Music in History

Oldest written song yet known - "Hurrian Hymn no.6" Preserved for 3400 years on a clay tablet, written in the Cuniform text of the ancient Hurrian language Discovered in Ugarit in Syria in the early 1950s

Music in History Two Delphic Hymns to Apollo from Ancient Greece –Dated c.138 BC and 128 BC –Found inscribed in stone in Delphi in 1893 Hymn to Zeus –by Cleanthes ( B.C.) The book of Psalms from the Christian Bible contains lyrics of Jewish hymns

Music in History Music was passed on orally. In the 6th century music began to be written down. Notated music began in the Christian church when monks wrote down their chants. They were almost the only people who could read or write.

Music in History The earliest music in the medieval church was called plainsong, plainchant, or Gregorian chant. (named after Pope Gregory) Chants were a single line of text and melody with smoothly flowing lines that followed the rhythm of the text.

Music in History Music outside the church was performed by minstrels or troubadours who traveled between feudal courts of Europe. Up to the Middle Ages, music was monophonic. (from Greek, meaning “single-sounded”)

Music in History During the late Middle Ages two or more melody lines were sung or played simultaneously giving more depth to music. This is called polyphonic music. Polyphonic is from Greek, meaning “many- sounded”. At first the two melody lines moved with the same rhythm and were parallel, a 4th or 5th apart.

Music in History In the late 11th century, musicians began to elaborate on this simple style of harmony by having the lower voices hold long notes while the higher voice had a free-flowing melody line. The lower voice was called the tenor, from the Latin tenere, meaning “to hold.”