Documentary Summary: The Gothic Revolution

Documentary Summary: The Gothic Revolution

The Documentary mentions the evolution of music altogether with the design of the cathedrals where both arts would meet. It also mentions the use of plain song or single lines of chant and how it developed into polyphony and the appearance of the Notre Dame school of composers in northern France in the twelve century. The development of harmony is mentioned as well.

When the cathedrals were being constructed, the musicians at the time would create sounds according to the structure of the building. The resulting musical sounds illuminated the church, and the lives of the people who composed and performed it. Nobody had heard before such music. It was modern back at that time. Also, buildings and the music were there for the glory of God. Most if not all of the music was composed for the church to praise God.

It started in the six century. The melodies were simple but expressive, and in free time. The length of the phrases and the capacity of the singers determined the sense of rhythm. The melodies were simple to memorize so that the congregation could sing along. There was no musical notation at that time. Everything had to be memorized. It would take ten years to memorize all the repertory of the church.

As time passed, the cathedrals became thinner with more advanced structures and so did the music. The invention of a manuscript, which contained a collection of the music that was being sung, was the second greatest achievement in medieval music. It was called the Magnus liber or the great book. Its contents showed the evolution from single lines to polyphonic lines. Some compositions were from the musicians of the Notre Dame school of music. One of the developments was the introduction of a musical line functioning as a pedal and a second voice that could elaborate on top. This was the birth of