Sacred music had become more complex with the development of musical notation, but it had also become harder to understand as composers stretched out syllables and included multiple voices singing different texts. Additionally, composers were borrowing tunes from popular music, including dirty songs. At the Council of Trent in the 1540s-1560s, the Catholic Church discussed reforms to address issues raised by the Protestant Reformation, including concerns about the understandability and secular influences of polyphonic sacred music. The Council banned the use of secular melodies but allowed polyphony to continue if composed in a clearer homophonic style exemplified by Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass.
The document discusses several important topics not covered in textbooks regarding medieval music history, including:
1) It discusses the role of Pope Gregory I in the development of Gregorian chant and debunks the myth that he standardized liturgical music, noting that texts and melodies were not standardized until the 12th century.
2) It describes the earliest attempts at musical notation in places like ancient Egypt and Greece and how medieval monks began notating chant, leading to the development of staff notation by Guido d'Arezzo in the 11th century.
3) It notes some of the social roles and limitations of women and professional musicians during the Middle Ages, as well as innovations from the Notre Dame School regarding rhyth