[4 monks in a church, narrator speaking:] The Gregorian chants endured as the main form of church music throughout the Middle Ages. [chanting] [pictures of large church] Toward the end of the Middle Ages a new prosperity and relative peace among the people lead to a great revival of civilization and learning. This was reflected in both the architecture and the attitude of the church. New idea’s were tolerated, even encouraged, and from this climate of growth and change a new musical sound emerged, polyphony, more than one strand of music sang at the same time. [monks singing parts] The Gregorian chants were still very much apart of the church, but now they had a new sound, a new joyousness. Each singer sang the notes in a different key with his own embellishments, and the results was a beautiful harmony. This major change, polyphony, opened the door to more and more innovations inside the church, including religious plays. [townsfolk looking at large church] Outside the church the world was changing as well, with new ideas and discoveries leading to greater intellectual religious freedom. And this infuses on art, and literature, architecture, and music saw the closing on the book which is now known as the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.