Medieval theology was the expression of a pure Catholic ideal, in  that there was practically universal agreement on the basic ideas upon which people of the Middle Ages professed to live. The Medieval world was a God-centered  society with a strong religions orientation (vertical hierarchy). Faith and mysticism, combined with the idealism and universal message of the Church guided the life of Medieval Christianity. Catholicism was not only the one Church, but the primary inspiration for art and music, the main source of education, and the accepted basis for all philosophy, science, political theory, and economic theory of the times. The church structure itself, it's architecture and design, symbolic of the cross, was an earthly model of the spiritual realm; and artistic strategies for depicting that mystical realm of the spiritual became the task of all artists of the Medieval era. The reality of the human drama was depicted in stain-glassed windows and sprawled across walls of every church and chapel. This reality was expounded in sermons and orations, and delivered in monophonic and polyphonic masses. It was not just religion to them, it was real drama-   the epic story of Medieval Christianity. Christian compassion lived alongside the public torture and execution of heretics during the Inquisition. The Holy Roman Empire was a fiction, it was not holy, it was not Roman, and certainly was not an empire; it was the beginning of Europe as a modernizing civilization that transformed the Vatican from a center of spirituality into a Christianized autocracy.
In modern times, the word "hierarchy" doesn't have a "positive" meaning (i.e. ranking -"better than..."). Actually, the word "hierarchy" comes from the Latin word  "hiero", meaning "sacred or holy", and "arch", meaning  "governance or rule".  Thus, the original word meant "governing one's life by spiritual principles".  However, during the Middle Ages, governance by Spirit became "rule by the Church". In a similar vein, the word "Pope" (from the Latin word "Papa" and the Greek word "Pappas" meaning "Father").

MUSIC OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

The musical legacy of the ancient world was transmitted to western Europe through:

                 1) the Christian Church

                 2) the writings of the Church Fathers

                 3) early Medieval scholarly treatises on music.

Thus, music of early Medieval Europe was bound by the following principles:   

Music consisted essentially of pure, unencumbered melodic lines (monophonic)

The experience of hearing music chanted during Mass was meant to be symbolic of the soul's spiritual pilgrimage during it's life on earth.

Melody was intimately linked with rhythm and the meter of words. Plainchant is conjunct, in that it moves mostly up and down by steps or small leaps, 

This plainchant (plain song) is chanted (between speech and song), and is more commonly called Gregorian chant.  

Many musical performances were improvised, not read from musical notation, so the performer created the music new each time, using traditional melodic formulas and keeping within accepted conventions.

Philosophers conceived of music as an orderly system interlocked with the system of nature and as a force in human thought and conduct

Music was based upon a scientifically founded acoustical theory still in development (Medieval Church Modes)

Musical terminology developed to help analysis/explanation

There were two types of services in the early Roman Church: 

(1) Holy Eucharist (became the Mass) was celebrated on Sunday mornings. 

(2) Psalm singing - performed on Saturdays and early Sunday mornings at small gatherings (Vigils) of Christians. 

Vigils were the forerunner to the Divine Offices (daily devotional observances in the early monasteries. The early Christian Church associated instrumental music with the "un-religious pastimes" (i.e. excess, sacrifice, pagan) of the Romans; therefore, instrumental music was banned from services for several centuries. The destruction of the Roman Empire led to the geographical isolation of parts of Europe; each area developed it's own chant tradition and liturgy (Ambrosian, Gallican,  Roman, Mozarabique), later reorganized and codified by Pope Gregory I in the 6th century CE. As time passed, the Roman Mass developed by adding parts to the liturgical service from different regions of Christendom. For Medieval Christians, the Mass became an "emotional journey (pilgrimage) of the soul" experienced weekly by everyone, just as many Christians would make their own pilgrimages to famous religious sites. Some would also take up the cross and fight in the Crusades. 

Fear and anticipation of the Last Judgment and end of the world influence the late Tenth century Christian world view. In the Christian liturgy, the Last Judgment is most strongly conjured up in the liturgies of the Advent season, the Requiem Mass, and the feast of Jesus’ Ascension, celebrated forty days after Easter. Here a few excerpts:

While it was the architects of the Middle Ages who designed and built the many glorious cathedrals of Europe            whose spacious dimensions and high arching ceilings visually, as well as aurally (music) transported the Medieval    worshiper into a realm beyond daily life. Earlier in the Middle Ages drama and dance were incorporated into the       religious pageantry of Miracle Plays in the Church. Musicians provided an aural environment that bathed the             Medieval listener in exalted communion with the Divine. Text and tune were married to an articulate expression         of sacred purpose. During the early Middle Ages (450-1000 AD) imagine the effect produced by the combination      of pungent incense, the ethereal illumination of stained-glass windows, flickering candles, the impressive costumes    of the clergy and choir, together with the flowing ("soaring") sound of Gregorian chant. The purpose of music was      to enhance the sense of awe and wonder fostered by the Church to the individual. While Gregorian chant called         for a single, monophonic (i.e. one voice melody in unison) melody and use of free rhythm (not measured), music      in the Church adopted a polyphonic (more than one melody performed simultaneously, with a very simple notion       of harmony between parts) style with two or more voice parts.

By the Eleventh century a new style of music known as polyphony emerged. Basically, polyphony means the            simultaneous presence of two or more melodies that use different melodic material and have staggered entrances,   and/or different pitch levels. We do not know whether harmony (the simultaneous sounding of two or more                 melody parts) developed by intent or by accident. Perhaps one or more monks had difficulties matching pitches        with the rest of the choir, and in effect, sang a melodic passage parallel to, but not note for note, with the original         melody. This may have been the first steps toward Polyphony, what "harmony" was called at the time. Polyphony     occurs when two or more melodies are performed at the same time, thereby creating a relationship between the two parts.  In polyphony, the melodic parts may imitate each other, or contrast with each other, but it is important that their autonomy as individual parts be recognized (for it to be polyphony). Modern day  harmony, by contrast, features a melody accompanied by, or supported by, harmony on the other parts. In this texture, one melody is dominant, while the others provide harmonic support.

During the Medieval period, Catholic doctrine demanded that original plainchant melodies remain intact as part         of the liturgy. To make room for "polyphony" as a technique or style, Medieval composers had to "borrow" the           original plainchant melody (referred to in this context as a Cantus Firmus) as the foundation for composing a             second (and third) vocal part above it in the polyphonic style. The Cantus Firmus voice was placed in the                   "Tenor" voice, the upper polyphonic parts now being referred to as Duplum and Triplum. In principle, polyphony        is based on the idea of keeping the first voice or Tenor on the original plainchant melody, referred to as the                 Cantus Firmus. The Tenor (from Latin word "tenere" meaning "to hold" maintains the original melody while a            second, or third, and fourth voice sing above or below the original part, creating polyphony.

As the first form of polyphony, Organum developed in two stages. The first, Parallel or Strict Organum had                the voices follow the same strict musical path, moving parallel to the cantus firmus at different pitch levels. In               the second, Free Organum , the musical paths of voices moved independently. The two greatest composers             of Organum were Leonin and Perotin at the School of Notre Dame in Paris (11th-12th century). The other               two forms of polyphony, Conductus (freely composed polyphonic compositions that were note against note),              and Motet (from the Latin word "mot" meaning "word") took polyphony to a higher level during the late Medieval        Period and into the Renaissance Period.. The Motet developed as a poly-textual form, often mixing sacred and         secular texts, and/or mixing languages (Latin with French, Latin with Italian). The Motet grew out of Latin sacred         songs that were not an official part of the Liturgy. Unlike Organum, which were based upon the texts and styles          of Plainchant, motels were independent pieces, and were the first true polyphony with original texts in the native         languages of the people.

Since singers were no longer improvising in a simple one-to-one note relationship (i.e. plainchant), a system for  organizing and controlling rhythm  had to be created. This system, called the Rhythmic Modes, divided the beat   into groups of three (symbolic of the Trinity) that were referred as "Tempus Perfectum", or in groups of two beats ("Tempus Imperfectum"). The continued develop of musical notation allowed singers to interpret both pitch and rhythm simultaneously.

"Underneath all the texts, all the sacred psalms and canticles, these watery varieties of sounds and silences, terrifying, mysterious, whirling and sometimes gestating and gentle must somehow be felt in the pulse, ebb, and flow of the music that sings in me. My new song must float like a "feather on the breath of God."

"When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for he  words are the body and the music the spirit."

"Those voices you hear are like the voice  of a multitude, which lifts its sound on high: for jubilant                    praises, offered in simple harmony and charity, lead the faithful to that consonance in which is no                      discord, and make those who still live on earth sigh with heart and voice for the heavenly reward."

"From my early childhood, before my bones, nerves and veins were fully strengthened, I have always               seen this vision in my soul, even to the present time, when I am more than seventy years old...The light that I see thus us not spatial, but it is far, far brighter than a cloud that carries the sun...and I call it "the reflection of the living Light"...and I see, hear, and know all at once, and as if in an instant I learn what I know. But what I do not see, I do not know, for I am not educated, but I have simply been taught how to read. And what I write is what I see and hear in the vision...And the words in  this vision are not like words uttered by the mouth of man, but like a shimmering flame, or a cloud floating in a clear sky.

Take, for example, O Vis Aeternitatis , a monumental work by Hildegard marked clearly by the sheer vocal range  required to sing this piece. Hildegard referred to this as "profunda altitudine", meaning "profound height" achieved  principally through the responsorial form: alternation of solo with ensemble singing. This setting was intended to  show profound "symphonia" (cosmic harmony), appropriate to Hildegard's universal themes of incarnation and  suffering. Composed in the mode of C, which Hildegard habitually reserved for passages of highest energy and significance.

THE ARS NOVA ("THE NEW ART")

The music of the French Ars Nova was more refined and expressive than that of the preceding period (then referred  to as the "Ars Antigua" or "old art"). Essentially, the changes meant better flow in melody lines, the loss of modal rhythm, and freer counterpoint (the relationship of note to note in the parts). Harmonies made more frequent use of the musical interval of a third (three notes apart, similar to modern harmonic practice) as a consonance (blending or pleasant sound effect). The Motets of a composer like Machaut were usually constructed on a plainchant "tenor" (not the high male vocal part, but the original plainchant melody or cantus firmus, as set forth by Pope Gregory the Great). His Motets also called for the rhythmic and formal organization principal of Isorhythm (same rhythm), a term which gave rise to the term Isorhythmic Motet. In isorhythmic motets, the talea (rhythmic pattern) and color (melody) are of different lengths, thus, overlapping, thereby challenging the listener to figure out this "musical puzzle". If the word "talea" sounds familiar, it should, for the term came from, or was influenced by Arab, Persian or Indian musical sources during  the Medieval period.

Music of the Ars Nova was strongly shaped by new approaches to musical organization. The now old Rhythmic      Modes wee no longer flexible enough to accommodate the rhythmic vitality and syncopation of the new style.           Thus, a new system called "Mensuration" was developed to allow for both perfect time in three (Tempus Perfectum) and "imperfect time" (Tempus Imperfectum) being imperfect in two divisions of the beat in a notational style that began to resemble our present day system of notation. This organization still depended on plainchant melody as the foundation   upon which each additional part was constructed, but new techniques were employed to bring a stronger sense of  unity and cohesion to the increasingly independent vocal parts. 

Organizational principals were also applied to large formal structures like the Mass (Five parts of the Ordinary of       the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei). Following the example of the celebrated poet and           musician, Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) the Missa de Notre Dame (1364) became the first complete        musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, conceived as a unified whole rather than as a collection of separate       movements. His mass became the prototype for mass compositions created over the next 600 years.

PILGRIMMAGE SONGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

During Medieval times, pilgrimages were undertaken for many reasons (i.e. penance, fulfilling a promise made      during illness or danger, to pray for healing, to escape prison, to see the world, or, as Chaucer suggested -to           cure Spring fever). Whatever the reason, most pilgrimages were based on the Medieval desire to experience          "directly" the sacred elements of life where miracles may have occurred, or where sacred relics had been               discovered. The Holy Land held the most sacred sites, where the greatest miracles had occurred. After the              Holy Land, the most frequented destinations were Rome, Montserrat and Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Santiago was said to hold the burial remains of St. James, and was a popular and "attainable" site for pilgrims in northern Europe.

One musical genres of the times were known as "Crusade songs" (Chansons de Croisade) most being composed  during the era of the Crusades (11th-13th centuries). Crusade songs were of two types: 1. Exhortations to "take up the cross and fight in the name of God" ( a reminder to the listener of the Day of Judgment and the sanctity of the Holy Land, and 2. Those  which dwelled on the pain of leaving loved ones, particularly a lady love (Dame einsi est; Li departus). Afterall, a pilgrim might be gone for more than ten years. These songs employed the imagery of courtly love song lyrics of the Troubadours and Trouveres.

Thibaut of Champagne was a nephew of the King of France, and related by marriage to the King of England. As   a young man of nineteen, Thibaut fought in the Third Crusade, and was instrumental in the surrender and final        negotiation of the surrender of Constantinople now Istanbul) . Unfortunately, he never saw his homeland again.

SECULAR MUSIC IN THE MEDIEVAL WORLD

Despite the deep spirituality of the Medieval era, one found secularism and worldly pleasures in some areas          of Europe. As part of this trend, the "Science" of music moved toward "Art" as a concept we might understand,       adopting an aesthetic of both beauty and pleasure. In 14th C. Italy the Arts were a form of refuge or sanity in a         world gone mad. This was the era of Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Giotto. The musical manifestations of           church clerics now became the social amusements of the nobility. 

Alongside the development of religious polyphony was the development of another kind of music, the secular         love song, but still sung using a Latin text. The first of these were Goliard songs of the 11^th and 12^th centuries.         These Goliards were students or clerics who migrated from one school to another in the days before the great universities of Europe were founded. Their vagabond way of life, scorned by respectable people, was celebrated in their songs, and gathered in numerous manuscript collections of that era. The texts were based on the theme of wine, women, satire and song. Even before the 12^th century, the French were composing  Chansons de Geste (Songs of Deeds), the most famous being the Song of Roland. In essence these were Medieval  epics of legendary French heroes, possibly sung to the accompaniment of stringed instruments like harps or viols by Jongleurs or a professional class of musicians (minstrels) who appeared during the    10^th century. Troubadours  of the Provence region of southern France were singing cansos (love songs) and baladas (dance songs) for the courts. Many of the early troubadours were themselves of noble birth or professionals in the service of a royal household. For the most part Troubadours composed songs for Jongleurs, wandering entertainers. Jongleur performances were well received, but they were social outcasts, often times not protected by the laws of the region or the sacraments of the Church. The Medieval Oud (Ud),   a pear-shaped string instrument of Arabic origins, quickly became the favored accompanying instrument of these wandering Troubadours and Trouveres. The word Oud translated as "Laute" in French, and as "Lute" in English.

The influence of the Troubadours, Trouveres and Jongleurs eventually spread into northern France and the growth of the Trouveres in northern France and the Minnesingers in Germany. Both groups flourished in the 13^th century. Actually, by this time these groups were organized into Brotherhoods or Guilds offering professional training, much like a modern  day Conservatory does. Nearly five thousand Troubadour and Trouvere texts with music are still preserved today in manuscript form.

All this vocal music drew from multiple sources: the Chansons de Geste, plainchant from the Church, the songs of  itinerant minstrels, and vernacular poetry. Love songs and other forms of secular music typically involved the use of  instruments. Troubadour songs, like modern songs, employ stanzas sung to the same repeated melody, and usually sung in a syllabic texture. There are simple ballads and ballads in dramatic style, some of which require two or more  characters. There are songs on political or moral topics, and songs whose texts argue or debate the virtues of Chivalry and courtly love. A favorite type was the Pastourelle or Pastorela. The texts were a variation on the following story:

Here's a typical story line for a Troubadour or Trouvere song: A knight pursues a shepherdess who succumbs after due resistance, or the shepherdess screams for help, whereupon  her brother or lover rushs in and drives the knight away, not without blows given and received. Sometimes the story  was expanded to include dialogue and a short musical play with acting and singing.   One of the most famous of these was the musical play ,Jeu de Robin et de Marion (1284) the story of   Robin Hood and Lady Marion, composed by the last of the Trouveres, Adam de la Halle.

As part of the notion of Chivalry, women were adored from a distance, with due respect, discretion and humility,      making the would be lover more of a worshiper suffering in the service of his Lady. In its earliest stages chivalry       meant mostly the virtues of war-courage, skill with weapons, fairness to one's foes, and     loyalty to one's Lord.       The truly chivalrous knight was encouraged to protect woman and to love, serve, and revere a particular lady,         although from a distance.

The knight was expected to endure great adventures and deadly dangers in his travels, even if it meant descending  into hell to fight deadly monsters as part of his quest to become wise, strong and pure. Nevertheless, all these dangers  were in vain if he was unable to pass the ultimate test: the test of true love (courtly love had both spiritual and sensual  qualities) for a noble woman. It was the women of the court who principally paid for the services of minstrels and  poets to compose and sing songs of love or songs praising knights who served their ladies well. It was a time of stories of "courtly romances" depicted in literature of the day. The change of outlook that accompanied this code  of chivalry brought with it a new form of poetry known as the Romance, basically, long narratives whose subjects were knights and ladies. The first poetic treatment of Arthur and Camelot, as we know it today, was elaborated in many episodes complicated with religious and courtly themes. Lancelot eventually rescues Guinevere, but only after suffering through one misadventure after another, from which he learns humility. In these songs of the Troubadours one learns about Allegory- a dramatic device in which the superficial sense is accompanied by a deeper or more profound meaning. Values of the times changed emphasizing that: 1) People are important, life is more valuable,  2) People are connected to the past, 3) There was a new sense of order, rationality, symmetry and balance appearing in formal structures, and 4) Symbolism played an important role in art and music, as it did in philosophy and theology of the times.

Drawing upon the experiences of the Crusades, secular songs in the Troubadour-Trouvere tradition first developed as     songs of adventure, travel, and love in far away places. Take for example, this song of the Crusades by King Richard  the Lion-hearted.

When the Crusades ended, Medieval life settled down and focused upon the affairs and development of the court. Secular music now focused on romance, nature, themes of life, and adventure expressed through the poetry and songs of Medieval Goliards and Jongleurs in Italy, the Troubadours and Trouveres in France, and the Minnesingers in Germany.

Bernard Ventadorn was one of the finest Troubadour poets of the era. Originally of a humble background, he came to serve in the court of Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, wife of King Henry II of England. The language of this first stanzaic verse is Provencal, now almost extinct, but combining elements from old French and old Spanish.

Coincidentally, Trouvere songs on the religious theme of the Virgin Mary adopt the same style, vocabulary and sometimes the same melodies of songs depicting earthly love. The melodic settings of Troubadour and Trouvere songs were generally syllabic with occasional short melismatic figures, usually allowing for ornamentation at the end of the musical line. These simple melodies invited improvised ornaments and other variants as the singer moved from one stanza to the next. Nevertheless, through variation, contrast, and repetition of short, distinctive musical phrases, a variety of formal musical patterns emerged including the Ballade, Rondeaux, Lai and Virelai..
 

By the 13^th century, Europeans were generally able to reconcile revelation and reason, the divine and the human, and the claims of the kingdom of God with those of the political states of the world. On the other hand, in the 14^th century, the separation of religion from science and of the Church from the State emerged as doctrines similar to what we have today. Philosophers drew a distinction between divine revelation and human reason, each prevailing only in it's own sphere. The church cared for peoples souls, while the state looked out for their earthly concerns.

The Fourteenth century sowed the seeds of destruction of the Medieval era. Political strife and war became the domain of both Church and State. The Hundred Years War (1338-1453) between England and France left both countries weaker. The Church was not without it's problems. The Babylonian Captivity (1305-1378) and the Great Schism (1378-1417) witnessed the Pope and religious leaders moving away from Rome, and further religious turmoil as three rival popes emerged within the strife. The state of unconditional faith in the power and authority of the Church brought questions and instability to the Medieval Christian world. As spirituality gave way to a new interest in secularism and worldly pleasures, the Black Death Plague swept through Europe, killing more than a third of the population. The agrarian-based feudal system collapsed for lack of a labor force (peasants) and many of the survivors of this bleak time moved to the new urban centers in search of hope and opportunity. The Medieval era would soon give way to the "rebirth" of the Renaissance.