Prolation
Encyclopedia
Prolation is a term used in the theory of medieval music
to describe its rhythmic structure on a small scale. The term is derived from the Latin prolatio, first used by Philippe de Vitry
in describing Ars Nova
, a musical style that came about in 14th-century France.
Prolation, together with tempus
, corresponds roughly to the concept of time signature
in modern music. Prolation describes whether a semibreve (whole note) is equal in length to two minims (half notes) (minor prolation or imperfect prolation) or three minims (major prolation or perfect prolation).
Early medieval music was often structured in subdivisions of three, while the note value
s in modern music are unambiguously subdivided into two parts, meaning that only minor prolation has survived in our time signature system. We now indicate subdivisions of three by modifying note values with dots or triplets. The history of written medieval music shows a gradual shift from major to minor prolation being common.
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
to describe its rhythmic structure on a small scale. The term is derived from the Latin prolatio, first used by Philippe de Vitry
Philippe de Vitry
Philippe de Vitry was a French composer, music theorist and poet. He was an accomplished, innovative, and influential composer, and may also have been the author of the Ars Nova treatise...
in describing Ars Nova
Ars nova
Ars nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
, a musical style that came about in 14th-century France.
Prolation, together with tempus
Tempus
Tempus is a Latin word meaning time and a Finnish, Swedish and German word meaning grammatical tense. It may also refer to:*Tempus Publishing, a UK publishing company*Tempus Sport, a British motorsport team...
, corresponds roughly to the concept of time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
in modern music. Prolation describes whether a semibreve (whole note) is equal in length to two minims (half notes) (minor prolation or imperfect prolation) or three minims (major prolation or perfect prolation).
Early medieval music was often structured in subdivisions of three, while the note value
Note value
In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags/beams/hooks/tails....
s in modern music are unambiguously subdivided into two parts, meaning that only minor prolation has survived in our time signature system. We now indicate subdivisions of three by modifying note values with dots or triplets. The history of written medieval music shows a gradual shift from major to minor prolation being common.