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Roman Empire divide into 2 parts:
-Western Roman Empire
-Byzantine Empire (Constantinople) -
Christianity became the official religion and the Roman Catholic Church was what united the Western world
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The Roman Empire fell and this date marked the start of the middle ages
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Universities appear as associations of teachers and students to study liberal arts (Trivium and Quadrivium)
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Roman Catholic Church, beetween 7th and 9th centuries,
compiled this liturgical plainsongs called Gregorian Chants. -
Roman Catholic Church, beetween 7th and 9th centuries,
compiled this liturgical plainsongs called Gregorian Chants. -
a second voice was added to plainsong and
polyphony (polis=several; phonos=sounds) was born.
Secular monophony appeared, and the
main characteristics of this vocal music are:
Monophonic texture
It’s uses modal scales
Designed for fun or entertainment
Themes: Religious, love and history
Written in the local language or vernacular
Performed by female and male voices
The musicians who played secular music, were called
minstrels. -
a combination of two note values was used in compositions: the
long (longa), and the breve (brevis). These two note values were
combined to get six patterns, called rhitmic modes. -
The Catholic church allowed 1 instrument, the Organ. Most of the instrument were only used in secular music to
accompany the voice or to perform instrumental pieces in dances
or processions. -
The mensural notation was created and prefectioned