Early Sacred Music

Earlier this month we mentioned that the history of music corresponds somewhat with the history of the Christian church. In order to fully understand early music, we must understand how chant fits into the Christian liturgy.

The Mass was considered the most important part of the church during the Middle Ages. It commemorates the Last Supper and includes various rituals, psalm singing, prayer, and scripture reading. You may have also heard of the Office – 8 services performed daily at specific times. The Office is mostly seen in monasteries and convents. Each service includes psalms paired with antiphons (chant sung before and after the psalm). It also includes Bible readings, responsories, hymns, and canticles. Have you heard of a psalm tone? This is a term that refers to a formula used to sing psalms in the Office. These formulas were written in a way to fit any psalm and there was one psalm tone for each church mode.

We have looked at early music in the sacred context. It was a huge part of the church service, both in the Mass and the Office. But did it exist in the secular world? Let’s look at this next time. 

All About Church Modes

How has music changed over time and where does the Western music we know today have its roots? We’re walking through Medieval music history this month on Clef Notes and are glad to have you along! Today’s post is all about church modes.

Have you ever heard someone refer to music as being in the Dorain mode? Or perhaps Phyrgian, Lydian, or Mixolydian? Then you have heard a reference to a church mode. There are eight of these modes and their names were adapted from Greek scale names during the 9^th century. But what are they?

Think of church modes like you would a scale – only not quite! In a mode, pitch is relative, not absolute. Each mode is determined based on intervallic relationships rather than on a certain pitch. Make sense? Good! Let’s continue…

The intervallic relationships revolve around a significant note in the mode called the “final.” This note is typically the last melody note. There’s also a second significant note in each mode known as the “reciting tone.” This note is normally the most prominent note, occurring most often in a chant. There are four total finals – two modes per final, resulting in eight total church modes. If two modes have the same final, their range will differ. Modes known as “authentic” have a range extending from one step below the final to an octave above, while modes known as “plagal” extend from a fourth or fifth below the final to a fifth or sixth above.

Church Modes
Courtesy of A History of Western Music, 8th Edition, Burkholder, Grout, and Palisca, pg. 42

I know this is getting a bit technical but it’s key to the development of music! Each chant in Medieval times was assigned a mode in order to help people learn them. The system was fully developed by the 10^th century.

Now that we have a grasp on what exactly chant is along with notation and modes, next week we’ll start to look at how it was used in both sacred and secular settings. 

What's a neume?

Welcome to Medieval Music History month in Clef Notes. We’re stepping way back in time to look at some of the earliest forms of music. Last time, we talked about how music history follows Christian church history, since music was so important to the early church services. In order to unify a divided church and divided lands, church and political leaders sought to standardize the chant used within a church service. One way to help ensure people from different regions were singing the same thing was to come up with a system of notation. Up until this point, most music traditions were transmitted orally, which wasn’t always accurate. Key features often got lost in translation!

During the 9th century, we see the earliest examples of notation. At this point, neumes were used to represent contour of a chant only. There was no pitch designation, and typically no rhythm indicated. What’s a neume, you ask? A neume is a sign used to write down chant notation (similar to a note head today, but not quite!) During the 10^th and 11^th centuries, neumes were arranged relative to one another in order to suggest pitch. During the 11^th century, a monk named Guido of Arezzo suggested using lines and spaces to help indicate pitch. He used a line in red ink to show F and a line in yellow ink to show C. The staff we know today evolved from this early form of notation.

You may have heard of a scale. But what about a church mode? Join me next time to learn more!