![]() ![]() ![]() The musical lines in a polyphonic texture may be instrumental or vocal, or both. Polyphony may be likened to a dialogue, a discussion, or even an argument between two or more speakers, all talking concurrently.Īs a result, polyphony may be judged as the most complex of all the musical textures, since it challenges a listener to concentrate on several, equally important layers of sound. But it is the combination of the different strands, all interacting together, that creates polyphony.įig 2: Four independent, simultaneous lines, forming a polyphonic texture. Each of these lines can be thought of as a melody in its own right - one that could be sung, played, or listened to independently of the others. Polyphony is a musical texture that features two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time. According to British Library curator Nicolas Bell, “when this manuscript was first catalogued in the eighteenth century, nobody was able to understand these unusual symbols.” Varelli’s discovery shows a deviation from “the convention laid out in treatises at the time” and points toward the development of a musical technique that “defined most European music up until the 20th century.A musical texture featuring two or more equally prominent melodic lines played at the same time.įig 1: Baroque orchestra, Nuremburg: Ger. Varelli’s specialization in early music notation also provided him with the training needed to recognize the piece, which was written using “an early form of notation that predates the invention of the stave” (see the piece below). It shows that music at this time was in a state of flux and development. This changes how we understand that development precisely because whoever wrote it was breaking those rules. Typically, polyphonic music is seen as having developed from a set of fixed rules and almost mechanical practice. One reason musicologists had so far overlooked the piece, Varelli says, is that “we are not seeing what we expected.” Varelli’s discovery may date to 100 years earlier, around the year 900, and was found at the end of a manuscript of the Life of Bishop Maternianus of Reims. ![]() ![]() Prior to Varelli’s discovery of this piece of music, the earliest polyphonic music was thought to date to the year 1000, from a collection called The Winchester Troper. John’s undergraduates Quintin Beer and John Clapham. You can hear the short composition-written in praise of the patron saint of Germany, Saint Boniface-performed above by St. John’s College PhD student Giovanni Varelli, who, in 2014, found what is now believed to be, writes Cambridge University, “the earliest known practical example of polyphonic music,” that is, music consisting of two or more melodic lines working together simultaneously. And some finds can change an entire field. It’s the chance discovery, however rare, that makes the long hours and bleary late nights worthwhile. But for any researcher, long days of searching and reading will eventually result in discovery. Like digging for fossils or panning for gold, the research process can be a tedious affair. ![]()
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