INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN THE MIDDLE AGES
• Instruments were not standardized
• With the exception of the organ, the use of instruments was not encouraged in the Roman Catholic Church
• Instruments music was passed down through an oral tradition
• Musicians were trained to improvise and to play by rote rather than rely on written music
• Notating music was a time-consuming, costly and not considered necessary or important in a a largely illiterate society.
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FULFULLED ROLES AND FUNCTIONS IN SOCIETY:
• Accompanying singers
• Proving dance music
• Playing fanfares and precessions for public and civic functions
• Providing music for military campaigns.
• Indoor and outdoor instruments.
DANCE MUSIC:
BACKGROUND:
• Based on a tradition of improvisation
• Functional music :instrumentalists provided music for social dance; later stylized dances were created(for listening only)
CHARACTERISTICS:
• Had monophonic texture
• Modal melodies
• Accompaniments were improvised
• Estampie,saltarello,ronde and basse dance were the earliest types
• Formal structure was often sectional to allow for flexibility in the length of the dance.
CHANSONNEIR DU ROY
• French “Songbook of the King:
• Anonymous 13th century French manuscript
• Contains troubadour and trouvere songs as well as eight monophonic dances including “Royal Estampie No.4”