Medieval and Ancient Musical Traditions

Secular Music: Troubadours

The music of the troubadour was a vernacular tradition of monophonic secular song, likely accompanied by instruments and performed by musicians, usually minstrels. Typical subjects of troubadour songs were chivalry and courtly love. Notable examples of troubadours include Martin de Ledex and Alfonso X el Sabio.

Minstrels

Minstrels were medieval European bards who performed songs with lyrics detailing distant places or historical events, both real and imaginary. While minstrels often created their own tales, they frequently memorized and embellished the work of others. Many became wandering minstrels performing in the streets. Although they belonged to lower social classes, they could ascend to upper-class status if retained by royalty or high society.

Ars Antiqua: 11th–13th Centuries

This period introduced new polyphonic forms, such as:

• Conductus: Characterized by a processional rhythm.
• Motet: A form using multiple voices, as elaborated by Pérotin.

Key composers of this epoch include Léonin and Pérotin.

Ars Nova: 14th Century

This era marked the perfection of polyphony, led by Philippe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut. The musical treatise of Vitry distinguished this practice from the music of the immediately preceding age. Resting intervals were the fifth and octave, while thirds and sixths were considered dissonances.

Ancient Greece

• Greeks absorbed elements of ancient civilizations, modifying and developing them.
• They practiced two main religious cults:
  • Apollo: Related to objectivity and clarity; his instrument was a type of lyre.
  • Dionysus: Connected with subjectivity and emotions; his instrument was the aulos.
• Music was an essential part of education, alongside gymnastics, poetry, and mathematics.
• The Doctrine of Ethos: Greeks believed that music had a direct effect upon the soul and actions. They thought certain scales or modes improved behavior, while others were considered harmful.
• Pythagoras: He was the first to record the vibratory ratios between notes, establishing the series of notes still used in Western music today.