![]() ![]() Sung chant that accompanied the services and Offices of the Christian Church from earliest times. The main form of early polyphony was organum. The new style was known as POLYPHONY, and was distinguished by its use of several separate musical lines (contrasting with the single line of plainchant). ![]() A radical nev concept was also gradually introduced into music at this time which would further enrich it as well as take it in a dramatic new direction that would last for centuries. In the nintl century the repertory began to develop and expand, with extr material - both words and music - being incorporated into the chants to give a richer, more complex sound. This collection became the standard music of the Roman Catholic Church. The many traditional chants ( called PLAIN-CHANT or PLAINSONG ) were gathered into an ordered systen by Pope Gregory I in the sixth century, and hence are ofter referred to as Gregorian chant. It was the church music of the city of Rome, however that laid the substantial foundations on which later westerr music was built. Altogether, it is not surprising that culture was strongly flavoured by religion.Įarly Christian music was characterized by various types o chant, with different places developing their own styles Ambrosian chant grew up in Milan, named after the fourth-century Bishop Ambrose who first recorded them Spain anc France evolved separate bodies of liturgical (church-service music. The} became the main patrons of the arts Except in Italy, they were virtually the only providers o schools and education. A: they accumulated gifts from devout followers, they became rich and substantia land-owning bodies, who could commission work from the best architects artists, sculptors and composers. ![]() Against a genera backdrop of unrest and insecurity, the} were more than just secure retreats. In the west, as tht Roman world declined, monasterie: provided the only safe haven for classica knowledge and arts. This became the Byzantine Empire, with Constantinopk (Istanbul) as its capital: it was to flourisl for the next thousand years.ĭuring the “Dark Ages” (the name given by Renaissance thinkers to the Middle Ages anc before), the vital classical heritage of the ancient Greeks was safeguarded in th( eastern Empire. Rome and the west suffered continual turmoil, but the eastern part of the Empire remained intact. Christianity in its Orthodox form was growing in the east (around present-day Greece and Turkey). Many people were disillusioned with the material nature of prosperous Roman society, and this led to the development of the first monasteries, dedicated to self-denial and religious worship. The Church grew in influence as it established land ownership and wealth. The absence of instruments in early western Christian music can be partly understood as a reaction against their perceived pagan origins.Ĭhristianity spread through the Roman Empire, and by the fourth century AD was the official religion. Instruments used in ancient Greece included lyres and flutes, which were generally used in songs to accompany poetry. The body of musical ideas evolved by the Greeks (among them Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras) formed the basis for music’s development in western Europe in later times, after Greek culture was transmitted throughout the west by the Romans. The word “mousike” comes from ancient Greece, where music played a vital role. A close association between religion, music, and all other significant aspects of culture was therefore entirely natural.Įarly music used regularly in religious services was committed to memory, in the oral tradition, and was passed down through the centuries in this way, until notation was devised to record it in the ninth century. The Church stood at the centre of people’s lives, and of their everyday rituals of existence: it was powerful, rich, and the provider to many. Shortages of food and money, constant fighting, illness and disease, and political instability posed ever-present threats. For people living during the period from 1100 to 1600, and even earlier, life contained a great deal to fear. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |