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Medieval Music Era
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Picture of a Dulcimer
Medieval InstrumentsThe instruments of the medieval age can be put into two different categories: instruments we still use and instruments we don’t. The different types of instruments can be put into other categories too, like wind instruments and string instruments.
Flutes were popular during this time but were very different than the flutes you would see an orchestra member playing today. Medieval flutes were not made of metal and did not have the airtight padding which makes play easier. Instead, flutes were made from carved wood and had simple holes which needed to be covered completely by the player’s fingers. Like the flute was the recorder. Just as a recorder you might have played in a school music class is used, a musician would cover the holes of the instrument with their fingers. Stringed instruments during the Middle Ages were larger than the counterparts we use today. One instrument that went through significant changes in the way that it was played during the Middle Ages was the dulcimer (dull-sim-err). The dulcimer is a large, board-like instrument covered in strings of different lengths to produce different tones. Originally, the instrument had to be plucked like a lute – the ancestor of the guitar – but once metal strings became cheaper and easier to make, they were hit with small hammers. The way the hammered dulcimer – as it was now called – operates is like a piano, in that a piano has eighty-eight small hammers that pound on small metal strings to produce tones. The final instrument we will look at is the vielle, a predecessor of the violin. The vielle was a large, handheld instrument that was played much like a violin, with a bow. The vielle was shaped a bit like a figure-8 and could have different numbers of strings. In the image below, you can see a three-stringed vielle. The different instruments used in the Middle Ages were all varied and had different uses. Even though some of them may look strange, there is no denying the connection between the instruments used then and those used now. Learning about where our music and tools came from helps us to appreciate it all a lot more. |
Medieval Vocabulary Termsflute - A wind instrument made from carved wood with simple holes which when pressed, change the pitch of the instrument.
dulcimer - A large, board-like instrument covered in strings of different lengths to produce different tones. recorder- A wind instrument with holes that when covered, make different pitches. vielle - A large, handheld instrument that was played much like a violin, with a bow. plainsong - A single melody without an accompanied harmony. organum - A form of early polyphony based on plainsong from the Medieval Era. goliards - Poet-musicians who wrote songs in Latin that had every day themes. troubadours and trouvères - Professional musicians who wrote songs with every day themes. Ars Nova- "New Art" French secular music from the Medieval Era. Hildegard Von Bingen - A German author, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and medical writer and nurse. 
Picture of a Recorder
Critical Thinking Questions
Picture of Vielle in Medieval art
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The History of Medieval Music
The history of music is the history of the world. All through history, there has been music and musicians. Even though music did not start in the medieval period, the information we have about music from this period gives us a lot of details about the world at that time. From the instruments to the composers, here are the most important aspects of medieval music.
Medieval music is divided into three periods: early medieval music, high medieval music, and late medieval music. Early medieval music was mostly composed of chants or what is called ‘plainsong’ which is just the combination of the words ‘plain’ and ‘song’. This song was a single melody without an accompanied harmony, like we see in more modern music. Eventually, chants would incorporate another voice in parallel above the first voicing. This was called “organum” and is the prelude to modern counterpoint and harmony.
High medieval music was more advanced than the previous plainsong of the early period. In this time, there were poet-musicians called Goliards who wrote and sang songs in Latin. Many of the songs at this time were religious, but the Goliards sang songs about everyday life among other topics. Many of these lyrics (though sadly, little of the actual music) has survived in the medieval text The Carmina Burana. At this time, professional musicians called troubadours (troo-buh-doors) and trouvères (troo-ver-ays) were developing more complex melodies but were removed from the religious tradition of older music. Troubadours wrote music that was for the common people, using common language. Many of their melodies survive to this day.
Late medieval music was incredibly diverse. As the groups of people who made the music got more advanced, so did the music itself. In fact, music began to get so specific in different parts of the world that different countries began making their own kinds of music. In France, they began working with a practice called ‘Ars nova’ which means “new art”. In this new art secular (meaning non-church) music gained a more advanced type of melody. Even though this term mostly applies to French music, it is often used to describe all music from this part of history. In Italy, their musical movement was called ‘Trecento’. Much of the musical traditions of this time would continue into the next major time period, the Renaissance.
The history of music is a long one that is always changing. During the medieval period, we can see music going through many different changes; from single-note plainsongs to the more melodic work of the troubadours, music is a constantly flowing river that never ever stops.
Medieval music is divided into three periods: early medieval music, high medieval music, and late medieval music. Early medieval music was mostly composed of chants or what is called ‘plainsong’ which is just the combination of the words ‘plain’ and ‘song’. This song was a single melody without an accompanied harmony, like we see in more modern music. Eventually, chants would incorporate another voice in parallel above the first voicing. This was called “organum” and is the prelude to modern counterpoint and harmony.
High medieval music was more advanced than the previous plainsong of the early period. In this time, there were poet-musicians called Goliards who wrote and sang songs in Latin. Many of the songs at this time were religious, but the Goliards sang songs about everyday life among other topics. Many of these lyrics (though sadly, little of the actual music) has survived in the medieval text The Carmina Burana. At this time, professional musicians called troubadours (troo-buh-doors) and trouvères (troo-ver-ays) were developing more complex melodies but were removed from the religious tradition of older music. Troubadours wrote music that was for the common people, using common language. Many of their melodies survive to this day.
Late medieval music was incredibly diverse. As the groups of people who made the music got more advanced, so did the music itself. In fact, music began to get so specific in different parts of the world that different countries began making their own kinds of music. In France, they began working with a practice called ‘Ars nova’ which means “new art”. In this new art secular (meaning non-church) music gained a more advanced type of melody. Even though this term mostly applies to French music, it is often used to describe all music from this part of history. In Italy, their musical movement was called ‘Trecento’. Much of the musical traditions of this time would continue into the next major time period, the Renaissance.
The history of music is a long one that is always changing. During the medieval period, we can see music going through many different changes; from single-note plainsongs to the more melodic work of the troubadours, music is a constantly flowing river that never ever stops.
Hildegard Von Bingen
Hildegard Von Bingen
One of the most interesting stories about medieval composers is that of Hildegard von Bingen. She was not only an important composer who created a great deal of important music, but she was an author, a nurse, and some say she even saw visions of the future which helped her write her music and books. But to understand her contributions, we must first understand her story.
Life
Hildegard von Bingen was born around 1098 A.D.; she was the youngest of a family with lots of children and was often sick as a child. This sickness would carry on late into her life, as well. Hildegard says she received visions from God at the age of three years old. When she was five, she says she began to understand the nature of these visions. Hildegard would say in her writings that she saw all the world in the light of God by using the five sense we all have: hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell. Even though she believed the visions were a good thing and coming directly from God, she didn’t share them with anyone for a long time.
Before she was sixteen years old, her parents gave her over to be a servant of the Christian Church at a monastery – a building where monks live under strict religious rules. During her time there, she met a woman named Jutta von Sponheim, a noblewoman living in the same monastery. Jutta would be given charge over Hildegard, meaning she was responsible for her health and happiness. Jutta taught Hildegard a lot of things, including how to read and write. Hildegard and Jutta were very close, and Hildegard even told Jutta about her visions. Jutta had visions herself. People would come from places far away to hear what she saw in her visions.
In the middle of her life, Hildegard says she received a vision from God, telling her to write about what she was seeing. At first, she was very afraid to do it. After refusing to write, she found herself getting very ill until she started doing what she had been told. Before her death in 1179, she had written several books, composed many pieces of music, and founded her own monastery.
Hildegard von Bingen is a fascinating person whose influences on the world of music – and beyond – are numerous and inspiring.
Religious Books
Perhaps the most important, and interesting, books that Hildegard von Bingen wrote were her books on theology (thee-all-uh-gee). Theology is a word which means the study of religions, which makes sense considering Hildegard thought her visions came from God, and she lived most of her life in a religious monastery. Around the age of 40, Hildegard got the vision which told her to write down what she saw and heard. After getting permission from the Abbot – the leader of the monastery – she started doing just that.
Her first collection was called Scivias which means “know the ways.” In it, she recorded 26 visions that she had, as well as their meaning. Shortly after this book was published, Hildegard was the subject of an investigation by the Pope – the leader of the Catholic Church – into whether Hildegard’s visions were true or not. After her book was read out loud to the Pope, he sent Hildegard a letter telling her she did a good job. After this, Hildegard would publish two more books of the same kind.
Music
Hildegard’s contributions to music should not be ignored. Even though she is perhaps most well-known for her visions, she was a very talented musician and composer. She is said to have been taught by her friend, the monk Volmar, how to notate music. One of the most important contributions that she made was the Ordo Virtutum which means Play of the Virtues. Like many plays during the medieval period, it was about how to live a good life and other moral lessons. It is interesting to note that this is the very first piece of musical theater writing that was not directly tied to a church service.
Medicine
Hildegard von Bingen also wrote a number of books about medicine and caring for sick people. They were not tied into her religious books, and they were not influenced by the visions she had. Instead, her books reflected her experiences caring for the sick in the monastery, as well as tending the garden. She had a collection of books called Physica which listed the different scientific and medicinal properties of different rocks, animals, and plants.
In Conclusion
The life, works, and story of Hildegard von Bingen is fascinating and interesting. There is just so much that she contributed to the world, whether it be her religious books, musical compositions, or medicine and science texts, she is certainly a figure wroth learning about.
Life
Hildegard von Bingen was born around 1098 A.D.; she was the youngest of a family with lots of children and was often sick as a child. This sickness would carry on late into her life, as well. Hildegard says she received visions from God at the age of three years old. When she was five, she says she began to understand the nature of these visions. Hildegard would say in her writings that she saw all the world in the light of God by using the five sense we all have: hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell. Even though she believed the visions were a good thing and coming directly from God, she didn’t share them with anyone for a long time.
Before she was sixteen years old, her parents gave her over to be a servant of the Christian Church at a monastery – a building where monks live under strict religious rules. During her time there, she met a woman named Jutta von Sponheim, a noblewoman living in the same monastery. Jutta would be given charge over Hildegard, meaning she was responsible for her health and happiness. Jutta taught Hildegard a lot of things, including how to read and write. Hildegard and Jutta were very close, and Hildegard even told Jutta about her visions. Jutta had visions herself. People would come from places far away to hear what she saw in her visions.
In the middle of her life, Hildegard says she received a vision from God, telling her to write about what she was seeing. At first, she was very afraid to do it. After refusing to write, she found herself getting very ill until she started doing what she had been told. Before her death in 1179, she had written several books, composed many pieces of music, and founded her own monastery.
Hildegard von Bingen is a fascinating person whose influences on the world of music – and beyond – are numerous and inspiring.
Religious Books
Perhaps the most important, and interesting, books that Hildegard von Bingen wrote were her books on theology (thee-all-uh-gee). Theology is a word which means the study of religions, which makes sense considering Hildegard thought her visions came from God, and she lived most of her life in a religious monastery. Around the age of 40, Hildegard got the vision which told her to write down what she saw and heard. After getting permission from the Abbot – the leader of the monastery – she started doing just that.
Her first collection was called Scivias which means “know the ways.” In it, she recorded 26 visions that she had, as well as their meaning. Shortly after this book was published, Hildegard was the subject of an investigation by the Pope – the leader of the Catholic Church – into whether Hildegard’s visions were true or not. After her book was read out loud to the Pope, he sent Hildegard a letter telling her she did a good job. After this, Hildegard would publish two more books of the same kind.
Music
Hildegard’s contributions to music should not be ignored. Even though she is perhaps most well-known for her visions, she was a very talented musician and composer. She is said to have been taught by her friend, the monk Volmar, how to notate music. One of the most important contributions that she made was the Ordo Virtutum which means Play of the Virtues. Like many plays during the medieval period, it was about how to live a good life and other moral lessons. It is interesting to note that this is the very first piece of musical theater writing that was not directly tied to a church service.
Medicine
Hildegard von Bingen also wrote a number of books about medicine and caring for sick people. They were not tied into her religious books, and they were not influenced by the visions she had. Instead, her books reflected her experiences caring for the sick in the monastery, as well as tending the garden. She had a collection of books called Physica which listed the different scientific and medicinal properties of different rocks, animals, and plants.
In Conclusion
The life, works, and story of Hildegard von Bingen is fascinating and interesting. There is just so much that she contributed to the world, whether it be her religious books, musical compositions, or medicine and science texts, she is certainly a figure wroth learning about.