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Organum: The Beginnings of Polyphony: 1000 - 1250

Organum: The Beginnings of Polyphony: 1000 - 1250. Organum. Organum = earliest form of polyphony Polyphony = the simultaneous singing of two or more melodies. Probably originated in secular heterophony (melody sung at octave then in thirds)

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Organum: The Beginnings of Polyphony: 1000 - 1250

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  1. Organum: The Beginnings of Polyphony: 1000 - 1250

  2. Organum • Organum = earliest form of polyphony • Polyphony = the simultaneous singing of two or more melodies. • Probably originated in secular heterophony (melody sung at octave then in thirds) • The chants and organum were sometime accompanied by instruments such as flutes, early violins and organs • The Gregorian Chant (tenor) was doubled at an interval of a fourth below (a second singer sung a melody parallel but four notes below the original singer). • Geographic centre = Paris and Northern France Source: History of Western Music, Miller and Cockrell Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral

  3. The Eleventh Century • The beginning of modern cities; • Norman conquest of England (1066); • Developments in recovery of Spain from North African Muslims; • First Crusade; • First translations of Greek and Arabic into N. European languages; • Origins of first universities; • Romanesque architecture; • Growth of Vernacular literature Source: Grout, 69

  4. Parallel Organum • Syllabic • Most common interval = 4th • Voices could be doubled at the octave to create three or four part music • See how the two melodies below are parallel to each other and that there is a constant spacing of four notes between the upper and lower voice) Notre Dame 1163- 1250

  5. Modified Parallel Organum • Modified organum = voices start in unison, them move to 4th, then back to unison http://www.groenewald.nl/chartres/schola%20cantorum2.htm

  6. Free Organum • 11th Century • Contrary motion added to parts • Melodic independence • Chant line called ‘tenor’ from Latin tenere, to hold • Parts moved in note-against-note style (‘counterpoint’) • The melodic independence required more accurate notation • The stave was gradually introduced; • The neumes were replaced with squares more like are modern notes http://www.groenewald.nl/chartres/schola%20cantorum2.htm Organum: Alleluia Justus ut Palma, c.1100

  7. Melismatic Organum • Tenor part (Gregorian chant) sung in long sustained notes, possibly played on an instrument • Higher voice sings in faster-moving note values • Rhythmic independence of voices North Transept Rose Window Notre Dame Cathedral Leonin, Organum duplum, c.1180

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