French Music

French Music is a very broadly generic term that is largely used in a strictly cultural sense. It encompasses a wide array of geographical area that happens to fall under the influence of the French language. It in fact also includes some of the composers who do not originate from France. But of course these people have worked in France.



Western Music found its earliest influence of France through the plain songs of the Western Church.

The Gregorian chant as it exists today is in actuality a Gallican interpretation of the 8th- or 9th-century's chant from Rome. It is also very difficult to differentiate between the Gallican ornamentation and its actual Roman basis or rather its Roman origin.

There have been many speculations trying to trace the basic idea behind the interpolation that exists between the preexistent Gallican chants and the surviving chants of the medieval times. These medieval chants have a semblance of a very strong French influence on them.

In the latter half of the Middle Ages in France there were a large number of developments in music of Europe in most of its forms.

There were some manuscripts in the early times that contained the earliest form of polyphony. These kinds of manuscripts were originally found from the time of the 10th century in Chartres, Montpellier, Fleury, Tours, and some of the other prominent French cities.

There was a group of musicians that was especially active during the period of the 10th and 11th centuries. They largely performed at the Abbey of St. Martial that is located in Limoges.

The emergence of a set of composers was observed somewhere around the period of the 12th century. These composers were greatly associated with the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

The most prominent members of this brilliant group were Leonin and Perotin.