Category: ‘Medieval’

  • Medieval and Renaissance Music: Why is it Important?

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods Historians often point to the Medieval period as the beginning of the unbroken tradition of notated (written down) Western music that developed into what we now consider “classical” or “art” music. Although the earlier Ancient music of Greece was very important and influential, only a few fragments of [...]

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  • Chant

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods Gregorian chant, plainchant, plainsong, or simply chant are terms referring to a genre of church music codified and written down during the 10th to 13th centuries, mostly created by anonymous composers. This music represents the first significant body of music in Western culture that was notated and preserved in [...]

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  • Organum

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods Organum is a genre of Medieval polyphonic music (music with two or more simultaneous, different voice parts) that reached the peak of its sophistication during the late 1100s-early 1200s in France. In organum, new music would be composed and sometimes improvised on top of the “fixed” music [...]

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  • Polyphony

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods The term polyphony can be used to describe a general style of music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods or, more broadly, to refer to any musical texture of more than one distinct, simultaneous melodic lines. Polyphony emerged out of Medieval church music (chant) around the 12th century with the [...]

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  • Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods [GUIDE]

     Vocal music in the Medieval and Renaissance periods is some of the most interesting and beautiful music of all time. Use this guide as a jumping-off point to explore some of the more important genres and techniques in the Medieval era through the Renaissance (ending around 1600). Topics: Medieval and Renaissance Music: Why is it Important? [...]

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