duplum

music

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Last updated

June 25, 2026

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The term "duplum" in music refers to a second, newly composed melody sung above the plainchant, known as the tenor. This style, called melismatic organum, emerged around the 12th century and became a significant development in polyphonic music. Composers like Léonin and Perotin, associated with the Notre Dame school, were key figures in its evolution, creating both two-part and more complex three- and four-part organa.1

Additionally, "duple" in music describes time signatures with two or a multiple of two beats per measure, indicating a rhythm based on disyllabic feet.2

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cantus firmus
…a simple second melody (duplum) to an existing plainchant melody (the vox principalis, or principal voice), which by the end of the 12th century was stretched so as to accommodate a melody. The 13th-century polyphonic motet, for its part, featured the plainchant cantus firmus in the tenor. (“Tenor” derives…
Read More
…a simple second melody (duplum) to an existing plainchant melody (the vox principalis, or principal voice), which by the end of the 12th century was stretched so as to accommodate a melody. The 13th-century polyphonic motet, for its part, featured the plainchant cantus firmus in the tenor. (“Tenor” derives…
Read More