Music before 1600

The period from around 800 to around 1600 ranks among the most dynamic phases of European cultural history, during which artistic creation and activity were linked in a myriad of ways to political, socio-historical and religious phenomena. For music, this meant only superficially a dependence on extra-musical factors. Rather, a fruitful interplay gave rise not only to the need to differentiate music in practical, theoretical, didactic and aesthetic terms, but also to ever new spaces and functions, the diversity of which demanded ever more diverse music. From the experimental exploration of early notation in the 9th century, through oral and written models of musical transmission, to highly complex polyphonic musical forms, the history of music prior to 1600 can be read as a multifaceted mirror of its time. The fact that discourses and needs relating to artistic aesthetics also originated here, and that reflections and discussions on music gained momentum, makes it seem incredibly modern to us today.