Polyphony
This article is about the musical texture. For the feature of electronic instruments see Polyphony (instrument).Polyphony is a
musical texture consisting of two or more independent
melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (
monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by
chords (
homophony).
The term is usually used in reference to music of the late
Middle Ages and
Renaissance.
Baroque forms such as the
fugue which might be called polyphonic are usually described instead as
contrapuntal. Also, as opposed to the
species terminology of counterpoint, polyphony was generally either "pitch-against-pitch" / "point-against-point" or "sustained-pitch" in one part with
melismas of varying lengths in another (van der Werf, 1997). In all cases the conception was likely what Margaret Bent (1999) calls "dyadic counterpoint", with each part being written generally against one other part, with all parts modified if needed in the end. This point-against-point conception is opposed to "successive composition", where voices were written in an order with each new voice fitting into the whole so far constructed, which was previously assumed.
Two treatises, both dating from
c. 900, are usually considered the oldest surviving part-music though they are note-against-note, voices move mostly in parallel octaves, fifths, and fourths, and they were not intended to be performed. The 'Winchester Tropers', from
c. 1000, are the oldest surviving example of practical rather than pedagogical polyphony, though intervals, pitch levels, and durations are often not indicated. (van der Werf, 1997)
Polyphony rose out of melismatic
organum, the earliest harmonization of the chant. Twelfth century composers, such as
Léonin and
Pérotin developed the organum that was introduced centuries earlier, and also added a third and fourth voice to the now homophonic chant. In the thirteenth century, the chant-based tenor was becoming altered, fragmented, and hidden beneath secular tunes, obscuring the sacred texts as composers continued to play with this new invention called polyphony. The lyrics of love poems might be sung above sacred texts in the form of a
trope, or the sacred text might be placed within a familiar secular melody.
These musical innovations appeared in a greater context of societal change. After the first millennium, European monks decided to start translating the works of Greek philosophers into the vernacular, following in the footsteps of the Muslims who did that 500 years earlier. People of the Middle Ages knew of
Plato,
Socrates, and
Hippocrates, but were losing touch with what they actually said as the Greek language faded. The ancient works, as well as
Muslim commentaries, were translated. Once they were accessible, the philosophies had a great impact on the mind of Western
Europe. Faced with new ideas, society was forced to view itself in a different light as secular ideas competed with Christian doctrine.
This sparked a number of innovations in medicine, science, art, and music.
The oldest surviving piece of six-part music is the English
rota Sumer is icumen in (ca. 1240). (Albright, 2004)
During the time polyphony was rising, the Popes had no home in Rome. Italy was torn with civil unrest and unsafe for the Holy Father. For nearly 200 years, they roamed Europe before stopping off in
Avignon. During this time, the Papal Seat lost much of its authority.
It was not merely polyphony that offended the medieval ears, but the notion of secular music merging with the sacred and making its way into the papal court. It gave church music more of a jocular performance quality removing the solemn worship they were accustomed to. The use of and attitude toward polyphony varied widely in the
Avignon court from the beginning to the end of its religious importance in the fourteenth century. Harmony was not only considered frivolous, impious, and lascivious, but an obstruction to the audibility of the words. Instruments, as well as certain modes, were actually forbidden in the church because of their association with secular music and pagan rites. Dissonant clashes of notes give a creepy feeling that was labeled as evil, fueling their argument against polyphony as being the devil's music. After banishing polyphony from the Liturgy in
1322, Pope
John XXII spoke in his
1324 Bull
Docta Sanctorum Patrum warning against the unbecoming elements of this musical innovation.
Clement VI, however, indulged in it.
It was in
1364, during the pontificate of Pope
Urban V, that
Guillaume de Machaut composed the first polyphonic setting of the mass called
Le Masse de Notre Dame. Guillaume de Machaut was himself a priest.
Polyphony, though continually rejected by the church, somehow remained. Today, polyphony is characteristic of modern Christian culture.
*
Palestrina,
Missa Papae Marcellis*
Des Prez,
Missa Pange Lingua*
William Byrd,
Mass for Five Voices*
Jacob Obrecht*
Guillaume de Machaut Le Masse de Notre DameIncipient polyphony (previously primitive polyphony) includes
antiphony and
Call and response (music),
drones, and
parallel intervals.
Iso-polyphony is a form of traditional Albanian polyphonic music. It can be divided into two major stylistic groups as performed by the Ghegs of northern Albania and Tosks and Labs living in the southern part of the country. The term iso is related to the drone, which accompanies the iso-polyphonic singing. The drone is performed in two ways: among the Tosks, it is always continuous and sung on the syllable ‘e', using staggered breathing; while among the Labs, the drone is sometimes sung as a rhythmic tone, performed to the text of the song. It can be differentiated between two-, three- and four-voice polyphony. The phenomenon of Albanian folk iso-polyphoy is proclaimed by UNESCO as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible heritage of Humanity".
*
Micropolyphony*
Polyphonic ringtone*Hendrik van der Werf (1997). "Early Western polyphony",
Companion to Medieval & Renaissance Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198165404.
*Margaret Bent (1999). "The Grammar of Early Music: Preconditions for Analysis",
Tonal Structures of Early Music. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0815323883.
*Albright, Daniel (2004).
Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226012670.
*
Thirteenth-Century Polyphony*
The Role of the Drone in evolution of Harmony*
Stages in the Evolution of Scales, Melody & Harmony*
Evidence of Harmony in Ancient Music*
Isopolyphony
