Organum

The organum (plural, organa) is a form of early Western polyphony that reached its peak at the School of Notre Dame in Paris, center of the Ars Antiqua (especially between the 11th and 12th centuries). It is based on the parallel repetition of the same melody, note by note, but generally at a distance of five notes (a perfect fifth) higher. This type of primitive counterpoint is also called crosstalk or parallelism.

In Latin it was written organum and pronounced [organum]. Its plural was organa (pronounced [organ]).

In Western music of the Middle Ages, the organum is a musical genre of vocal and instrumental sacred music, intended to improve the interpretation of a passage by adding a second parallel voice.

The term simultaneously designates the writing method associated with this musical genre. It is generally considered the most primitive state of polyphony.

History

See: Musical forms for period, timeline

The Greeks already admitted three consonant intervals (the eighth, the fifth and the fourth) and two dissonances (the major thirds and sixths).

The first written references date back to the 9th century, in the famous treatise Musica enchiriadis, attributed to the Franco-Flemish monk Hucbaldo de Saint Amand (840-930). Until the ars nova was the main reference in sacred music, it describes the organum as the hearing of two or more simultaneous melodies and gives an example of crosstalk.

Rex coeli dómine by Otger de Saint Amand (11th century) is one of the earliest examples of organum. Otger mentions: "...The pleasant harmony of voices when men, women and children believe they sing in unison and execute the octave and double octave." This crosstalk is the organum, a parallel scale of voices separated by a fourth, that is, an organal voice (bass voice) is added below the main song: «Doubling the melody through a second voice "At a constant interval other than the octave, a pleasant-sounding melody is obtained."

The basic organum was the parallel superposition of an ascending perfect fifth. But sometimes it also began to be enriched with a descending fourth (which is the equivalent of the same ascending fifth, but a lower octave) and also with the ascending octave. If the note of the main melodic line was a g₃, the basic organum was the d ₄ and a more elaborate one would use re₃ or sol₄.

The practice of the organum is clearly established in the year 1002, when Thierry indicates: «On great festivals, two brothers must sing each response. Vespers are sung by four brothers: two (as students) take care of the ordinary singing, the other two (as teachers) sit behind and provide the accompaniment, [these] are called organists.

After Musica enchiriadis, there are no references to the organum until Guido of Arezzo (1025).

Parallel organ

The original organum—crosstalk or parallel organum—lasts into the century XI. It is a new means of providing another voice to the main melody (or plainchant).

• La vox principalis It's the main melody. It is based on a succession of joint degrees (contiguous notes) and very few melodic jumps, at least at that time.1
• La Vox organalis is the voice of organum, the parallel melodic line added to the main voice as a companion.

From the point of view of harmonic intervals and at least until the XI century, the two parts are separated by the intervals that at that time were considered consonants: the perfect fourth, fifth or eighth. The two voices always begin and end at the same pitch (unison). Furthermore, the rhythm was not written, they simply followed the traditional rhythm of Gregorian chant.

Discanto

Starting in the 11th century, the main voice of the organum began to lose importance, and Other methods are developed to generate the organ voice(s), now called discanto. The first attempts at contrary movement begin, the accompanying voice descends when the main voice ascends and vice versa, although always note with note (that is, the organ voice has exactly the same rhythm as the main voice).

Discanto constitutes the origin of counterpoint, which developed over the following centuries, reaching its peak in the Renaissance.

Floral or melismatic organum

In approximately 1100, in the abbey of Saint Martial in Limoges, the órganum evolved and became the «flowery órganum» or «órganum i> melismatic", polyvocal technique in which exclusively musical flourishes and ornaments are added above the main song. The main voice always remains bass, while the tenor performs Gregorian chant in long durations. The singer could also be accompanied by higher voices called countertenors which were castratis. The melody was monodic.

Several organ voices can coexist: when there is only one voice accompanying the main melody, it is called duplum ('duet'), when there are two, triplum (' trio'), with three quadruplum, etc. From the point of view of durations, in the florid organum the relationship is for each long-duration note that the main voice sings, the organ voice or voices sing several short-duration notes, which form true ornamental garlands (melopeas).

The acceptance of thirds and sixths as imperfect consonances is confirmed. The perfect consonances are still the fifth, octave and fourth.

The organum is also described by Anonymous IV (13th century), a student at the school of Notre-Dame de Paris, famous mainly for introducing Leonín and Perotín the Great (Perotinus Magnus), two of the main composers of the school, and the first European composers whose name is known, mentioning them as the best organum and composers discantorespectively.

In the 12th century the era of monody ends when the school of Notre-Dame marks the apogee of the órganum, which became widespread in all Gothic cathedrals, giving way to the polyphony of Leonín (2 voices) and Perotín (3 and 4 voices).

In the 13th century the organum was progressively replaced by the conductus and the motet.

• The conductus is a variety of organum. It is a liturgical musical form that accompanies normally moralizing texts. In it the main voice is not associated with a liturgical repertoire, but it is simply composed for the occasion, apparently on a popular composition or a profane or religious melody, Perotín was one of its highest cultivators.
  It was executed in cantus firmus during the processional movements of the religious ceremony. Its origin seems to be in the tropted introites.
• The motetet comes from organum flowery, but it is based on several texts interpreted simultaneously in different languages (which generates almost a cacophony).