Why did Rome 'fall?'
The Roman constitution was changed from a Republic to an Empire. According to the18th Century philosopher and historian Montesquieu, this constitutional shift had damaging moral consequences. Under the Republic citizens decided their own future, In the Empire power centered in one man and the citizens became his pawn. Here is a list of contributing factors:
1. Corruption in all areas of society.
2. Ego-driven emperors.
3. Foreigners selling their votes for favors.
4. A huge population with too little and a tiny population of nobility and aristocrats enjoying immense luxury.
After the Fall of Rome.
Three civilizations developed and competed for control of the Mediterranean basin: the Byzantine Empire based in Constantinople, the 7th Century rise of the Islamic faith, and the Medieval, Christian West where the focus of art changed from Emperor worship during the Roman Empire to patronage by the Christian church of all types of art for the purpose of educating and uplifting people spiritually. From the Middle Ages we find the beginning of art that inspires and uplifts the human spirit, that teaches lessons of Christian Humanism. We will refer back to discuss the Byzantine Empire when we study artistic styles of Islam in Constantinople and later on the Iberian Peninsula after the Moorish conquest in 711.
The Roman Empire left many contributions to the next era, the Middle Ages.
This legacy was a combination of Christian and Greco-Roman values. The Christian church became the official state church in 392AD. The Church contained the blending of Christianity and Humanism that held the Western world together immediately after the Roman Empire collapsed. Society was structured on the feudal system of aristocratic landowners and dependant agricultural workers. Goods were bartered rather than paid for (exchanged for other goods of a like value).
The Western Medieval World
Artists in the Middle Ages were craftsmen, skilled workers. Illuminated Manuscripts:Scribes in monasteries copied books and manuscripts by hand, decorating them with one-dimensional drawings, elaborate letterings and borders.To see illuminated pages of a calendar (click on each image to enlarge the picture) go to this site for the Book of the Hours and
The Book of Months. Most of the artistic works created during these centuries were inspired by, encouraged by and paid for by the Christian church.
As Christianity enfolded more and more people literature and scholarship was sustained in monasteries throughout the Western world. Church fathers ordered sacred books that were to be be decorated, or, illuminated, for the drawings reflected something of the text. Artist-clergy illuminated an impressive array of writings including Jerome's Vulgate Bible, the hymns of Ambrose, the theological works of Augustine, and the the manuscripts of early music notation. The arts of the M.A. were sustained by first the Monasteries, and in the later M.A. in the Gothic Cathedrals, where painting, sculpture, tapestries, stained glass illuminated the Christian teachings, and where music filled the great spaces as choirs of monks chanted their daily prayers.
What is Plainchant?
Music of the M.A. is known primarily from the liturgical music of Plainchant, or, Gregorian Chant, named for Pope Gregory who organized and codified the chants to insure consistency during the liturgical year. He did not change the texts, but standardized the music they were sung to. Monks sang the simple melodies of Plainchant. the music was set to the syllables of prayers and may have served as an aid to remembering the words, but of greater importance is the function of singing to focus on the inner, spiritual work of prayer. Plainchant kept alive the Greek tradition of music as an art form, and more, that music has an effect on people. Pythagoras (Greek) proposed a system of musical ethos: Each type of music, each musical scale has a different effect on the listener/performer.
MUSICAL SCALES: PATTERNS of NOTES
There are seven scales in the Pythagorean system, and these became the Church Modes that were the musical form for plainchant. The two scales used most in Plainchant are the same two we use most in our music: MAJOR and MINOR. The character of these two scales is quite different. We will listen in class in a few moments.
Q. Why did music achieve this position of importance? Remember that there is an ancient tradition of the importance of a voice, of its sound and the effect of that sound reflected in Genesis, where differentiation and order in the natural world are achieved through the voice of the creator.
There were no instruments allowed in churches or monasteries during the early centuries of the M.A, Instruments such as lyres, horns and drums were associated with the pagan practices of the Greeks and the Roman Empire. The congregations in Medieval churches and monasteries listened but did not sing.
Why does Plainchant all have the same kind of odd sound?
The music was based on the patterns of the modes that were defined by Pythagorus. Each pattern had a similar character, yet a somewhat different sound. By examining the piano keyboard I can show you how these modes are put together - and don't think the modes disappeared with the Renaissance. They have been and are a part of the way all music is constructed, including jazz, pop, rock, classsical and music from other cultures.
