medieval & voice

the concept of polyphony and chords was, probably, foreign to medieval sensibilites. mostly, as the early chants, ala' greek singsong, would rely on an instrument to provide a base tone. in medieval times the organs had between five and ten notes, they were, also, rented from the builders, who would tune them once a year, at which time the tuning was changed.

i think it is safe to assume that, besides the greek influence, pythogreanism was more adhered to for practical considerations, such as avoiding commas.
along with catgut strings, i really don't think the
could distingish between a pythogorean or a just major third........

best, buzzy^

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buzzy wrote:

>the concept of polyphony and chords was, probably, foreign to medieval
sensibilites.

You should read Margo Schulter's paper, Pythagorean Tuning and Medieval
Polyphony (http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/pyth.html). The music which
you don't even think existed is covered in great depth here, and in Margo's
recent posts (you must be new . . .)

>along with catgut strings, i really don't think the
>could distingish between a pythogorean or a just major third........

There seems to be a word missing: the _what_ could distinguish? You mean
organs? Pythagorean major thirds sound quite dissonant on pipe organs, which
is why, later in the 5-limit era, most organs were still in meantone even
when all other instruments were being made in 12-tET (closer to
Pythagorean).