{"id":60,"date":"2012-01-30T18:40:28","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T23:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondthenotes.org\/blog\/?p=60"},"modified":"2012-02-26T16:12:41","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T21:12:41","slug":"polyphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondthenotes.org\/blog\/polyphony\/","title":{"rendered":"Polyphony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Guide:\u00a0Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Music<\/a>

Music by Orlando di Lassus (click to view source)<\/p><\/div>\n

The term polyphony<\/strong>\u00a0can 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.<\/p>\n

Polyphony<\/strong>\u00a0emerged out of Medieval church music (chant<\/a>)<\/strong>\u00a0around the 12th century<\/strong> with the invention of organum<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(the earliest named\u00a0composers of organum were Leonin and Perotin, both working at Notre Dame in Paris).<\/p>\n

This form of music reached the peak of its popularity and sophistication in the Renaissance in the 16th century<\/strong> (Palestrina and Lassus, aka Lasso, are considered the defining composers of that period).<\/p>\n

Polyphony may be found in motets, masses,<\/strong> and madrigals<\/a><\/strong>, the dominant genres of vocal ensemble music during the 14th-16th centuries.<\/p>\n

What to listen for in Renaissance polyphony:<\/h3>\n