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Listen
to this round, Sumer Is Icumen In. Is this song
polyphonic?
Does it have harmony?
This is a secular song?
What is secular ?
Listen to this Gregorian
Chant. Does this song have harmony
or rhythm?
Does this kind of tune have another name? Is this
song polyphonic?
This a sacred song.
What is sacred ? Who is Pope Gregory
I and why should we remember him?
Medieval Clip Arts images found on this page are
available at
http://members.easyspace.com/Brig/mca/clips.html,
May 29, 2002.
The Medieval period represents almost a thousand
years of the music
history
of Europe. Much of the music of this time has been lost. This
period is also called the Middle Ages and the Dark Ages.
Many people died of disease during this period. It was a dark
time in history because of ignorance, sickness, and death.
Most of the composers of this time are anonymous. That means we don't know who they are. They didn't want to be thought of as bragging, so they didn't sign their work. They were told it would make God unhappy if they took credit for what they created.
Plainchant:
The earliest music of the Middle Ages was sung slowly and without rhythm
or harmony.
Everyone sang the same thing, which is singing in unison. These
simple tunes were called plainchant because they were so plain
and simple. These tunes are also called Gregorian Chant,
which were named after Pope Gregory I.
Harmony: Later on other musical lines were added, creating harmony. This is also called polyphonic music. This is music for more than one voice and it appeared during the later Medieval period. This marked the beginning of harmony.
Notation: During the Medieval period
most music was not written down. 
Composers
who did write their music down usually worked for the Catholic Church.
The Church could afford to buy the materials the composers would need to write
music. People outside the Church were too poor to buy what was needed
to compose music.
Music notation appeared around the year 900, but it only showed
the pitch.
It didn't tell you anything about the rhythm.
A few hundred years would pass before the notes showed the
rhythm.
Pope Gregory I: As music became more complicated, someone needed to make up some rules for writing down music. That person was Pope Gregory I.
Pope Gregory l declared that music be standardized. That means that musicians and composers had to use the same rules when writing and performing their music. This music can still be heard today. It is called Gregorian chant.
13th century music manuscript [Online image].
Available http://members.brabant.chello.nl/~g.kaashoek/music/,
May 28, 2002. The black squares are the notes.
The staff is in red
and only has four lines. These notes show pitch
but not rhythm
or
harmony.
How is this music different from today's music?
Secular music: This is non-religious
music. Traveling musicians called troubadours would
go from town to town playing love songs. They learned their music by
ear. Drums, harps, recorders, and bagpipes were popular instruments
for these wandering musicians. This music was usually not written down.
Listen to the love song, Flow My Tears, by the English composer
John Dowland.
Sacred music: This is religious music. Most of the music of the early
At first almost all the music that was written down was sacred music for the Catholic Church. As time went on, non-religious music started being written down.
Learn More About the Medieval Period
To learn more about Medieval instruments, click here.
To learn more of this period, visit the History of Music web site.
To learn more of this period, visit the Medieval Timeline web site.
To hear more Gregorian chants, visit the Chant MIDI Files page.
To hear examples of music from the Medieval period, click here.
1. Why don't we know the names of the popular Medieval musicians who played, sang, and wrote songs from town to town?
2. Why do you think music notation began in the Catholic Church rather than with the traveling musicians?
3. Why is it important to write down music?
4. Should the rules for writing down music be the same for everyone?
5. Can you identify instruments of the Medieval period that no longer exist?
6. Why do you think some instruments from the Medieval period disappeared?
7. What are some instruments we use today that were not known during the Medieval period?
8. Why do you think non-religious music was becoming more and more popular?
9. Why did it take almost a thousand years for music to develop rhythm, harmony, and instruments?