THE CAUSES OF POLYPHONIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE
IMPORTANCE OF THE POLYPHONIC ERA.
In the Introduction attention was called to the fact that the labors of
musicians to develop an art of music varied between the effort to make
artistic use of the material of music, that is, to give it definite
form, and to make it express the feelings of mankind; the first is in
the line of construction, the second, content. The period we now take
up was concerned most deeply, in its earlier stages, as we shall see,
with finding adequate and logical principles of construction by which a
musical composition of more or less length could be made from a simple
musical idea and in which more than one voice could be used.
This period should be studied with the greatest thoroughness, and all
possible examples of music of the composers representative of the
period should be examined that one may gather a clear idea of the
beginnings of composition and the development that shows from one
generation to the next. These first gropings after the principles
are matters of extreme interest to the musician when he compares the
results in the music of the twentieth century.
=The Polyphonic and Monophonic Styles=.—Students frequently express
surprise that the complicated polyphonic or contrapuntal system,
which began to take shape in the 11th century, should appear first,
historically. The pupil in composition begins his studies with the
harmonic or monophonic style and is afterwards inducted into the
polyphonic style. Why did the musical art develop along polyphonic
and not on the simpler lines? It is intended that this lesson and
those that follow shall show some of the influences that caused the
line of development to move in a polyphonic and not in a monophonic
direction. One thought is important to note. The elements of the
simple, monophonic style _were present_ in the music of the early
centuries, in the _people’s song_, principally; since, however, it was
the Church that determined the direction of artistic composition, the
simple, natural principles of melody-making _yielded precedence to_ a
more highly organized, _intellectual process_. Before taking up the
consideration of these matters it is well to get an understanding of
the terms Monophony and Polyphony.
There are two methods of giving harmonic support to a melody: by
adding an accompaniment of chords, in simple or elaborated form, or
by dividing the notes of the chords among three or more voices, which
notes are sung or played simultaneously with the melody (an example
is furnished by any simple air with accompaniment or a hymn-tune in
four parts, in which the “air” or melody is in the soprano); this is
Monophony, (_monos_—Greek for “one,” _phone_—“sound”); a second method
is to add to the given melody other melodies, each independent in its
movement up and down and in the duration of its successive sounds so
far as concerns the movement and duration of the sounds in the given
melody. This is Polyphony (_polus_, Greek for “many”).
=Relation of Polyphonic to Modern Music=.—The exact relation of the
Polyphonic Era to modern music has rarely been correctly estimated.
Writers on this phase of the development of music are apt to lose
themselves in wonder on noting the scientific growth of the art, and
to express their great surprise that so peculiar an evolution should
occur. This view of the question is totally inadequate. In order truly
to estimate the value and influence of the period, it is necessary to
inquire into the properties of the materials of musical construction
which were developed, and the value of those materials as a foundation
for the modern structure of music, apparently so different from the
early forms, but yet so intimately related to these forms.
Polyphonic music presents to the student so complex a form as to
require the aid of material imagery in order to help the mind to a
proper conception of it. Perhaps no more misleading idea has been
advanced than that which makes use of the Gothic cathedral as an
illustration of polyphonic form. It is true that in its multiplicity
and yet inter-relation of details the cathedral expresses one of the
dominant ideas of polyphonic music; but here the likeness fails. A
nicer perception of the subject may be gained by comparing _polyphonic
music_ to the _foundation of a Gothic cathedral_, strong and massive
in construction, of utmost need to the permanence of the building,
but entirely lost sight of in a general view of the whole structure;
the importance of the comparison being the likeness of the complex
and highly-developed superstructure to monophonic or modern music,
seemingly so independent of what lies beneath, but in reality,
dependent upon, and intimately connected with the established basis.
Only in this way can we apprehend the real value of the polyphonic
foundation to our superstructure of modern music; but for that
foundation our modern music must have remained in its infancy for
centuries to come. No freedom of artistic expression can be gained
until absolute command of the material to be used has been obtained,
and the principles thoroughly assimilated by the artist.
=Polyphony and Monophony Contrasted=.—In the concrete, _polyphonic_
music may be represented by a series of lines representing _separate_
and distinct _melodies_; though a principal melody is always used,
it is not supported by chords of harmonic structure but by other
melodies, or transpositions of the same melody, so used as to contrast
with and support each other. Polyphonic music was essentially
melodic, and, as has been very aptly stated, is to be thought of
horizontally. Monophonic music might best be represented by one
horizontal line supported at intervals by short, perpendicular lines.
In this case the horizontal line represents the only distinct melody,
and the perpendicular lines the subordinate or harmonic support or
accompaniment. The following example illustrates the process of using
the same melody to furnish the principal idea and also the accompanying
support, the latter being at the same time simply a transposition of
the original melody.
[Music: Lento 1st Voice 2d Voice 3d Voice]
Polyphonic Style. Bach Fugue. Subject (or melody) enters in measure
one; again, transposed to the fourth below in measure three, and one
octave below in measure ten. Enough is cited to show the horizontal
structure of polyphonic music.
To present the idea more clearly and for the sake of contrast, a melody
with accompaniment is shown in the next illustration, giving a single
melody with the subordinate chord accompaniment, the chords in whole
notes indicating the harmonic structure or basis.
[Music]
Beethoven, Op. 24, Monophonic Style. Sonata for Violin and Piano.
Melody enters in measure one with subordinate accompaniment.
=Search for Structural Principles=.—While this question of the relation
of polyphonic music to modern music may not apply to the first step in
the development of the polyphonic style, yet it furnishes a preface to
a discussion of the earliest stages of polyphonic evolution. The period
preceding the year 1000 A. D. was truly a _period_ of _fundamental
research_ into the underlying principles of melodic and harmonic
structure; but so crude and hesitating was the use of what was found
that it is certain that polyphonic material was entirely misused
until the birth of “measured music” dispelled this darkness by the
enlightening influence of Proportion and Form. So many forms of musical
growth, such as came in later years, were impossible without the
mensural proportion, that is, music written so as to indicate duration,
that this initial period gathered but a chaotic mass of musical
material which was left undigested and unassimilated until the epoch of
the Paris school.
=Beginning of Polyphony in Greek Magadizing=.—The music of the Middle
Ages has great interest for the historian and the student. It stands
between our music and the music of the ancients; it drove its roots
deep into the ancient time and extended its branches far into the
contemporaneous epoch. It is the struggle between the two elements,
the changes foreshadowed and apparent that give such interest to the
history of music in the Middle Ages.
Polyphonic music was long in growing. To understand clearly, one must
examine it from its very _beginning_ in Greek _magadizing_, referred to
in Lesson V. Music for many centuries was, in all its most important
phases, entirely vocal. The ancients, probably because of the crude
forms of their instruments, valued the human voice as the most suitable
means of expressing the feelings through music, thus causing the
peculiar phenomenon of the extremely late development of dissonances.
While instruments can easily perform even the harshest of the
dissonances, it is almost impossible for untrained voices to sing other
than the more simple consonances. For this reason, the dependence on
the voice as practically the only medium for the expression of musical
ideas forced the cultivators of music to use the simple consonances of
the octave, fourth and fifth. In its earliest stages music was entirely
melodic and was limited to the use of one distinct melody, so that,
no matter how many were singing, but _one melody_ was employed. Soon
arose the problem of accommodating the voices of boys and men to the
same melody. It was manifestly impossible to have men and boys sing
in unison, because of the difference in the compass of their voices;
so the Greeks hit upon the plan of causing them to _sing in octaves_,
a plan which science sanctioned, for had not Pythagoras proven that
the octave, after the unison, was the most perfect consonance? This
the Greeks called Magadizing. Why the Greeks, knowing as they did the
other consonances, did not magadize in the fourth and fifth cannot
be explained; the only argument that can be advanced is, that their
melodies were so limited in range that the voice of any man, whether
tenor or bass, could without difficulty reach the highest or lowest
tones of a melody in unison. While magadizing among the Greeks cannot
be counted as a great advance toward the realm of polyphony and
harmony, yet it was the first important step in the evolution, and as
such, is important. So far, the voices singing _simultaneously_, though
at a different pitch, and moving together in _similar_ time values,
followed monophonic methods.
=Organum the Next Step=.—Further development did not take place until
the destruction of Greek civilization had occurred and a sufficient
lapse of time had allowed the Christian Church to establish itself:
in a religious sense, in the hearts of the people, and in a permanent
sense, by building churches and monasteries. In these monasteries we
find the next great advance in magadizing, though now under the name
of Diaphony or Organum. The musical learning of the time was painfully
inadequate for the uses to which it was put. There remained in
existence only a few of the Greek scientific scales, and those woefully
distorted in form; no simple notation or musical literature; and in all
probability, only a tradition in regard to the melodic construction
and magadizing. Perhaps this was just as well, however, for the problem
confronting these monks differed greatly from that solved by the
Greeks. In the monasteries _only men’s voices were used_, and these
without special regard to the compass. The problem was this: Given a
melody to sing, using men’s voices of every range, from high tenor to
low bass, without using independent parts. The difficulties were two in
number: they had no conception of independent parts, and their melodies
were of greater range than those of the Greeks, thus forbidding the
practice of singing entirely in the octave or unison. The solution was
reached in the following way, as indicated in the preceding lesson: If
the octave, unison, fourth and fifth were consonances, why not _sing
in the fourth and fifth_ as well as in the unison and octave? They
had as yet no idea of singing two distinct melodies at the same time,
but thought only of singing the same melody in the most consonant or
agreeable manner. The result was music which sounded like the following
example; while it was crude and harsh, it gave every monk opportunity
to sing simultaneously the same melody, no matter what the range of his
voice:
[Music]
About the close of the ninth century, as we learned in Lesson VI,
at the time of =Otger= or =Odo=, an abbot of Provence, in France,
organizing had so developed as to be written for as many as four parts,
using, however, only the perfect consonances, as the next example will
show. In reality there are but two parts, as the two lower voices
double the upper.
[Music]
=Secular Organum=.—The most remarkable advance is shown in a form
called Secular Organum, probably because of some relation to the
Folk-song and the common people. This form showed the use not only
of perfect consonances but of the imperfect consonance of the third;
and, wonderful to relate, of a second, though only in a passing sense.
That such a discord should be used is a remarkable commentary on the
inherent sense of harmony which seemed to exist naturally, even at that
early day. This form may have had its germ in the drone bass supplied
by the bagpipe, which figured in the music of the people.
[Music]
Example of Secular Organum showing use of third and second.
=The Workers=.—Two men, as was shown in the preceding lesson, were
instrumental in remarkably furthering this growth of music. =Hucbald=,
of St. Amand, in Flanders, was born in 840 A. D. and died in 930. He
was a friend of Otger of Provence, and it is through the latter that
some of Hucbald’s work is preserved. Hucbald probably never wrote in
organum of more than two parts, though mention is made of an organum
credited to him and having in addition to the two voices, a third
singing a pedal-point, or a bass on one single tone. His principal work
is a manuscript on organum, a work of great reference value. =Guido
of Arezzo=, born 990, died 1050, is of even more importance. Unlike
Hucbald and Otger, he seems to have been more than a secluded monk,
for he visited Rome and was a well-known figure in the church. He was
a most active teacher, and while his chief work was in developing
notation, he nevertheless contributed important material in the form of
organum, writing in as many as four parts, though in respect to the use
of the less perfect consonances he was very little freer than Hucbald.
A short example, extracted from an 11th century three-part composition,
is given here as a specimen of the combinations and successions
that were tolerated by the ears of the Middle Ages, and to show the
tendency toward greater freedom in the direction of the motion of the
parts, pointing toward those principles which later formed the science
of Counterpoint.
[Music: