Medieval Secular Music

During the Dark Ages, two sources contributed toward the formation of our musical system. The fist,the religious, developed in the ritual of the early church, and acquired form and substance chiefly by the labors of the monks, cut off from worldly matters in the seclusion of the cloisters. The second, the secular, developed from the spontaneous songs and dances of the people, disseminated by wandering minstrels. The chief distinction between these two styles lay in the variety of rhythm peculiar to each. The rhythm of church music was verbal, dependent solely upon theexpression conveyed by the words themselves, which were thus made prominent over musical structure; the rhythm of secular music was that of gesture, corresponding to the physical movements of the dance, and therefore consisting of a series of pulsations, regular in time, and grouped into short and balancing periods. These two sources were of necessity quite distinct during the Dark Ages, extending to the twelfth century; but later, the thought intercoure incited by the Crusades caused them to react upon each other.

Folk Music

Songs and dances, characteristic of different nationalities, existed from a remote period. The origin of most ofthese is lost in obscurity. Many were very ancient; some were derived from church music, while others were invented by minstrels in the Middle Ages. From their frequent combination with dancing, strong rhythms were prevalent; and from their adaptation to simple strophic forms of poetry, simple metric forms resulted. A great variety of instruments, used an accompaniment to solo voices, gave rise to modern tonalities, and harmonies in which the pleasanter intervals of the third and sixth were freely employed.

While all countries contributed their share of folk music, that of Germany and France attained especial importance. In the former country it was characterized by conciseness of form and absence of embellishment; while in the latter it furnished themes for the contrapuntal schools which appeared in the Netherlands.

The Minstrels

In the Middle Ages there were two classes of Minstrels. Those of the first, called Bards, were found chiefly in the northern countries, where they encouraged patriotism by their recital of heroic deeds. Those of the second class comprised a vast number of itinerant musicians who roamed over Europe, earnng a precarious livelihood, performing tricks in addition to their music, and exhibiting trained animals at fairs and village festivals. At first they were treated as outcasts of church and society, outside the pale of the laws; but, after their ranks had been largely recruited as a result of the Crusades, it was found necessary to enact restraining laws concerning them. They also came eventually to be employed to some extent bythe church, in its Miracle plays. In France, where they were especially numerous, they were called Jongleurs.

Flocking to the cities, in gthe thirteenth century, minstrels frequently formed guilds, similar to thoe of other trades, which controlled the standards and actions of their members. Such guilds arose in France, England, and Germany, where some of them survived until quite recent times. Names like "Town Pipers" were given them; and the leader of a guild was called "Piper King", "Violin King", and the like. Minstrels who did not join these guilds entered military bands or private orchestras.

Troubadours and Trouveres

The Age of Chivalry which began in the twelfth century as an offshoot of the Crusades, resulted in France in the affectation of the romantic manners of Provence. With the study of the Provencal customs and language came a taste for its poetry and music, and the consequent formation of a class of coutrly poets and musicians, who travelled about, serenading their dames with their original compositions, assisted by hired Jongleurs, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In the south of France these were called Troubadours, as also in Italy and Spain; in the north of France they were called Trouveres. Prominent among them were William, Count of Poitiers; Richard I. of England; Thibaru, King ov Navarre; and, especially, Adam de la Hale (d. cir. 1827).

Thier simply ryhmed stanzas of amorous poetry, wedded to corresponding music, were in the forms of the chanson, serenade, pastorelle, tenson, and the like, all written in the church modes, although in a clarified style. Unaffected at first, these songs afterwards degenerated through extravagance of language. Some of them, penetrating to the lower classes, became the nucleus of folk-songs; other became the basis of church compositions.

Minnesinger

These "love singers" carried on a movement in Germany, and especially in Suabia and austria, parallel to that of the Troubadours, although they wrote in a more serious style, and with a wdier range of topics, which included Chivalry, Patriotism, Piety, and Nature. Many men of rank wre among them, as also some of humbler birth, while Jongleurs were less often employed. Their compositions, written in the Gregorian modes, all showed "the simple heartiness of the German character". The principal forms of composition were the lay, song (Lied), and the proverb. The "tone" of a song was synonymous with our word metre.

In the twelfth century, Kurenberger, von Aist, and Spervogel were chief; in the thirteenth century, the perfection period of courtly poetry were Wolfram von Eshcenbach, Walther von der Vogelweide, Prince Wiszlaw, and Hainrich von Meissen. The last named (d. 1318), called "Frauenlob", is a connecting link to the Meistersinger.

Meistersinger

An outcome of the work of the Minnesinger was the cultivation of highly conventionalized song writing by the guilds of artisan musicians. the first of these was founded at Mayence in 1300; thence they spread to many other cities. These guilds were incorporated, and admission through apprenticeshiop led to the grades of singer and mastersinger, for which candidates were judged at periodic contests held in churches, when their compositions were tested in public as to their conformity to scripture, their rhythm and rhyme, and their originality and conventionality. These compositions, largely religious, were stilted and prosaic, and the melodies received eccentric titles, liek "The Glutton", "Maidenly Grace". Hans Sachs of Nuremberg (1494-1576) was the most famous Meistersinger.

Secular Instruments

Many Oriental instruments, imported by the Crusaders, were added to the list of those already existing, and were used for accompaniments to the songs and dances. A process of selection extending through several centuries resulted in the survival and perfection of those chosen for our modern orchestra. Stringed instruments were of two types, those plucked or struck, and those bowed. Of the first class were the harps, guitars, psalteries, and lutes, of which the last named became especially popular, and were made in many varieties of sizes and shapes; also under this lass were thekeyed stringed instruments, known as claviers (par. 65), which were later in development. Of the second class were the many forms of the viol, the predecessor of the modern violin family (par. 86), for which the Arabian Rebab and the Welsh Crwth probably served as progenitors. Many kinds of pipes were popular, including those of the reed and whistle types, while trumpets and horns served for martial purposes. Instruments of percussion were not numerous.

Tablatures

With the increased compass of instruments an enlargment of the scheme of notation became necessary, and this gave rise to systems of tablatures, adapted to individual kinds of instruments. The lute tablature, for instance, represented the strings of the instrument by lines, on which letters designated the positions of the fingers for the production of the required tone.