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The Roles Of Vocal Music In The Middle Ages

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acred vocal music has developed dramatically over time and is still continuing to do so. This type of music in the Middle Ages was very simple compared to the religious vocal music in the Classical Era. Some differences in the two include the textures of the music, the harmonies throughout the piece, dynamics and rhythm, and even what the sacred music was about.
The music of the early Christian church featured monophonic, nonmetric melodies set in the church modes or scales. Sacred vocal music in the Middle Ages, like Gregorian Chants, are set to latin texts and sung unaccompanied with a single line melody, making them a monophonic. Gregorian chants have small leaps, allowing its smooth figure to create a kind of musical speech. Free from regular phrase structure, the continuous vocal line is the musical counterpart to the ornamentation found in medieval art and architecture. In chants that serve for recitations, such as psalms, lessons, or prayers, the music is secondary to a clear projection of the text; these settings are predominantly syllabic and use relatively few pitches.The Gregorian melodies, numbering more than three thousand, form an immense body of music that was composed by unknown sources.
Later on, musical instruments were allowed in church, but it was mainly used for important days in the Liturgical calendar. Music during the Middle Ages is characterized by the beginning of musical notation as well as polyphony. During this time, there were two general

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