3 - Folder 1 - Medieval Polyphony to 1300

Question 0

Name the three types of early organum (9th through early 12th centuries).

Answer 0

1. Parallel organum
2. Free organum
3. Florid organum

Question 1

Describe the organum.

Answer 1

a. The earliest polyphonic genre in Western music
b. Consists of a pre-existing plainchant with one or more newly added parts
c. Did not completely replace monophonic plainchant in the liturgy, but alternated with it
d. Led directly to other polyphonic genres, such as the motet

Question 2

Describe the Parallel organum.

Answer 2

i. Earliest type of organum (9th–10th centuries)
ii. Musica enchiriadis (9th century)
1. Medieval music theory treatise (textbook) containing the earliest descriptions and examples of written polyphony
iii. Apre-existing plainchant (vox principalis) with a newly added part (vox organalis) a fourth or fifth below the chant, moving in parallel motion

Question 3

Describe the Free Organum.

Answer 3

Free organum (11th century)

i. the vox organalis (newly added part) appears above the plainchant vox principalis (the existing plainchant)
ii. the voices move freely in parallel, oblique, and contrary motion

Question 4

Describe the Florid Organum

Answer 4

Florid organum (early 12th century)

i. Flourished in the region of Aquitaine (southwestern France)
ii. Added voice is now always at the top of the texture
iii. Moves with rhythmic independence, no longer note-for-note with the plainchant underneath
iv. Upperline becomes very florid, with long melismas (passages with many notes on one syllable)
v. Lower part (the plainchant) became elongated into a series of drones
vi. Lower part (the plainchant) now commonly designated the tenor (from the Latin root teneo, meaning to hold), or the cantus firmus (meaning fixed voice, because it is an existing plainchant)

Question 5

What was the Mini-Renaissance of the 12th century?

Answer 5

i. Rediscovery of Aristotle thanks to Islamic scholars
ii. Increasing emphasis on scholarship; use of reason to solve problems (notation & rhythmic modes; see below)
iii. Famous theologians like Peter Abelard & St. Thomas Aquinas
iv. High point of gothic style architecture
v. Birth of modern universities (one of the first being at Notre Dame in Paris)

Question 6

What are the two styles of Notre Dame organum, which can coexist in one piece?

Answer 6

i. Organumpurum — older style; freely moving upper voice over long held notes in the tenor
ii. Discantorganum — newer style; upper and lower parts are both rhythmically active, which brings up the problem of rhythmic coordination between the parts

Question 7

What are Rhythmic Modes?

Answer 7

Result of Discantorganum

i. Six basic rhythmic patterns that allow coordination of parts
ii. All are based on a division of the beat into three (called a perfection, because three is a perfect number in Christian symbolism)
iii. Usually transcribed into modern notation as 6/8 or 9/8 meter

Question 8

Who was Leonin (lived c. 1150)? What was the Magnusliber organi?

Answer 8

i. First known master of organum at Notre Dame
ii. Magnusliber organi (The Great Book of Organum)

             1. Leonin’s collection of organa for the entire liturgical year
             2. Earliest known use of the rhythmic modes
             3. Organum is provided only for solo portions of the liturgy; everything else was left as monophonic plainchant

Question 9

Who was Perotin (lived c. 1200)?

Answer 9

i. Next master of polyphonic composition at Notre Dame
ii. Possibly Leonin’s student
iii. Updated and added to Magnus liber organi
iv. Wrote works in the new genre of clausula

           1. Short passages (setting one clause of text) that could be inserted into an older, longer organum
           2. Clausulae sometimes were extended in length by repeating the cantus firmus of that short clause

v. Organum triplum and organum quadruplum
1. Perotin expanded the number of voices in his organa and clausulae to three or four (cantus firmus still derived from plainchant on the bottom, with two or three new parts added on top)

Question 10

Describe a motet.

Answer 10

a. New polyphonic genre
b. Developed directly from the Notre Dame organum and clausula in the late 12th and early 13th centuries
c. Consists of one or more newly composed, texted parts added to an existing cantus firmus
d. Earliest motets were clausulae with words added to the upper part or parts (mot means word in French)
e. Motets quickly began to appear as independent works

Question 11

What was the style of the motet up to 1300?

Answer 11

i. The counterpoint is still closely related to the discant style of Notre Dame organum

          1. All parts active (no drones)
          2. Upper parts are generally more active than the cantus firmus
          3. Rhythm organization still derives from the rhythmic modes in earlymotets
          4. By 1300, developments in notation allowed more varied rhythms andsmaller note values for greater rhythmic variety

ii. Changes in the Motet

          1. Motets increased from two, to three, to four voices
          2. Motets began to use secular texts in the newly composed voices
          3. Motets began to use the vernacular language (French) in the newly composed voices
          4. By 1300, developments in notation allowed more varied rhythms and smaller note values for greater rhythmic variety