Medieval music includes religious and non-religious music created in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from about the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major period of Western classical music and is followed by the Renaissance music era. Together, these two periods are called "early music" by experts in music, and they come before the common practice period. After the traditional way of dividing the Middle Ages, medieval music is grouped into three parts: Early (500–1000), High (1000–1300), and Late (1300–1400) medieval music.
Medieval music includes music used in religious services, other religious music, and music that is not related to religion. Much of medieval music is sung without instruments, such as Gregorian chant. Some music uses only instruments, or it uses both voices and instruments, with the instruments often supporting the voices.
During the medieval period, systems for writing down music were developed and improved. These systems helped musicians record and share musical ideas more easily. However, written music was used alongside and supported the tradition of passing down music through speaking and singing.
Overview
Medieval music was used for many different purposes, leading to the creation of various music types. Religious music, such as chants used in church services, was important, but secular music, like love songs and dances, also developed. In the early medieval period, religious music was often monophonic chant, with Gregorian chant becoming the most common style. During the high medieval era, music with multiple independent melodies played at the same time, called polyphonic music, began to appear. This type of music became common by the late 1200s and early 1300s. The development of polyphonic music is often linked to the Ars antiqua style connected to Notre-Dame de Paris, but earlier forms of polyphony existed before this style.
One example of polyphonic music is organum, which added one or more melodies to an existing chant. These added melodies could be as simple as a second line sung in parallel intervals, such as a perfect fifth or fourth, above the original chant. The principles of organum can be traced back to a 9th-century text called Musica enchiriadis, which described how to duplicate a chant melody in parallel motion. Some of the earliest written examples of organum are from a style called Aquitanian polyphony, but most surviving organum comes from the Notre-Dame school. This collection of music is often called the Magnus Liber Organi (Great Book of Organum).
Other polyphonic forms included the motet and clausula, which were often based on plainchant or built upon organum passages. Early motets were religious and used in church services, but by the late 1200s, they also included secular themes, such as political satire and courtly love. These pieces could have one to three upper voices, each with its own text.
In Italy, a secular genre called the madrigal became popular. Like motets, madrigals had multiple melodies, but the main melody moved more freely. The madrigal also led to the creation of polyphonic canons, such as Italian caccie, which were three-part songs where two higher voices sang the same melody at different times, accompanied by long instrumental notes.
In the late Middle Ages, some purely instrumental music was written down, though it was rare. Most surviving instrumental music is dance music, including types like the estampie, ductia, and nota.
Many medieval instruments are still used today but in different forms. For example, medieval flutes were made of wood, not metal, and had holes that performers covered with their fingers, similar to a recorder. The recorder was also made of wood during the medieval era and still resembles its medieval design, even though it may now be made of plastic. The gemshorn, like the recorder, has finger holes but is part of the ocarina family. The pan flute, which may have originated in ancient Greece, was also popular during the medieval period and had wooden pipes of varying lengths.
Medieval music used many plucked string instruments, such as the lute, a fretted instrument with a pear-shaped body that is the ancestor of the modern guitar. Other plucked instruments included the mandore, gittern, citole, and psaltery.
The bowed lyra from the Byzantine Empire was the first recorded European bowed string instrument. It worked like a modern violin, with a bow made of hair stretched over a wooden frame that was moved across strings. The Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih described the lyra in the 9th century, comparing it to the Arab rabāb and other instruments. The hurdy-gurdy, a mechanical instrument with a wheel that "bowed" its strings, was also used. Instruments without sound boxes, like the jew's harp, were popular as well. Early versions of the pipe organ, fiddle (or vielle), and a precursor to the modern trombone (called the sackbut) were also used.
During the medieval period, the groundwork was laid for musical notation and theory that shaped Western music. The most important development was the creation of a complete system for writing music. However, theoretical advances, especially in rhythm and polyphony, were also crucial.
Early medieval music had no written system. Songs were mostly monophonic (a single melody without accompaniment) and passed down through oral tradition. As the Roman Church tried to standardize religious practices, it became clear that a way to share chants across regions was needed. Without written music, people had to learn songs by listening to others, which made it hard to ensure everyone sang the same melodies. To solve this, symbols called neumes were added above chant texts to show the direction of pitch movement.
The origin of neumes is unclear, but scholars believe they were inspired by Greek and Roman symbols used to mark speech patterns. The two basic symbols were the acutus (a forward slash, /) for rising pitch and the gravis (a backward slash, ) for falling pitch. These symbols helped singers understand whether a melody went up, stayed the same, or went down, but they did not specify exact pitches. Over time, neumes evolved into the virga (a symbol resembling the acutus) and the punctum (a dot resembling the gravis). These symbols combined to show how a syllable should be sung. This system became common by the 9th century and remained the main way to write music until more precise notations developed later.
Music theory
During the medieval period, music theory advanced in several ways, including the use of tones, how music sounded together, and how rhythms were created and written.
Rhythm changed greatly during this time. In the early medieval period, there was no way to write down rhythm, so scholars debate how music was played. In the 13th century, a new system was developed using rhythmic modes. This system was created by a music theorist named Johannes de Garlandia, who wrote a book called De Mensurabili Musica around 1250. In his work, he described six different rhythmic patterns. Each pattern used a unit of three beats (called a perfectio), which repeated over and over. Music written without words used groups of notes tied together, called ligatures, to show rhythm.
The rhythmic mode used could often be determined by how the ligatures were shaped. Once a rhythm was chosen for a melody, it was usually followed closely, though small changes could be shown by altering the pattern of ligatures, even switching to a different mode. A major change came from a German theorist named Franco of Cologne. In his book Ars cantus mensurabilis (written around 1280), he introduced a system where the shape of notes directly showed their length. This was different from Garlandia’s system, where note length was based on the mode. Franco’s system made the mode depend on the notes themselves, a change that greatly influenced future music.
Most 13th-century music used Garlandia’s rhythmic modes. Later, in the early 14th century, a new style called Ars Nova developed. The most famous theorist of this style was Philippe de Vitry, who wrote a treatise called Ars Nova around 1320. This treatise gave the era its name. Vitry completely changed the old system of rhythmic modes. He also introduced the first signs used to show time, similar to modern time signatures.
In Vitry’s system, a breve (a type of note) could be divided into two or three smaller notes. This led to two types of time: tempus perfectum (three beats) and tempus imperfectum (two beats). Similarly, smaller notes could be split into two or three even smaller ones, creating prolation. The modus (largest note group) could also be divided into two or three breves. Vitry used a symbol—a circle or half-circle—to show the time division at the start of a piece.
These changes were further explained by a contemporary of Vitry, Johannes de Muris, who provided a detailed system for the Ars Nova style. Though some scholars now believe Vitry’s treatise was written anonymously, its impact on music notation remains significant.
For most of the medieval period, music was written in tempus perfectum, with special sections using tempus imperfectum. Scholars still debate whether these sections used notes of equal length or different lengths. The Ars Nova style remained the main system until the late 14th century, when the Ars subtilior style emerged. This style used extremely complex rhythms and notations, sometimes having different voices in different time divisions. The complexity of this music is similar to that of 20th-century compositions.
At the same time, the development of polyphony (music with multiple independent melodies) changed the texture of Western music. This practice led to the harmonically rich music we know today. Early writings on polyphony, such as Musica and Scolica enchiriadis (from the late 9th century), described a technique called organum. Organum used intervals like fourths, fifths, and octaves. It was divided into types, with the earliest form called strict organum, which had two subtypes: diapente and diatessaron.
Early medieval music (500–1000)
Chant, also called plainsong, is a type of sacred music with a single, unaccompanied melody. It is the earliest known music used in the Christian church. Chant developed in different places across Europe, including Rome, Hispania, Gaul, Milan, and Ireland. Each region created its own style of chant to match the religious ceremonies used in their area. In Spain and Portugal, a type of chant called Mozarabic was used, which showed the influence of North African music. This style survived even during Muslim rule but was later stopped when efforts were made to make all liturgies the same. In Milan, a chant called Ambrosian was used, named after St. Ambrose. In Benevento, another Italian area, a chant called Beneventan developed. In Gaul, Gallican chant was used, and in Ireland and Great Britain, Celtic chant was used.
The Carolingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish Empire, wanted to make the Mass and chant the same across all of Europe. At that time, Rome was the religious center of western Europe, and northern Gaul and the Rhineland were the political centers. To achieve this, the Carolingians combined the Roman and Gallican liturgies. Charlemagne sent trained singers to teach this new style of chant throughout the empire. This music became known as Gregorian Chant, named after Pope Gregory I. It is said that Pope Gregory collected or even created this music, but this is likely a legend made by the Carolingians to support their efforts. While Gregorian Chant did not exist during Gregory’s time, his papacy may have helped organize the Roman chant of that era. By the 12th and 13th centuries, Gregorian Chant replaced most other Western chant traditions, except for Ambrosian chant in Milan and Mozarabic chant in some Spanish chapels. Hildegard von Bingen was one of the earliest known female composers. She wrote many monophonic works for the Catholic Church, mostly for female voices.
By the late 9th century, singers in monasteries like St. Gall in Switzerland began adding a second voice to chants, often singing in perfect fourths or fifths above the original melody. This development, called organum, marked the beginning of counterpoint and harmony. Over time, organum evolved in different ways. One major development was "florid organum" around 1100, also called the school of St. Martial, named after a monastery in France. In this style, the original melody was sung with long notes, while a second voice sang many notes for each note of the original, creating elaborate music. Later, organum developed in England, where the interval of the third was often used, and in Paris, where Notre-Dame became a center for musical innovation.
Much of the music from the early medieval period has no known composer. Some names may belong to poets or lyric writers, while others may have composed the melodies. It is often hard to know who created specific medieval monophonic music. Surviving written records from this time include the Musica Enchiriadis, the Codex Calixtinus of Santiago de Compostela, the Magnus Liber, and the Winchester Troper. For details about specific composers or poets from this period, see Pope Gregory I, St. Godric, Hildegard of Bingen, Hucbald, Notker Balbulus, Odo of Arezzo, Odo of Cluny, and Tutilo.
Another musical tradition from the early Middle Ages was liturgical drama. This may have begun in the 10th century from tropes, which were poetic additions to religious texts. One example, the Quem Quaeritis from the Easter liturgy, became a short play around 950. The oldest surviving written version is in the Winchester Troper. By about 1000, this play was widely performed in Northern Europe. A similar Christmas play followed, and other plays were created later.
There is debate among scholars about whether instruments were used in these plays. The detailed stage directions in the texts do not mention instruments, but the plays were performed by monks, nuns, and priests and always included singing. Many of these dramas have survived well enough to be performed today, such as the Play of Daniel, which has been recorded at least ten times.
High medieval music (1000–1300)
The Goliards were traveling poet-musicians in Europe from the 10th to the middle of the 13th century. Most were scholars or religious people, and they wrote and sang in Latin. Many of their poems have survived, but very little of their music has. They may have had a big influence on the troubadour-trouvère tradition that came later. Most of their poetry was not religious, but some songs celebrated religious ideas. Others were about drunkenness, partying, and other worldly topics. One of the most important sources of Goliard songs is the Carmina Burana.
The Notre-Dame school of polyphony, which was active from about 1150 to 1250, happened at the same time as the rise of Gothic architecture. This period is sometimes called the Parisian school or Parisian organum and marks the beginning of what is known as Ars antiqua. This was when rhythmic notation first appeared in Western music, using a method called rhythmic modes.
During this time, composers began to develop musical structures that focused on balance, texture, and a sense of space. They alternated between two types of organum: florid, which used many notes for each syllable, and discant, which used fewer notes. They also created new musical forms, such as clausulae (sections of organum with new words and music), conductus (songs with rhythmic singing, likely performed in processions), and tropes (added words or music to older chants). Most of these forms were based on existing chants, with one voice (usually the lowest, called the tenor) singing a chant melody while other voices added organum. The exception was the conductus, which had two voices and was completely original.
The motet, an important musical form in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, began during the Notre-Dame period. It developed from clausulae, especially those with multiple voices, as created by Pérotin. He replaced long, complex clausulae from his predecessor, Léonin, with simpler ones. Over time, these clausulae were used in books and performed separately, either in church services or private worship. When clausulae were added with non-religious words, they became motets. This style became more complex and refined in the 14th century, known as Ars nova. Surviving manuscripts from this time include the Montpellier Codex, Bamberg Codex, and Las Huelgas Codex.
Important composers of this time included Léonin, Pérotin, W. de Wycombe, Adam de St. Victor, and Petrus de Cruce (Pierre de la Croix). Petrus introduced the use of more than three semibreves in a breve, which led to the creation of "Petronian" motets. These late 13th-century works had three to four parts with multiple texts sung at the same time. The tenor line (from the Latin tenere, meaning "to hold") sang a preexisting liturgical chant in Latin, while the voices above, called the voces organales, provided commentary in Latin or French. As the number of voices increased, the rhythmic values of the voces organales became shorter. Over time, the texts of the voces organales became more secular and less connected to the liturgical chant in the tenor line.
The rhythmic complexity of Petronian motets became a key feature of the 14th century, though music in France, Italy, and England developed differently.
The Cantigas de Santa Maria ("Canticles of St. Mary") are 420 poems with musical notation written in Galician-Portuguese during the reign of Alfonso X the Wise (1221–1284). The manuscript was likely compiled between 1270 and 1280 and is highly decorated, with an illustration every 10 poems. These illustrations often show musicians, making the manuscript a key source of medieval music imagery. Though Alfonso is often credited with the Cantigas, it is unclear if he composed them or simply collected them. He did invite musicians and poets to his court, who likely contributed to the work.
The Cantigas are one of the largest collections of monophonic (single-voice) songs from the Middle Ages. Each song mentions the Virgin Mary, and every tenth song is a hymn. The manuscript survives in four copies: two at El Escorial, one at Madrid’s National Library, and one in Florence, Italy. Some copies include colorful illustrations of musicians playing various instruments.
The music of troubadours and trouvères was a tradition of secular songs in the vernacular, likely accompanied by instruments. These songs were performed by professional musicians who were skilled in poetry, singing, and playing instruments. Troubadours used Occitan (also called Provençal), while trouvères used Old French (also called langue d'oïl). The troubadour tradition flourished in Provence from the 12th to early 13th centuries, with themes including war, chivalry, and courtly love. The tradition declined after the Albigensian Crusade, which targeted the Cathar heresy and led to the displacement of many troubadours. Survivors moved to Portugal, Spain, northern Italy, or northern France, where the trouvère tradition continued.
Troubadours and trouvères shared similar musical styles, but trouvères were often noblemen. Their music survived into the 1
Late medieval music (1300–1400)
The beginning of the Ars nova is one of the few clear time periods in medieval music. This is because it matches the publication of the Roman de Fauvel, a large collection of poetry and music, in 1310 and 1314. The Roman de Fauvel is a criticism of problems in the medieval church and includes many medieval motets, lais, rondeaux, and other new secular forms. Most of the music in the collection is anonymous, but it includes pieces by Philippe de Vitry, one of the first composers of the isorhythmic motet. This type of music is a key development of the fourteenth century. The isorhythmic motet was later perfected by Guillaume de Machaut, who was one of the most skilled composers of the time.
During the Ars nova era, secular music became more complex in its use of multiple melodies, a style that was once only found in sacred music. This change makes sense because the secular music of the early Renaissance (even though it is often called "medieval," it was influenced by the same social changes that began the literary and artistic Renaissance in Italy). The term "Ars nova" (meaning "new art" or "new technique") was created by Philippe de Vitry in his treatise (likely written in 1322) to describe this new style of music.
The most common secular music of the Ars nova era was the chanson, which remained popular in France for two centuries. These chansons were written in forms that matched the poetry they set, such as rondeau, ballade, and virelai. These forms greatly influenced how music was structured, and their effects are still felt today. For example, the rhyme pattern used in all three forms led to the modern idea of musical phrases that build on each other. During this time, the tradition of writing the mass ordinary (parts of the Mass like the Kyrie and Gloria) began. Machaut is believed to have written the first complete mass as a single composition. The music of the Ars nova era often focused on individual melodies and complex rhythms. The fifth and octave intervals were considered stable, while thirds and sixths were seen as dissonances. Large jumps in individual voices were common, which has led to theories that instruments were used in secular performances. Surviving French manuscripts from this time include the Ivrea Codex and the Apt Codex.
For more information about specific French composers from the late medieval era, see Jehan de Lescurel, Philippe de Vitry, Guillaume de Machaut, Borlet, Solage, and François Andrieu.
Most Ars nova music was from France, but the term is sometimes used more broadly to describe all fourteenth-century music, especially Italian secular music. In Italy, this period was called the Trecento. Italian music was known for its lyrical or melodic style, which began in the 14th century. Italian secular music from this time (very little liturgical music survives, but what does is similar to French music, except for different notation) used a style called cantalina, which had a flowing top melody supported by slower, more regular parts. This texture remained in Italian music for many years and influenced the development of the trio texture, which changed music in the 17th century.
Three main forms were used for secular music in the Trecento. One was the madrigal, which had a verse/refrain structure. Three-line stanzas with different words alternated with a two-line ritornello that repeated the same text. This structure may have inspired later Renaissance and Baroque music. Another form was the caccia, which used two voices in a canon (one voice following the other). Sometimes, this form also included a ritornello in a canonic style. The name "caccia" had two meanings: one was about hunting or action-filled scenes, and the other was that one voice "chased" the other. The third form was the ballata, which was similar to the French virelai.
Surviving Italian manuscripts from this time include the Squarcialupi Codex and the Rossi Codex. For more information about specific Italian composers from the late medieval era, see Francesco Landini, Gherardello da Firenze, Andrea da Firenze, Lorenzo da Firenze, Giovanni da Firenze (also known as Giovanni da Cascia), Bartolino da Padova, Jacopo da Bologna, Donato da Cascia, Lorenzo Masini, Niccolò da Perugia, and Maestro Piero.
The Geisslerlieder were songs sung by groups of people who traveled and whipped themselves as punishment for sins. These groups, called flagellants, believed they could please God by suffering. There were two periods of Geisslerlied activity. The first was in the middle of the 13th century, but no music from this time survives (only lyrics do). The second period was in 1349, during the spread of the Black Death. A priest recorded both the words and music from this time, making it one of the few surviving examples. Both periods were mainly in Germany.
At the end of the medieval era, a highly complex style called Ars subtilior developed. This style tried to combine French and Italian musical traditions. The music was very detailed, with rhythms as complex as those found in 20th-century music. Some pieces used extreme syncopation, tricky rhythmic notations, and even shapes in the music, like a heart. The use of isorhythm (repeating rhythmic patterns) continued to grow in complexity and was not fully developed until the early 15th century. Some works used isorhythmic patterns in all voices, creating a highly organized structure. The term "mannerism" was later used to describe this style because it seemed overly focused on complexity for its own sake.
One of the most important sources of Ars subtilior music is the Chantilly Codex. For more information about composers who wrote in this style, see Anthonello de Caserta, Philippus de Caserta (also known as Philipoctus de Caserta), Johannes Ciconia, Matteo da Perugia, Lorenzo da Firenze, Grimace, Jacob Senleches, and Baude Cordier.
It is difficult to mark the end of the medieval era and the start of the Renaissance in music. While the music of the 14th century is clear, the transition to the Renaissance is not as straightforward.
Influence
The musical style of Pérotin influenced 20th-century composers such as John Luther Adams and Steve Reich, a minimalist composer.