Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [medieval]

For questions about the era of Western music from about 500 A.D. to 1400, just before the Renaissance. Medieval music includes liturgical music (like Gregorian chant or choral music) as well as secular music.

Medieval music is a term denoting an era of Western classical music from about 500 A.D. to 1400, just before the Renaissance. Medieval music includes liturgical music (like Gregorian chant or choral music) as well as secular music.

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Fivefold division of the whole tone - What does it mean?

I am recently reading this article: Jan W. Herlinger. Journal of the American Musicological Society. Vol. 34, No. 2 (Summer, 1981), pp. 193-216 (Title: Marchetto's Division of the Whole Tone). In the beginning, the author says the following: He…
Ma Joad
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What's the earliest known piece of polyphonic music?

Do we know what is the earliest known piece of polyphonic music? I know that there are some 12-th century composers like Léonin and Pérotin that did this kind of thing, but did they compose the earliest known piece of polyphonic music?
Shevliaskovic
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Who were Anonymous I-III? Was there an Anonymous V?

An important treatise on medieval music theory was written in the 13th century. His or her name was lost to history, and a 19th-century French historian later dubbed him/her "Anonymous IV". This styling implies that there were at least three other…
Michael Seifert
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Whats the difference between Organum, Motet, and Clausula?

Organa, Motets, and clausulae were all common in the 13th century, written and composed by the then-leading School of Notre Dame (Leonin and Perotin). However, I've found it really hard to understand the differences between all three in terms of…
Jawad
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Is there a name for this: text syncopates otherwise unsyncopated vocal music?

There's an interesting musical phenomenon in "O Virgo Splendens" (14th century, in the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat) as it is consistently interpreted across all editions I have ever encountered. The piece (a round of three) consists of 12 musical…
Codeswitcher
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What do 'dominant' and 'plagal' mean in medieval music?

In classical style brief definitions would be... Dominant: a major chord, built on the tone a perfect fifth above the tonic, used to form authentic, half, and deceptive cadences. Plagal: a cadence type (disputed by some) moving from a chord without…
Michael Curtis
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Analysis of Scarborough Fair

I'm attempting to figure out what is going on in terms of harmony with this song. This is the best I have managed so far (supposing a tonal center of A): Chords are: Am Em G Am C Am D Em …
P i
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Tetrachords in medieval music

Are tetrachords used in medieval/renaissance music the same way as modern chords are used in modern music (as a base for the melody)? And if so... how are the applied?
Caballero
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How could the medieval chants be classified before any notation was available?

We all have in mind the image of a medieval mode as a scale with a pattern of tones and semitones with a finalis, a specific range, etc. However, it seems that medieval chants were classified according to their modes before the IX century. The…
Pablo
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Different approaches to Latin pronunciation in Early Music

I know there are several different ways to pronounce Latin. I think no one sings classical music using Classical Latin pronunciation in which, for instance, "c" is pronounced as /k/. I believe the reason is that, during the Medieval era, Latin has…
Charo
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What is the difference between Gregorian chant and Gothic chant?

I understand both belong to the plainchant class of music from the pre-Renaissance period. However, I am not sure if they differ in any identifiable way. I have also heard the term Roman chant being used but I suppose that's just synonymous with…
TheLearner
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How to read accidentals in medieval music "modern" notation?

I am writing an instrumental orchestration of De Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame, Kyrie. I found scores in IMSLP here and here. These scores show accidentals above notes, sometimes in parenthesis. I am not sure how to treat those. Listening to…
user1803551
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What are 'modal rhythm' and 'mensural rhythm'?

The following is from Harvard Dictionary of Music 2nd Edit. From the definition of 'Discant' (bold added): [...] The ideal of contrary motion was mentioned in the 13th-century "Tractatus de Discantu" (in J.-A.-L. de la Fage, Essais, i, 358; CS i,…
user88063
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In Medieval music theory was the symmetry of dorian mode considered a kind of tonal fundamental?

This existing answer and comment (https://music.stackexchange.com/a/17818/23919) sort of addresses my question. I don't know anything beyond mode I was dorian, lots of music was dorian, and Fux starts with dorian in the Gradus. But my question is…
Michael Curtis
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Is there a school of Medieval-Russian music?

I'm researching music for the SCA, and I'm supposed to be looking for specific music from the Russian (as a culture) area. I have plenty of information on Medieval music as a whole, but I can't find anything separate. Is there a distinct…
Caleb
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