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Medieval music

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain); Musical genres, styles, eras and events

   A musician plays the vielle in a 14th century medieval manuscript.
   A musician plays the vielle in a 14th century medieval manuscript.

   The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the
   Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD)
   and ends in approximately the middle of the fifteenth century.
   Establishing the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the
   Renaissance is admittedly arbitrary; 1400 is used here.

Overview

Style and trends

   The only medieval music which can be studied is that which was written
   down and survived. Since creating musical manuscripts was very
   expensive, due to the expense of parchment, and the huge amount of time
   necessary for a scribe to copy it all down, only very rich institutions
   were able to create manuscripts which survived to the current time.
   These institutions generally included the church and church
   institutions, such as monasteries, although some secular music was also
   preserved in these institutions. These manuscript traditions do not
   reflect much of the popular music of the time. At the start of the era,
   the notated music is presumed to be monophonic and homorhythmic with
   what appears to be a unison sung text and no notated instrumental
   support. In earlier medieval notation, rhythm cannot be specified,
   although neumatic notations can give clear phrasing ideas, and somewhat
   later notations indicate rhythmic modes.

   The simplicity of chant, with unison voice and natural declamation, is
   most common. The notation of polyphony develops, and the assumption is
   that formalised polyphonic practices first arose in this period.
   Harmony, in consonant intervals of perfect fifths, unisons, octaves,
   (and later, perfect fourths) begins to be notated. Rhythmic notation
   allows for complex interactions between multiple vocal lines in a
   repeatable fashion. The use of multiple texts and the notation of
   instrumental accompaniment has developed by the end of the era.

Instruments

   The instruments used to perform medieval music largely still exist,
   though in different forms. The medieval cornett differed immensely from
   its modern counterpart, the trumpet, not least in traditionally being
   made of ivory or wood rather than metal. Cornetts in medieval times
   were quite short. They were either straight or somewhat curved, and
   construction became standardised on a curved version by approximately
   the middle 15th century. In one side, there would be several holes. The
   flute was once made of wood rather than silver or other metal, and
   could be made as a side-blown or end-blown instrument. The recorder, on
   the other hand, has more or less retained its past form. The gemshorn
   is similar to the recorder in having finger holes on its front, though
   it is really a member of the ocarina family. One of the flute's
   predecessors, the pan flute, was popular in medieval times, and is
   possibly of Hellenic origin. This instrument's pipes were made of wood,
   and were graduated in length to produce different pitches.

   Many medieval plucked string instruments were similar to the modern
   guitar, such as the lute and mandolin. The hammered dulcimer, similar
   in structure to the psaltery and zither, was not plucked but struck.
   The hurdy-gurdy was (and still is) a mechanical violin using a rosined
   wooden wheel attached to a crank to "bow" its strings. Instruments
   without sound boxes such as the Jew's harp were also popular. Early
   versions of the organ, fiddle (or vielle), and trombone (called the
   sackbut) existed as well.

Genres

   In this era, music was both sacred and secular, although almost no
   early secular music has survived, and since notation was a relatively
   late development, reconstruction of this music, especially before the
   12th century, is currently subject to conjecture .

Theory and notation

   In music theory the period saw several advances over previous practice,
   mostly in the conception and notation of rhythm. Previously music was
   organised rhythmically into " longs" and " breves" (in other words,
   "shorts"), though often without any clear regular differentiation
   between which should be used. The most famous music theorist of the
   first half of the 13th century, Johannes de Garlandia, was the author
   of the De mensurabili musica (about 1240), the treatise which defined
   and most completely elucidated the rhythmic modes, a notational system
   for rhythm in which one of six possible patterns was denoted by a
   particular succession of note-shapes (organized in what is called "
   ligatures"). The melodic line, once it had its mode, would generally
   remain in it, although rhythmic adjustments could be indicated by
   changes in the expected pattern of ligatures, even to the extent of
   changing to another rhythmic mode. A German theorist of a slightly
   later period, Franco of Cologne, was the first to describe a system of
   notation in which differently shaped notes have entirely different
   rhythmic values (in the Ars Cantus Mensurabilis of approximately 1260),
   an innovation which had a massive impact on the subsequent history of
   European music. Most of the surviving notated music of the 13th century
   uses the rhythmic modes as defined by Garlandia.

   Philippe de Vitry is most famous in music history for writing the Ars
   Nova (1322), a treatise on music which gave its name to the music of
   the entire era. His contributions to notation, in particular notation
   of rhythm, were particularly important, and made possible the free and
   quite complex music of the next hundred years. In some ways the modern
   system of rhythmic notation began with Vitry, who broke free from the
   older idea of the rhythmic modes, short rhythmic patterns that were
   repeated without being individually differentiated. The notational
   predecessors of modern time meters also originate in the Ars Nova; for
   Franco, a breve (for a brief explanation of the mensural notation in
   general, see the article Renaissance music) had equalled three
   semibreves (that is, half breves) (on occasion, two, locally and with
   certain context; almost always, however, these two semibreves were one
   of normal length and one of double length, thereby taking the same
   space of time), and the same ternary division held for all larger and
   smaller note values. By the time of Ars Nova, the breve could be
   pre-divided, for an entire composition or section of one, into groups
   of two or three smaller semibreves by use of a "mensuration sign,"
   equivalent to our modern "time signature." This way, the "tempus"
   (denoting the division of the breve, which ultimately achieved the same
   primacy over rhythmic structure as our modern "measure") could be
   either "perfect," with ternary subdivision, or "imperfect," with binary
   subdivision. Tempus perfectus was indicated by a circle, while tempus
   imperfectus was denoted by a half-circle (our current "C" as a stand-in
   for the 4/4 time signature is actually a holdover from this practice,
   not an abbreviation for "common time", as popularly believed). In a
   similar fashion, the semibreve could in turn be divided into three
   "minima" or " minims" ( prolatio perfectus or major prolation) or two
   (prolatio imperfectus or minor prolation) and, at the higher level, the
   longs into three or two breves ( modus perfectus or perfect mode, or
   modus imperfectus or imperfect mode respectively).

   For the duration of the medieval period, most music would be composed
   primarily in perfect tempus, with special effects created by sections
   of imperfect tempus; there is a great current controversy among
   musicologists as to whether such sections were performed with a breve
   of equal length or whether it changed, and if so, at what proportion.
   In the highly syncopated works of the Ars subtilior, different voices
   of the same composition would sometimes be written in different tempus
   signatures simultaneously.

   Many scholars, citing a lack of positive attributory evidence, now
   consider "Vitry's" treatise to be anonymous, but this does not diminish
   its importance for the history of rhythmic notation. The first
   definitely identifiable scholar to accept and explain the mensural
   system was Johannes de Muris ( Jehan des Mars), who can be said to have
   done for it what Garlandia did for the rhythmic modes.

   For specific medieval music theorists, see also: Isidore of Seville,
   Aurelian of Réôme, Odo of Cluny, Guido of Arezzo, Hermannus Contractus,
   Johannes Cotto (Johannes Afflighemensis), Johannes de Muris, Franco of
   Cologne, Johannes de Garlandia (Johannes Gallicus), Anonymous IV,
   Marchetto da Padova (Marchettus of Padua), Jacques of Liège, Johannes
   de Grocheo, Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix), and Philippe de
   Vitry.

Early medieval music ( -1150)

Early chant traditions

   Chant (or plainsong) is a monophonic sacred form which represents the
   earliest known music of the Christian church. The Jewish Synagogue
   tradition of singing psalms was a strong influence on Christian
   chanting.

   Chant developed separately in several European centres. The most
   important were Rome, Spain, Gaul, Milan, and Ireland. These chants were
   all developed to support the regional liturgies used when celebrating
   the Mass there. Each area developed its own chants and rules for
   celebration. In Spain, Mozarabic chant was used and shows the influence
   of North African music. The Mozarabic liturgy even survived through
   Muslim rule, though this was an isolated strand and this music was
   later suppressed in an attempt to enforce conformity on the entire
   liturgy. In Milan, Ambrosian chant, named after St. Ambrose, was the
   standard, while Beneventan chant developed around Benevento, another
   Italian liturgical centre. Gallican chant was used in Gaul, and Celtic
   chant in Ireland and Great Britain.

   Around 1011 AD, the Roman Catholic Church wanted to standardize the
   Mass and chant. At this time, Rome was the religious centre of western
   Europe, and Paris was the political centre. The standardization effort
   consisted mainly of combining these two ( Roman and Gallican) regional
   liturgies. This body of chant became known as Gregorian Chant. By the
   12th and 13th centuries, Gregorian chant had superseded all the other
   Western chant traditions, with the exception of the Ambrosian chant in
   Milan, and the Mozarabic chant in a few specially designated Spanish
   chapels.

Gregorian chant

   A doctrinally unified version which came together from under the
   supervision of Rome in approximately the ninth century was called
   Gregorian chant, a type of plainsong that was central to the musical
   tradition of Europe in the Medieval era. The actual melodies that make
   up the repertory probably come from several sources, some as far back
   as the pontificate of Gregory the Great himself (c. 590– 604). Many of
   them were probably written in the politically stable, relatively
   literate setting of western monasteries during the reign of
   Charlemagne.

   The earliest surviving sources of chant showing musical notation are
   from the early ninth century, though the consistency of the music
   across a wide area implies that some form of chant notation, now lost,
   may have existed earlier than this. It should be noted that music
   notation existed in the ancient world–for example Greece–but the
   ability to read and write this notation was lost around the fifth
   century, as was all of the music that went with it.

   To what extent the music of the Gregorian chant represents a survival
   of the music of the ancient world is much debated by scholars, but
   certainly there must have been some influence, if only from the music
   of the synagogue. Only the smallest of scraps of ancient music have
   survived (for instance, the Seikilos epitaph), but those that have show
   an unsurprising similarity of mode, shape and phrase conception to
   later Western music.

   Chant survived and prospered in monasteries and religious centres
   throughout the chaotic years of the early middle ages, for these were
   the places of greatest stability and literacy. Most developments in
   western classical music are either related to, or directly descended
   from, procedures first seen in chant and its earliest elaborations.

Early polyphony: organum

   Around the end of the ninth century, singers in monasteries such as St.
   Gall in Switzerland began experimenting with adding another part to the
   chant, generally a voice in parallel motion, singing in mostly perfect
   fourths or fifths with the original tune (see interval). This
   development is called organum, and represents the beginnings of harmony
   and, ultimately, counterpoint. Over the next several centuries organum
   developed in several ways.

   The most significant was the creation of "florid organum" around 1100,
   sometimes known as the school of St. Martial (named after a monastery
   in south-central France, which contains the best-preserved manuscript
   of this repertory). In "florid organum" the original tune would be sung
   in long notes while an accompanying voice would sing many notes to each
   one of the original, often in a highly elaborate fashion, all the while
   emphasizing the perfect consonances (fourths, fifths and octaves) as in
   the earlier organa. Later developments of organum occurred in England,
   where the interval of the third was particularly favoured, and where
   organa were likely improvised against an existing chant melody, and at
   Notre Dame in Paris, which was to be the centre of musical creative
   activity throughout the thirteenth century.

   Much of the music from the early medieval period is anonymous. Some of
   the names may have been poets and lyric writers, and the tunes for
   which they wrote words may have been composed by others. Attribution of
   monophonic music of the medieval period is not always reliable.
   Surviving manuscripts from this period include the Musica Enchiriadis,
   Codex Calixtinus of Santiago de Compostela, and the Winchester Troper.

   For information about specific composers or poets writing during the
   early medieval period, see Pope Gregory I, St. Godric, Hildegard of
   Bingen, Hucbald, Notker Balbulus, Odo of Arezzo, Odo of Cluny, and
   Tutilo.

Liturgical drama

   Another musical tradition of Europe originated during the early Middle
   Ages was the liturgical drama. In its original form, it may represent a
   survival of Roman drama with Christian stories - mainly the Gospel, the
   Passion, and the lives of the saints - grafted on. Every part of Europe
   had some sort of tradition of musical or semi-musical drama in the
   middle ages, involving acting, speaking, singing and instrumental
   accompaniment in some combination. Probably these dramas were performed
   by travelling actors and musicians. Many have been preserved
   sufficiently to allow modern reconstruction and performance (for
   example the Play of Daniel, which has been recently recorded).

Goliards

   The Goliards were itinerant poet-musicians of Europe from the tenth to
   the middle of the thirteenth century. Most were scholars or
   ecclesiastics, and they wrote and sang in Latin. Although many of the
   poems have survived, very little of the music has. They were possibly
   influential — even decisively so — on the troubadour- trouvère
   tradition which was to follow. Most of their poetry is secular and,
   while some of the songs celebrate religious ideals, others are frankly
   profane, dealing with drunkenness, debauchery and lechery.

High medieval music (1150-1300)

Ars antiqua

   The flowering of the Notre Dame school of polyphony from around 1150 to
   1250 corresponded to the equally impressive achievements in Gothic
   architecture: indeed the centre of activity was at the cathedral of
   Notre Dame itself. Sometimes the music of this period is called the
   Parisian school, or Parisian organum, and represents the beginning of
   what is conventionally known as Ars antiqua. This was the period in
   which rhythmic notation first appeared in western music, mainly a
   context-based method of rhythmic notation known as the rhythmic modes.

   This was also the period in which concepts of formal structure
   developed which were attentive to proportion, texture, and
   architectural effect. Composers of the period alternated florid and
   discant organum (more note-against-note, as opposed to the succession
   of many-note melismas against long-held notes found in the florid
   type), and created several new musical forms: clausulae, which were
   melismatic sections of organa extracted and fitted with new words and
   further musical elaboration; conductus, which was a song for one or
   more voices to be sung rhythmically, most likely in a procession of
   some sort; and tropes, which were rearrangements of older chants with
   new words and sometimes new music. All of these genres save one were
   based upon chant; that is, one of the voices, (usually three, though
   sometimes four) nearly always the lowest (the tenor at this point) sung
   a chant melody, though with freely composed note-lengths, over which
   the other voices sang organum. The exception to this method was the
   conductus, a two-voice composition that was freely composed in its
   entirety.

   The motet, one of the most important musical forms of the high Middle
   Ages and Renaissance, developed initially during the Notre Dame period
   out of the clausula, especially the form using multiple voices as
   elaborated by Pérotin, who paved the way for this particularly by
   replacing many of his predecessor (as canon of the cathedral) Léonin's
   lengthy florid clausulae with substitutes in a discant style.
   Gradually, there came to be entire books of these substitutes,
   available to be fitted in and out of the various chants. Since, in
   fact, there were more than can possibly have been used in context, it
   is probable that the clausulae came to be performed independently,
   either in other parts of the mass, or in private devotions. The
   clausulae, thus practised, became the motet when troped with
   non-liturgical words, and was further developed into a form of great
   elaboration, sophistication and subtlety in the fourteenth century, the
   period of Ars nova.

   Surviving manuscripts from this era include the Codex Montpellier,
   Codex Bamberg, and El Codex musical de Las Huelgas.

   Composers of this time include Léonin, Pérotin, W. de Wycombe, Adam de
   St. Victor, and Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix). Petrus is
   credited with the innovation of writing more than three semibreves to
   fit the length of a breve. Coming before the innovation of imperfect
   tempus, this practice innagurated the era of what are now called
   "Petronian" motets. These late 13th-century works are in three,
   sometimes four, parts and have multiple texts sung simultaneously.
   These texts can be either sacred or secular in subject, and with Latin
   and French mixed. The Petronian motet is a highly complex genre, given
   its mixture of several semibreve breves with rhythmic modes and
   sometimes (with increasing frequency) substitution of secular songs for
   chant in the tenor. Indeed, ever-increasing rhythmic complexity would
   be a fundamental characteristic of the 14th century, though music in
   France, Italy, and England would take quite different paths during that
   time.

Troubadours and trouvères

   The music of the troubadours and trouvères was a vernacular tradition
   of monophonic secular song, probably accompanied by instruments, sung
   by professional, occasionally itinerant, musicians who were as skilled
   as poets as they were singers and instrumentalists. The language of the
   troubadours was Occitan (also known as the langue d'oc, or Provençal);
   the language of the trouvères was Old French (also known as langue
   d'oil). The period of the troubadours corresponded to the flowering of
   cultural life in Provence which lasted through the twelfth century and
   into the first decade of the thirteenth. Typical subjects of troubadour
   song were war, chivalry and courtly love. The period of the troubadours
   ended abruptly with the Albigensian Crusade, the fierce campaign by
   Pope Innocent III to eliminate the Cathar heresy (and northern barons'
   desire to appropriate the wealth of the south). Surviving troubadours
   went either to Spain, northern Italy or northern France (where the
   trouvère tradition lived on), where their skills and techniques
   contributed to the later developments of secular musical culture in
   those places.

   The music of the trouvères was similar to that of the troubadours, but
   was able to survive into the thirteenth century unaffected by the
   Albigensian Crusade. Most of the more than two thousand surviving
   trouvère songs include music, and show a sophistication as great as
   that of the poetry it accompanies.

   The Minnesinger tradition was the Germanic counterpart to the activity
   of the troubadours and trouvères to the west. Unfortunately, few
   sources survive from the time; the sources of Minnesang are mostly from
   two or three centuries after the peak of the movement, leading to some
   controversy over their accuracy.

   For information about specific composers writing secular music in
   middle medieval era, see Berenguier de Palou, Arnaut Daniel (one of the
   finest poets of the age, in addition to being a composer), Giraut de
   Bornelh, Marcabru, Peire Cardenal, Raymond Lull, Bernart de Ventadorn,
   Bertran de Born (Dante), Jaufré Rudel, Alfonso X of Castile, Wolfram
   von Eschenbach, Walther von der Vogelweide, and Niedhart von Reuenthal.

   Composers of the middle and late Medieval era [USEMAP:48161.png]

Late medieval music (1300-1400)

France: Ars nova

   The beginning of the Ars nova is one of the few clean chronological
   divisions in medieval music, since it corresponds to the publication of
   the Roman de Fauvel, a huge compilation of poetry and music, in 1310
   and 1314. The Roman de Fauvel is a satire on abuses in the medieval
   church, and is filled with medieval motets, lais, rondeaux and other
   new secular forms. While most of the music is anonymous, it contains
   several pieces by Philippe de Vitry, one of the first composers of the
   isorhythmic motet, a development which distinguishes the fourteenth
   century. The isorhythmic motet was perfected by Guillaume de Machaut,
   the finest composer of the time.

   During the Ars nova era, secular music acquired a polyphonic
   sophistication formerly found only in sacred music, a development not
   surprising considering the secular character of the early Renaissance
   (and it should be noted that while this music is typically considered
   to be "medieval", the social forces that produced it were responsible
   for the beginning of the literary and artistic Renaissance in Italy—the
   distinction between Middle Ages and Renaissance is a blurry one,
   especially considering arts as different as music and painting). The
   term "Ars nova" (new art, or new technique) was coined by Philippe de
   Vitry in his treatise of that name (probably written in 1322), in order
   to distinguish the practice from the music of the immediately preceding
   age.

   The dominant secular genre of the Ars Nova was the chanson, as it would
   continue to be in France for another two centuries. These chansons were
   composed in musical forms corresponding to the poetry they set, which
   were in the so-called formes fixes of rondeau, ballade, and virelai.
   These forms significantly affected the development of musical structure
   in ways that are felt even today; for example, the ouvert-clos
   rhyme-scheme shared by all three demanded a musical realization which
   contributed directly to the modern notion of antecedent and consequent
   phrases. It was in this period, too, in which began the long tradition
   of setting the mass ordinary. This tradition started around mid-century
   with isolated or paired settings of Kyries, Glorias, etc., but Machaut
   composed what is thought to be the first complete mass conceived as one
   composition. The sound world of Ars Nova music is very much one of
   linear primacy and rhythmic complexity. "Resting" intervals are the
   fifth and octave, with thirds and sixths considered dissonances. Leaps
   of more than a sixth in individual voices are not uncommon, leading to
   speculation of instrumental participation at least in secular
   performance.

   Surviving French manuscripts include the Ivrea Codex and the Apt Codex.

   For information about specific French composers writing in late
   medieval era, see Jehan de Lescurel, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de
   Machaut, Borlet, Solage, and François Andrieu.

Italy: Trecento

   Most of the music of Ars nova was French in origin; however, the term
   is often loosely applied to all of the music of the fourteenth century,
   especially to include the secular music in Italy. There this period was
   often referred to as Trecento.

   Italian music has always, it seems, been known for its lyrical or
   melodic character, and this goes back to the 14th century in many
   respects. Italian secular music of this time (what little surviving
   liturgical music there is, is similar to the French except for somewhat
   different notation) featured what has been called the cantalina style,
   with a florid top voice supported by two (or even one; a fair amount of
   Italian Trecento music is for only two voices) that are more regular
   and slower moving. This type of texture remained a feature of Italian
   music in the popular 15th and 16th century secular genres as well, and
   was an important influence on the eventual development of the trio
   texture that revolutionized music in the 17th.

   There were three main forms for secular works in the Trecento. One was
   the madrigal, not the same as that of 150-250 years later, but with a
   verse/refrain-like form. Three-line stanzas, each with different words,
   alternated with a two-line ritornello, with the same text at each
   appearance. Perhaps we can see the seeds of the subsequent
   late-Renaissance and Baroque ritornello in this device; it too returns
   again and again, recognizable each time, in contrast with its
   surrounding disparate sections. Another form, the caccia ("chase,") was
   written for two voices in a canon at the unison. Sometimes, this form
   also featured a ritornello, which was occasionally also in a canonic
   style. Usually, the name of this genre provided a double meaning, since
   the texts of caccia were primarily about hunts and related outdoor
   activities, or at least action-filled scenes. The third main form was
   the ballata, which was roughly equivalent to the French ballade.

   Surviving Italian manuscripts include the Squarcialupi Codex and the
   Rossi Codex. In all, however, significantly less Italian music survives
   from the 14th century than French.

   For information about specific Italian composers writing in the late
   medieval era, see Francesco Landini, Gherardello da Firenze, Andrea da
   Firenze, Lorenzo da Firenze, Paolo da Firenze (Paolo Tenorista),
   Giovanni da Firenze (aka Giovanni da Cascia), Bartolino da Padova,
   Jacopo da Bologna, Donato da Cascia, Lorenzo Masini, Niccolò da
   Perugia, and Maestro Piero.

Germany: Geisslerlieder

   The Geisslerlieder were the songs of wandering bands of flagellants,
   who sought to appease the wrath of an angry God by penitential music
   accompanied by mortification of their bodies. There were two separate
   periods of activity of Geisslerlied: one around the middle of the
   thirteenth century, from which, unfortunately, no music survives
   (although numerous lyrics do); and another from 1349, for which both
   words and music survive intact due to the attention of a single priest
   who wrote about the movement and recorded its music. This second period
   corresponds to the spread of the Black Death in Europe, and documents
   one of the most terrible events in European history. Both periods of
   Geisslerlied activity were mainly in Germany.

   There was also French-influenced polyphony written in German areas at
   this time, but it was somewhat less sophisticated than its models. In
   fairness to the mostly anonymous composers of this repertoire, however,
   most of the surviving manuscripts seem to have been copied with extreme
   incompetence, and are filled with errors that make a truly thorough
   evaluation of the music's quality impossible.

Mannerism and Ars subtilior

   The rondeaux Belle, Bonne, Sage by Baude Cordier, an Ars subtilior
   piece included in the Chantilly codex
   Enlarge
   The rondeaux Belle, Bonne, Sage by Baude Cordier, an Ars subtilior
   piece included in the Chantilly codex

   As often seen at the end of any musical era, the end of the medieval
   era is marked by a highly manneristic style known as Ars subtilior. In
   some ways, this was an attempt to meld the French and Italian styles.
   This music was highly stylized, with a rhythmic complexity that was not
   matched until the 20th century. In fact, not only was the rhythmic
   complexity of this repertoire largely unmatched for five and a half
   centuries, with extreme syncopations, mensural trickery, and even
   examples of augenmusik (such as a chanson by Baude Cordier written out
   in manuscript in the shape of a heart), but also its melodic material
   was quite complex as well, particularly in its interaction with the
   rhythmic structures. Already discussed under Ars Nova has been the
   practice of isorhythm, which continued to develop through late-century
   and in fact did not achieve its highest degree of sophistication until
   early in the 15th century. Instead of using isorhythmic techniques in
   one or two voices, or trading them among voices, some works came to
   feature a pervading isorhythmic texture which rivals the integral
   serialism of the 20th century in its systematic ordering of rhythmic
   and tonal elements. The term "mannerism" was applied by later scholars,
   as it often is, in response to an impression of sophistication being
   practised for its own sake, a malady which some authors have felt
   infected the Ars subtilior.

   One of the most important extant sources of Ars Subtilior chansons is
   the Chantilly Codex.

Transitioning to the Renaissance

   Demarcating the end of the medieval era and the beginning of the
   Renaissance, with regards to the composition of music, is problematic.
   While the music of the fourteenth century is fairly obviously medieval
   in conception, the music of the early fifteenth century is often
   conceived as belonging to a transitional period, not only retaining
   some of the ideals of the end of the Middle Ages (such as a type of
   polyphonic writing in which the parts differ widely from each other in
   character, as each has its specific textural function), but also
   showing some of the characteristic traits of the Renaissance (such as
   the international style developing through the diffusion of
   Franco-Flemish musicians throughout Europe, and in terms of texture an
   increasing equality of parts). The Renaissance began early in Italy,
   but musical innovation there lagged far behind that of France and
   England; the Renaissance came late to England, but musical innovation
   there was ahead of continental Europe.

   Music historians do not agree on when the Renaissance era began, but
   most historians agree that England was still a medieval society in the
   early fifteenth century (see a discussion of periodization issues of
   the Middle Ages). While there is no consensus, 1400 is a useful marker,
   because it was around that time that the Renaissance came into full
   swing in Italy.

   The increasing reliance on the interval of the third as a consonance is
   one of the most pronounced features of transition into the Renaissance.
   Polyphony, in use since the 12th century, became increasingly elaborate
   with highly independent voices throughout the 14th century. With John
   Dunstaple and other English composers, partly through the local
   technique of faburden (an improvisatory process in which a chant melody
   and a written part predominantly in parallel sixths above it are
   ornamented by one sung in perfect fourths below the latter, and which
   later took hold on the continent as "fauxbordon"), the interval of the
   third emerges as an important musical development; because of this
   Contenance Angloise ("English countenance"), English composers' music
   is often regarded as the first to sound less truly bizarre to modern,
   unschooled audiences. English stylistic tendencies in this regard had
   come to fruition and began to influence continental composers as early
   as the 1420s, as can be seen in works of the young Dufay, among others.
   While the Hundred Years' War continued, English nobles, armies, their
   chapels and retinues, and therefore some of their composers, travelled
   in France and performed their music there; it must also of course be
   remembered that the English controlled portions of northern France at
   this time.

   English manuscripts include the Worcester Fragments, the Old St.
   Andrews Music Book, the Old Hall Manuscript, and Egerton Manuscript.

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