What is Leonin known for?
Léonin (active ca. 1165-1185), or Leoninus, of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, is the earliest known composer of polyphonic art music and the creator of controlled rhythm and meter, as well as of the earliest notation to convey rhythm. About the life of Léonin absolutely nothing is known.
What did Saint Léonin write?
Léonin was also known as a poet, and is said to have written a rendering of the first eight books of the Holy Bible in verse. In the late twentieth century, a scholar proposed that Léonin was likely the author of a salacious book concerning carnal behavior among the clergy which appeared in the 1180s.
What texture did Léonin use in his music?
Anonymous 4 refers to Léonin as "optimus organista," and in his work he employed a two-part polyphonic texture which Léonin termed Organum Duplum; the tenor was the "principal voice" (vox principalis), generally intoning long syllables drawn from plainchant,...
What are the four major manuscripts of Léonin's music?
This music is known in four major manuscripts; Wölfenbuttel 677 (W1) and 1099 (W2), Codex Florenz, and Codex Madrid, the last named containing a condensed version of the Magnus liber. W1, though chronologically the "youngest" of these late thirteeth century manuscripts, is believed to contain the music which is closest to Léonin's original concept.
What type of music did Léonin compose?
Léonin (active ca. 1165-1185), or Leoninus, of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, is the earliest known composer of polyphonic art music and the creator of controlled rhythm and meter, as well as of the earliest notation to convey rhythm.
What is Léonin known for?
Leonin, sometimes referred to as 'Leoninus,' is thought to have lived from 1150-1201. He is known for being the first composer of polyphonic music that we can identify by name. Leonin's music was generally in two vocal parts.
What was the style of polyphony called that Léonin composed?
Léonin is said to have composed a cycle of Organum purum settings of the soloistic sections of the responsorial chants of the Mass and Office for the liturgical year: this is called the Magnus Liber.
What type of music did Pérotin compose?
polyphonyPérotin ( fl. c. 1200) was a composer associated with the Notre Dame school of polyphony in Paris and the broader ars antiqua musical style of high medieval music. He is credited with developing the polyphonic practices of his predecessor, Léonin, with the introduction of three and four-part harmonies.
When did leonin compose?
Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo) (fl. 1150s — d. ? 1201) was the first known significant composer of polyphonic organum.
What was the greatest musical innovation made by the composers Leonin and Pérotin?
Leonin, Perotin, and the composers from the Notre Dame School contributed greatly to the development of modern music. The use of modal rhythms in the discant style that the Notre Dame School pioneered called for developing new music notation.
Who made polyphonic music?
Pérotin, Latin Perotinus, (died 1238?, Paris?, France), French composer of sacred polyphonic music, who is believed to have introduced the composition of polyphony in four parts into Western music.
Why is Léonin Pérotin famous?
In fact, Leonin and Perotin were so good at writing organum that they wrote the first complete annual cycle of chants for the mass in two parts. The music was compiled as a book called the Magnus Liber Organi, or the 'Great Book of Organum.
What genre is polyphony?
Polyphony is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, homophony.
Who is the father of piano music?
As a composer of classical piano sonatas, Clementi was among the first to create keyboard works expressly for the capabilities of the piano. He has been called "Father of the Piano".
Who was the composer of the Gregorian chant?
Although popular legend credits Pope Gregory the Great with inventing Gregorian chant, scholars believe that it arose from a later Carolingian synthesis of Roman and Gallican chant. Gregorian chants are organized into eight scalar modes.
Which composer wrote both sacred and secular music?
Josquin wrote both sacred and secular music, and in all of the significant vocal forms of the age, including masses, motets, chansons and frottole. During the 16th century, he was praised for both his supreme melodic gift and his use of ingenious technical devices.
Who was the earliest known composer of polyphony?
LeoninThe earliest known composer of polyphonic music was Leonin, who lived in the last part of the twelfth century. He was one of a number of composers whose center of study and composition was the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
What genre is polyphony?
Polyphony is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, homophony.
Where did Léonin Perotin work?
Today, we know the names of only two composers from the Notre Dame school: Léonin and Pérotin, both born in France in the mid 1100s. These names were revealed by the writings of an English medieval musical theorist now known only as Anonymous IV.
What is the term for the new musical style that became popular in the 14th century?
What is the term for the new musical style that became popular in the 14th century? Ars Nova. A few centuries after Hildegard of Bingen composed her visionary chants, a radically different type of music—polyphony—was developing.
What type of music did Léonin create?
Léonin also created a second species of polyphonic music, the conductus, a processional song. Monophonic conducti as well as sporadic two-part settings had existed before Léonin, but he established the polyphonic species firmly. Conducti are Latin songs, covering a wide range of contents—religious, political, lyrical, convivial— sometimes heard at Church and sometimes at performances of liturgical dramas, processions, banquets, and private occasions. The poetic texts are stanzaic, in strict rhythm, and sung more or less one note to each syllable, with both voices moving in essentially the same rhythm, though at verse and stanza ends and beginnings cadenzalike duet passages of many notes are often sung to a single syllable.
What is the organa of Léonin's music?
Léonin's works may be called the cradle of Western art music. His organa are arranged for two vocal lines. One is the chant tune, the cantus firmus, laid out either in notes of undefined length or, in some sections, in a sequence of definite note values; the other is a newly composed melodic descant, a rhythmically controlled coloratura of great ingenuity, coordinated with the cantus firmus. Although organa had existed for some time before Léonin, the separation of these two styles, the "pure organum"—with long chant notes—and what was then called "discant," where both voices have strict rhythm, was his creation. So was the notation he used to symbolize this rhythm, the "modal notation," which laid the basis for musical notation as we know it. Moreover, his works constitute the first comprehensive repertoire of liturgical polyphony, which, with settings for about 100 Gregorian chants for all the major feasts of the Church year, remained in use for more than 2 centuries and spread to all the Western countries. This repertoire formed what the anonymous English student called the Magnus liber organi (Great Book of Organa); it became a widely imitated model.
What is the life of Léonin?
About the life of Lé onin absolutely nothing is known. His name is mentioned in a treatise, actually class notes taken at lectures an anonymous English student attended at the University of Paris about a century later, in the 1270s. In this treatise Léonin is connected with Paris and is praised as the best composer of organa (two-voiced settings of soloistic portions of chants of the Mass and the daily prayer hours).
What is the best survey of Léonin's works?
The best survey of Léonin's works is in Donald Jay Grout, A History of Western Music (1960). Much of Léonin's music is available in modern transcription in William Waite, TheRhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony, and a few works have been recorded. □
Who was the first composer to use rhythm and meter?
Léonin (active ca. 1165-1185), or Leoninus, of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, is the earliest known composer of polyphonic art music and the creator of controlled rhythm and meter, as well as of the earliest notation to convey rhythm.
Who composed the organa for Notre Dame?
Léonin evidently composed his organa for the Cathedral of Notre Dame, whose present magnificent stone structure rose in the main between 1163 and 1208. It has been suggested that he was a choirboy first and later became the master of the choirboys. This would account for the diminutive of Léo by which he was known and also for the absence of his name from the preserved list of the higher officers of the Cathedral.
What type of music did Léonin create?
Léonin also created a second species of polyphonic music, the conductus, a processional song. Monophonic conducti as well as sporadic two-part settings had existed before Léonin, but he established the polyphonic species firmly.
What is the life of Léonin?
About the life of Léonin absolutely nothing is known. His name is mentioned in a treatise, actually class notes taken at lectures an anonymous English student attended at the University of Paris about a century later, in the 1270s. In this treatise Léonin is connected with Paris and is praised as the best composer of organa ...
What is the best survey of Léonin's works?
The best survey of Léonin's works is in Donald Jay Grout, A History of Western Music (1960). Much of Léonin's music is available in modern transcription in William Waite, The Rhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony, and a few works have been recorded.
Who composed the organa for Notre Dame?
Léonin evidently composed his organa for the Cathedral of Notre Dame, whose present magnificent stone structure rose in the main between 1163 and 1208. It has been suggested that he was a choirboy first and later became the master of the choirboys. This would account for the diminutive of Léo by which he was known and also for the absence of his name from the preserved list of the higher officers of the Cathedral.
Who is the composer of polyphonic music?
Léonin. Léonin (active ca. 1165-1185), or Leoninus, of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, is the earliest known composer of polyphonic art music and the creator of controlled rhythm and meter, as well as of the earliest notation to convey rhythm. About the life of Léonin absolutely nothing is known. His name is mentioned in a treatise, actually ...
What is the cradle of Western art music?
This would account for the diminutive of Léo by which he was known and also for the absence of his name from the preserved list of the higher officers of the Cathedral. Léonin's works may be called the cradle of Western art music. His organa are arranged for two vocal lines.
What is the meaning of Leonin and Perotin?
Leonin and Perotin are often seen as representatives of this 'old school' mentality. Their work is seen as a bridge to the Ars Nova, or new school art, which would emerge late in the Medieval Period and lay the foundation for the musical transition to the Renaissance Period.
Who was the first composer to compose polyphonic music?
Leonin, sometimes referred to as 'Leoninus,' is thought to have lived from 1150-1201. He is known for being the first composer of polyphonic music that we can identify by name. Leonin 's music was generally in two vocal parts.
Why did composers add additional vocal parts to what was previously a single line of church chant?
In order to achieve new music while adhering to the Church's strict music rules, both composers added additional vocal parts to what was previously a single line of church chant. Often times, the original chant was sung at an extremely slow pace, while a new, faster melody with more pitches was added at a higher pitch.
How many rhythmic modes did composers use?
So the composers adopted six rhythmic modes, which were fixed rhythmic patterns of long and short notes.
Who wrote the first complete annual cycle of chants for the mass in two parts?
Magnus Liber Organi. In fact, Leonin and Perotin were so good at writing organum that they wrote the first complete annual cycle of chants for the mass in two parts. The music was compiled as a book called the Magnus Liber Organi , or the 'Great Book of Organum.'.
When was polyphony allowed?
So, around the middle of the 12th century, polyphony was allowed. Polyphony is heard when two or more independent melodies are sung or played simultaneously. This makes sense, since 'poly' means 'many,' and 'phony' means 'to sound.'.
Who was the first polyphonist?
There is no specific date or documentation that shows exactly when polyphony started being used in the Church, but two French composers, Leonin and his student Perotin, of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, are generally credited with composing the first significant polyphonic church music.
