Organum

The Organum (Greek organon tool; Diaphon also ) is the first Western polyphony in the 9th to 11th century and was designed in the early Middle Ages in the practice of Gregorian chant (first source of Europe from Essen -Werden, Westphalia: Musica enchiriadis, 9. century).

One of vocals ( Vox Principalis or Cantus ) is added first a single second voice ( Vox organalis ), which moves in a fairly rigid parallel movement. This first improvised polyphonic singing, in which also accompanies the particular organ in the same parallels, is handed down from the Middle Ages Singers schools some monasteries and cathedrals; it is the birth of Western polyphony.

In the period from the 9th to 11th century composers began to add more voices and to break away from the rigid interval binding. Famous complex, up to four-part Organa come later by Perotin (also called " Master Perotinus " / " Perotinus Magnus " ) and his teacher Leonin, the leaders of the Notre Dame school.

Origin and first sources

The first sources from the 9th century describe the Organum as an active practice. This practice may have been a few hundred years older - their origins can not be reconstructed. It is still not clear whether the early Organum has evolved from a primitive strict parallelism or from a lawless, bound only by the church modes heterophony.

( † 930 * to 840) is attributed to the first document that describes the Organumpraxis understandable, was the Musica enchiriadis ( against 895 ), a treatise, which is traditionally (and probably incorrect) the monk Hucbald. Then the Organumpraxis was not designed as polyphony in the modern sense: the supervening voice should only reinforce the solo voice. The Musica enchiriadis also makes it clear that Oktavverdopplung were accepted, they were eventually not be avoided with common singing of men's and boys' voices. Also playing along with a singing voice with instruments was practice. The treatise Scholia enchiriadis treated the subject in more detail.

In the original parallel singing the original melody was in the upper voice ( vox principalis ). The Vox organalis was a perfect interval led deeper parallel, usually a fourth lower. So you could hear the melody as the main voice, Vox organalis as an accompaniment or amplification. This type of organum is now commonly referred to as Parallelorganum, depending on interval, for example, as Quartorganum or Quintorganum, although terms such as sinfonia were used in early treatises.

Since the Musica enchiriadis was written shortly before the ( re-) development of a standardized musical notation, the descriptions contained therein, of the Organum are purely verbal. It is not known exactly how they were followed. In addition, both Enchiriadis treatises are primarily works that attempt a pseudo- scientific derivation of the hexachord and the Church scales. Therefore, it is possible that in the treatment of Organums the perspective of emerging Hexachord doctrine against a technically accurate description of Organumpraxis in mind.

Tail end Organum

A strict Parallelorganum was not shown even in these early writings as exhaustive. The papers are based on the basis of the parallelism and then hit the " better " types of organum before, with inclusion of intermediate tones. So not only are fourths in Quartorganum used, but also smaller intervals to avoid the tritone temporarily inevitably occur in rigid parallel movement. The vast majority of musical examples of these treatises used as intervals seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths and sixths to achieve an artistic result. The aesthetics to support these other intervals was investigated by Guido of Arezzo in his Micrologus reinforced ( from about 1020). These more varied forms of organum are referred to as free or roving Organum.

The roving Organum uses parallel and lateral movement (one of the two voices is not moved ), but also straight movement ( both parts in the same direction, but at a different interval) and counter-movement to gain importance. The Winchester Tropar ( 1050 ), works by Johannes Cotto and the so-called Chartres fragments document a continuously freer treatment of voice leading.

In the late 11th century, there are examples in which several notes of Organal voice are successively set against a single note of the cantus firmus.

The Trouvères in the 11th and 12th centuries

The Troubadours, starting in the 11th century by southern France ( Occitania ), and the Trouvères 12th CENTURY in northern France as well as the minstrel in the German-speaking countries used for their spiritual and secular poetry in part the same melodies, until finally first written records of Organa as find scores in neumes notation in the shrine of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain and in St.Martial in Limoges in a monastery.

Saint -Martial- School and Notre Dame in the 12th to 13th century

The Organum reached its peak in the 12th century. Compared to the improvisation of Organums enters its composition in the foreground. The cantus firmus is no longer in the upper voice, but in the deepest voice as the basis of the musical composition. According to its location, the national organic (upper ) voices win of musical meaning. Two different schools are leaders in the organum composition: the St. Martial School and the Notre- Dame school, after the second half of the 12th and the first half of the 13th century is also known as Notre -Dame- era.

The St. Martial School was a school of composers around the Abbey of St. Martial in Limoges. Beside rich Organa come ( unanimous ) Tropical and sequences from this environment.

In the Notre-Dame- era created Léonin ( Leoninus magnus ) and Pérotin ( Perotinus magnus ) large-scale three - and four-part Organa, which were recorded in writing with the help of the newly developed Modalnotation. The organization of the vote was only possible through the use of an ordering rhythm, which was based on the six modes of Modalrhythmus.

From the art of the Notre- Dame school arose later forms such as the motet of the ars antiqua.