The Conductus

The Notre Dame composers and others in France, England, and elsewhere also wrote monophonic and polyphonic conductus. These were settings for one to four voices of rhymed, metrical, strophic poems in Latin, rarely taken from the liturgy though usually on a sacred or serious topic. Some address the Virgin Mary and were perhaps used in special devotions and processions.

The polyphonic conductus differs from other Notre Dame polyphony in musical features as well as text. First, the tenor was newly composed rather than taken from chant. Second, all voices sing the text together in essentially the same rhythm. The nearly homorhythmic quality of the conductus has been called conductus style when used for other genres. Third, the words are set syllabically for the most part, although many feature melismatic passages, called caudae (“tails”) at the beginning or end, or before important cadences.

A photo shows a Last Supper carving.
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Figure 3.12 The Last Supper, depicted under the tympanum arch of a mid-twelfth-century church in Charlieu, in the Loire district of France. The modular, multilayered structure of the arch’s sculptural elements is typical of Romanesque and Gothic church portals and resembles the layered texture of a medieval motet.

(Peter Willi/Bridgeman Images.)

A timeline titled, The Ninth through the Thirteenth centuries, shows notable musical and historical events, for the period between 800 and 1200.

TIMELINE The Ninth through the Thirteenth Centuries

Musical Events

9th cent.

Musica enchiriadis (NAWM 14)

12th cent.

Aquitanian polyphony (NAWM 16)

ca. 1150–ca. 1180

Flourishing of Bernart de Ventadorn

1163–90

Leoninus at Notre Dame Cathedral, of Paris

early 13th cent.

Early motets (NAWM 20)

ca. 1200–ca. 1238

Perotinus at Notre Dame

late 13th cent.

Franconian motets (NAWM 21)

Historical Events

800

1200

11th cent.

Romanesque churches and monasteries

1054

Final split between Roman and Byzantine churches

1066

Norman Conquest of England

1095–99

First Crusade

12th cent.

Universities of Bologna, Oxford, and Paris established

1100

Cult of the Virgin Mary flourishes

1147–49

Second Crusade

1163

Cornerstone laid for Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris; Gothic style flourishes in northern Europe

1189

Richard Coeur de Lion, king of England

1189–92

Third Crusade

1209

Saint Francis of Assisi founds Franciscan order

1264–74

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica

TIMELINE The Ninth through the Thirteenth Centuries

Musical Events

9th cent.

Musica enchiriadis (NAWM 14)

12th cent.

Aquitanian polyphony (NAWM 16)

ca. 1150–ca. 1180

Flourishing of Bernart de Ventadorn

1163–90

Leoninus at Notre Dame Cathedral, of Paris

early 13th cent.

Early motets (NAWM 20)

ca. 1200–ca. 1238

Perotinus at Notre Dame

late 13th cent.

Franconian motets (NAWM 21)

Historical Events

800

11th cent.

Romanesque churches and monasteries

1054

Final split between Roman and Byzantine churches

1066

Norman Conquest of England

1095–99

First Crusade

12th cent.

Universities of Bologna, Oxford, and Paris established

1100

Cult of the Virgin Mary flourishes

1147–49

Second Crusade

1163

Cornerstone laid for Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris; Gothic style flourishes in northern Europe

1189

Richard Coeur de Lion, king of England

1189–92

Third Crusade

1200

1209

Saint Francis of Assisi founds Franciscan order

1264–74

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica