Louis Leerink

This is the final chapter on medieval music. Before moving on to the Renaissance, let’s explore the Italian Trecento. The 14th century in Italy, known as the “Trecento,” ran alongside […]

In music history, the period from 1320 to 1400 is known as “Ars Nova”. It follows the Ars Antiqua (1100 to 1320). Ars Nova, meaning “New Art” in Latin, refers […]

Up to now we have only looked at church music, also called sacred music. In this post I would like to take a look at the opposite of sacred music: […]

The most popular style of music during the Ars Antiqua period was the motet—a vocal composition that, while rooted in sacred tradition, was heavily influenced by secular music. It originated […]

So far we have looked at Gregorian chant and Organum style. This period is also called the Early Middle Ages. Now, let’s take a look at the next period in […]

Neumes Gregorian chant was originally music transmitted orally, but various methods of writing down notes and melodies were soon invented throughout Europe. If the music wasn’t written accurately, the content […]

We looked at plainchant in the previous post. Gregorian Chant is a serene and tranquil form of music with profound spiritual and healing qualities. Sung in monasteries and churches for […]

The roots of European church music lie in the songs and psalms of ancient Greece, the Middle East, and ancient Israel. Melodies for singing in church came from these various regions, and the melodies that are still sung in churches today were born here.