Early Polyphony

early polyphony

prelude

• increase in trading and commerce throughout western europe as cities began to be built
• first crusade united Christian ruling families from all over europe in a successful campaign to drive the turks out of jerusalem
• 1050-1300: economic growth, cultural revival in europe - universities, romanesque churches, new monasteries and convents, scholasticism, gothic architecture
• polyphony was born - voices sing together in independent parts, began as improvisation to make chants seem more grand
  • wasn't the actual birth of polyphony but it was a polyphonic revolution
• early counterpoint was born
• music started to be written down - created counterpoint, harmony, centrality of notation, composition as distinct from performance
• organum polyphony - polyphonic elaboration of plainchant

early organum

• elaboration on plainchant - only used in really decorative liturgies
• musica enchiriadis - anonymous treatise to figure out how to treat dissonance

parallel organum:

• plainchant melody in principal voice duplicated a fourth or fifth below by an organal voice
• either voice or both may be further duplicated at the octave
• so many tritones

oblique organum:

• not strictly parallel - came from adjustments to get rid of all the tritones
• added part melodically different from plainchant and a wider variety of intervals used

contrary and oblique motion:

• predominated over parallel motion and polyphonic voices grew increasingly independent and more like equal partners
• organal voice shifted to a position above the chant, where it gained more rhythmic and melodic prominence
• mostly consonant intervals
• polyphony was applied mainly to the mass ordinary, certain parts of the proper, and responsories of the office and mass