Time of Medieval Music:
Generally, the time frame applied to Medieval Music is from the fall of the Roman Empire (486 AD) to the beginning of the Renaissance (1400).
What is Medieval Music?:
Medieval music is characterized by the significant use of chant. It was later harmonized with 4ths, 5ths, and octaves. Many styles of music took form during the Medieval Period: Gregorian Chant, organum, motets, liturgical dramas, and chansons.
Medieval Music Manuscript:
Because the cost of printing, which involved scribes hand copying each piece of music and duplicating it for each member, was extremely high, only the wealthier institutions (churches and monasteries) were able to create and duplicate manuscripts. Popular music at the time was not printed, and thus, its style is relatively unknown. Since music notation we know today was not yet invented, musical interpretation can vary drasitcally among music scholars.
Medieval Period Instruments:
Many of the instruments used during the Medieval Period still exist today; the pan-flute, cornett (an ancestor of the trumpet), recorder, lute, mandolin, and last but not least, the dulcimer.
Medieval Composers:
These Medieval composers resent a fraction of the many composers during the Medieval Period:
- Hildegard von Bingen
- Guillaume de Machaut
- Perotin
- Jaufre Rudel
- Neidhart von Reuental
- Maestro Piero
- Lorenzo da Firenze
- Francesco Landini
- Solage
- Jacopo da Bologna
