Classical music can trace its beginnings all the way back to the Middle Ages and the fall of the Roman Empire. From that time until around the middle of the Fifteenth Century was a period of music called Medieval Music. Unfortunately, much of medieval music was never written down and therefore has been lost to us now. Indeed much of the pre-12th-century music has been lost altogether.
The creation of musical text was both time-consuming and expensive back then. Establishments which had a lot of material wealth were the only places that could afford to write down the music they played. Generally, this meant the Church and other religious orders ensconced in monasteries, etc. Therefore we have little record of the popular music of the time as this was all music of a sacred nature.
Looking back at the music we find that in the beginning it was mostly monophonic and homorhythmic as it was simply sung text with little or usually no instrumental accompaniment. Later in the period musical notations begin to develop that denote polyphonic and generally accepted practices come into use that demonstrate this. Harmony in fifths and later fourths appear in the check more latter half of the period as do other more complex notations including multiple lines of repeated vocals, multiple texts and notation for instruments.
Several instruments currently used in Classical music were also used during the Medieval Music era. Some have changed form and the methods for playing have transformed, but in general the instruments are the same. For example the flute, then made of wood could be played either in a side-blown or an end-blown fashion where today most flutes are silver and side-blown whereas the recorder has retained both its shape and method of playing into the present. Other instruments like the pan flute are less popular now but can still be found in use on occasion and the earliest variation on the trombone, organ and fiddle emerged.
Stringed instruments of a plucked nature also came into popularity during this time as well and those that are most notable include the lute, mandora and psaltery. Even the dulcimer was a plucked instrument at the time but developed into a struck instrument later. The very first bowed string instrument recorded in history also belongs to this period, the Byzantine lyra. Other stringed instruments of the era include the hurdy-gurdy, a type of boom beach cheats tool violin with a mechanical crank and a rosined bow.
Surviving music from this time love here includes a wide variety of Gregorian Chant, Ambrosian Chant, Musica Enchiriadis, Codex Calixtinus of Santiago de Compostela, and the Winchester Troper. While much of the music was anonymous it is believed that several poets and lyricists lent their talents to this endeavor and include names like Pope Gregory I, St. Godric, Tutilo and Hucbald. Later in the period (after 1150) Notre Dame required a large amount of music to be created and Paris became a center for the creation of that music which became known as Ars antiqua of which surviving pieces include Codex Montpellier and Codex Bamberg with authors including Leonin, Perotin and Petrus de Cruce. Another form of music that survived is the troubadours, who sang about romantic love, war and chivalry and the Trouveres singing of similar themes but at a slightly later period (12th into the 13th centuries).
The closing of the period saw the Ars Nova era which began around 1310 with the Roman de Fauvel a satire of medieval church abuses and has contributions from Philippe de Vitry. During this era secular music developed rapidly and began to take on polyphonic facets formerly only found in sacred music. While much of the music of Ars Nova was French there is also some which came from Italy and Germany.
The end of the Medieval Music period is still debated. With the beginning of the Renaissance there was a major change in how music developed. During the early 15th century there is a period of music that could fit into one or the other and is considered to be a transitional period. As the Renaissance spread across Europe it was in full-swing in Italy but had not yet arrived in England which is what causes part of the problem. But it is generally agreed that somewhere around 1400-1450 is when the Medieval Music period ended.
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