Conductus

A conductus is a companion song in Discantus set. He scored alongside organum and motet to the most important musical genres of music of the Middle Ages. With a conductus performances were accompanied by persons acting in concert, for example, in or out below ecclesiastical dignitaries of the Church.

The conductus emerged already during the St. Martial school ( where he was known as Versus ). Unlike other genres of the time the conductus existed after the Notre Dame school, as such, no more, but went on to other musical genres. Only as a style feature, the name was continued.

The texts with both spiritual and secular content based on Latin originals with a serious and solemn nature. They had the form mehrstrophiger poems whose structure was decisive for the composition. The singing was one or several voices, but outweighed the two voices. Most of the singing was a tenor based on the voice is mostly syllabic, could also be melismatic verse at the end though.

The word derives from the Latin words Con (from the Latin cum, with ) and ductus ( ducere of lead or lead, participle out ). Carried is the word -based translation: the music accompanies it commissioned on duty ( and to be honored by her to the end ) person.