- Prolation
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 byPhilippe de Vitry in describingArs Nova , a musical style that came about in 14th-century France.Prolation, together with
tempus , corresponds roughly to the concept oftime signature in modern music. Prolation describes whether asemibreve is equal in length to twominim s ("minor prolation" or "imperfect prolation") or threeminim s ("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.ee also
*
Medieval music
*Musical notation
*tempus
*mensuration
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