Medieval period music history refers to the music of Europe which was written after the fall of Roman Empire and before the fifteenth century. The medieval period music of the Middle Ages is the longest period in the history of music.
During the middle ages, the church played an important role in the lives of people. Hence medieval period music is rich in a huge collection of chants which includes the Gregorian chant.
A notable feature of medieval period music is the system of musical notation. Records indicate that the system of musical notation developed only at a slower rate. According to evidences musical notation was introduced in the 9th century and rhythmic notation came into being during the 12th century.
In the medieval period musicians used many plucked stringed instruments such as lute, mandore, gittern, psaltery, duclimers and zither.
The first recorded European bowed string instrument is the bowed lyra of the byzantine empire. Flute made of wood, pan flute, gemshorn and the recorder existed during the medieval period.
A mechanical violin called the hurdy-gurdy was another popular instrument. It is believed by the musicologists that the musicians of medieval period also used early versions of instruments such as organ, fiddle and trombone.
Some of the historians have studied medieval period music history after classifying them into three different stages.
The first stage was the early medieval music before 1150 which was dominated by the chants along with polyphony, liturgical drama and the goliards. The second stage being the High Medieval music between 1150 and 1300 witnessed the beginning of Ars Nova.
It was also the time when the music of the troubadours and the trouveres. The third stage is known as the Late Medieval music, the period between 1300 and 1400.
The Ars Nova of France, Trecento of Italy, Geissleirlieder, Mannerism and Ars subtilior and the stage of transitioning to the renaissance were the highlights of this period.
The sacred and the secular medieval period music also gifted to the world, the Antiphonal in 1450. The antiphonal was the music manuscript made by the musicians of the medieval period.
The Medieval period music history is incomplete without the composers of middle ages.
The following are some of the composers of the Medieval period:
Hildegard Von Bingen, Bernart de Ventadom, Leonin,, Perotin, G faidilt, Walther von der vogelweide, Gautier de coincy, Alfonso X el Sabio, Guiraut riquier, Adam de la Halle, franco of Cologne, Dinis ( King of Portugal), Philippe De Vitry, Guilaume de Machaut, Jacopo da Bologna, Francesco landiri, J Senleches, Solage, J Ciconia, O Von Wolkenstein, Leonel Power, J Dunstable, Jacobus Vide, Jon Dunstaple, Roy Henry, Ugolino de Orvieto, Maestro Piero
Article about: History of medieval period music
|
