|4. Renaissance style, genres, and development| 1. How did
Western polophony develop during its earliest stages of
evolution, and what were the characteristics of the most
important polyphonic genres of the ninth through thirteenth
centuries? (top) Western polyphony finds its roots in two early
compositional styles: organum and conductus. These two genres
began through a process of expanding on existing compositions.
This process of adding to existing chants was labeled as
troping. As this "troping" continued composers embellished chant
melodies by adding text, mellismas and eventually by adding
additional voices and parts. In the early examples of organum
purum the lower voice, or tenor, holds long sustained notes
against a more florid moving upper voice. When two voices sang
constant intervals note against note, this was called the
discant style. The highest amount of organum compositions came
from the Cathedral of Paris, Notre Dame. Leonin compiled a large
cycle of organum called the Magnus liber organi (T