Medieval understanding of
the voice and vocal
technique
limited by
deficient
conceptions of the
physiology of vocal
production
only scattered references to
the singing voice in
medieval sources - NO
reliable treatise on the
medieval art of singing.
Docta sanctorum patrum
(bull): condemns the
musical practices of
certain disciples of the
new school', generally
interpreted as adherents
of the French Ars Nova
requests
singing with modesty and
gravity melodies of calm
and peaceful character
(1) sing in
perfect unison
(3) pitch chants in the
middle register so that all
can participate
(4) using different tempi
depending on liturgical
observance and singing in a
way that reflects the
sentiment of the words
(5) singing with devotion
and without the addition
of improvised polyphony
or the intrusion of secular
melodies
Etymologies: echoed even in secular Mediterranean ideal of the voice
perfecta vox: -high, sweet literature for many apparently encountered resistance
and clear centuries. from Franks and Germans:
Different ideals of vocal tone and
voice production
Isidore of Seville
uncritical reliance
on esteemed 560-636
authorities of the no information about Germans (and French)
past. training techniques often accused of loud and
strained singing!
Instituta patrum early 13th cent. Cistercian
pre-eminent source: Important
de modo psallendi
! role occupied
by the voice in sive cantandi
information about the
voice and choral discipline
medieval music. in the high Middle Ages
13th cent.
psalms should be sung 'with an even shift in emphasis: Contrast
voice, at a steady tempo that is not between a southern ideal of
excessively drawn out, but at a vocalism and the Germanic
Pope John XXII moderate pitch, not too quickly, but preference for a fuller voice
Joseph Dyer: with a full, virile, lively and (baritone range)?
~1245 - 1334 precise voice'.
The Voice in the
sweet sound: not
only the manner
Middle Ages
in which the all voices draw their vigour
music itself was Jerome of Moravia from the chest [ voice]
performed but
the interior 13th cent. all chant should be sung in a
dispositions middle register
supreme goal: singing the
The new school erred 'beautiful note'
in both respects and
thus deserved censure!
Most medieval authors who vox capitis (voice
(2) sing with equal note values addressed the topic
and a consistent tempo Conrad von Zabern of the head)
distinguished three 'voices'
~1410-1476
vox gutturis (voice
vox pectoris of the throat)
analogy between (voice of the chest)
6 requirements voice and pipes of
for singing well an organ
vibrato and trills (short and long) were ornamental vocal
voice to be used 'trivarie: resources in polyphony of the thirteenth century.
resonantly on the lower pitches,
moderately in the middle register,
with delicacy on the highest notes.
Timothy McGee
(6) avoiding the ten The Sound of Medieval Song:
faults branded by seems to recommend a
smooth transition from radical reconsideration of vocal quality and
Conrad as 'rusticities'. performance style in medieval music.
one register to another.