Medieval music, which represents nearly 1,000 years of European musical development, is the ancestor of all later Western music. In the history of music the medieval period extends from about A.D. 500 to about 1450. Since much of the music has been lost, our knowledge of medieval music is incomplete. Though writings of the period tell of many other kinds of music making, church music is almost all that remains of music composed before the year 1000.
The early Christian Church adopted much of the music of the Jewish synagogue. The type of chant in Rome came to be known as Gregorian chant. This was because the first standard collection of chants was thought to have been ordered by Pope Gregory I (reigned 590-604). Gregorian chant is the only music that has been used continuously from the beginning of the Middle Ages to the present day. It consists of vocal melodies without harmony or accompaniments. They mostly improved, decorated, and added to existing melodies to make new ones. The chant as it exists today is the work of generations of musicians, covering a period of several centuries. It was preserved and developed mainly by monks in monasteries.
The most important form of part music in the 13th and 14th centuries was the motet. Usually in three or four parts, motets were based on standard Latin texts. Each part had its own tet and usually contrasted strongly in rhythm with the others. There were also secular motets written in French. The leading composer of this period was the Frenchman Guillaume de Machaut (1300?-77). He and his French contemporaries used elaborate rhythmic schemes in which rhythms were repeated exactly but the melodies changed. The Italian composer Francesco Landini (1325-97) was famous not only for his music but also for his organ playing. Landini's favorite instrument was a small organetto. It was suspended from the neck and held in the crook of the left arm, the left hand working the bellows and the right-hand playing.
