Western+World+600-1450+CE+cont.

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Music during the Post-Classic (also known as the Medieval) Era, had different genres in Europe. These genres all had equivalent trends of rhythm, harmony, and instruments. In the beginning much of this music was monophonic, meaning it had one voice, not numerous voices, leading a chant. Also this style of music didn’t have much of a rhythm, and it didn’t really involve many instruments. That was the most common form of music in the start of this era. However, as this style started to evolve and make it’s way through time, it began to turn to polyphonic, which means to have more than one voice. This style started joining harmonies, instruments, and rhythm together to form something completely different. There are many different types of genres that were introduced during this time period, but, the two being focused on are Gregorian chant and Organum. Both of these genres are Plainsong, which means that they are bodies of chants used in ceremonies in the Catholic Church to please the Church, and others surrounding it. However, Gregorian chant is monophony and only uses melody and no harmony; Organum on the other hand, uses other voices to enhance the harmony, making it polyphony.

Gregorian Chart is a monophonic form of music that was used during the Mass and other rituals or celebrations. Originally it was the Roman Rite in the church. It is named after Pope Gregory I, he was known for ordering simplification in certain celebrations in the calendar of the church. This style was a tradition that remained in the Catholic Church as the dominant type of music until Organum came along. Gregorian charts are organized into eight scales; typically they recite tones that are revolved around melodies. These eight major and minor scales are closely related to church modes, but they function with harmonic rules. Church modes are upon six note patterns that are either authentic or plagal depending on where the final note falls. The songs of Gregorian chant were originally sung by a choir of men and boys in the church, but also they were sung by women and/or men that belonged to a religious order in the chapel; however that was most common during Mass. The Catholic Church still now properly believes Gregorian chant is the most proper music in the Roman Rite. In the late 20th century it even became popular within the Catholic Church and also outside as well.

Organum was never intended to be a textured form of music; they added a voice to add reinforcement to the chants at High Feasts to make it more pleasant and splendid. Originally monophonic music was the basic form in all churches, but it really had no depth to it when sung. However, as new churches were being constructed, polyphonic forms of music were starting to emerge more and became more complex over time. The two greatest innovators of this style of music would be Leonin and Perotin. These men were the first composers of polyphonic music who also discovered the use of rhythm. Their innovations were modeled closely by Gregorian chant, but instead these men added rhythm and numerous voices to create something different. So, both Gregorian chant and Organum have a close foundation with one another, but Organum widened its tools and skills. Rhythm was a big part in this genre, because it allowed the music to be free and have depth to it, instead of being so rigid and flat as monophonic was.

There are different styles of Organum but one of the earliest practices after parallel Organum would be free Organum. This style dates back to about 1020 to 1050, and it uses parallel motion as well as oblique motion, which would be described as the tenor voice holding one note, while the upper voice changes notes. However, when the introduction of voices moving in different directions (contrary motion) and also similar directions (similar motion) came along, this allowed music to progress more freely. Free Organum was a break with chant, allowing a contrast in harmonies and notes. Organum reached its peak around the 12th century as other developments came along with this form of music. As this style developed, more arguments emerged about how free this genre of music really was, but by the late 13th century this form slowly disappeared.

The similarity of instruments in this era is one thing that brought the musical world together. This was just another way of expression, and even today a lot of the instruments are closely related to those of the medieval period. These instruments added to the effects of the people’s singing, because it was another way of pleasing the Church and letting everyone know that they loved being Catholic and would do anything to please the Church. Back in this period of time, a lot of the things people would do were for the Church because it was basically the center of everything. And since a lot of the society was in poverty the one thing that kept them alive, was the Church. The Church kept them close to God, and they knew that if they did everything they needed to do, they would die and be in a peaceful place, instead of living a horrid disgusting life forever. So for the peasants, pleasing God and pleasing the Church was something that really mattered to them. Therefore, they went to Church as much as they could and believed that anything they wanted would be given to them if they just stayed true to their morals, read the Bible, and did what the Church wanted them to do. If they did so, they’d have an everlasting life thing waiting for them. One of the best ways for the people to get closer to God, the Church, and the promise of everlasting life, was through the practice of chants and music.