The Music of the Church

• Music was an integral part of Christian worship. The daily liturgy provided innumerable texts, all set to music in the style we call Gregorian chant.
  
• The church served as an important patron of the arts, specifically of music.
  
• Throughout the period, the majority of composers were associated with and supported by the church.
  

The Beginning of Musical Notation

• As in many non-Western cultures, music in early medieval Europe did not have a system of notation. It was not until perhaps the ninth century that a basic system of notation was developed.
  
• Notating music was a difficult and time-consuming process. It was only in the cathedrals and monasteries that such work could be done on a regular basis.
  
• Therefore, nearly all the music preserved (until the twelfth century) was written for the church..
  
• The advent of notation also produced a markedly stable body of music, one of the features of Western musical culture.
  

The Birth of Polyphony

• Descriptions of polyphonic singing date back to the ninth century, but the practice actually began earlier in improvised performances.
  
• Polyphony is a distinctive feature of Western music. Its development became the primary focus for composers from the thirteenth century on.
  
• Complex polyphony demanded specialized training for composers.
  
• The composition of plainchant was primarily an activity of the monastery and convent, but by the fourteenth century, composers were more often members of the university-trained elite of the church.
  
• This change explains, in part, the lack of female composers of polyphony.
  

The Rise of Courtly Culture

• The nobility of southern France created an elaborate society centered on the court, a practice that spread throughout the whole of Europe.
  
• Music was an important activity of these courts, and the aristocracy took part in the performance and composition of secular works. Surviving examples are found in music of the troubadours and trouvères, beginning in the twelfth century.
  
• By the fourteenth century, the polyphonic style took hold in secular music.
  
• Secular polyphony was produced by highly trained specialists in the art of music rather than by the aristocracy.