“In quires and places…”

Perhaps the most significant difference between medieval sacred music and that of later ages lies in its function. Far from seeing music as an end to itself, the anonymous medieval musician would have seen his own art as being merely part of the overall grandeur and ceremony of the church, fulfilling much the same function as the architecture of the buildings themselves. As part of this general ceremony, choirs would have been accustomed to performing from various stations in the church as well as in procession; before the advent of complex polyphonic music, it is evident that the places they sang from numbered more than just the choir.

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