organum, chant, recordance, vagant poetry, volta rhythm

organum

A certain type of polyphonic singing, which is based on the parallel or counter movements of the voices. The used intervals were prime, clear quart and quint (fourth and fifth) and the octave. These were the so-called perfect intervals, while tertiary and sext (third and sixth) were only transitional or changing intervals. The rhythm of Hungarian organ musical pieces, just like those of Gregorian chants, was free, regulated only by the text.

JM

chant

Church song in verses sung in Latin or the mother tongue. At first it was sung by students, then by simple people. It did not have a liturgical content.

JM

recordance (reminding)

A medieval habit of students, when smaller groups went to houses and reminded the hosts of the forthcoming feast or greeted them, for example on their name days.

JM

vagant poetry

Characteristic, rhythmic-melodic formulae, motifs, the basic forms of which the Hungarians brought to their new home. New European trends (student songs, love and satiric songs, joculator jokes, and instrumental practice of dance music) might have made these more colourful, so the music parts became connected to European music and it also led to the formation of a new type of Hungarian folk music, the so-called shepherd-dance.

JM

volta rhythm

A basic rhythm of 3 + 2, which is connected to late medieval dance. There were artificial musical variants (for example, in a 12-century liturgical drama) as well as folk music variants (the best-known folk song is The Little Duck is Swimming). With its variants with more syllables (6 ) it forms the so-called Révész cycle of melodies.

JM