![]() ![]() As the Roman Empire expanded across Western Europe, so too did Christianity (see Figure 2.2, a map of Western Europe around 1000). Writings of Plato and Aristotle referred to music as a form of ethos (an appeal to ethics). The Greek word musicka referred to not music but also referred to poetry and the telling of history. Images of people singing and playing instruments, such as those found on the Greek vases provide evidence that music was used for ancient theater, dance, and worship. Pythagoras might be thought of as a father of the modern study of acoustics due to his experimentation with bars of iron and strings of different lengths. (See his profile on a third century ancient coin: Figure 2.1.)įigure 2.1 | Profile of Pythagoras on ancient coin Knowledge of music before the Middle Ages is limited but what we do know largely revolves around the Greek mathematician Pythagoras, who died around 500 B.C.E. In fact, the term Middle Ages or medieval period got its name to describe the time in between (or "in the middle of") the ancient age of classical Greece and Rome and the Renaissance of Western Europe, which roughly began in the fifteenth century. We normally start studies of Western music with the Middle Ages, but of course, music existed long before then. Although life and music were quite different back then, we hope that you will find that there are cultural threads that extend from that distant time to now. ![]() For most twenty-first-century individuals, the Middle Ages seem far removed. ![]() Still others may have read about the arrival in European lands of the bubonic plague or Black Death, as it was called. Others recall Western Christianity's Crusades to the Holy Land. What do you think of when you hear the term the Middle Ages (450–1450)? For some, the semi-historical figures of Robin Hood and Maid Marian come to mind. 1275 CE: King Alfonso the Wise collects early songs in an exquisitely illuminated manuscriptġ346–53: Height of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death)ġ4th Century CE: Further refinement of musical notation, including notation for rhythmġ300–1377 CE: Guillaume de Machaut composes songs and church music 1163–1240s CE: Building of Notre Dame in Paris and the rise of Gothic architectureġ3th Century CE: Development of PolyphonyĬ. 800 CE: First experiments in Western Musicġ1th Century CE: Rise of Feudalism & the Three Estatesġ1th Century CE: Guido of Arezzo refines of music notation and development of solfègeġ088 CE: Founding of the University of Bolognaġ2th Century CE: Hildegard of Bingen writes Gregorian chantĬ. 400 CE: St Augustine writes about church musicĤth–9th Century CE: Development/Codification of Christian ChantĬ.
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