Medieval Music Research Paper

Some of the great composers during this time were Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

Music is present in every culture’s past, present, and future. It has been around since 500 B.C. and was especially important in the Elizabethan Era. There were reinventions of music as it was widespread and popular. Without this essential time in history, modern music may have been completely different from what we have today. This era brought new uses for music, styles of compositions, new instruments, and the uprising of popular composers.

Music has evolved too many different forms that we recognize today. We trace this development throughout time. Beginning in the middle ages, we have seen advancement from the Gregorian chant all the way to the Jazz of the 20th century. The current events, politics, religion, technology and composers can shape musical eras during time. Here I will look at the middle ages, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and twentieth century periods. I hope that a better understanding can be reached to why, when, where and who are the reasons for musical evolution.

The Medieval period began in 500 A.D. and ended in 1450 A.D. During this time in particular, the Catholic Church had significant influence on how music was used and created. Sacred music, for example, was most prevalent because of this. Due to the religious nature of this period, music in the church had to adhere to very specific regulations, some of which included prayers such as plainchants or Gregorian chants. A single melody without harmony, or one musical part sung together in unison, is called a Monophonic melody, which was sung primarily by monks. Some time later, around 900 A.D., the using of two melodic lines was permitted by the church, this music was called organum. A low, continuous note called a drone, was sung at the same time as the main melody. The two melodies were often moving in contrasting motion to each other. By the Late-Medieval period, 1100 A.D., the music of the church had shifted from monophonic to more polyphonic, often two or more varying parts.

The transition from the Medieval period to the Early Modern period is marked by a few significant factors. These new discoveries were just the beginning of the potential of what the world would eventually become today. These events are the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450, the discovery of the New World in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, and the use and importance of gun powder. These new findings changed the way people lived and how they communicated with others.

The Middle Ages was the period in European history that came between ancient and modern times. It lasted from about ad 500 to about 1500. The Christian church played an important part in the history of the Middle Ages.

Although the Middle Ages are mostly known as a dark period in Europe, progress was still made in the field of thinking. The rediscovery of Greek philosophy, the creation of universities, and crisis in the church directly led European societies to the Renaissance era, a time of rebirth.

With its extensive history, the role of music in our lives is very unlikely to ever lose its importance. Its presence in every culture has kept music relevant for centuries and will continue to do so despite any lack of sales or interest in other forms of entertainment. Music has always existed; just because it is easier to obtain doesn’t mean it is any less valuble.

Some of the most well known composers came to be in the in the classical music period. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the composers, along with other greats of the time like Haydn and Mozart, which helped to create a new type of music. This new music had full rich sounds created by the new construction of the symphony orchestra.

During the renaissance, Europe went through many changes politically, socially, and psychologically. Most of this change was due to the reformation of the church, and the humanist movement. The humanist movement focuses on revisiting Greek ideas, and the church supported these thinkers, artists, and musicians (Oxford). The church slowly became morphed with politics, to the point where the church was also the law. Different churches wanted to attract new patrons, so they tried to impress others through the use of art and music, and no longer just their words.

Life during the Renaissance is very different from the 21st century life when it came to our daily routines, our meals, and even how we spend our free time. During that period only some kids had to go to school and people had a way they went about wear their clothes. For food there was not a lot of options for and entertainment was available only during their free time.

3. Medieval and Renaissance culture varied in many ways, aside from the differing music. In the Medieval age (the time between the 5th and 15th century), the church controlled many things, not only music. The church was in charge of education, the church also dominated politics. People very much feared God. Whereas in the Renaissance (15th and 17th century) the state ruled over the church. People in the Renaissance believed that God wasn’t some fearsome being, instead they believed more in logical and practical thinking.

Culture: I was interested in the definition of “Latin.” I find it interesting because of all the confusion that comes about when this subject is discussed. Many groups of individuals claim to be “Latin”, making it difficult for some culture to take sole possession of “Latin” music.

Every organization strives to achieve a high reputation and music schools are no different. In fact, being responsible for the future of young talents, it is of utmost importance to have a teaching staff that is highly qualified and professionalized to provide music education to children. The director checks the credentials of a teacher even before interviewing him/her.

The Medieval Ages that descended upon the Europeans following the deconstruction and devolution of the formerly grand institutions of the Roman Empire left a world darkened to the eyes of history. The world lost touch with simple concepts to a modern history student of writing, economy, culture, and government—the mainstay of that which we cannot see ourselves without—civilization. What was left of Europe was a state of chaos. In all other periods of human history I have studied there were similarities among them from which I could draw conclusions upon the condition of the respective times. The Text helped to give order to the progression of European history from the ancient to the modern drawing