Singing and polyphony in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
- Emmanuel
- 3 févr. 2017
- 3 min de lecture
When do the mankind sing since? From a long time seem to witness Greek choirs of tragedies! But its first effective development in Western Europe is not so old…it all began with the introduction of singing in Christian liturgy
Early Medieval Period
Singing went through some serious development between the Medieval period, sometimes referred to as the Middle Ages and considered to be roughly between 500 and 1450, and the beginning of the Renaissance period, which is typically thought of as 1450-1600 in music history. It all started in the medieval Church. The church was incredibly powerful at the time, and it regulated music with specific rules, including which notes were allowed or not allowed to be sung.
Church-approved singing, from the year 800 on, was one melody without harmony, resulting in just one musical part. This was called Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant is commonly defined as Church music sung in a single vocal line. Each syllable was given one pitch, so it sounded like this :
Polyphony and Organum
Eventually, the rule of singing only one part went by the wayside, and polyphony, or music with two or more musical parts played simultaneously, was allowed. Around the year 900, a simple 2-part medieval harmony, called organum, developed. The singers were still confined to following the chant pitches and rhythms from earlier days, but they could have some harmony in music pieces :
A mere 100 years later, the melody became less restricted, and the highest-pitched singer was given extended melismas, or successions of pitches sung on one syllable. French composer Léonin was quite masterful at this and created 2-part compositions with extended melismas. His successor, Perotin, went a step further and added 3- and 4-part harmony with the melismas, resulting in songs like this :
These two composers exemplify the late medieval organum style.
Later, around the 1100s, the higher-pitched singer was allowed to improvise pitches to go along with the chant, as long as they were creating harmony that fit within the constraints of the prescribed pitches.
Medieval Motets
The complex organum developed by Léonin and Perotin inspired motets, which were sacred songs with multiple vocal parts of varying texts : https://youtu.be/qQjdEbZH2wI?list=RDaySwfcRaOZM
The earliest motets were written in the late 1200s. The motet was more complex than organum, both musically and in text. Musically, the motet had added differing vocal parts. The text was also highly complex, as it was often two or more different texts sung simultaneously, sometimes even in two different languages.
As secular ideas gained popularity at this time, many motets included secular text. Guillaume de Machaut was a key composer of motets in the 1300s, and his efforts made great strides in reaching new musical ideas in the Renaissance. His Quant en Moy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUW9DLS_uQs is a famous example among his composition.
NB: Not all medieval music and musicians were regulated by the Church. Royal courts also hired musicians since they could afford to pay for entertainment. Two types of court musicians and poets, called minstrels and troubadours, sang songs of courtly love and heroic tales. Though they were similar, troubadours held a higher status than minstrels and, as such, made more money and got to travel.
Renaissance Motets
The motet remained popular during the Renaissance period, immediately after the Medieval period, but the Renaissance motet was quite different than the medieval one. Compared to it, the Renaissance motet is smoother and imitative, meaning it has successive voice parts that echo each other. Surprisingly, the Renaissance motet is also simpler, with more singable melodies than the medieval motet. The sacred Renaissance motet is always in Latin and is for the ordinary mass. Josquin des Prez is a well-known composer of Renaissance motets, and his Ave Maria can be heard here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaT3tcXZg0c
Renaissance Madrigals
Entertainment was the way to go, even in the Renaissance period. In the 1500s, madrigals, which are secular multi-voice songs sung with accompaniment, were quite popular. Madrigals were based on love-related poetry. Like the Renaissance motet, the music is imitative, but one main difference between madrigals and motets is the language: where motets are sung in Latin, madrigals are in the language of the people, such as German, French, Italian or English : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ7VirCScp0
Some spiritual Latin madrigals have also been composed however like Palestrina’s ones : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJlEQi2t40
After Renaissance developed madrigals, pure polyphonic pieces made themselves less common compared to the explosion of instrumental compositions, but not abandoned at all however! You might like listening to one of Bach’s choral for example : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVa3nR-2bVc
Now you know how singing spread out in Europe and discovered a little piece of the large singing pieces diversity!
Commentaires