Music in Midieval Times

Music in the Medieval Times

Music has been around since the early days of man’s existence, since then it has been a means for self-expression. However, in the Medieval Times and specifically during the rise of Christianity, the church controlled all musical output, as they did with most everything in the society of that time. Since the church was the center of society, the only “popular” music was music that played with in the church. This was of course until the popularization of opera and other styles some time later. This essay will discuss the two major types of music of the time and a comparison between them.

Gregorian chants began in the church, they were used during mass services, and specific chants were used for certain services. Gregorian chants were written as a monophony. Monophony is a style of music that is only sung one note at a time. The music only has a melody and would never have an accompanying harmony. They only difference in notes sung at once would be if a note was sung at either an octave higher or an octave lower, but always the same note. All of the chants were controlled by and created by the church, they were most often learned by one person following another singing and that would only occur within the church. The power and control over the music was another way for the church to showcase their power. The fact that the music was only written in monophony was also a sign of the power that the church held, everyone had to conform and sing the same part.

To contrast Gregorian Chants is the Polyphonic music that gained popularity in the later medieval times. Polyphonic music originally began as a mostly secular movement. Polyphonic styles of music were used my professionals and used to put music to poems and love stories. Polyphonic is a melody that also has a harmony that plays at the same time. When sung, people would sing the melody and create chords to compliment as well as additional harmony lines that complement the original melody. As the churches views began to widen and more views were being accepted, the church also began to add polyphonic music into services and rituals. The music of the time very much resembled what was going in general with Christianity.

The two styles are very different and reflect very much the power and control the church sought after in medieval times.