Medieval and Renaissance Music: Periods and Styles

Music in the Middle Ages

Polyphony

Polyphony is a musical texture involving two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody. It emerged significantly from the mid-9th century onwards.

Ars Antiqua (c. Mid-9th - 13th Century)

The main musical style of the 13th century. Principal musicians associated with this era include Albertus Parisiensis, Leoninus, and Perotinus.

Musical Forms of Ars Antiqua

• Organum: A form where an additional invented melody is added to a pre-existing Gregorian chant melody.
• Motet: A form built on a Gregorian melody (tenor), with new voices added above it, often with different texts (polytextual).
• Conductus: A form where all melodies (voices) are newly composed (not based on chant) and sung in Latin, usually with the same text in all voices.

Ars Nova (14th Century)

The "new art" or musical style of the 14th century. The most important musicians include Francesco Landini and Guillaume de Machaut.

Musical Forms of Ars Nova

• Motet: Continued to develop, sometimes featuring instrumental accompaniment in one voice.
• Canción (Song): Secular musical forms set to profane (non-religious) poems, distinct from liturgical music.

Early Musical Notation

The beginnings of writing music down evolved gradually:

• Initial Stages (Early Middle Ages): Music was primarily taught and transmitted orally. There was no standardized notation, making it necessary to devise ways to preserve compositions.
• First Attempts: Early forms involved signs or traits (neumes) written above the text, serving as memory aids for the general contour or aspects of melodies.
• Neumatic Notation: Later, symbols called neumes were developed, providing a more visual representation of the melodic direction, though initially without precise pitch or rhythm.

Music of the Renaissance (15th-16th Centuries)

The Renaissance was a period in art history spanning the 15th and 16th centuries. Artists and musicians rekindled interest in the culture of Greco-Roman antiquity. Important musicians include John Dunstable, Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, and Orlando di Lasso.

Characteristics of Renaissance Polyphony

• Music typically featured multiple voices, often four, sung a cappella (without instrumental accompaniment).
• It frequently used imitation, where voices repeat or mimic melodic fragments introduced by other voices (imitative counterpoint).
• There was a focus on balance and equality between all the voices; no single voice consistently dominated.

The Lutheran Chorale

Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation, leading his followers to separate from the Catholic Church. This transformed church music. Luther collected and promoted a vast number of songs with German texts, known as chorales, for congregational use in church services. He also translated many Latin psalms and hymns into German.

The Italian School and Counter-Reformation

Following the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the Catholic Church sought to counter Protestant ideas (Counter-Reformation). Composers of religious music were encouraged to create works where the text, although still in Latin, was clearly intelligible. Italy became a major center for music, attracting musicians from across Europe. Key composers include Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso (also worked elsewhere), and the Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria (who worked in Rome).

Spanish Renaissance Music

• 15th Century: Heavily influenced by Franco-Flemish composers, particularly in sacred music.
• 16th Century: Considered the Golden Age of Spanish music. Important composers include Cristóbal de Morales and Francisco Guerrero.

Profane (Secular) Music Forms

• Madrigal: A highly refined vocal form, often through-composed (not repetitive), set to a poem. Very popular, especially in Italy and England.
• Chanson: A prominent secular song form cultivated in Franco-Flemish regions.
• Villancico: A characteristic Spanish secular song form, not necessarily related to Christmas (though later associated with it).

Instrumental Music Forms

• Fantasia: A common instrumental form, often improvisatory in style.
• Tiento: An improvisatory keyboard form prevalent in Spain, similar to the fantasia.

Church Music Forms

• Motet and Mass: The primary sacred forms in Catholic regions.
• Psalms and Chorales: Central to worship in Protestant areas.
• Anthem: The English equivalent of the motet, used in the Anglican Church.