Music in the Medieval World
by Albert Seay
Period: Medieval
Born: c. 1160
Died: c. 1205
Nation of Origin: France
Major Works:
Perotin is one of the earliest known composer of polyphonic
organum. His works and the works of his contemporary, Leonin, are
classified as Notre Dame Organum.
Sederunt principes, his famous 4-voice organum
He also revised Leonin's Magnus liber organi de graduali et
antiphonario pro servitio divino multiplicando (The Great Book
of Organum), 2-voice organum settings for services throughout the
church year
Other Information:
Little is known about the life of Perotin. His birth date is
probably between 1155 and 1160 but his death date is unknown and
can only be estimated. He worked in a church called "Beatae Mariae
Virginis" and later worked as a choirmaster in the Notre Dame
cathedral in Paris. He is one of the earliest known composers of
polyphonic church music known as "organum". Organum involved a
simple doubling of the chant at an interval of a fifth or fourth
above or below. As organum evolved, the voices became increasingly
independent creating polyphony as we know it today. Below is a
short summary of polyphony in early European music.
The evolution of organum follows this scheme.
Parallel Organum at the Fourth or Fifth - 10th century
Oblique motion to Parallel Organum at the Fourth - 10th century
Use of Oblique, Contrary, and Parallel motion -11 century
Florid Organum - 12th century
In Florid Organum a highly ornamented second voice was set against
long notes in the "tenor". After the advent of Florid Organum, the
older style of note against note was referred to as "discant"
organum.
12th - 13th c. measured organum involved the alternation of organal
and discant sections. In the organal section each note of the
syllabic/neumatic section of the chant or cantus firmus was set
against up to 40 notes in the second voice. In the discant section
each note of the melismatic section of the cantus was set against
one to three notes in the second voice.
Notre Dame Organum is most important in that rhythm was introduced
according to a system of rhythmic modes. Leonin (late 12th c.)
began to use the rhythmic modes in his 2-part works (organum
duplum). Modal rhythm was even more prominent in the 3-part works
(organum triplum) of Perotin. Polyphonic treatment was restricted
to plainchants of the Graduals, Alleluias, Responsories, and the
"Benedicamus Domino," but only the soloist sections were used for
polyphonic treatment. Perotin's work went well beyond the work of
his predecessor, Leonin, in that he used triadic structures and
some rudimentary canonic elements.
General Bibliography:
Kennedy, Michael, The Oxford Dictionary of
Music, Oxford University Press, 2nd Edition, 1997, ISBN:
0198691629
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Middle Ages : With
an Introduction on the Music of Ancient Times, W.W. Norton
& Company, October 1940, ISBN: 0393097501
Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient
World , W. W. Norton & Company, 1943, ASIN:
0393097188
Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc.,
January 2001, ISBN: 1561592390
Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors,
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group,
December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257
Links to essays at other sites:
Music in the Medieval World by Albert Seay |
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Biographical essay from the Grove Concise Dictionary of
Music
Biographical essay at the Karadar site
If the Karadar link does not work, try searching karadar.com
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