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Organum and the Notre-Dame school
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre
Organum and the Notre-Dame school · Around the building of Notre-Dame in Paris, at the end of the twelfth century, singers placed new, mobile voices above a stretched-out Gregorian melody. Léonin collected such two-part pieces, called organum, in a large choirbook. Pérotin even wrote for four voices, as in Viderunt omnes, probably for Christmas 1198. To make the voices move together they used fixed rhythmic patterns, and thus began the polyphony that would shape Western music.
Listening
Listening tip. In Pérotin's Viderunt omnes, listen to how the lowest voice holds a single note for a very long time, while three voices above it move in a dancing, constantly repeated rhythm.
Viderunt omnes (Pérotin) · Hilliard Ensemble, 1198
Viderunt omnes, tweestemmig organum (Léonin) · Tonus Peregrinus & Antony Pitts, 1170- Sederunt principes (Pérotin) · Hilliard Ensemble, 1199
See also
Categories: Genres