Ars antiqua

This article deals with the musical epoch, for the book series see Ars Antiqua - Great Epochs of World Art , for the choir see Ars Antiqua Aschaffenburg Chamber Choir .

Ars antiqua ( Latin ancient art ) is the name for the musical epoch from 1230 to 1330, based on a contemporary name from the 14th century.

When the term Ars nova came up for the period from 1320 to around 1380 with Paris as the center, the Ars antiqua was used to denote all music composed to date in a derogatory sense . In particular, the derogatory term applied to the organum and early motet art of the 12th and 13th centuries.
This had been interpreted in its own early mensural sense for at least two generations. This largely blurred the historical relationships. It was not until the middle of the 13th century that the transition from modal to early mensural rhythm (mode) was recognized as essential by more recent research . Today this section is therefore divided into a modal period or Notre Dame school and the term Ars antiqua is reserved for the generations after Pérotin , who prepared the Ars Nova with the development of the mensural notation .

to form

The world of forms of the Ars antiqua is (in addition to the still cultivated unanimous secular song and dance; Trouvères) characterized by an unheard-of upswing in the motet, which replaced the organum as the actual bearer of the main development, through the existence of the rondellus, through the fairly rapid withering of conductus and the only traditional care of the organum.
In practice, the unison with song and chorale still takes up the most space.

Important theorists: Franco von Köln , Lambertus Pseudo-Aristotle , Petrus de Cruce, Walter Odington .

The main genres of this epoch are the organum, conductus , motet and hoquetus .

The organum is still sung, but the new creation stagnates.
The conductus is very popular, but is gradually being replaced by the motet . Often, spiritual (Christian) conductus are based on secular trouvères songs.
The motet is the main genre of the Ars antiqua , at the same time the area for experiments and innovations.
In terms of composition, the Hoquetus goes back to the Notre Dame School.

Composers

the Ars Antiqua are u. a .:

• Johannes de Garlandia , around 1195–1272
• Franco of Cologne ( ars mensurabilis , around 1280)
• Hieronymus de Moravia , 2nd half of the 13th century
• Adam de la Halle , around 1237–1287
• Petrus de Cruce , 2nd half of the 13th century
• James of Liège , around 1260-1330

literature

• Michael Beiche: Ars antiqua, ars nova, ars subtilior . In: Concise dictionary of musical terminology . Vol. 1, ed. by Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht and Albrecht Riethmüller , editor-in-chief Markus Bandur, Steiner, Stuttgart 1972 ( online ).
• Jacques Handschin: An overview of music history. 4th edition. Heinrichshofen, Wilhelmshaven 1982, ISBN 3-7959-0321-1 .
• Ulrich Michels: dtv atlas on music. 2nd, revised and updated edition. Munich 2005, ISBN 3-423-08597-5 .
• The large Metzler music dictionary. CD-ROM edition.
• The music in the past and present. 1st edition. CD-ROM edition.