The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we investigate the role of medieval secular songs in the history of music. Second, we compare the secular monophonic songs of troubadour, trouvere, trobairitz, meistersinger and minnesinger. Until A.D. 100...
The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we investigate the role of medieval secular songs in the history of music. Second, we compare the secular monophonic songs of troubadour, trouvere, trobairitz, meistersinger and minnesinger. Until A.D. 1000, the religious music had almost been dominating the other musics in the history of medieval music. Accordingly, music had been monopolized by the churches at that time. In addition to the religious celemonies. however, secular celemonies had also encouraged the creation of poems and songs. Such secular celemonies seemed to have a great impact on the development of the medieval secular monophonic songs. Secular musicians had described the agony, pleasure and immorality of the medieval people. They also revivaled the medieval secular meistersingers to make them the characters of operas. Both French and German secular songs had successfully developed their own specific forms with many common things. Especially the French secular songs had contributed a lot in the history of music. They had a huge influence on the German secular songs and made the German composers to imitate French secular songs. Medieval troubadour and trouvere had many things in common with the early minnesinger. On the other hand, they also had different forms of rhymes and languages.