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Secular music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Secular music is non-sacred music that developed in the Middle Ages. Swaying authority from the church that focused more on Common Law influenced all aspects of Medieval life, including music. Secular music in the Middle Ages included love songs, political satire, dances, and dramatic works. Drums, harps, recorders, and bagpipes were the instruments used in secular music due to the fact that they were easy for the traveling musicians to tote around. Instruments were taught through oral tradition and provided great dancing music and accompanied the stanzas well. Words are a large part of secular music so that common people can sing songs together for entertainment. Music styles were changed by secularization. The motet for example, moved out of the church and into the courts of nobility which then caused the motet to be forbidden in the church. The largest collection of secular music comes from poems about celebration and chivalry of the troubadours from the south of France. These poems contain clever rhyme-schemes, varied use of refrain-lines or words, and different metric patterns. Composers such as Josquin Des Prez did compositions for sacred and secular music. He composed 86 highly successful secular works in addition to the 119 sacred pieces. Secular music also was aided by the formation of literature during the reign of Charlemagne that included a collection of secular and semi-secular songs.