Medieval Music
Modern music of the western world has its roots in medieval music. It may seem illogical, but it is actually quite true. Some music in America even has routes from medieval times in the western world. Modes, notation, polyphony music, and other musical ideas of this sort date back to these times. Also, ideas of polyphony music from the Middle Ages are the foundation in much of western music. However, “the medieval musical experience is impossible to recapture, for most of the music of daily life is lost” (Cyrus 1). But still, one can see how important this time in musical growth was, because their ideas have survived for us to use.Firstly, troubadours and trouvères are a topic worth knowing about. They were typical medieval people. In the medieval world, the troubadours and trouvères traveled around singing to praise noble women and the knights who loved them. But there was a difference between a troubadour and trouvère. Troubadours were the poets who were associated with Provencal, the language of Provence France. A trouvère was a poet who spoke a variation of the French language. As said, these poets admired women. The most admired women of the times lived from 1122 to 1204. Her name was Eleanor of Aquitaine. “ . . .
Leonin was a great composer of Notre Dame and master of its choir around 1160. The transition in music during the Middle Ages will never be forgotten. Another theory is that two people were performing and they started improvising different melodies. It had two strings tuned to C and G, while the violin on the other hand has four strings tuned to G, D, A, and E. Secondly, the instruments of the Middle Ages are unique parts of the music and they each have their own stories. Lastly, the music of the medieval ages may be vague for modern scholars to decode; “yet the music that does survive forms a sumptuous legacy, ranging from the sacred to the profane and from the monophonic texture with a single melody sung alone to the richly polyphonic with several independent voices operating simultaneously” (Cyrus 1). So, a notation system was needed and by the fourteenth century the staff was near perfection. The letters in bold are the most important notes in the modes. These rhythms were called rhythmic modes. The organs used now are mostly electric; accept for the really fancy ones in cathedrals. Later, Philippe de Vitry created a system that included time signatures. By the tenth century, people had forgotten the past attitudes towards musical instruments. The Fathers said the use of instruments was too much a part of pagan culture (meaning non-Christian religions such and Judaism and Islam). These modes were Locrian B C D E F G A B and Hypolocrian F G A B C D E F. Later after her court, Eleanor of Aquitaine became Queen of England.
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