What are the characteristics of organum?
In its earliest stages, organum involved two musical voices: a Gregorian chant melody, and the same melody transposed by a consonant interval, usually a perfect fifth or fourth.
Why is early organum important in music?
This style is important to musicians, particularly music theorists, because it served as the basis for the development of true counterpoint. Early organum was present prior to 1000 A.D. Works in this early style developed mainly from the Gregorian chants of the Catholic Church.
What is organum purum in music?
Organum purum is one of three styles of organum, which is used in section where the chant is syllabic thus where the tenor can not be modal. As soon as the chant uses ligatures, the tenor becomes modal and it will have become discant, which is the second form.
What is the difference between melody and organum?
Thus the melody would be heard as the principal voice, the vox organalis as an accompaniment or harmonic reinforcement. This kind of organum is now usually called parallel organum, although terms such as sinfonia or diaphonia were used in early treatises.
What is organum and its importance?
Organum is a musical style based on plainchant. While one voice sings the primary chant melody, at least one other voice sings along to enhance the harmony. This style is important to musicians, particularly music theorists, because it served as the basis for the development of true counterpoint.
What are the 3 types of organum?
Organum purum is one of three styles of organum, which is used in section where the chant is syllabic thus where the tenor can not be modal. As soon as the chant uses ligatures, the tenor becomes modal and it will have become discant, which is the second form. The third form is copula (Lat.
What does the word organum mean?
Definition of organum 1 : early polyphony of the late Middle Ages that consists of one or more voice parts accompanying the cantus firmus often in parallel motion at a fourth, fifth, or octave above or below also : a composition in this style. 2 : organon.
What is the difference between chant and organum?
The organum is highly melismatic; can be for 2, 3, or 4 voices; chant is always in the lowest voice called the Tenor. Long held notes in the Tenor except for places where a melisma appears in the chant (see Clausula below).
Which term best describes organum music?
More specifically, the word organum refers to a polyphonic style of sacred chanting that flourished in Europe from 8th to 13th century and the term melismatic indicates a vocal line in which there are several notes sung on the same syllable (melisma).
What is the most basic form of organum?
In the simplest form of organum, a melody is sung identically, but on pitches a fifth apart from each other. This is called parallel organum. The next development took one of these voices and held it on a single pitch. This is called drone organum.
How do you make an organum?
900; “Musical Handbook”), organum consisted of two melodic lines moving simultaneously note against note. Sometimes a second, or organal, voice doubled the chant, or principal voice, a fourth or a fifth below (as G or F below c, etc.). In other instances, the two voices started in unison, then moved to wider intervals.
What period is organum?
MedievalOrganum is a genre of Medieval polyphonic music (music with two or more simultaneous, different voice parts) that reached the peak of its sophistication during the late 1100s-early 1200s in France.
When was organum created?
Sometime during the ninth century, music theorists in the Church began experimenting with the idea of singing two melodic lines simultaneously at parallel intervals, usually at the fourth, fifth, or octave. The resulting hollow-sounding music was called organum and very slowly developed over the next hundred years.
Who were two early champions of organum?
Leonin and Perotin, two early champions of organum, worked as musicians at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and this method of writing music came to be called the Notre Dame school.
How did organum develop from Gregorian chant?
Organum was a significant development, as it added a second line of melody to the single notes of the Gregorian chant. In this way, harmony could be created, making a richer more complex sound. The second line of melody might be notated at an interval lower or higher, or might be improvised by the singer.
What is the difference between motet and organum?
The motet probably arose from the addition of text to the long melismatic passages of organum. The motet took a definite rhythm from the words of the verse, and as such appeared as a brief rhythmic interlude in the middle of the longer, more chantlike organum.
What is organum Quadruplum?
The fourth voice (highest) in a polyphonic composition ( organum) having four or more voices. Diminution or augmentation by a factor of four in mensural notation. (1) the fourth voice to be composed; in organum and the early motet, it is found above the triplum, duplum/motetus, and tenor.
What is the form of organum Alleluia?
Actually, the musical style of organum is in itself a fantasy on Gregorian chant; Perotin's organum is built over a plainchant Alleluia (which is played by the winds in octaves over driving drum rhythms in the middle of Nativitas!).
What is an organum in medieval music?
organum, plural Organa, originally, any musical instrument (later in particular an organ); the term attained its lasting sense, however, during the Middle Ages in reference to a polyphonic (many-voiced) setting, in certain specific styles, of Gregorian chant.
What is chant or plainsong?
Plainchant, or plainsong, is also known as Gregorian chant and forms the core of the musical repertoire of the Roman Catholic Church. It consists of about 3,000 melodies collected and organized during the reigns of several 6th- and 7th-century popes. Most instrumental in codifying these chants was Pope Gregory I.