What Would Medieval Europeans Find Strange About Our Music?
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Western world developed a fundamental understanding of music that profoundly shaped the Western musical tradition. By the 15th century, harmony had been established, with dissonant chords excluded from most compositions. This was a time when triads were increasingly used, and the common practice of Church music featured drone and Organum—a technique that created a sacred and otherworldly quality in the sound.
Secular music also thrived, often reflecting the influences of Church music but in a more worldly context. The music of this era, often heard in churches and monasteries, was characterized by its fixed and movable Organums, a technique that augmented and ornamented the melodies with additional voices, creating a complex, layered sound. These foundational elements of medieval music remain at the core of our Western musical education and practice today, although they have evolved with advancements in technology and instrumentations.
What would a medieval European find familiar and recognizable in the music of today? If a 15th-century person were to hear a performance by Elton John, they would quickly realize that the fundamental structures of music they knew still resonate. The utilization of triads and chords would be immediately recognizable, much like the structure of sharps and flats in a major scale. However, the presence of modern instruments and amplification would be the novelty that would pique their interest.
The Role of Harmony and Chords
The harmony that medieval musicians understood was centered around the resolution of dissonance. Chords played a critical role in creating a sense of resolution or tension. In medieval music, dissonant chords were rare and often avoided. However, in modern music, dissonance is both a tool and a feature, used to evoke a range of emotions and moods, from tension to release. A performance of Elton John’s music, with its rich and varied chord progressions, would be seen as a sophisticated and complex composition, much in the same way that a 15th-century composer would appreciate the intricacies of Gregorian chant or the elaborate Organum.
Dissonance in Modern Music
Even as harmony becomes more complex, dissonance still plays a crucial role. However, the use of dissonance today is more varied and pronounced. The heavy use of dissonance in contemporary styles such as jazz, rock, and particularly heavy metal, sets them apart from the harmonically constrained works of the medieval period. In heavy metal, for example, the use of extreme dissonance and the exploration of deep bass tones create a sound that would be viewed with fear and perhaps even repulsion in medieval times. The distorted guitars and powerful bass lines might induce panic in a medieval European, as they would perceive such sounds as unsettling and unfamiliar.
Conclusion
While the basic building blocks of music that medieval Europeans understood still remain a part of our modern musical language, the evolution of music over the centuries has introduced a breadth of new sounds and techniques. From the familiar triads and harmonies to the use of dissonance and extreme bass tones, modern music reflects both the continuity and the transformation of Western musical traditions. What medieval Europeans might find strange about our music is not the core structures and concepts they understood but the expansion and diversification of these elements into facets of music that push the boundaries of what they knew.