The Winchester Trouper: Harmful Tropers
The Winchester Trouper is an Anglo-Saxton service book dating from about 980 (Hugues, Dom 180). This collection of songs was performed in the early church. There are two of these tropers, the second one is just a modified version of the first. A troper is a type of medieval liturgical chant book (Sadie, Stanley 794).
The earliest known practical source of polyphony is one of the two 11th century tropers from Winchester (Caldwell, John 116). Polyphony is the style of music which has multiple parts being played together or sang together at the same time, which create harmony. The Winchester Tropers bear witness to the rapidity with which liturgical embellishments, including polyphony, spread throughout Western Europe (Hoppin, Richard
503).
The Winchester Tropers testifies to the early cultivation of organum in England, although the music cannot be transcribed with any certainty and some of the pieces apparently came from the region of the Loire Valley in France (Hoppin, Richard 503). The first practical collection of organum is found in the later of the tropers. Organum is simply music with multiple voice parts, not just one melody by itself. The manuscript contains organa for soloists as well as for choir (Caldwell, John 119). No large body of organa from the 11th century after the Winchester Tropers is known to exist (Hoppin, Richard 503).
In many ways, the Winchester Troper has shaped music today. It is the oldest example of polyphony there is, not to mention the fact that this music includes voice crossing and contrary motion (Seay, Albert 88). Needless to say, The Winchester Troper is very important to the musical development of the world.
Bibliography
Caldwell, John. Medieval Music. Bloomington, IL: Indiana UP, 1978. Print.
Grove, George, and Stanley Sadie. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan, 1980. Print.
Hoppin, Richard H. Medieval Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 1978. Print.
Hughes, Anselm. Early Medieval Music up to 1300. London: Oxford UP, 1954. Print.
Seay, Albert. Music in the Medieval World. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965. Print.
The earliest known practical source of polyphony is one of the two 11th century tropers from Winchester (Caldwell, John 116). Polyphony is the style of music which has multiple parts being played together or sang together at the same time, which create harmony. The Winchester Tropers bear witness to the rapidity with which liturgical embellishments, including polyphony, spread throughout Western Europe (Hoppin, Richard
503).
The Winchester Tropers testifies to the early cultivation of organum in England, although the music cannot be transcribed with any certainty and some of the pieces apparently came from the region of the Loire Valley in France (Hoppin, Richard 503). The first practical collection of organum is found in the later of the tropers. Organum is simply music with multiple voice parts, not just one melody by itself. The manuscript contains organa for soloists as well as for choir (Caldwell, John 119). No large body of organa from the 11th century after the Winchester Tropers is known to exist (Hoppin, Richard 503).
In many ways, the Winchester Troper has shaped music today. It is the oldest example of polyphony there is, not to mention the fact that this music includes voice crossing and contrary motion (Seay, Albert 88). Needless to say, The Winchester Troper is very important to the musical development of the world.
Bibliography
Caldwell, John. Medieval Music. Bloomington, IL: Indiana UP, 1978. Print.
Grove, George, and Stanley Sadie. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan, 1980. Print.
Hoppin, Richard H. Medieval Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 1978. Print.
Hughes, Anselm. Early Medieval Music up to 1300. London: Oxford UP, 1954. Print.
Seay, Albert. Music in the Medieval World. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965. Print.