Conclusions

The Significance of Notre Dame Organum in the High Middle Ages

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Because there were so many changes in Christianity and culture during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Church had to compensate for the potential "lost souls." As classes became more divided, and individual needs were less broad-based, it became harder for the Church to offer solace and support for everyone. Instead of providing spiritual relief for all of the diverse problems of the High Middle Ages, the Church appealed to the aesthetic needs of society. Music became a form of entertainment rather than solely a spiritual act of praising God.

Despite the lyrics and the use of the original chant in the new style of music, Notre Dame organum was far more artistic than it was spiritual. And though many of those people who went to church were genuine Christians, the music was an added reason to attend Masses. Notre Dame! organum assured the Church that those people who would've turned elsewhere, for intellectual and aesthetic stimulation, wouldn't.

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