Medieval Music
MMusic of Middle Ages - divided into 2 parts: early middle ages 400-1000, and late middle ages 1000-1400, paid for by the church
Characteristics of Medieval Music- Christianity had huge impact, most surviving music is liturgical music
Middle Ages Music
The Middle Ages saw the emergence of great changes in English culture including the music played during the Middle Ages. The violent times of the Dark Ages had led to a primitive society lacking in elegance or refinement. The Medieval music of the Middle Ages generally consisted of the secular music of the church. The Middle Ages saw society changing due to the influence from various foreign cultures. Travel, prompted by the Crusades, led to a new and unprecedented interest in beautiful objects, elegant manners, poetry and music. Middle Ages music in Europe was influenced by Arab love songs. The ideals of courtly love were introduced further influencing the content and styles of the music of the Middle Ages. |
Music in the Middle ages is less defined as those in the Baroque period. They were not regulated and have very little similarity among them, so, there is no distinct way to state their characteristics.
In order to let the surfers out there have a concise and clear view of the general characteristics of Medieval music, we have separated the section into Sacred and the Secular music.
Sacred:
1) Church Modes
Church modes were the basic scales of western music. Despite the name, the modes were used in both sacred and secular music. They have seven different tones and the eighth tone duplicate the first just like our modern day major and minor scales. The different modes are Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Lydian. Many folk music are based on these modes. For example, the song What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor uses the Dorian mode.
2)Gregorian Chant
For over 1000 years the Roman Catholic church uses the Gregorian Chant as their official music. It consists of the melody set to
Characteristics of Medieval Music- Christianity had huge impact, most surviving music is liturgical music
Middle Ages Music
The Middle Ages saw the emergence of great changes in English culture including the music played during the Middle Ages. The violent times of the Dark Ages had led to a primitive society lacking in elegance or refinement. The Medieval music of the Middle Ages generally consisted of the secular music of the church. The Middle Ages saw society changing due to the influence from various foreign cultures. Travel, prompted by the Crusades, led to a new and unprecedented interest in beautiful objects, elegant manners, poetry and music. Middle Ages music in Europe was influenced by Arab love songs. The ideals of courtly love were introduced further influencing the content and styles of the music of the Middle Ages. |
Music in the Middle ages is less defined as those in the Baroque period. They were not regulated and have very little similarity among them, so, there is no distinct way to state their characteristics.
In order to let the surfers out there have a concise and clear view of the general characteristics of Medieval music, we have separated the section into Sacred and the Secular music.
Sacred:
1) Church Modes
Church modes were the basic scales of western music. Despite the name, the modes were used in both sacred and secular music. They have seven different tones and the eighth tone duplicate the first just like our modern day major and minor scales. The different modes are Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Lydian. Many folk music are based on these modes. For example, the song What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor uses the Dorian mode.
2)Gregorian Chant
For over 1000 years the Roman Catholic church uses the Gregorian Chant as their official music. It consists of the melody set to