throughout the century. In the 17th and 18th
century, the key signature, note forms, time signatures and other things such as staffs
began to become standardized. Clefs and bases, sharps and flats, and other symbols
were also developed and has continued to evolve into what the type of musical
notation we use today.
3. Music began to be more consciously structured and made subject to
certain principles of order - for example, the theory of the eight modes, or
the rules governing rhythm and consonance; such principles were eventually
formulated into systems and set forth in treatises.
The system of dividing the chant repertory into eight modes had its origins in the eight
"echoi" of the Byzantine chant of the Eastern Church. In the Byzantine system, the
"echoi" are melodic types, and thus a "mode" is primarily a property of a particular "tune-
family". The division of Western chant into eight modes was adapted from this, but the
Western repertory existed before the eight-mode classification system was applied to
it, and it had not originally been so conceived. In consequence, the eight modes
functioned in the West more as pre-existent "scales" to which individual chants had to
be assigned.
The Frankish "Gregorian" chant is not the only form of Western Plainchant, although it
has since supplanted all but the Milanese "Ambrosian" chant, which is still sung in Milan
today. Before the triumph of "Gregorian" chant, however, there was a variety of
Western chant traditions, including Old Beneventan, Milanese "Ambrosian", Old
Spanish "Mozarabic", Gallican and Old Roman. Of these only the Frankish
"Gregorian" chant adopted the theoretical system of eight modes.
There are eight different "official" church modes (which is not to say that the modality
of every chant can be explained by one of the eight). In fact, it might be truer to say
that there are four pairs of modes, each pair sharing the same "final", which may in
some respects be compared with the keynote of a major or minor scale. The four
pairs, with finals on D, E, F and G respectively, can be played on the white notes of a
modern keyboard. However, it is important to stress that the modes, unlike modern
scales, are not of fixed pitch. They are, rather, particular arrangements of tones and
semitones, which can be sung at any pitch:
DEFGabcd
EFGabcde
FGabcdef
Gabcdefg
The difference between the two members of each pair is concerned principally with
two things: (1) which other notes beside the final are structurally important in melodies
assigned to the mode in question, and (2) the melodic range of melodies assigned to
the mode. The simplest chant for demonstrating (1) is a psalm tone. In the Divine
Office, "Gregorian" psalmody is sung in conjunction with antiphons. An antiphon is a
short text, often taken from the text of the psalm with which it is used, sung before and
after the reciting of the psalm itself. The melody of the antiphon, its range and final,
determine its assignment to a mode, and the mode of the antiphon in turn determines
the tone to which the accompanying psalm is recited. The predominating "reciting" note
in any psalm tone is also, beside the final, the second structurally important tone in the
mode. The list of eight modes below shows how each of the four of the above list can
be differentiated into two separate modes, both sharing the same final. Reciting notes
appear as bold characters, finals in Italics. The first pair below, for example, share the
final "D", but each has a different melodic range and reciting note, the first reciting on
"a", the second on "F". Note that the even-numbered modes have a smaller range
between final and reciting note. As a result melodies assigned to these modes tend to
have a narrower melodic range than those assigned to the odd-numbered modes:
DEFGabcd (Protus authentus)
ABCDEFGa (Protus plagis)
EFGabcde (Deuterus authenus)
BCDEFGab (Deuterus plagis)
FGabcdef (Tritus authentus)
CDEFGabc (Tritus plagis)
Gabcdefg (Tetradius authentus)
DEFGabcd (Tetradius plagis)
However, perhaps more familiar to modern consciousness because of its adoption in
the modes, derived from the place-names which ancient Greek music theory
associated with the various modes, knowledge of which has passed to the modern
world largely thanks to the writings of Boethius. (c. 480-c. 524). According to
Boethius, the names were applied to ancient Greek modes corresponding roughly to
the "Gregorian" modes, as follows:
1. No-an-no-e-a-ne (a-G-FE-G-FED-D) Phrygian
2. No-e-a-gis (DCDEF-G-FE-D) Hypodorian
3. No-i-o-e-a-ne (G-abc-b-a-Ga-E) Dorian
4. No-e-a-is (EFGFEG-Ga-FG-E) Mixolydian
5. No-i-o-e-a-ne (c-c-cba-c-G-F) Hypolydian
6. No-e-a-gis (EFDCF-Ga-G-F) Lydian
7. No-i-o-e-a-ne (d-d-c-c-da-G) Hypophrygian
8. No-e-a-gis (a-accb-aG-G) (There would appear to be no equivalent in this system to mode 8.)
This terminology was "incorrectly" reapplied to the "Gregorian" repertory in the late
ninth century treatise Alia Musica as follows:
Dorian
Hypodorian
Phrygian
Hypophrygian
Lydian
Hypolydian
Mixolydian
Hypermixolydian
4. Polyphony began to replace monophony. Of course, polyphony as such is
not exclusively Western; but it is our music which, more than any other, has
specialized in this technique. We have developed polyphonic composition to
a unique degree and, it must be admitted, at the expense of rhythmic and
melodic subtleties that are characteristic of the music of other highly
civilized peoples, India and China for example.
It must be emphasized that the changes we have been describing an took
place very gradually; there was no sudden, sharp break with the past.
Monophony continued: some of the finest specimens of monophonic chant,
including antiphons, hymns, and sequences, were produced in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. Improvisation continued after the eleventh century
and many stylistic details of the new composed music were taken over - as
has always been the case - from improvisational practice. Nevertheless, in
looking back over the whole historical development, we can now see that it
was in the eleventh century that the first stages of a new and different
musical system began to be manifest. During the first thousand years of the
Christian era the Western Church had absorbed and converted to its own use
all that it could take from the music of antiquity and the East. By about 600
A.D. the absorption and conversion were practically complete, and during
the next four hundred years the material was systematized, codified, and
disseminated throughout Western Europe. This heritage was not abandoned.
Polyphonic sacred compositions up to the end of the sixteenth century and
even beyond incorporated plainchant along with other borrowed musical
materials. Meanwhile polyphony had begun to develop independently of
such borrowings and independently of the Church. By the sixteenth century
composers were discovering new realms of expression and inventing new
techniques to master them; and this is the period of music history in which
we are still living. (Grout and Palisca, 97-99)
Reference
A history of Western Music, Sixth Edition.
By Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca
Early Music History, Studies in Medieval and early Music.
By Fenlon, Iain. (University of Cambridge)
Medieval and Renaissance Music.
By Mc Gee, Timothy J.