A History of Western Music, 9th Edition (Part 1 of 3) by Yarm School

li I Ili l

º'

A HISTORY

,f ~ T E R N MUSIC

Editorial Advisory Board Michael Alan Andersor1 E:asrntan Schoo!o/Music (Universiir of Rochesrer)

Helen M. Cree111vald Nem Eng!i:md Conservotory·

Hilary Poriss Nort/1<:astem Universil)'

James Crier

John Rice lndependcnr &holar

ArvedAshby Ohio Stute Un iversity

UniverSÍIJ'OfWesiern Ontario

Gregory Barnett Rice Universil;r

Colum.bi-0. University

Màr1f-1re1Rorke Universi<rofU1oh

D. Kern Holom.rn U,uvers11yo/Califomia. D1ms

Jesse Rosenberg Nor1l,western Unwers,t)'

Steven Johnson Brigham Yo,rng Universirr

Stephanie P. Schlagel College-Conserva tOI)' ofMu.sic. Unive_rsitJJ· ofCincinna ti

JamesA. Borders Universiirof Micl,igon, Ann Arbor Mauro Calcagno Stony Brook Unwers,ty Drew Edward Davies Norih westem Un iversi t:r Andrew Oell 'Antonio '/1,e Uni,ersityof'l'exas e11A11s1ir1 Charles Oill Universiiyof Wisconsin-Modison Don Fader UniversiirofA/aba ma At1cl rew Flory Corlelon C,,llege Rebecca L. Gerber SUNY Potsdom Jonatha n Gibson

James Mad.,on Unwers,i:,·

Karen Henson

Lewis Lockwood Han1ard University Michael P. Lo11g Indiana Universil)' Melan ie Lowe Vonderbilt Universilr Rebecco Maloy Universi1rofCo!orado Boulder ~Hchael Marissen Su'IJ rrh r11ore College Mary Sue Morrow College-Conse,vatory· of Music. UniversilJ'OfCincinMli

Margarer Noiley Unwersat}' o/ North Te:ras

Carl B. Sehm i<lt Tows,m Unkersil)' \Y/. Amhony Sheppard

IVilliams College Chrisropher ). Smi,h

Te.ras Teçh Universil)' L.arryStarr Uni,,, rsil)' o/Wash ingron Pomela F. St3rr UniversitrofNebraska- Lincoln Russell Stinson Lron College

Susan Youens

Unwe rsit)' ofNorre Dum~

Roben O. Gjerdingen Norih westem Un iversi t:r

Gretchen Pete rs

Uni<•ersiiyo/Wísconsi-n - Ea" Cl-0ire

Charles Youmans Pen ~yivan ia Srore Uni,,ersilJ'

David Grayson UniversiiyoJMinnesota

Heather Plon Bali Stare Universi1y

l.aurel Zeiss BaylarUraive,iil)'

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A HISTORY

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A history of ~·csttrn ntusic/ J. Pcter Burkholdcr. Don3JdJ:1y Crou1. Claude V. Pai isca. - Nintb edition.

1•-cm. lncludes bihliographicaJ referencesand inde~.

CLAUDE V. PALISCA ISBN 978-0 -393- 91829 -8 (h•nico,•c r)

Lote

of YCJ Ie Univers11y 1. Mus ic-H1t-1ory and c:riticism. l. Grout. Dooald J::ty. author. li. P3lisca. Cl3ud~ V. au1hor. Ili. TiLle.

MI.IGOG37220 14

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20 13035016

W. W. Nonon & Company. lnc .. SOO F,!1hAvcnuc. NcwYork. N.Y. 1011 0 WV.'Vt.'.\'l'Vt.' llOMOll.COm

W. W. NORTON & COMPANY NEW YORK • LONDON

W. W. Norton & Compauy. Ltd .. C•••lc Rou,c. 75n6 WcllsStrcc1. London \VIT3QT 123 456 78 90

ln rnemo,y of Donald L. Burkholder (J 927- 2013)

He loved this book.

Co 11le 11l s

Troubadour and Trouvêre Song 73 · Forms at n Glance: AAB 77 · Song in Other Lands 7 9 · Medieval lnstruments 80 · Dance Mus ic 82 · The Lover's Complaint 83

CONTENTS

Polyphony throug h the Thirteenth Century • 84

Early Organum 85 · Aquitanian Polyp hony 89 · No tre Dame Po lyphony 91 · Timeline 100 • Motet 100 · English Polyphony 107 • A Po lyphonic Tradition 108 Editorial Advisory Board

iii

Maps

New Deve lopments in the Fourtee nth Century •

111

xvii Eurn pean Society in the Fourteenth Centuq 11 1 · The A.rs Nova in Frnnce

Guide to NAWM Recordings

xix

Preface to the Ninth Edition

xxxi

11 4 · lnnovations: WritingRhythm 116 · GuillaumedeMachaut 119 • Formsa l a Glance: Tht' fonnes Fixes 125 · Timeline 126 · TheArs Suhtilior 127 · Italian Trecento Music 130 · Fotu·teenth - Century Music in Performance 135 · ln P'erformance: Voices or lnstruments? 137 · Echoes of the New A.rt 1 40

PART ONE THE ANCIENT AND MEDIE VAL WORLDS

3 PART TWO THE RENAISSANCE

The Earliest Music 5 · Music inAncienl Mesopotamia 6 · Timeline 8 Music inAncient Greek Life and Thought 9 · ln Performance: Compclilioos and Professional Musicians 12 · Music in Ancient Rome 19 · The Greek Heritage 20 2

The Christian Church in the First Millennium • 22

The Oiffusion oi' Chr ist ianity 22 · The Judaic He ritage 23 · Music in the Early Church 24 · Oivisions i11 tbe Church and Dialects of Chant 25 · Timeline 28 · The Deve lopmentof Notatíon 3 1 · Musíc in Context: ln the Monastic Scriptorium 33 · Music Theory and Practice 38 · Echoes of History 45 3

Roman Liturgy and Chant • 46

7 Music and the Renaissance • 144 Europe írom 1400 to 1600 145 · Timeline 146 · The Renaissance in Culture and Art 146 · Music in the Renaissance 151 · ln Performance: A Star Singer and lmproviser 153 · New Currents in the Sixteenth Century 160 · lnnovations: Music Printing 162 · The Legacy of the Renaissance 164 8

England and Burg u ndy in the Fifteenth Century • 165

E11glisb Music 166 · Ti mcline 168 · Music in lhe Burgundian Lands 173 · Cuillaume Ou fay 17 6 · The Po lyphonic Mass 180 · Music in Context: Masses and Dragons 183 • An Enduring Musical Language 186 9

The Roman LiLw·gy 46 · Music in Context: The Experience of I he Mass 48 · Characteristics of Chant 52 · Timeline 5 2 · Genres and Fonns of Chant 53 · Additions to t.heAuthorized Chants 60 · Hildegard ofBingen 64 • Thc ConLinuing Prcsencc of Chant 65

Franco- Flemish Composers, 1450- 1520 • 188

Polit ical Change and Consolidation 188 · Ockeghem and Busnoys 190 · The Generation ofl480- 1520 l 95 · Josquin Desprez 2 00 · Timclinc 208 · Masses on Borrowed Material 208 · Old and New 21 1

10 4

143

Music in Antiquity • 4

Sacred Music in the Era of the Reformation • 213

S0119 and Dance Music to 1300 • 67

Europea n Society, 800-1300 6 7 · Time line 70 · Latin and Vernacular So ng 7 0 · Music in Context: Minstre ls in Medieval French Cilies 72 ix

The Reformation 214 · Music in the Lutheran Church 2 15 · Music in Calvinist Cburches 220 · Church Music in England 223 · Timeline 226 •

Co 11l e 11l s

Catholic Cburch Music 226 · Giovanni Pierluigi da Pa lestrina 229 · Spain and the New World 233 · Germany and Eastern Europe 236 · Jewish Music 239 · The Legacy of Sixteenth- Century Sacred Music 239

Madrigal and Secular Song in the Sixteenth Century • 241

•I

xii

Co 11l e 11I &

ltaly and Germany in the Late Seventeenth Century • 379

ltaly 379 · Forros ata Glance: Da Capo Aria 383 · Music in Context: The Stradivarius Violin Workshop 385 · Timeline 390 · Germany and Austria 393 · Seeds ío r the Puture 4 04

The Fi rs LMarke t l'or Music 242 · Spain 243 · Timeline 244 · ltaly 244 • The lta li an Madrigal 245 • Fran ce 257 · Germany 259 • England 260 The Madrigal and [ts lrnpact 2(,3

PART FOUR THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

lnstrun1ents 265 · l.n Performance: EmbellishingSixteenth-Century Music 266 · Types of Instrumental Music 269 · Music in Comext: Social Dance 27 1 • Timeline 274 • Music in Venice 28 1 • Instrumental Music Gains Independence 284

18 The Early Eighteenth Century in ltaly and France • 408 Euxope in a Century of Change 409 · Music in Italy 4 ll · Music in Co ntext: The Voice of Farinelli 412 • Amonio Vivaldi 413 · ln Performance: PerformingVivaldi 420 · Music in France 422 · JeanPhilippe Rameau 425 · Timeline 428 · A Volatile Public 430

19 PART THREE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 13

407

The Rise of Instrumental Music • 264

287

German Composers in the Late Baroque • 432

Contexts for Music 432 · Timeline 434 · Johaun Sebastian Bach 435 George l' rideric Handel 449 · An Enduring Legacy 460

New Styles in the Seventeenth Century • 288

Europe in the Seventeenth Centu1y 289 · Timcline 290 · From Renaissance to Baroque 292 · General Characteristics of Baroque Music 300 · In Performance: Historically Informed Performance and lts ConLroversies 305 · Enduring Innovations 306

Musical Taste and Style in the Enlightenment • 462

Europe in the Enlightenment 462 · lnnovations: The Public Concert 466 · Musical Taste and Style 468 · Timeline 472 · The Endm·ing Enlightenment 4 75

14 T he lnvention of Opera • 307

ForerunnersofOpera 307 · Timeline 308 · The PirstOperas 312 · Claudio Monteverdi 3 15 · The Spread of ltalian Opera 320 · lnnovations: The Opcratic Diva 32 4 · Opera as Drama andas Theater 327

ltalian Comic Opera 4 78 · Opera Seria 482 · Opera in Other Languages 484 · [n Performance: Faustina Bordoni and the Art ofVocal Embellishment 4 86 · Timclinc 490 · Opera Reforro 490 · Song and Church Music 493 · Opera and the New Language 497

Music for Cha mber and Church in the Early Seventeenth Century • 328

Opera and Vocal Music in the Early C lassic Period • 477

Instrumental Music: Sonata, Symphony, and Concerto • 499

ltalian Voca l Cbambell' Music 328 · Catholic Sacred Music 332 · Timeline 336 · Lutheran Chtu·ch Music 337 · Jewish Music 34 1 · Instrumental Music 342 · Tradit ion and lnnovation 350

lnstruments and Ensemb les 500 · Cenres and Forms 503 · Forms a1 a Glance: Binuy Fonn aud lts Relatives 501 · Keyboard Music 508 · OrchestralMusic 512 · Timeline 514 · TheSinginglnstru ment 517

France, England, Spain, and the New World in the Seventeenth Century • 351

France 352 · Music in Contex'1: The Music of thr Great Stahlr 355 Ttmeline 362 · England 368 · Spain and lhe NewWol'ld 373 · National Styles and Traditions 377

Classic Music in the Late Eighteenth Century • 519

Joseph Haydn 520 · Timcline 536 · WolfgangAmadeus Mozarl 538 · Ciassic Music 5~7

Co 11l e 11l s

PART FIVE TH E NINETEENTH CENTURY

559

xlil

xlv

Co 11l e 11I &

PART SIX THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

ANO AFTER 24

Revolution, Wa r, and iMusic, 1789-1815 560 · Timeline 562 · Ludwig van Beethoven 563 · Beetho,•en's Cenlrality 584 25

The Romantic Generation: Song and Piano Music • 586

The New Order. 1815- 1848 587 · Timclinc 588 · lnnovations: Musical lns1n11nems in lhe Industrial Revolulion 590 · Romanlicism 593 · Song 596 · Music for Piano 606 · Music in Context: Women and the Mnsic Profession 612 · The Romanlic Le15acy 622 26

763

Revolution and Change • 560

Romanticism in Classical Forms: Orchestral, Chamber, and Chorai Music • 624

The Early Twentieth Century: Vernacular Music • 764

Modem Times, 1889-1918 765 · lonovations: Recorded Sound 768 · Ver.o acular Musical Tradilions 771 · Timeline 772 · African American Traditions 774 · Classics ofVernacular Music 777 32

T he Early Twentieth Century: The C lassical Tradition • 778

Modem Music in the Classical Tradition 779 · Timeline 780 • Gennan Modemism: Mahler and Strauss 781 · ln Performance: Mahler as Concluctor 782 · French Modernism: Debussy and Ravel 790 · Modern ism and Na tiona l Tradi tions 799 · The Avam-Garde 808 · Late Romantic or Modem? 811

Orchestral Music 625 · Timeline 626 · Chamber Music 639 · Chorai Music 61-3 · Romao t icism and the Classical Trad ition 65 l

Arnold Schoenberg 813 · Music in Contexl: Expressionism 8 18 · Alban Berg 824 · Time line 826 · Antou \Vebem 828 · lgor Straviusky 830 Béla Bartók 84 J • Charles lves 84 7 · Composer anel Auclieuce 854

Romantic Ope·ra and Musical Theater to Midcentury • 653

The Roles ofOpera 653 · Timeline 656 · Italy 656 · ln Performance: The Bel Canto Diva GG0 • France 666 · Gennany 670 • Russia 673 · The United S1ates 674 · Opera as High Cu lture 676 28

Opera and Musica l Theater in the Later Nineteenth Century • 678

Technology. Politics. and the Arts 678 · Opera 682 · Richard Wagner 683 · Musicin Conlexl: Wagner, Nalionalism, andAnli -Semilism 687 Giuseppe Verdi 695 · ln Performance: An Origina l Verdi Baritone: Victor Mattrel 698 · Later ltalian Composers 702 · France 703 · Russia 706 · Other Nations 714 · Timclinc 716 · Music for the Stage and Its Audiences

717 29

Late Romanticism in Germany and Austria • 719

Dichotomies anel Disputes 7 19 · Timeline 72 0 · ln Performance: Crossing the Divide: Hans vou Bülow 722 · Johannes Brahms 724 · The Wagneriaos 730 · Reaching theAudience 739

Oiverging Traditions in the Later Nineteenth Century • 740

France 7 41 · Easlern and Norther n Europe 744 · The United Stales 753

· Tim eline 754 · Reception and Recognition 760

Radical Modernists • 812

Between the World Wars: Jazz and Popular Music • 855

Between the \Vars 856 · Timeline 856 • American Musica l Theater and PopularSong 859 · TheJazzAge 862 · DukeEllington 869 · Film Music 872 · Mass Medi.a and Popular Music 874 35

Between the World Wars: The Classical Tradition • 875

Music, Poli1ics, and the People 875 · Timeline 876 · France 877 · Germany 880 · The Soviet Unio n 885 · The Americas 890 · The United States 892 · What Polilics? 901 36

Postwar Crosscurrents • 903

The Cold War and the Postwa1· Boom 904 · Timeline 906 · From Bebop to Free Jazz 907 · Popular Music 910 · Broadway aucl Film Music 9 17 · Band and Wind En semb le Music 919 · Roll Over. Beethoven 92 1 37

Postwar Heirs to the Classical Tradition • 923

Diversity and Common Themes 923 · Timeline 924 · Extensions of Tradition 92 i · John CageandtheAvant-Carde 939 · NewSoundsand Textures 945 · Mixing Sty les and Traditions 953 · New Paths 957

Co nt ents

The late Twentieth Century • 958

A Global Culture 959 · Timelinc 960 · The Changing World of Music 960 · ln Performance: Kronos Quarlet 967 · Music in Comext: Digital Te~hnologiPs in the 1980s 969 · Niches in Popular Music 973 · Minimalism and Poslminimalism 975 · Modernism and Individualism 98 1 · Polystylism 984 · Th eNewAccessibility 986 · rind iogan Audience 992

The Twenty-F irst Century • 993

The New Mi llennium 993 · The New World of Music 995 · Timeline 996 · lnnovations: Mttsic Technology for Everyone 998 · The Future ofWestern Music 1008 G lossary

Fo r Furthcr Rcoding

A23

Credits

A97

lndex

A99

MAPS

Figure 1.2

The ancient Near East, showing the location oi' the main ciries and civilizations of Mesopotamia an d Egypt. 6

Figure 1.6

Greek and GreeksettJements aroun d 550 e.e .E.

Figure 2.1

The di ffusio n of Christianity.

Figure 2.4

Ho ly Roman Empire under Cha rlemagne around 800.

Figure 4.1

Eurnpe in 1050.

Figure 4.4

Linguistic boundary between Occilan (tangue doe) in lhe sou th oi' F'rance anel Medieval F'r ench (langue d'o1L) in the north. 74

Figure 7.6

Major centers for trai ning mus icians or fo r musical pa Lronage in the Renaissance. 154

23 30

Figure 8.3

Map showingthegrowth ofBurgundian possessions, 1363-1477.

Figure 9.1

\Vestem Europe about 1500.

Figure 10.1 Religious divisions in Europe around 1560. FigureB.1 MapofEuropearound 1610. Figure 17.1

173

189 214

289

Map of ltaly around 1650, showingthe cities thal were the main centers for music. 380

Figure 17.7 Map of tbe Holy Roman Empire in 1648, split imo 51 free states anel almost 250 territories. 394 Figure 25.1 Map of Eurnpe, 1815-48.

587

Figure36:1 EuropeduringtheColdWa r(l945-91).

xvii

905

Guide 1.0 NAWM Recording&

NAWM No.

GUIDE TO NAWM RECORDINGS NAWM No.

Text Poge

Compo$er and T itle

bpiraph ofS<:ikilos lc 00,,~~1

Eurípides: Orestes. Stasimo n chorus

Mass for Christmns Day a) Lnlroit: Puer nalu.., c.:1I nofti-.1 fc

c>,c ~ 1

56 60 59 57

0 ..

lconc1u~~l

e) Gloria lconc!n ~ I d) Cr ,"ldu:il: llideru.ni omn.es

lco,,d~~I

e) Allelufa: Di~ssoncrificatlls f) Cred o

Offeriory: Tui sum co.eli

15 Alleluia/11sius 111 palma. íromAd organv,m faciendwn (ç~l!•i<\.J

16 JuWtmllS, t.i11lremus

[çº"'"•~

Leon inus and conengues: Vidcrunr onmes

Cl3usu.kle on Don1frlus. from Videru ,u onotes a) Oominu.s. clausula No. 26 b) Dom in"s, cbuslJ a No. 29

Perotinus: Videruntomnes

j) Communion : Videruntomnes

k) !te. missa es1

lconc.11e ~I

53/ 54

b) Hymn: Cl,risie Rec!empto,·om,uwn

5 Ascribed to Wipo of Burgundy: Victimaepaschalilaudes

!Com,.. ~!

Tropes on l'uernatus: Quem querit'5 in presepe and melisma

Hildcgar<l oi' Bingen : Oráovirful."m : C[osiugcho rus. /n principi<>omne.< jc...,,.~ j

Bernart de Ventador n: Can ~:ei.lalauzeta mover lconciw MI

Com,essa de Dia:A cltanra.r

l O Adam de la Hallc:/w cl, RobinetdeMarion: Rond<:au. Robins ni'airne

6 1/63

Walther von der Vogelwcide: Palastinalied (N,i alristlebe ich mir werde)

Camiga 159: Non sofre Santa Maria, fro m CantigasdeSo,ua Maria [co~,,~

L<>qua.rrewampicroyal. from t emanuscril dr., roi

Organa from Musira enchiriadis a) n. patrissempilemus es ftli us b) Sir Gloria dornini e) Re.Tcaeli domine

86 86

xix

95 97 97

98 100

Motels o n Tenor Dominus a) Facrum es, safotare/Don1.inus

b) F'oleacostumance/Domínu..s ICand1t1 ~ I e) Si<per re/Secl fulsit virginitas/Doniim,s 22

Adam de l:i lialle : De m.a damc vteni/ Dteus. comm.em porrote/Omnes

Pe1rus de Cruce:Aucunont rrouvé/Lonciansl Annunriantes

24 Sun~eris i.cumen in lcon~ls-cMI 25

Philip pe de Vi, ry: Cwn staiualflugo. Hi,go/ Magisrerirwidie R:onc«• '-' I

Guil13umc de ~fac haut: La Messe de Nostre Dame a) K)'Tie Íéonc,0\1

h) Snnctus i) Agnus Dei

Cbants írom Vespers for Cbristmas Oay a) Firsl Psalm '"'ith Amiphon: 'fecum principittm and psalm Di.t d Domi,uis

Poge

20 Ave vügo vugtnwn

VOL UM E l : A NC J ENT T O BAROQ UE

b) Kyrie

Text Compour and Title

b) Gloria

101 102 [03 105 [06

108 118

12 1 123

Guillaumede Machaur: Doucedamejolie [Cone1.. ~)

124

Guillaume de Machaut: Rose. lit. p ri ritemps. verdur, lcon<1« '-'I

126

Phil ippus de Caserta: ;;,. remironr vo douce pouriraiJure

128

30 Jacopo da Bologna: Non al sr.o ornante 31 Fran cesco Lanclini: Cosi pen.soso

3'2

francesco L:,,ndini:Non ,n~t<im.ã· pieiã ~c;.,.aj

132 [33

133

33 Al!eluia: A neu;é work

169

34 John Ounstable: Quam pulchra e.< 1Coo« .. '-'I

[70

35 Binchois (Cilles de Bins): De plu.sen plus jc..,... ~1

[ 75

Guillau me Du Fay: Resvellúis vous

178

Cuillaume Ou l'ay: Cluisre. redemproromniun,

180

Guillaume Ou F'.,y:Sel(ifacearpale a) Sela face ar pale R:on,,,. ~ b) i\füsa Se la face 11)' pale: Glorio IConc1<• '-' 1

178 184

Amaine llusnoys: Jenepuisvivre

190

Jeau de Ockcghem: Misso prolarionrun: Kyrie

193

Gn id e l o NA\VM Reco rdings

xxl

xxii

Guide 1.0 NA\VM Recordings

Text

NAWM

Page

No,

4 1 Henricus Isaac: Innsbruck. ich nu,ss dic/1 lassen

199

42 Josquin Oesprez: foulred'argeni

202

Josquin Oesprez: M1/Jeregrei.

202

Josquio Desprez:AveMa..ria . .. vi'l,"OSerena

66 Tielman Susato: Dances, from Danser:re a) No. 5: Basse danse la mo risque IC•••"• S\ 1 b) No. 38: Pavane La cwna bi..aj e) No. 50: Ga!Jiarcl La dona JComche S\ I

Josquin Oesprez: Missa Pange língua a) Kyric IConcl•e~I

NAWM No. Composer and Ti tle

IConc.i'"e :\\j

b) Credo. excerpt: Er incamatitsest ond Cn,ciftru.<

Marti" Lutbcr: Nun l.onun. der Heiden, Hei!and and Ein ]este Burg a) Attributed ,oSt.Ambrose: Hisnn , Veniredemprorgeniium b) Manin Luther: Nun komm. der fleiden fleiland e) Marti n Lucher: EinfesteBurg d) Johann Walte r: Einfwe Burg. setting for fourvoices

Loys Rourgeois: Psalm 134 (Or sus. servitellrs du Seigneur) a) Psn Im 134. Or sus. serviteurs du Seigner,r b) William Kc1bc: Psal m I00,Allpeoplerl,a1011earrhcwd-,•ell

48 Thomas Tallis: lf;re/,ove me 49

Willi am lly1·d:Si11gj"')fullpm10 God [Co•c,,._fil

50 Nicolas Coml,ert: Ave regi.ria caelorum

204

206 68

221 221

224

a) Credo b) Agnus Dei 1 52

[ç-,.. ;8

229

53 Orlandede Lassus: Cum essempa,vulus @;"""aj

234 234

Juan dei Encina: O_rcomamosrbebamos

244

Mareheuo Cara: Mal un muw pereffec10

245

56 Jacques Are>delt: /1 bianco e dolce cigno )c••,,,. s-.)

247

57 Cipriano de Rore: Da k belle contrade d'oriente ICon,.,• S\I

250

58 Luc• Marenzio: Solo e pensoso

254

Corlo Gesualdo: "lo parto" e"°" pi,l dissi )e...... ,._)

255

60 Claudin ele Sermisy: 'fant que vi,,ror IC••"~ "-l

257

61 Orlande de Lassus: La 11uic1 froide er sornbrt

258

259

Claude LeJeune: Rei-·ecp,enirduprintans

63 Thomas Morley: My bon,,J'lass she smi!e1/1 (§;.<,,. ;iJ 64

Thomas Weelkes:As Vwa was )co•.,wS\J

260 261

Amhony Holborne: Dances a) TheNigh11Va1ch, almain

272 272

Luis de Narvãcz: From Los seys lihrosd"t Delphin a) Cancion Mille regres lconc-~ ~I b) Cuatro diferencia.sobre "Cuárdame las vacas·· )C•nd>< s-.)

273 275

284

71 Claudio Monteverd i: Cn.,daAmari!li Jc-1,. S\)

297

Giulio C, ccini: Vedró '!mio sol [Co•c,,.aj

311

Jneopo Peri: Lemusichesoprol'Ewidice: Excerpts a) Aria: Nel pt,rordor b) Dialogue ín recitative: Per que! vago boschetro

314 314

74 Claudio Monteverdi: J;Oifeo: Excerpt írorn Act li a) Arin/ c:1t1zonetta: Vi ricorda o bosch, ombrosi [Canc:is•fil b) Song: Mira. dth n1ir/J Oifeo e) Dialogue ir1 recit.1tive: Alti, ca.so acerbo ~ c,,e aj d) Recitative: Tu.se' morta IConcbe ~ I e) Chorai madrigal:Alti, coso acerbo )Conc,,.s-.) 75

23?

272 272 272

277

Tomás Luis de Victoria: O m.agnum mrsierium

a) Om-ãgnum m_rsterium lcon<•i-e~ I b) MissaOmagn.um mprerium: Kyrie !Cone,.• "- )

262

70 Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzonsep1imi toni o 8. fromSo.crae s;mphonio.t

227 231

Joh11 Oowland: now. m)'tears [çonc11• S\]

69 William Byrcl :/ohncomekiss menow )Concls,S\I

225

51 Giovan ni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Pope Marcelfos Mass

Page

b) The Pairte-round, g•lliard

207

217 21 7 218 219

Text Compo,er and Title

Claudio Montcrvcrdj : L'incoronazionedi Poppea: Act 1. Sccnc 3 a) Dialogue ín recítative: Signor. deh non partíre &_ ..,.,,~ b) Aria: ln un sospir !Con<h• "- I e) Aria: Signor, sempremived,

(ç:,n(.l.ci.\]

d) Dialogue i n mixed Sl)'les! Adoran miei rai

318 318 318

319 319

319

lconc•S(!~I

319

Anton io Cesii: Oroniea : Excerpis from Act 11 a) Scene 16: Recít•tive: Echesi fo.? b) Scenc 17: Opcninga ría: /ntomoall'idolmio

323 323

Barbara S1roní: wgrime mi<! ICon,..• "-I

311

Cio\ nnni C:'lbrielli: fo ecclesii.s

[C01K,si§]

333

79 Alessondro Grandi: Oquam tu pulchra es

334

Giacomo Carissim i: His1oria di Jephte: Excerpts o) Kecitotive: Pl-0ra1ecolles )c••c1.. "-I b) Chorus: Ploruu: fllii lsruel [C,;,nuM',&I

336 336

Gn id e lo NA\VM Reco rdings

NAWM No. Composer and Ti tle

Text Page

81 Hei 11 rich Schtllz: S<1ul. was verfolgs1d" ,nich. SWV 415, from Spnphon,ae sacro.e Ili lc-... aj

339

82 Girolarno Frescobald i: Toccata No. 3 !C••""~I

343

Girolamo Frescobald i: lticcrcare aíter Lhe Credo from Mass for lhe Madonna. in flori nmsicali

345

Biagío Mariní: Sonata IV per il violino per sonar con d,., corde

317

xxiv

Guide

96 Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto íor Violin and Orchestra in A Mirror, Op. 3. No. 6, írom L'estro amlonico a) Al legro fc..,... ~1 b) L.1rgo e) Presto

La vi.sionaire lcº"°'·~I b) Lo muse v,ctorieu.se ICone,"' ~I e) Les ombres errantes

Jean-Baptiste Lully: Te Deum: Conclusion

362

Denis Caul,ier: lacoqueuevir111ose

365

Elis•be1h-Claudc Jacquet de 13 Cuerre: S11i1e in A Minor. from Piices de cla;-ecin a) Prelude [c•• ,,,.aj

366

e) Cour·a,uc,

366

,.,d [I ls:o..:,.. aj

d) Sorabande e) Cigue f) Chaconne g) Covotte h) Menuel 89

366

b) Allem:rnde f Conci,e ~ )

Henry Purcell: Dido and Aenea~: Conclusion a) Recitalive: Th,- hand. Belir1d<1 1e ••,,~ ~I b) Lament. (ground bass aria) : When { amlmd i.nearth lconct141 i\l

e) Chorus: Wirh droopingwinb'S

372

3?5 375

9 1 Juan de Araujo: Los c-onfladesde la estfoya

376

Alessanclro Scarlotti: Clori venosa. e bella: Conclusion a) Rccit•tive: Vivo penando b) Aria: Si, si be11 mio

382

Alessondro ScMlatti: La Grisei.da: Excerpt írom Act 1, Scene 2

382

381

94 Arcangelo Corelli: Trio Sonata in O Major. Op. 3. No. 2 386

e) Adagio !Co•ci••;:. I

386 386

ti) Allegro @;11c.11-e !t\]

Dietericb Buxtehu<le: Praelu<lium in E Major. Bux\W l 41 lt,;,waj

435

b) 1..u~o

43~

e) Allegro

435

1OI Johaun Sebas1iau Bach: Cliorale Prelude ou D"rchAd<1ms FaU , B\W 63 7

440

102

103

Johann Sebast ian Bach: 11te 1Vcll-1empered Cl0i>1cr, Book 1 a) Prelude No. 8 in E- llat Mino r ~ ,... aj b) Fugue No . 8 in O-sharp Minor g.,..,,.;:,]

441 441

Jobancr SebaSLian Bacb: Nunkomm, der Heiden Heiland. BWV 62 o) No. l. Chorus:Nunkomm. derl-feidenHeiland jc...,,.. ~I h) No. 2. Aria (tenor): Bewundert. o Menschen e) No. 3. Recilative (bass): So gehl au.s Cottes Herrlichkeil und 11iron d) No. 4, Aria (bass): Streite. siege. starker/Md! e) No. 5. Accompanicd rccitativc (soprano and aho): Wlrehren diese Herrlichkeit f) No. 6, Chorale: Lobsei~rr. dem. Vater, ron.

445 145 445 145 445 445

104 Johann Scbastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion. B\W 244: Exccrpl a) No. 36. Biblicol narra1ive: Undder llohepriesteranrwonere b) No. 37. Cboralc: Werhatdichsogescl,lagen e) No. 38, Biblicol narr.i ive: Perru.s aber safl drwflen in, Palas, d) No. 39.Aria: Erbannedich e) No. 40. Chorale: Bil\ichgleicl, •on dirgewichen

386

399

Georg Philipp Telemann: Paris Quan et No. 1 in G Major (Conceno Primo). Movements 3- 5 a) Presao

429 429

439 439

105

:1) Gr:.we J conci~~~I b) Allegro [Con<l,caj

424 424 424

Johann Sebaslian Bach: Prelude and l'ugue in A Mi nor, llWV543 •) Prelude b) Pugue

100

371 3?1

90 Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco: La púrpura dela rosa: Excerpts a) Dialogue ln stropbic song: Ybien. ,;qué es /.o que advienes? b) Chonas: Corred, corred. crisroles

366 368 368 368 368

417 418 41 7

Jean-Philippe Ranieau: Hippol)ie et Aricie. Act fV: Excerpt a) Conclusion of Sccne 3 IConchc- ~ I b) Sccnc 4 IConc•se ~ 1

358 359

Text Page

97 François Coupe,·in: Vi,,gi-cinquiémeordrc: Excerpts

358

NA\VM Recordings

NAWM No, Compo,er and Title

85 Jean-Baptiste Lully:Armide: Excerpts a) OvcrtUIC ICanciu• ~ l b) Conclusion of divertissemcnt froni Ac1 11. Scene 4: laissons au tendre amour e) Act l i. Sccnc 5 : Enfm il est enmapu.i.ssance IConc•s-c.·~1

1.0

106

George Frideric Handel: Ciiúio Ccs0-re: Act 11. Scenes 1- 2 n) Rccitative: Eseguisri. oh Nire,1 b) Aria: V'odoro. pupillc Lçonc1,. ~] George Friderie Handel: Sa..!: Act li. Scene IO a) No. 66. Accompanied recitarive: 7lte 7.me at len~nh is come ~.,,.. ;,J h) No. 67, Recitalive: 117hereistheSonofJesse? tt,;,.. aj e) No. 68. Choms: Ofatal Conoequ,mceof Rage lc..,,.. ~1

446 446 446

446 446

454

457 45 7

457

Gn id e lo NA\VM Reco rding&

NAWM No. Composer and Ti tle

Text Page

VO LU M E Z: CLASS I C TO R0 MANT I C

XXV

X>CVÍ

Guide 1.0 NA\VM Recording&

NAWM No, Compo,er and Title

125

Text Page

Ludwigvan 8eechoven: Pia110 So na13 in C Minor, Op. 13 (Poiliérique): Fir$t movernent ICot1ci~ aj

567

Lud wig van Beethoven: Sympbony No. 3 in E- ílat Major. Op. 55 (Eroieo}: firs, movement. AJlegro con brio ~n• fil

571

Giovanni Ba1ris1a Pergolesi: laseivo podrono: Excerpt t'l) Recit:ttive: Ali. quanro mi sta mole lcondse~I b) Aria: So,1 iml>rogliaio io Jcon,,.• ;;-.1

481 481

126

108

Johann Adolf Ha$$e: Cleoftde: Act 11, Scene 9: Digii ch'ioson fedele

484

127

109

John Cay: '11,e BeggorsOpel"(l: Excerpl írom Scene 13 a) Aria XV: M,-1,earttuas so free b) Aria XVI : Were l làid o,, Creer1/a,1d's coosl

489 489

128

Franz Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade. D. 118

492

129

Franz Schuben: Winterreise. D. 91 I. No . 5: Der Lindenbaum

130

Robert Schumann: Dichierliebe. Op. 48. No. 1: lm wundersch~nen Manai Mai

131

Stephen Foster: Jeanie wirh rhe Ught Brown fia ir

132

Robert Schumann: Corn<1Vol. Op. 9: Excerpts a) Nv. 5: Eu~tLius [c ...., ,,i: ih] b) No. 6: florestllll !Coo<1,.;;-.1

107

11O Cbristoph Willibald Gluck: O,feo ed Eurid,ce: Excerpt from Act 11, Scenc 1 11 1

Ciovan na Bauista Pergolesi: Staóar morer: Excerpt a) No. 4. Alto solo: Quae maerebatet dolebat

495

b) No. 5. Duct: Quis est homo

495

Ludwigvan Beethoven: StringQuartet in C-sharp Minor. Op. 13 1 a) First movemem, Ad3gio ma no11 troppo e moJto espressivo b) Seconcl mO\'ement.Allegro molto vivacc (c -1~~ s\ )

581

jConcke s\ l

581

!Con«« ;;-.j

599

[c•..,,.,;;-.J

601

!Co•<>•• ;;-.!

603 605

11 2

William Billings: Creation. from The Continental Ham,onr

496

113

Domenico Sc.1rlani: Son.ia in D Major, K. 119 jc.,.,,,. ;;-.1

509

11 4

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Sonata in A Major. H. 186. Wq. 55/4: Seco nd movemenr. Poco adagio ÍÇonq.,fil

511

·133

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: Dós)ahr. No. 12: Deoember

612

11 5

Giovonni Battisrn Sammartini: Symphonyin F Mojor. No. 32: F'irst movement. Presto

513

134

Fryderyk Chopin: Ma1.urka in 8- íla, Major. Op. 7. No. 1 jeo.cr,. ;;-.1

616

11 6

Johann Stami tz: Sinfonia a 8 in E- na, Major. Op. l 1. No. 3: F'irst movemem. Allegro assai

514

135

Fryde,ykChopin: Nocturne i n D- 11,n Majo r. Op. 27. No. 2

11 7

Johann Christian Bach: Concer10 for 1-farpsichord or Piano and S1r ings in E- na, Ma jor, Op. 7, o.5: F'irstmovement. Allegrodi mollo

136

Franz Liszt:'/'rois éwdesde concer1 , No. 3: Unsospiro t.ç;;í.. aj

618

13 7

Louis Moreau CottschaJk: Socweoirde Porto Rico (Morcliedes Giboros). Op . 31

622

I 38

Hecto r Berlioz: Spnplioniefanra,tiq1te: Fiftb movement,

11 8

11 9

Joseph Haydn: StringQuarcet i11 E- flat Major. Op. 33. No. 2 ('11,e}oke). Hob. 111:38 a) First movement, AJlegro moderato. cantabile b) Second movement. Scheno: Allegro e) Third move,11e111. La rgosostenuto d) fOlfflh movement. Finale: Presto lcon,t,e s\ l Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 88 in G Major. Hob. 1:88 :1) Fi rst movemrent. Adagio- allegro IConcue :i\ l

610 610 610

c) No. 7: Coquerre

516

521/ 535 524/ 534 524/ 535 524/535

!Conro,;;-.1

616

-o,eam o r a Witches· SabbaLh- !Co•••••;;;-.I 139

Allegro molto appassionato 140

630/ 633

Fclix Mendelssohn: Violin Conccno in E Miaor. Op. 64: f'irs t movcment.

lfone:•$~..hl

637

Robert Schwnann: Syrnpbouy No. 4 in D Minor. Op. 120: First 1110\'Cmcnt. Ziemlieh l•ngsam- lebhoft

b) Second mo"ement. Largo e) Third movement. Menuetto: Alltb'Tetto d) f'ourlh mo,·ement. Fiuale: AJlcgro coo spirit

529 529 529 529

14 1

Franz Schubert: StringQuintct in C Major. D. 956: First movemcnt. AJJcgro ma non lroppo 641

142

Clara Schumann: Piano Trio in G Minar. Op. 17: Third movemenr. Andam•

638

!Con,,w:;;-.1

643

120

Joseph Haydn: The C.eanon: No. 2. ln rhebe6~nningCod

537

143

Fclix Mendclssolm: l:lijoll, Op. 70: Chorus, And 1/ien sl1all J'011r /iglu brwk foril,

646

12 1

Wolfgnng Amadeus Mo,an: Piano Son31> in F Major, K. 332: First movement, Alleg-ro

545

144

Pra n, Schubert: Die Nacht, Op. 17, No. 4. D. 983c

647

122

\Volfg:mg Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto in A Major. K. 488: F'irst movemcnt. Allegro [Conme.&J

548

123

WolfgnngAmadcus Mozan: Sympbony No. 41 in C Major (Jupiter). K. 55 1: Finalc

551

124

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozan: Don Ciovonni: Act 1 a) Scene I jc. . .... ;;-. 1 b} Scene 2 lfiic,s, ;iil

554 554

145

Gioachino Rossini: llbarbiere diSiviglia: Actl. No. 7: Unavocepocofo [c°""'":aj

l 46

Vincenzo Bellini: Norm.a: Act I. Scene 4. exeerpt: Casta di,•a

6591660

664

Gn id e lo NA\VM Reco rdings

NAWM No. Composer and Title

147

Text Page

Giacomo Meyerbeer: Les Huguertots: Conclusion or Ac1 l l a) Orchestral introduction and scene: Entrée de la Cour (Entrance oíthe Court). Oui. d'ttn heu reu.r hrme11 b) Slow section, Sermenl (Oath). fürd"honr,eur e) Accompanied recitative: Scêne (Scene). Er maituenant

149

Carl Maria voo \Veb~r: Der Frcischatz: Act I l. Finale. \Volí's Glen Scenc a) Cho ms at1d dialogue: Mi/eh des Moridesjieloufs Kroul b) Accompanied recita tive with spokcn dialogue: Treplich bedient! e) Melod rama: Sch<ilw. der im Dm,k<lln wachl rticha.rd Wagne r: Tristan und /solde: Exccrpts a) Prcludc b) Conclusion orAct l. Scene 5 IConc,.. ll>i

668

671 671 671

694

150 Ciuseppe Verdi : uuroviata. Ac1 11 l, Sccno anel Due1 a) Sl:eua: Si1511vru [Cuu01.1~ib] b) Tempod'au,cco: Colpel'Olsono ICon<i•• ll> i e) C,111abile: Parigi. o cora ~.. "-] d) Tempo di mezzo: Ah non pit, lconcl,e-~ I e) Cabaleua:AI,! Gron Dio! Morirslgiovone ~"-üil

700 700 700 700 700

15 1 Giacomo Puccini : Madama Butterfly: Excerpt fromAct 1

703

152

Georges Bizet: Gc,nnen; Acl 1. No. 10: Seguidi lla anel Duel

705

153

Modest Musorgsky; Boris Godunov; Coronation Scene

710

154 Arthur Sull iv,n: 'lhe Pir'IJl<$O/ Pentál\Ct: Act IJ. No. 17: Whe,11ilefoemo,, barts hiss1eel

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor. Op. 98; Fourtb movemeul jc.."''•• "- 1

156

Jobannes Brahms: Qulatet for Piano and Strings in F Mlaor. Op. 34: rirs t rnovement.

157 Anton Bruckncr: Virgafesse. WAB 52 Rich.rd Strauss: Don Qufa:ore, Op. 35: Themcs ,nd V.iriorions 1- 2

IConc1.. ll>i

159

Gabriel Fau ré:Avanl quelu nel'en ai/les. from La bonnuhanson. Op. 61. No. 6

160

Piocr ll'yich Tchaikovsk')" Symphony No. 6 in B Minor (Po1hêtique) . Op. 74: Th ird movemcn1. Allegro moho vivocc

161 A111onin Dvor:lk:Slavonic Dances. Op. 46, No. 1, Pres10

1.0

NA\VM Recordi ngs

NAWM No, Compo,er and Title

164

Text Page

716

726

Scon Joplin: Maple Lea/Hag a) piano rolI b) as played by Jelly Roll Monon

775 776

b"•aj

786

165

Cusrav Mahler: Kindertow,lieder: No. 1. Nun willdieSonn' so helloufgeh'n

166

Richard S11·auss: &t/011,e. Op. 51: Scene 'i. Conclusion: 11/1! /eh hobe deiner, ,\ft,nd gekilsst

167

Claude Debussy: Noc1umes : No. 1, Nuage< IConawll>!

795

168

Mourice Ravel: Le 1ombcau de Coupcrin: Menuet

798

169

Serge Rachmaninoff; Prelude in G Min.or, Op. 23. No. 5

800

788

170 AlexanderScriabi11: Verslaflammc. Op. 72 IConm•"-I

802

171 Erik S,iie: Embry·onsdesséchés: No. 3, De Podophrho.lma

809

172

Arnold Scbocnbcrg: Pi~rro, l11n.afre. Op_ 2 ) : E.xce.rpt-' 3) No. 8: Naclu íêõiisi~ !aj b) No. 13: En1haup1ung ICona" "-1

173

820 820

Arnold Schoenberg: Piano Suite, Op. 25 : Excerprs a) Prel11dc ICon,;,.,,_! b) Mcnuc1 anel Trio li;onds,aj

82 1 82 1

174 Alban Berg: Woueck. Op. 7: Ac1 11 l. Exce rpt a) Scene 2 b) Scene3 lk,.. fil

826

175

Anton Webern: Sym phony. Op. 21: Firs, moveme,11. Ruhigschrei1end

829

176

lgor Stravinsky: 7'he /!ire ofSpring: Exce:rpls a) Darise dcs adoles~r11es jc.,,.,.. li\ 1 b) Danse sacrale

833

728

Allegro nou troppo

158

Guide

668

693

155

X>CVÍii

VO LUM E 3: T H E TW ENTI ET H CENT URY AND AFTF. R

668 668

d) Fast conclusion: Streue (Streua). O1ra,,sport!

l 18

xxvíi

825

833

735

177

li;or Stravinsky; SJ·mphor1rof Psalrns, Pi rsi ,novemen,

837

739

178

Béla Bartók:Mikrokosmos: No. 123.Swccatoanduga,o !Conm• ~I

813

743

179

Bél:1 Bartôk: Music for Strings. Percussion and Celesta: Third movemem, Adagio [Conc,,e ~ 1

815

J 80

Charles lves: Genffal Jli'i/liam Boolh Eniers inlo Hea ven

745 748

162

Amy Beaeh: Piano Qu i11 1.c1 in r•sharp Mif\01·, Op. 67: Third move,nen1, Allcgro :1gi1~10

755

163

John Philip Sousa; The Sta,.. anel Stripes Forever

757

181 GcorgcGcrshwin: /GotRhphm. from GirlCrazy

lc-... "-1

[Conc,.,ll>!

852

861

182

BessieSmith: Back WarerB!ue<

ICon,,.,;:,.t

863

183

King Oliver: West ond 8/ues !Con,,.. ,.,1 a) Original sheet music (no, on recorcling) b) Transcription of recording by Louis Armstrong and His llot Five

866 866

~•"-l

184

Duke Ellingt0n: Gouon Tail

185

Oarius Milhaud: Lacréation d11 monde, Op. 81a: First tableau

879

186

Kun \Veill: Oie Dreigrosclienoper: Prelucle. Die Morito, •on Mockie Messcr t.ç;,;;@

881

870

Gn id e lo NA\VM Reco rding&

NAWM No. Composer and Ti tle

Paul Hi nde,nit h: S)mpl1011r Mnrl1is der Maler: Second rnovemen ,. Crableg,wg

188

Sergey Prokofrev:AlexanderNe1>Sk)', Op. 78: Fourtb movement,

XXX

Guide 1.0 NA\VM Recording&

Page

NAWM No, Compo,er and Title

Page

884

212 Gyorgy Lige1i: Éwcle No. 9. Verrige

982

983

Text

187

xxix

Text

Arise. YeRussian PeopLe iC•••'••" l

887

213 Sofra Gubaid rtli na: Rejoice! Soll3ta forViolin antl ViolonceUo: fiftb movement, Lisren to rltesrillsrnoll voicewirlirn lcond,.~I

189

Dnútri Shostakovicb: Symphouy No. 5, Op. 4 7: Seconcl movement, Allegreuo

888

214 Alfred Sclrnittke: Concerto Grosso No. 1: Second movement, Toc<:ata

985

190

Heitor Vill•-Lobos: Bacltiánas brasileiras No. 5: No. 1. Aria (Cantilena) [i;;,... i!IJ

891

215 Arvo Pãrt: Seven MagruflcniAnlipl1or1s: Excerpts a) No. 1: O lli'eisheir b) No. 6: O Ki!nigaller V~lker

988

19 1 Silvestre Re,~rcltas: Home1ia1ea Fedelico Ga,-cía Lorca: First movemcnt. Baile

892

192

Edgard Va rêse: f!Jperplism

894

193

Henry Cowell: The Banshee

895

194

l\mh Cr awford Secger: String Quartel 1931: Fourth movement. Allegro possibile lc...,,.,,I

897

Aaron Copland:AppolacMan Spring. Exccrpt with Variations on 'Tis 1he Gift ro Be Simple [Cone1.. i<.f

899

Willi>m GrantStill:.Afro -AmericanSymphon)' (Symphony No. 1): Firs1 movemem. Mode1·:uo assai li:o"C1$~ :\\]

900

195 196

197

198

Leonard Bernstein; Wes1 Side S10,:,-: Act 1. No. 8. ·Coor·

908 908 918

199 Vincent Persicheui: SJmplwnrfor Bond (Symphony No. 6), Op. 69:

200 201

Firsi movemem. Adagio-Alleg-ro

921

Benjanún Briuen: Pernr Crimes: Act 111. Scene 2: To Irei! wirlr all rour mercr!

929

Olivier Messfaen: Quoriet for1h, End o['frme: l'irsl movemem,

Uttugie de cristal

ICondie ~ ,

930

202

Plerre Boulez: Lema rteau. sans m.aitre: Movernent 6, Bourreaux de solitude

936

203

John Cage: Sonatas and lnterlud~s: Sonata V !Cona~;:\J

940

204

John Cage: Mu,ic of Chan1,'Es: Book [

941

205

George Crumb: Black Ange/.s: 11,irtMn lmagesfrom,he Dark La11d: Excerp1s a) lmage 4: Devil -Mu,ic !Con"'cill f b) lm~ge 5: Dol'<Se macobre !Conc1.. illl

946

Edgard Va rese: Poêm-e électronique (Con~

948

206

ili f

Kaija Saariaho: l'omourdeloin.Act rv.Sccne 3: Tempêr, (Cond~ ~ I

l 17

Os,•aldo Colijov: La. Pa.,i.ón según San Marcos: Excerpt a) No. 24: Scom and Venial b) No. 25: Tire Rendingofrhe Robe

e) No. 26: Colorless Moon- Aria o[St. Perer's Tears

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie: A11thropológr

a) Lead sheet b) Transcription of Charlie Parker's solo

2 16

946

207

Milton Babbiu: Philomel: Secrion 1 [Coneiso ill]

949

208

Krysztof Pendcrecki: Threriodr/or rhe Vic1ims of Hirosliima

950

209

8righ1 Sheng: Seven Tnnes fleord ,n Chma, íor solo cello: No. 1, Seosons

968

2 1O Slcve Kdch: 'lêltUlim.; P~n IV

978

2 11 John Adams: ShortRlde inafast Macliine

980

988 1004

1005 1005 1005

218

Ellio11 Cartcr: Corénaires. for pfano

1006

219

John Adams: Doc1or Atomic: Act 1. Conclusion. Batter my heart !con,.. ili 1

1007

220 Jennil'e r Higdon: blueca,hedral: Openi ng excerp1

1007

xxxii

PREFACE TO THE NINTH EDITION

THE STORY OF A HISTORY OF WESTERN MUSJC The science nction writer Ursula K. LeGuin o nce wrote, ''The story-from Rumplestiltskin to War and Peace- is one ol' lhe basic lo ols invented by lhe human mind , for the purpose of gaining underslanding. There have been ~reat societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tel1 s tories." A Hist,oryofWestem Music is a story about wbere music in lhe Western tradition carne from and how il bas changed over the centuries frorn ancient times to tbe present. Th e story naturally focuses on the musical works. styles, genres. and ideas that have proven rnost influcntial. cnduring. and signif1cant. Yet it also encompasses a wide range of music, from religious 10 secular, from seriousto humorous, ifrom art music to popular music, and li-om Europe tothe Americas. ln telling this tale. I have lried lo bring severa! themes to the fo1·e: the people who created, performeel, heard, and paid for this music; the choices they made anel why they made them; what they valued most in the music: anel how these choices re11ected both lraelilion anel innovation. We study music history in part beca use it gives greater understanding to ali music, past anel pi-esent. lt may be surprising to discover how much and how often musicians from ancie nt times to the presem have bo rrowed from musical traditions of otber lands or earlier eras. Repertoires from Gregorian chant to Baroqi.te opera represent a fusion of elemenls from many regions, anel musicians in Europe anel the Ame ricas have been trading ieleas for more tban fou r centuries. Composers from the Renaissance to the twenty-ftrst cen tury dTew inspirntion from ancient Greek music. Bach. Mozart. Beethoven. Brahms, Schoenberg. and many composers living today ali borrowed ideas from music written long before they were horn . lt may be even more surprising to learn that jazz arrangers used harmonies they heard in rnusic by Debussy anel Ravel, or that tbe multiple simultaneous melodie anel textual layers in hip hop music were ftrst trieel out in lhe thirteenlh-century motet. lt is not tl1at there is nothing new u.nder the sun. hut 1hat almost anything new is a fresh twist on what Uias become traditional. Sometirnes what seems newest is actually borroweel in part frorn music of the distant past. )()()(i

l're face t.o th e Ninth Edilion

We may also be surpl·ised to learn that tbings we take for granted about music have not always heen a round. Pop music aimed at teenagers nrst emergeel after World \Var li. Most wind anel brass instruments assumed 1heir currelll form in Lhe rnid-nineteen lh cemury or later. Concerts of rnusic from the past, which are standa rd features of today's musica l life, nrst appeared in the eighteenth century anel were rai-e before the nine teenth. Tonality, ou,· common musical language of majo r and minor keys. is not even as o ld as New York City. Knowing tbe origins of these anel othe r aspects of musical life increases ou.r underslanding. Many questions about music can only be answered historically. Why do we use a seven-note dialoníc scale? Why do we have a notation system wilh lines, s taffs, clefs, anel noteheads? Why do operas have rec ita tives? Why is the music oi' Haydn and Moicarl called "classical"? Why do Bach anel Schumann often use the sarne rhythmic figure in measure after measul'e, while Mozal'I anel SchoenJierg rarely do? How did jazz change from heing a popular form of dance music to a kind of art music? None of these has a common-sense answer. bul ali can be answered by tracing lheir history. As a rule, if something does t101 make sense, there is a hisiorical reason for it, anel only knowing its histo1y can explain it. lt is with these themes in minei that I have writtcn the new Ninth Eeli tion of A History of Wesrem Music. The text is strnctured in short chapters and arranged in six parts corr espon dingto b road historical periods-Th eAncient :md Medieval Wodds , The Renaissance. The Seventeenth Century. The Eighteenth Cenlmy , The Nineteenlh Cenhuy. and The Twentieth Century anel After. The parts are further divided into subperiods, each treated in one to three chaplers. The n rstchapter in each ch.ronologicalsegment hegins with a summary of the times in order to odent you 10 some of the mosl importan1 themes oi' the era. ln addition, each chapter starts with an overview ol' lhe music that will be discussed and ends with a sketch of its reception and ongoing impact. By structuring the narrativc of music history in this fashion. [ have attempted to establish a social anel historical contex t for each repertoire anel to suggest its legacy anel its sih'l1incan ce today. The heart of each chapter explores changing musical styles. the primary composers. genres. and works. and lhe tension between tradition and innovalion, always trying 10 make cleaiwhat is important, where it-E1ts, wbyit matters, anel wbo cares. Each pari, each chapter. and each seclion tells a story that is in some ways complete in itselí but also connects to ali thc others, like pearls on a string. to forma single narra tive th.rcad rooted in human choices anel values.

USING THE BOOK

A HistoryofWestem. Music, Ninth Edition, is designed for maximum reaclability. The narrative is accompanied by rnany features to assis! you:

• Brief Part lntroductions highlight lhe mosl importan! themes in each period. • Chapte r Overviews anel Smnmaries estab lish socia l anel histo rical context at the outset and reception history anel musical legacy at

Pre íace to l h e Ninlh Edili on

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EW ln Pe rformance sidebass lrace lhe careers of major performers. illustrating what ir was like to be a professional singer or instrumentalist from ancient times to the presem, and highlight issues relevam to performers today. including ornamentation. improvisation. historically informed performance, and bel canto. The coverage of performance practice has been greatly expanded tluoughout this new edition.

• Compose r Biograph ies highJight composers· lives and works. • Mns ic in Con te~1: sidebars emphasize the importance of music in the daily life of peop le at eve1y levei of society, sbowing what they valued in it and how they produced and consumed il.

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• lnnovati ons sidebars-one for each part, plus one for the twenty-ftrst century- focus on key 1echnological or sociological innovalions that signjfJcantly changed the disseminatio11. performance, and consumption of music.

• KeyTerms are highlighced in boldface itulic~ throughout anel are dennecl, for easy reference. io lhe Glossary al the back of lhe book.

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• Source Read ings, with new reaclings in this eclilion, offer pilhy anel colorful excerpts from writings by people at thc center of the s10ry, allowingyou to hear di rectly l'rom the composers, perfon ners, and patrons in their ownworcls.

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Although this book sta nds on its own as a narrative history. your understanding will be enriched by using it in tanclem with the accompanying anthology and recordings: • Available in three spiral-bound volumes, the Norto11A.J1tl1ologyof Western Musie (NAWM). Seventh Edition. by J. Peter Burkholder and Claude V. Palisca (Volume l: Ancient to BaroqueNolwne 2: Classic to RomanticNolume 3 : The Twentieth Century and After), provid es a comprehensive collection of scores. illustrating the most signincant musical lTends, geni-es, and national schools in the \Ves tem world from anticruity to tbe present. Thirty - nine pieces are new to tbis edi tion, including nve selections from the past nfteen years, offering unprecedented access to rece nt music. • Each piece is followed by commentary that relates the p iece·s orígins; describes ils form, contents, and important stylislic traits; and addresses issues or lhe edition and performance when appropriate. ln addition , ali foreign-language texts are accompanied by Englisb translat1ons. • The record ings that accompany the anthology include outstanding performances of the enti.re NAWM repertoire by some of the best

Pre face t.o fil e Ninfh Ediiiou

musicians and ensembles working today (see below, pp. xio.-viii-xxxix). A variety of formats-iocluding streaming and MP3 d ises-are now available. Fifty- six performances are new to this edilion.

USING TOTAL ACCESS The new Total Access program unlocks a fu.11 suite of media resources with every new book, including: • Strea:ming recordfoh'S of the entire NortonAnthologyofWestem Music repertoire. • Stunning Metropoli tan Opera vid eo of scenes from selected operas. • An interaclive e book thal allows you lo lake notes. highlight. and listen to audio examples at the click of a mouse. • NEW lis te níngqurLzes by Jessie Fillerup and Joanna Love.

X'XX'Vii

xxxviíi

l're face t.o th e Ninth Edilio n

ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY AND RECORD INGS

Responding to extensive feedback from instructors and students. 1 have expanded the repertoire in the Seventh Edition of the NortonAnthologyofWestem Mi,sic from 205 to 220 works, with new works from the late Middle Ages by Petn1s de Cruce, Philippe de Viny. Gui ll aume de Machaut. and Prancesco Landiní: from the Renaissance by Josquin Desprez. Marchetto Cara. Nico las Gombert, Thomas Tallis, Anthony Holborne, and William Byrd; from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Jean -Baptiste Lully. Georg Phfüpp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, anel Joseph Haydn; from the nineteenth centmy by Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Anton Brnckner. and Gabriel fauré: from lhe twentierh century by Richa rd Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Edgard Varese, Alban Berg. Km1 Weill. Heitor Villa -Lobos, Silvestre Revueltas. Leonard Bernstein. and Vincent Persichetti; and l'rom the twenty -first century by Elliott Carter, Kaija Saariaho. Osvaldo Colijov. John Adams, and Jennifer Higdon. The anthology empltasizes complete works or movements. Each work selected is a good teaching píece-representatíve of its period, genre, and Mm posr,i·. Majorr.ompoi<ers s11r.h ~s M~r.ha11I. Land in i . D11 Pay. Josquin. Ryrd.

To access these resources and more, go to wwnorton.com/ studyspace and regisler with lhe code in lhe fronl of this hook.

TO THE INSTRUCTOR ABO UT THE TEXT

The new Ninth Edition of A Historx of ll7estem Mu.sic offers the most current. authoritative scholarship available. Each chapter has been revised and u.pdated to rel1ecl recent research and to incorporate suggestions from reviewers and instructors. A new fmal chapter on music in the twenty-fi.rst centuty brings the story u.p to the present, with a focus on new technologies fo r producing, distributing. and hearing music and on growing lrends toward fusion of traditions to create new approaches to music. The d iscussion of music in the twentieth century has been reorganized both to delineate the differences between veroacu.lar and classical traditíons and 10 emphasize the commonalí lies between them. Such common themes include engagement with political and social concerns between the wars, the emergence of music of the Americas onto the world stage. and shared trends in the decades after \Vorld \Var II such as increasing demands on performers and listeners. focus 011 atten tive listeníng, experimentation with new techniques, and incorporation of non -Western traditions. Throughout lhe text. there is greater emphasis on performers and performance. including ln Pe1formance sidebars on major performers from ancient times to today and on issues such as historically informed performance. the use of voices or instruments in perfomúng medieval and Renaissance secular music. the ca reers of performers from medieval minstre ls to a modem string qual'tel, how to add embellishmem and ornamentation to music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras through the nineteeoth century, and the cbanging relalionships between opera singers and composers.

Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart. Beethoven, Schube11, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Schoenberg, Stravin sky. Bartók. John Cage. and John Ada.ms are represented by mu.lliple works. reflecting the composers· range of style. Other pieces revea l chains of developme nt, inch1ding gen r,es, conventions, forms, anel techniques, from the mass to sonata form and from counlerpoinl to seria.lism. Selections encom pass not only lhe standard canon bu t also music from Spain, Eastern Europe. and the Americas; music of the African American tradition: music by women : and music by living composers. The newly expanded recorded anthology features updaled recordings from some of the best p,erfonners and ensembles work.i ng today alongside classic recordings by great artists, includi ng: • Early music ensembles Academy of Ancient Music, Altramar. Anonymous 4. LesArt Florissants. Chapelle Royale, Chiaroscuro. Circa 1500, Concerto Cologne, Concerto Vocale, Dunedin Consort and Players, Englis h Baroque Soloists, Ex Cathedra, Gabrieli Consort. Gothic Voices. The Harp Consort, Hilliard Ensemble, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Les Musícíens du. Louvre, Lionheart, London Baroque. Ma11in Best Medieva l Ensemble. Orlando Consort. Sequentia. Tallis Scholars. Theatre ofVoices. and La Venexiana. • Singers Elly A.me li ng, füyan Asawa, Julian ne Baird, Cecilia Bartoli, Belhany Beardslee. Ian Bostridge, Montserral CaLallé, Paul Elliotl. Gerald Finley. Dietl'ich Fischer-Dieskau, Renée Fleming, Ellen Hargis. Paul Hillier, Lorraine Hunt, Emma Kirk.by, Guillemette Laurens, Evelyn Lear, Christa Ludwig, Ethel Merman. Birgit Nilsson , Nigel Rogers. Renata Scott o. William Sharp. Bessie Smith. Joan Sutherland. and Furio Zanasi,

Prcf'acc to t hc Nin t h Edi ti on

•

Harpsichordists Gustav Leonharclt. Byron Schenkman. Geneviêve Soly, and Colin Tinley.

• Lutcnists Eduardo Egüez, Lcx Eiscn ha rdt, Paul O'Dc tte, anel Hopkinson Sm ith.

• Violinists James Ehnes. Gidon Kramer. Sigiswald Kuijken. lngrid MaLthews. and Jaap Schroder. • Ccllist Yo-Yo Ma. • Pianisls Pie rre-LaurenlAima rd. VlaclimirAshkenazy. Malcolm Bilson, Aldo Ciccolini, Henry Cowell, Jorg Demus, Scou Jop lin. Lil i K,·aus, Jelly Roll Morton, U,·sula Oppcns, Sergci Rachmaninoff, Art1.J r Rubenstein. Rudolf Serki n. and Yuji Takahash i. • Orchestras Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Phi]harmonic. Chicago Symphony Orches1ra. Conce!'lgebouw Orchestra. London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symp hony Orchestra, New World Symphony. New York Philharmonic, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. San Francisco Symphony. Memhers of lhe Simón Bolivar Youth Orchesrra ofVenezuela, Tafelmus ik Baroq u e Orchesrra, anel Vicnna Philharmonic. • Conductors MarinAJsop. Herbert Blomstedt. Karl Bohm. Pierre Boulez. William Cbristie. Aaron Copland. Colin Davis. John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Hailink, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Paavo Jarvi, Erich Leiusdorf, James Levine, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kent Nagano Seiji Ozawa. Robert Shaw. Robert Spano. lgor Stravinsky. anel Michael Tilson Thomas. • Opera companies Bayreuth Festival Opera, Deutsche Oper Bcrlin , Kirov Opera, and Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. • Chambcr ensemb lcs thc Conco rd StringQuartct, Ensemb lc lotcrContcmporain. Guaroc ri String Quartel. Kodály Quartel. Tokyo St ring Quartet, anel Yuval Trio. • Bands the Royal Aliil]ery Band anel United Stales Marine Band. • Jazzartists Louis Ar mstro ng, Duke Ell ington, Dizzy Ci ll cspie. Earl (Falha) Hines, Charlie Parker, anel Bud Powell. US ING THE INSTRUCTOR' S RESOURCES

A füsto,y of Westem Mlisic. Ninth Edition. comes with a suite of instructor materiais lhat have been carefully developed to align with the goaJs anel contem of 1he tex1. • lnstructor's Resom·ce Disc is a helpful classroo:m too! that includes PowerPoio t lectw·e slides-with au<l io excerpts-and ali the an from the text.

xxxix

Prcfacc to t h c Ni nl h Edi lio n

• Test Ban.k by Anthony Barone (University of Nevada- Las Vegas). Stephanie Schlagel (Coliege-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati). anel Laurel Zeiss (Baylor University) includes over2.000 multiple -choice. true/ false. sbort-answer. ma tching. anel essay ques rions. Some q-uestions include musical examples, and each question is

identined with a topic. question cype (factual. conceptual. or applied). anel dU'nculty levei. • lnstru ctor's Manual by Rogcr Hickman (Califo rn ia Statc Univcrs ityLong Beacb) includes detaiJed teachlng advice for new anel experienced instrnctors alike. ln addition to suggested syllabi, the manua l contains an overview and list of learning objectives, lecture suggestions and class activities. discussion questions. anel a comprehensive annotated b ibliography. • No.r ton Coursepacks enab les students to access quizzes, reco rdings , and more via their campus learning managemenl system. Organized by chaptcrs in a playlist. ali thc recordings are ava i lab le as streaming music witb.in the coursepack, wb.ich also includes chapter diagnostic quizzes ( witb 25 questions per chapter exclusive to the coursepack), new listening quizzes for each musical work, flashcards. and more. • Norton Ope ra Sample r DV D conta i ns over lwo hou rs of lop-qua li•y live performances from the Me tropoli tan Opera. The DVD is ava il able Lo adopters frcc of charge.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No work of 11lis magnitude can be written without a legion of help. My 1:wofound lhanks to ali who have contributed to the preparation of lhis Ninth Ecütion. 1 have been assisted at every stage by the members of the Ed itorial Advi so ry Boa rcl- Michael AJan Anderson, Arvcd Ashby. Grcgory Barne l.L James A. Borde rs. Mauro Calcagno. Drew E:clwa rd Davies, Andrew Dell'Antonio, Cha rles Dill, Don Fadcr, Andrcw Flory, Rebccca L. Ccr bcr, Jonathan Cibson, Robe rt O. Gjcrdi11gen, Dav id Grayson, Hele n M. Greenwald, James Gric r, Karen He nson, D. Kern Holo man . StevenJo hnson, Lewis Lockwood. Mic hae l P. Long, Melan ie Lowe, Rebccca Maloy, Michael Marissen, Mary Sue Morrow, Margaret Notley, Gretchen Peters, Heather Platt, Hilary Poriss, John Rice, Margarct Rorkc, Jcssc Rosen berg. Stcp ha nic P. Schlage l, Carl B. Schm idt, W. Anthony Sbeppard, Christopher J. Smith , Lanr Starr, Pamela F. Starr, Russell Stinson, Susan Youens, Charles Youmans, and Laurel Zeiss. Members of the Board reviewed proposed changes to this book and to NAWM; read and commented on chapters: pointed me lo relevant scholarship: answered individua] queries; anel suggesred ideas or turns of phrase, many of which I have incorporated. Tbeir help has made this a much better book. anel [ am cleeply grateful Severa] oth ers assisted directly with research and writiug. Barbara IRussano Hanning drafted many of the sidebars (identif1ed 1vith her initials) and

P rcf'acc to t hc Nin t h Edi ti on

xli

xlii

Prcfacc to 1h c Ni n1h Edi tio n

allowed me to borrow ideas and passages from ber Concise Histo,y of" Westem Music. Gretchen Peters contributed the s idebar 011 minstrels in chapter 1. Devon Nelson provided research and initial drafts for the sidebaron historically informed performance in chapter 13. Harry HaskeU helped with revisions for ch apters 20- 23 and 25- 30 and drafted preliminary versions for new

and Jean Burkholder. who introduceel me to the love of music; Bill. ]oa nne. and Sylvie Burkholder, whose enthusiasm renewed my own; and P. Douglas McKinney. whose unending patience, encouragement. and support have sustaineel me tlu-ough three editions over more than a dozen years. My faither. who passed away during the frnal stages oi' revision, was always my b iggest fan,

sidebars on nineteenth-century women composers. Maria Malibran. Victor

showing my previous editions of this book to everyvisitor and giving copies to

Maurel. and Hans von BUlow. Laura Dallman. Nathan Landes. and A.manda Sewell helped me plan chapter 39 and outlined init ial drafts for po rtions of it: the lnnovations sidebaron twenty- lirst- century technology is mostly Nathan's work. David Me t.zer. Kyle Gano. Mark Katz . and Ma t lhew Leone also provided suggestions fo r c:hapter 39. Katherin e Baber. Joanna Biermann, Bruce A. Brown, Nell ie Case, Ted Do Bois, Paul M. Ellison, Timot hy David Frccze, Dav id A. Gable. Alan Gosman. Jacques Hend rickx. Beirkley Kalin . Ma rk Katz . Hyu n Joo Kim, Ra lph Locke, William Meredith, David Metzer, Nancy Newma n, Heather Platt, AlexanderSilbiger, Blake Stevens, Kristen Strandberg, Michael Strasser, Richard Taruskin, Paul van Emmerik, Basil \Valsh, Charles \Vhit man, and Beverly Wilcox offcred suggestions for improvemcn ts, from contcnt to wording. My co llcagucs Phil Ford, Halina Goldbcrg, Daniel R. Mc lamed , Kristina Muxfeldt, Massimo Ossi, Ayana O. Smith, and Giovann i Zanove llo answered queries and offered ideas. Overthree huncl red instructors provided extensive feedback about the previous edition anel suggestions for changes. Laura Dalhnan, Nathan Landes, anel Matthew Leone assisted with updating the bibliography. and Daniel T. Rogers provided research assistance. Marilyn Bliss created the index. Many thanks for their contri.butions. ln addition, I remain indeb teel to the many peop le who assisted in p reparing the Seventh and Eighth Editions . whose ideas continue to play a .s ignificant role in this new edition. lt has been a grea r pleasu re to work with the staff at \V. \V. Norton. Mari beth Anelerson Payne. music editor. has been a constant source of ideas. s uppo rl. enlhusiasm. and editorial suggestions. Katby Ta lalay ediled and co pyedited the rnanuscripl with unfa ili ng goocl sense and good hum()r anel gcntly nudgcd me whcn I fcll bch ind schcdule . Justin Hoffmann ovcrsaw the developme nl of the accompanying edition of NAWM. Allison Courtney Fitch was the copyeditor. and Pamela Lawson served as the p roject editor for NAWM. Megan Jackson secu red pen n iss ioos fo r this book and for NAWM. Ariella Foss and Michael Fauvc r served as ed itorial assistants. Patric ia Marx was thc photograph edi tor, and Michael Fodcra rcscarchcel thc imagcs and obtained copyright permissions. Jane Searle oversaw procluction anel magica lly kept thc process moving. Jill ian Burr contributcd thc hcautiful design. David Botwinik did the elegaot music typesctting, auel Carole Desnoes tbe attractive layouc. Steve Hoge designeel anel produced the electroni.c media accompanying the book. 1cannot thank them ali enough for their skill, dedication. anel counsel. l would also like to thank Randall Foster and his staff at Naxos for their di ligence anel hard work on the recoreliug package that accompanies NAWM. Many thanks as well to Roger Hickman. who was the recording consulcant and reviewed ali the masters. Thanks fmally but most of ali to my family. especially my parents Donald

anyone he ihought would enjoy it. Tbis edition is dedicaled to him.

- ]. Peter B1ukhclder

October 2008

ABBREVIATIONS

s.c.e. C. F..

Before C<lmmon Era (equ ivalent to s.c.) Com mon Era (equivaleni t<l a.d.) Source Readin.gs in. Mu.sic History (scc "'Fo r Further Rcading;· p. A23, fo r cita t.ion code).

PITCH DESI GNATIONS

Ln tbis book. a note refe rred to withou t rega rei to its oeiave regis1e r is des ignated by a cap ital lcttcr (A). A note in a part icular octavc is dcsignated in italics. using lhe following system:

-,e..;;:==

CtoB r.10I>

4 ...-

" ~

e' tob'

o..

e" rob"

" ' ' ' 1111

t \

A HISTORY

~ T E R N MUSIC

· PART·

1 THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL WORLDS very aspect of today·s music has a his tory. and many fundamental elements can be traced back thousands of years. Prehistoric societies developed instruments. pitches. melody. and rhythm. Early civilizations used music in religious ceremonies. to accompany dancing , for recreation, and in education-much as we do today. Ancient writers directly iníluenced our ways of thinking about music. from concepts such as notes. intervals. and scales. to notions of how music affects our feelings and character. Medieval musicians contributed further innovations, devising systems for notating pitch and rhythm that led to our own, creating pedagogical methods that teachers continue to use. and developing techniques of polyphony. harmony, form. and musical structure that laid the foundation for music in all subsequent eras. Church musicians sang chants that are still used today: court poets and musicians composed songs whose themes of love·s delights and torments are reílected in songs of our time: and both church and secular musicians developed styles of melody that have inlluenced the music of later periods. The music and musical practices of antiquity and the Middle Ages echo in our own music. and we know ourselves better ií we understand our heritage. Yet only fragments survive Írom the musical cultures of the pasr, especially the distant pasr. So our fi rst task is to consider how we can assemble those fragments to learn about a musical world of long ago.

MUSIC IN ANTIQUITY

Part Outline 1 MUSIC IN ANTIQUITY 4

.... 2 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM 22 3 ROMAN LITURGY AND CHANT 46 4 SONG AND DANCE MUSIC TO 1300 67 5 POLYPHONY THROUGH THE TH IRTEENTH CENTURY 84

6 NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 111

•

The cullure of Europe and the Americas- known as Western culture to dist inguish it from the tra ditional culturcs of Asia- has decp roots in the civili,;ation~ of antiquity. Our agriculture, writing, cities, and systerns of trade derive frorn the ancient Near East. Our mathematics, calendar, astronomy, and medicine grew from Mesopotamian, Egyp dan, Greek, and Roman sources. Our philosophy is

founded on Plato and Aristotle. Our primary religions, Christianity and Judaism. arose in tl1e ancient Near East and were iniluenced by Greek thought. Ow· literature grew out of Greek and Latin trndilions and dsew on ancient myth and scripture. Our arlists imitated ancient sculpture anel arclútectw·e. From medieval em pires to modem democracies. governments have looked to Creece and Rome for cxamples. The music ofWestern cuhure , known as Weslern music, also has roots in antiquity, from the scales wc use to th e functions rrnusic serves. The stro nges l direct iníluence comes through Greek wril ings, wh ic h became the foundation for European views of music. Thc influence of ancient music itsclf is more difncuh to trace. Little notated music survived, and few if any European musicians before the sixtecnth century could rcad tbc ancient notation. Yet sorne musical practices continued, passed down through oral tradition. These echoes of ancient music in the \Vestem tradition are reasou enough to begin our survey by examining the roles of music in ancient cultures. t he links between ancient practices and those of la.ter ,centuries. and the debt \Vestem music owes to ancient Greece. Starting with ancient music also lets us cons ider how we can lea rn ahout music

l ho Earliest Music

C ti A P T E li 1 • Music in Antlqulty

(BlockS,~4-...,....J

of the past anel wha1 types of eviclence we can use to recons1ruct the history of music from any age. Music is souncl. anel sounel by its nature is impennanent. What remains

Types ofevidence

of the music from past eras are its historical traces. of four main types: (1) physicaL remains such as musica l instruments anel performing spaces: (2) visual images of musicians. inslruments. anel performances: (3) writings

~> ~- ~

\ r,ATOl. 1 \,-

::.\i~,:; 7TÕ\ushalh• }'!''"' AS/A ".\

~s. ·• ~;_

1.hese traces. we can l. ry to reco nsl rucl what. music o f a past cullure was like. recognizing that our unclerstaneling wi ll always be partia! anel

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rl'.

O•

'..._ . ÜEf.triC

CRETE

Medi r e ,

r ti"

CYl'RUS eu n Seu N,k

-... \__

evielence in abundance. But for ancient music, relatively little remains. Even for Creece. by for the best- elocumented ancient musical tracli tion. we have ouly a small portion of the instrumencs, images, wric-

t"5

( Tors ~ ,...

>.~"'º

will be iníluenced hy our own values anel concerns. Wc are most conlielent of success when we havc &li four types of

~--..,.

EMl'IRJ::

\f/M0R

aboul music anel musicians; anel (4) music itself preserved in notaLion. through oral tradition. o r (sincc thc 1870s) in rccordings. Using

JllTnll\

'[)rc

JUD.f.J

.oumnscus S y R 1A N D B S B RT y lotdon R

~ _ J~mym• Dtod ' .,',IV' Soo

Mempbis •

EC Y PT

ings, anel music that once existeel. For other cultures we have no music at all. By examiningwhat traces survive and whal we can conclude from SA HA RA

them, we can explore how each type of evidence contributes to omunderstanding of music of the past.

FIGURE 1.2 : 771e

ancient Neor Eo.sl.

The Earliest Music The earli est evidence of music- making lies in survivin g instruments and representations. ln lhe Stone Age. peo ple bored fmger boles in animal bones and marnmoth ivory to make wh istles and llut es. F'igure 1.1 shows onc of thc olelcst anel most complete bone llutcs yet found in Europc. dating from about 40,000 e.e.E. Paleolilhic cave paintings appear to s how musical instruments being p layed. Pottery llu tes, rattles, and elrums were common in tbc Neolithic era. and wall paintings in Turkey from lhe sixth millennium _e.e.E. show drummers playing for dancers and for thc hunt. to drive out game. Such imagcs provi de ou r primary ev idcnce for the roles music played in these cultures. Once people learneel to work with metal, in the Bronze Age (begin11ing i11 the fourth millennium e.e.E.). they made met;il instnnncnts. inclueling bells, jingles, cymbals, rattles, and horns. Pluckeel s tring instruments appeared arounel the sarne time, as s hown on stone carvings; the inst111ments themselves were maele ofperishable materiais, and few have surviveel. AJt11ough we can learn about vaYious facets of prehistoric musical cultures from images anel archaeologicaJ remains. our unelerstaneling is severely limiled by the lack of any wrillen record. The invention of writ ing, which marked the end of the prehistoric period, aelded a new type of evielence. and it is with these accounls thaL lhe h.istory of music properly hegins.

s/10 wi11g 1/t-e loca1ion

ofthe mai11 cities and civüizatiMs of Mesopotarnia and q;Jpt.

Frontview of a bone jliite made Jrom the radins (wingbone) ofagriJJon vulture. unearthed in 2008 at Hohle Fel.s Cave in theAch Valleyin Swabia (southwestem Cerma,ny) and eslimated to date Jrom alwut 40.000104-2.oooyearsago. JVith five finger lwfos. it ts the most complete ofthe earlyflutes yet recovered. {SASIIA SCIIUEKMA.S~'/Al'l'/ FIGURE 1.1,

CF.1TY IMACl!S)

I,istniments andiniages

Music in Ancient Mesopotamia Mesopolamia. the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rive rs (now part of L-aq and Syria). was home to a numher of peoples in ancienl limes. The map in F'igure 1.2 shows severa! of the mosl importanl civil izalions lhal developed rhcrc and in nearby rci,•ions ovcr a span o i' more than two thousand yca rs. He rc in thc fourlh millcnoium e.e.E.. lhe ftrst true cil ics and civilizations emerged- from Nagar anel Hamoukar in the nor1h to Un1k in the south- ancl tbe Sumerians elevelopeel onc of the first know11 forms of writing. using cuneifo rm (weclge-shaped) imp ressions on ílat clay tablels. Th is system was adopted by later civilizations. including thc Akkaelians anel the Babylonians. Many tabl ets have been dcciphered, anel some mention music. Archaeological remains anel images are still crucial for understanding the music of this time. Pictures show how instruments were held and p iayed anel in what circumstances music was useel, while surviving instruments reveal details of their construction. F'or example, archaeologists exploring the royal tombs at Ur. a Sumerian city on the Euphrates. founel severa! lyres anel /,arps. two k.inds of plucked string instruments. as well as picwres of them bei.ng played , ali from ca. 2500 n.c.r.. ln a lyre, the strings run paraJ lel to the resonating sounelboard anel attach to a crossbar supporteel by two arms; in a harp. the strings are pe rpendicular to lhe soundboard, and lhe neck that supports them is attached directly to the soundbox. Pigure 1.3 is a reconslruclion of one of the i.nstruments from Ur: a bull lyre. a distinctively Sumerian lyre whose so undbox fealu res a hull's head. which had religious signiÍlcance. F'igure 1.4 is pari ol'a n inla id pane i dep ict inga music ian playing

Music in Anclent Mesopotamia

C ti A P T E li 1 • Music in Antlqulty

a bull lyre ata victory banque!. Tb e player holds the lyre. supported by a strap around bis neck. perpendicular in front of llim and plays it with both hands. Together image and instrument reveal that the lyre had a variable number of strings runningfrom a bridge on lhe soundbox to che crossbar, where they were knocted around sticks

TIMEL INE Mesopotamia. Greece. an.d Rome

that could be turned to change the tension and thus Lhe tuning of each string. 0lher instruments of the period included lutes. pipes. drums, cymbals, clappers. ra1 Lles, and bells. Combin ing wrillen recoreis with images of music- making allows a much full er unde rstanding of how Meso polamian cultm·es used music, s howing 1hat tbeir repe n o ri es included wedding songs. funeral laments, milita r)' music, work songs. nurscry songs, dance music. tavern music. music for en te rtaining at feasts, songs to address the gods, music to accompany cere mo nies and process ions, and epics sung with instn1mentnl accompaniment- all but thc last uses that continue today. As is true for eve,)' era until the nineteenth ccntury. wc '111d th e bcst cvidcncc for music of the elite classes, primariJy rulcrs and priests , wbo had the rcsources to induce artisans to makc instruments, musicians to make music, artists lo depict il, and scribes to wr ite about it. Written sources also provide a vocabulary for music and some information on musicia11s. Word lists from ca. 2500 s.c.e. 011 include terms for instrumeuts. ttmingprocedures. performers. performingteclrniques. and ge11res or rypes of musical composil ion. The earliest composer known LO us by name is Enheduanna (íl. ca. 2300 B.C.F..) , an Akkad ian high priestess at Ur. who composed hym ns (songs lo a god) to lhe moon god Nanna and moon goddess lnanna: thei r text.s. but not her music. surv ive on cuneiform tahlets. A.round 1800 B.C.P.., Babylonian musicians began to write down what they knew instead of passing it on by word of moulh only. Their writings describe Luning, i nlerva.ls. im p rovisatio n, perfo rming techniq u es. and genres. incl ud i ng love so ngs, laments, anel hymns. Here again we frnd many aspects of mus ic 1:hat continucd into la ter times.

MUSICAL

H ISTORICAL

• ca. 3500- 3000 B.C.E. Rise of Sumerian cities • ca. 3100 Cuneiform writing established • ca. 2SOO Royal tombs at Ur built • ca. 2300 Enheduanna composes her hymns

FIGURE 1.3: Reconstn1ctio11 ofa S11m erio.n bu.11 lyreJrom l11e Royal Ceme1esy,11 Ur. ca. 2500 a.e.E. (O TILtTJtUSTtl!S OPTIII; IUUTISU MUSJ!.U M/ AR1'

ktSOUI\CE. XY)

FIGURE 1.4 : Tnlaid panei from

Ur. ca. 2600 B.C. f •. showing a bu.11 lyre being pla.yed ar. a vi.ctory bonque t.(TH E KKITISH ,.,ustU),I , t.ONl>ON , l'UOTI); EKICU

U SSING/AJlT Hl:SOUJlCE, NY)

• ca. 18 00 Babylonian writings about music • ca . 1400- 1250 Oldest nearly complete piece

Among the writings are instructions for mning a st ring instrumcnt that indica te the Babylonians used seven- note dicaonic scales. They recognized seven scales of this type. corresponding to th e seven diatonic scales playable on the white keys of a piano. These scales have parallels inche ancienc

Greek musical system as well as in our own. suggesting that Bahylonian theory and practice inlluenced that of Greece. d irectly or indil-ectly. and 1.h us Em·opean music. The Babylonians used their names for intervals to c1·ea1e t.h e ea rliest known musical 110/atio11. The old est nearly comp lete piece, f'rom ca. 1400- 1250 B.C.E. , is on a tabl et shown in Figure 1.5 tha1 wa s found at Uga1·it, a merchant city-state on Lhe Syrian coast. Schola rs have proposed poss ible transcriptions for thc music. but the notai ion is too poorly understood to bc read with conftd ence. Despi te tb e invention of notation, mos! music was either played from memory or improvised. Mus icians most likcly did n ot p lay or s ing írom n otation, as modern performers do, but used it as a written record from which a me lody could be reconstrncted. as cooks use a recipe.

OTHER CIVILIZATIONS

for other ancient culhrres we also have insh·uments. images. and wl'iüngs that cestify to thei.t· musical praclices. India and China developed independently from Mesopotamia and were probahly too distant to affect Greek or European music. Sur• ca. 800 Homer, 1/iad and viving sou ,·ces thai shed light on Egyp1ian musical tradit ions Odyssey are especially rich, including many artifacrs, paintings, • 753 Rome founded and hieroglyphic writings preserved in tombs. Archaeological remains and images that relace to mus ic a re relalively scanl for • ca. SOO Pythagoras dies ancient Israel, hut music in religious observances is described • ca. SOO Roman Republic in Lhe Biblc. Although some sc hola rs have tricd to discover begins and decipher musica l indicat.ions in Egyptian h ie roglyphics and wall pa intings and in ancient copies of the Bible, no co nsensus has been reached th at musical notation is even present. Through physical re mains, images. and writings abou t music we ca n ga in a sensc of a vibrant musicaJ life in the ancient Near East, but without actual music to perform, it remains almost entirely silent. FIGURE 1.5: Cl!ly t!lblcl Jro,n.Ugarii, ca. 14001250 B.C. E.• witl, lext and musical notation for a hyrnn IO Nikkal. a, wife oftlie moon god. The words are writ· ten abooe lhe double line. lhe mu.sic below. • ca. 800 Rise of Greek citystates

( l)M,IASCIJS N'ATIO NAL

MUSEUM , J'ltc>TO; OR, ANNI! KIU.t E.H}

Music in Ancleni Groek Life and Thought

Music in Ancient Greek Life and Thought Ancient Greece is the earliest civilization that offers us enough evidence to construct a well- r ounded view oi' musi ca] culture, al Lhougb there are s lill many gaps. As s hown in Figure 1.6, Creek civil ization e ncompassed not C>n ly Lhe Greek península but islands in the Aegean. much of Asia Min or, sou1 he rn lialy, a nd Sicily. and colo ni es ring i ng 1he Mcdite rrancan and Black Seas. From this anc ienl cuhwc, wc have nume rous images, a íew s urviving instruments. writings about mus ic's roles and effects, theoretical writi ngs on the elements of musi c, and over l'orty examp les of mus ic in a notation wc can read.

C ti A P T E li 1 • Music in Antlqulty

"- ,..,.,

' • 458 e.e.e Aeschylus.

Agamemnon • 408 Eurípides. Orestes

• ca. 380 Plato. Republic

• ca. 330 Aristotle. Policies • ca. 330 Aristoxenus.

Harmonic Elements • 146 Greece becomes prov-

ince of Rome • 128-127 Second Delphic

Hymn to Apollo composed • 29 - 19 Virgil. Aeneid

INSTRUMEN TS ANO THEIR USES

• 27 Rome becomes empire under Augustus We kuow about an eient Greek instrumcnts aud how to p lay them from writiugs, archaeological remains, and bundreds • 1st cent. e.E. Epitaph of of images on clay pocs. The most importam instruments were Seikilos the cmlos (pi. au.loi). lyre. and /..·ithcira.. The Gree ks also • 98-117 e.e. Roman Empire used harps , pan pipes, horns, an early form of organ, anda reaches ics peak variety of percussion instruments such as drums , cymbals. • ca. 127-48 Ptolemy. and clappers . Harmonics The aulos was apipe typicaJly played in pairs. as pictured in Figure 1.7. Each pipe had fmgerholes anda mouthpiece litted • 2nd cent. Cleonides. with a reed . No reeds survive . but wri tten descriptions sugHarmonic lntroduction gesl lhat lhey were long lubes with a beating longue. lmages of • 4th cent. Aristides Quintiliaaulo i be ing played s how both hands in the sarne linge r posinus, On Music tion. lcading most scholars to concl udc that thc two pipes were played in uniso n, with slight diffe rences in pitch crealing a plangent sound. But mode m reconst ructions based on s urviv ing auloi ca n also be played to produce parallel oc laves, lifths, o r fourths. or a drone or se parai.e li ne in one pipe aga inst a me lody in the othe r, so that 1hese mcthods ca nnot be n1 led ou r. The autos was used in lhe wo rship of Oionysus, god of fer1i li ty and wine. Links to fertilily and wine exp lain its prcscnce in thc drinkingscenc in Figure 1.7; th e in strument is playcd by a womau who was likely a prostimte as we l I as musicia11. The grea1 tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Eurípides, created for the Dionysian festivais in Athens. have choruses and other musical porüons that were accompanied by or aJcernated with t he aulos. Lyres us ually had seven strings aud were strummed with a plecrrum, or Lyre piek. There were severa! forms of lyre. the mo st characteristic of which used as a soundbox a Lortoise shell over which oxhide was s Lretched. As shown in Figure 1.8, rhe player bel d til e lyre in front, resting rhe instrument on the hip and supporting it by a strap around the left wrist. The right hand strummed with lhe pl ectrum while the f1ngers of the lefl hand touched 1.he strings.

FIGURE 1.6 : Creece tuHl Creek seulemenrs aboui 550 n.c.t. The maiti ce,11ers of Creek popul1J1io1t and culiure were ihe Creek, península. 1heAegeon Jslands, 1/ie wes, coo.st ofAsio, Minor (modem Turke,y). and. souihem Ttalycrnd Sicily. lmow,i to the Romo.ns as Magna Graecia (GrealerGreece).

Kithara

Memoryand improvisation

perhaps to pr oduce harmonics or to dampen ce rla in s crings to prevenr chem from sounding. The lyre was associated with Apollo. god of light. prophecy. learning. anel the a ri s, es pecially music and poel ry. Learning lo play lhe ly re was a co re e lemc n1 of educat ion in Athens. Both men and women played 1he lyre, which was uscd to accompany dancing, singing, or rec il.a l ion of cpi c poet1y like Horne r·s /Uad and Odyssey; to pr ovide mus ic for weddings; o r to play for recreation. The ki tha ra was a Jarge lyr c, used cspcc ially for processions and sacrcd cc remon ies and in th e theater, aad normally played wh iJc lhe musician was sl:and ing. Figure 1.9 s hows a kilharode. a s inger accompanying h imse lf on the kitha ra (see ln Performance: Com pctitions and Professional Musicians, p . 12). lmages from ancient Greece rarely show performers reading frorn a scr oll or tablct whilc p laying. lt is clear from l'his and from the writtcn r eco rd tha t the Greeks , despite having a well- developed form of notatiou by the fourth ceumry n.c.E. (see below), primarily learnecl music by ear; 1hey played and sang from memory or improvised using conventions and formulas.

GREEK MUSICAL T HOUGHT More wrilings abouL music su1·vive from anc ient Greece Lha.n from any earlier civilization. As a resulr, we know a great deal about Greek thought co ncerning music. There were two principal k:iuds of writings ou music: (1) ph.ilosophical doctr ines on the n ature of music. ils effects. and ils proper uses: and (2) systemati c descri ptions of i-he marer ials of music, wha Lwe now ca ll mus ic 1heo ry.

Music ln Ancient Gree, Life and Thought

C ti A P T E li 1 • Music in Antlqulty

COMPETITIONS AND PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS

FIGURE 1.7: Greek red·figu.redrinkingcup s/1-0wing o. scen e o.to. spnposium. or drinking po.rty. where o. womo,n plo.y s th edoi,ble aulos. A drinkingcttp. like the one on ·whic/1. this pai11ti11g o.ppeo.rs, is seen on the lower riglu . Ort the left is lhe pi<,yer's o.ulos bag. wilh asma/ler baga uached 10 ir. 1ha1 held. tl1e reeds for tlie

ottlos. ( THt LOUVRE, PARIS, PllANCE. PIIOTO: Ré U-SION DtS

Greek red·figure drinking cup showing a lyre lesson . The teacher Oeft) /10s jusl strummed the s1ri11gs using 1/1e plectrum in his ri€h1 hand. Viewing the studenL ·s !JTC Jrom the ba.ck. we can see the tortoise·shdl sound box. tli e s1rap around the left wrist, and the J111ge1·s oflhe left lwnd FIGURE 1.8.

tótJCJiin,g lhf! $ln'ngs. ( IUl,.UA Nt

ll IV YltCUSSISC ll ~ ft Kl) l.1'1,HUH; l)I I l'U AftT

lt t SOUtte; i,;, NY )

\fOSÊtS XATIONAOX/ART Rt SOU-11.Ct. NY)

ln borh r ealms , lhe Greeks achieved ins igh ts and formulated principies rhat h ave r ema ined importanr to this day. Th e most influential writings on the uses and e ffects of music are passages by Plato (ca. 129- 347 a. e.E.) in bis Rep1,b· lic and Timae11s and by Aristotle (384- 322 n.c.t:.) in his Polit.ics. Greek music theo ry evolved continually fro m the time oi' its founder, Pythago ras (d. ca. 500 s .c .E.). to Aristides Quintilianus (fourth ccnlury e .E.). its last imporlanl write r. As we might expect in a trad ition lasting nearly a mi llennium , write rs cxpressed diffe ring views, and the mea nings of many te rms changcd. The fol lowi ng emphasizcs th e featu res Lhat were mos t characte r is tic of Greek music and most important fo r the la ter histo ry ofWeste rn music. ln Greek mythology, music's inventors and ea r liest practition ers were gods and demigods , such asApollo. Hermes, Amphion, and Orpheus. The word rnusic (Greekmou,sikê) cl erives from theword forthc Musesaod originally denotecl any of the arts associated wüh them, from history to dance. For the Greeks, musie was both an art for enjoyment and a science closely related to ar ithmetic and astronomy. 1t pervaded ali of Greek life. from work. the militai)'· schooling. and recreation to retigious ceremonies. poeu-y. and the thea'!e1·. Musicas a performiug ait was called melos. from which the word m elody derives. The surviving Greek music is monop houic. eonsisling of a single melodie line. but that does nol mean il was always performed that way. We kn ow from pietures tha t singers acco mpanied themselves on lyre or kithara, but we do not know whether t hey sounded no tes in the melody. played a vari ant of l he melody (c reating /1ctcr<1pho11y ), or played an inde pe nd e nt part (creati ng polyf}ltony ). Melas cou ld denote an ins trum enta l mclody alone

religion, andsociety M11sic,

Music, poetry. anddance

From the sixth century B.C.E. or earlier. the autos and kithara were played as solo instruments, and competitions were held for the best performers. Contemporary accounts related that Sakadas of Argos won the prize for solo aulos playing at the Pythian Games in 586 , 582, and 578 a.e .E., performing the Pythic Nomes. a virtuoso com· position that portrayed Apollo's victory over the serpent Python. O ne writer attributes the piece to Sakadas, making him the earliest composer of instrumental music whose name we know. Contests of kithara and autos players. as well as festivais of instrumental and vocal music, became increasingly popular after the fifth cen· tury B.C.E. lndeed , the image in Figure 1.9 is from an amphora . a jar for wine or oil. awarded as a prize to the winner of a competition. As instrumental music grew more indepen · dent, the number of virtuosos rose and the music became more complex and showy. When famous artists appeared, thousands gathered to listen. Some per formers accumulated great wealth through concert tours or fees from rich patrons. particularly after they garnered fame by winning competitions. Among the musicians acclaimed for their performances were a number of women, who were excluded from competitions. But out· side t he competitions. most professional per· formers were of low status. often slaves.

FIGURE 1.9, Kitharodesingingwhisownaccom· panimenl on the kithara. w,th liis head lilted back. thefingers ofhis left luind touching some of the strings. apparently to damp them. a.nd the right han{I. holding rhe plec1rum, which he has jusL strummed across thestrings. Greek red·ftgu re amphorafrom thefounli century B.c.c.. attributed to the Berltn Pointer. <1·11r. ,.,,:rttm-ouTAN MUSf,uM oF A10'. t't,f.Tc';IIF.ll t>tJND, l'->$(1 (54. 11' . ~11) 1).IAÇt'! O'l'H t. ~t."l'KOll()J.l"fAN

MUSl!UM OP AR1')

or a song with text, and "perfect meios" was melody. text. and siylized dance movement conceived as a whole. For the Greeks. music and poet1-y were neasly synonymous. ln his Repnblic. Plato defmed meios as a blend of text. rhythm, and harmonia ( here meaning relationships am o11g pitehes). ln his Poetics. Aristotle enumerated the elemen ts of p oelry as melody. rhythm. and language. a.nd noted tha1 the re was no name for artful s peech. whether prose or verse. that did not include musie. ·' Lyric'º p oetry mea nt poetry su ng lo the lyre: "tragedy" incorporates the noun õdê, ·'lhe art of s inging: · Many o Lher G ree k wo rds fo r diffe renl kinds of poel ry, s ueh as hymn. were mus ical te,ms .

Music ln Ancient Gre• ~Life and Thought

C H A P T E K 1 • Music in Antlqulty

For Pythagor as and his followers. numhers were tlie key to the universe. Mttsic and number and music was inseparahle from numbers. Rhytbms were ordered by numbers, because each note was some multiple of a primary duration. P)<thagoras was crediled with discovering that the octave. úíth. and fourth. long recognized as consonances, are also related to numbers. These incervals are gen-

ARISTOTLE ON THE DOCTRINE OF IMITATION, ETHOS. AND MUSIC IN EDUCATION

erated by the simplest possible ratios: for example. when a string is divided. segments whose lengths are in lhe ralio 2: 1 sound an octave. 3 : 2 a f1fth. and 4 :3 a fourc.h. Because mus ical sounds and rhythms were ordered by numbers, they were Lhought to exempliíy lhe general concepl of lw m w11 iu , lhe unií1calion of parts in an orderly who le. Through th is flexible concepr- which could encompass mathcmatical p ropo,·tions, ph ilosop hica l idcas, or the st.ructurc or socicty as well as a particular musical inlerval, scale type. orstyle of rnelocly-Greek wrilers conceived of musicas a reflection of t he order of the universc. Musicwasclosc lyconnected to astronomyth rough this notion ofhannonia,. lndeed, Claudius Ptolemy (fl. 127- 48 e.E.), the leaeling astTOnomer of antiq uity. was also an important writcr on music. Mathcmatical laws and proportions were considered rhe underpinnings of both musical intervals and the heaven ly boelies, and certain planets, thei r elistances from each other. anel thei r movements were be lieved to correspond to particu lar notes, intcrvals. and scales in music. Plato gave this idea poetic form in his myth of c.he "harmony of the spheres:· the unheard mus ic produced by c.he revo lutions of the planets. This notion was invoked by writers throughout the Midclle Ages anel !ater, inclucling Shakespeare in The Tempest and John Milton in Paraàise Lost, anel underlay the work of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), the founder of modem astronomy.

Harmonia

Music'"s iinportance in ancient Greek culture is shown

by its appearance as a topic ln books about society. such as Aristotleºs Pol,tics. Arlstotle believed that music could imitate and thus directly affecl character and behavior. and therelore should play a role ln education.

Musicu.nd astronomy

-*-

[Melodies] contain in themselves imitations of ethoses; and this is manifest, for even in the nature of the harmoniai there are differences. so that people when hearing them are affected differently and have not the sarne feelings in regard to each of them. but listen to some in a more mournful and restrained state. for instance the so-called Mixolydian, and to others in a softer state of mind, for instance the relaxed harmoniai, but in a midway state and with the greatest composure to another. as the Dorian alone of the harmoniai seems to act, while the Phrygian makes men divinely suffused;

for these things are well stated by those who have studied this form of education, as they derive the evidence for their theories from the actual facts of experience. And the same holds good about the rhythms also, for some have a more stable and others a more emotional ethos. and of the latter some are more vulgar in their emotional effects and others more liberal. From these considerations therefore it is plain that music has the power of producing a certain effect on the ethos of the sou 1. and if ít has the power to do this, lt is clea r that the young must be direc ted to music and must be educated in it. Also education in music is well adapted to the youthful nature; for the young owing to their youth cannot endure anything not sweetened by pleasure. and music is by nature a thing that has a pleasant sweetness. Aristotle. Po/irics 8.5. trans. Harris Rackham. in SR 3. p.29.

MUSIC ANO ETHOS Greek write rs believed that music could affecl e th1,s , one's eth ical cha racter or way of bcing and bchavi ng. Th is idca was built on thc Pythagorcan vicw of mus icas a system of pitch and rhythm govcrned by thc sarne mathemalical laws that operated in lhe vis ible and invisib le world. lfarmonia, in music rellecleel, and cou ld t hcreforc in flucncc. /ia,rmoni,a (usually translatcd "harmony") in other realms. The human sou! was seen as a composite whose parts were kep t in harmony by numcrica l relationships. Bccausc it rcflcctcd this orderly systcm, music could pcnetratc the souJ and r csrore its inner harmony. Through the doctrine oi' imitation outlined in his Polit.ics , Aristotle described how music affected behavior: music t hat im itated a cer tai n ethos aroused that e thos in the listener (see Source Reading, p. 14). The imitation of an ethos was accomplished partly through the choice of harmonia. in the sense of a scale type or style of melody. While !ater centuries would interpret hlm as auributing such effects to a mode or scale alone. ArislOt le probably also had in mind the melod ie turns and style characteristic of a hannonia and the rhythms and poetic genres most associated with it. PIato andA.ristotleboth ar(,'Ued thal eclucation shoul ds1ressgymnastics (to discipl ine thc body) and music (to discipline the mind) . ln his Republic, Piai.o insisLed that the t.wo must be balanced. because too much music made one weak and irrilable while too much gymnasties made one uncivilized, violent.

The doctrine of imitution

Music in eclucation

and ignorant. Only ccrta i n music was su itab lc, sincc habitual listcning to music that roused ignoblc statcs of mind disto rtcd a pcrson·s cha racter. Thosc being tra ined to govern should avoid melod ies expressing soflness and in do lence. Plato endorsed two harmoniai- the Dorian and Phrygian. because they fostered temperance anel courage- and exclucled othe rs. He deplorecl music that used com plcx scalcs or mixcd incompatible gcnres, r hythms, an d in stru ments. ln both bis Repub!ic anel Laws, Pia to asserted that musical conventions must not be changed, since lawlessness in art anel eclucation led to licen:se in man ners and anar chy in society. Sim ilar ideas have been articulated by goverrunents and guarcliaus of morality ever since, aud ragtime, jazz, rock, punk, and hip hop all been condemned for these very reasons. Aristotle. in his Politics. was less restrictive t han Plato. He hei d that music could be used for enjoymem as well as education and c.ha1 negarive emotions such as pity and fear couJd be purged by iuducing them through music and drama. However. he felt that sons of free citizens should not seek professional iraining on instmments or aspire io the virtuosiry shown by perfonners in competitions because it was men ial and vu lgar to play solely for the p leasure of others rather than for one·s own improveme nt.

Music ln Ancient Gre•~ Life and Thought

C H A P T E K 1 • Music in Antlqulty

EXAMPLE 12,

GREEK MUSIC THEORY No writings by Pythagoras survive. and those of his :followers exist only in f'ragments quoted by !ater authors. The earliest theoretical works we bave are Harmonic Ele111e11ts and Rhythmic Element.s (ca. 330 D.e.E.) by Aristoxenus,

,_._ •-o•

Tetrachords

EXAMPLE 1.1,

l,. Cl1romatic

'a.Diat0nic V

•

M (J

e. Enhannonic

-IP fN&id " • 11•&- 8 1

Mcson

Dieieugmenon

a pupil of A:ristotle. Important !ater writers include Cleonides (ca. second or tbird century e . E.) . Ptolemy. and Aristides Quintilianus. These theorists deftned conce pts stiU used today. as well as ones specifac to anciem Greek music. Their writings show how much lhe Greeks va lued abstract thought, logic. and systemalic defrnilion and classif1cation. an approach that has inllue nced all later writing (ln music. Only part of Aristoxenus' Rhrt,hmic ELemenis survives. but enough rema ins to show us that rhythm io music was closely aligned with poetic rhythm. Aristoxenus delines duration s as multipl es of a bas ic unit of tim e. This scheme parallels Crcck poctry, which fcaturcs patt.crns of longcr and s horte r syllables, nol stressed anel unstressed syllables as in English. ln Harmonic Elemenls, Aristoxenus dist inguishes between continuou,s movcment ofthevoice, glidingupand downas i11 spccch, auddiastematic (o r intervatlíc) movement, in which the voice moves between sustained pitches scparated by discrete intcrvals. A me lody consists of a series of no tes, eac h on a single pitch; an i11terval is formed between two notes of different pitch; and a scalc is a series of three or more different pitches in ascending or descendingoreler. Such seemingly simple delinitions established a ftrrn basis for Greek music anel aU !ater music rheory. By comrasc , Babylonian musicians apparently had no name for intervals in genera l, but had names on ly for intervals forrned between particular pairs of strings on the lyre or harp. The grea r.er abstraction of the Greek system marked a s ignificam advance. Unique t.o the Creek system were the concepts of te11·(1chord and ge1111s (pi. genera.). A tetrachord Oiterally. "four strings'') comprised four noles s panning a pe rfect fourth. There were three genera (classes) of tetrachord. shown in Example 1. 1: dicltonic , chro111.c11ic , and e11lwrmo11ic. The outcr notes of Lhe l.ctrachord wcrc considcrcd slalionary in. pitch, whilc lhe inner two notes cou ld move lo form d ifferent interva ls with in the tetra chord and create the different genera . Norma lly the smallest i11t ervals were at the bottom , lhe largest at lhe top. Tbe diatonic tet rachord included two whole tones anel a sem itonc. ln thc chromatic, thc top interval was .a tone anda half (cc(1lal to a minor th ird) and the others semilones. ln the en harmonic, the top interval was the size of two tones (equal to a major thi.rd) anel tbe lower ones approximately quartcr tones. AJI these intervals could vary slightly in size. giving rise to ··shades" within each genus. Aristoxenus remarked that the diatonic genus was the oldest and most natura l. the chromatic more recent. and the e11harmon ic the most refmed

The Greater PerfectSysie,n

Hyperbolaion

Mcsc

Rhythm. Thf' Greater Pe,fect

System

Not,e. interval. lrndscale

Tetrochord andgeniis

Speciesof conso,wnces

llypnton

Ptstamhanomcnos

and difiicu lt to hear. lndeed, we have seen that the Babylonia n sys tem, which predatcd lhe Crcck by more than a mi llcnnium, was d iaton ic. Since most melodies exceeded a fourth. t.heorists co mbined te trachoràs l.o cover a larger range. Two succcssivc tetrac horeis were co11j1111 ct if they sh.ared a note, as do thc lirst two t.ctrachords in Example 1.2, or clisj1111cl if they were separated by a whole tone, as are the second and lhird tetrachords. The sysrem shown in the examp le. with four tetrachords plus an aclded lowest note to complete a two -octave span, was called the G1·e<11e1· /'erfect System. The outer, ftxed tones of each tetrachorei are shown in open notes, the movable inner tones in black notes. Each note and tetrachord had a name to indicate its place in the system. As we see in the example above, the middle note was called ·'mese·· (midd le). the telrachord spanni.ng a fourth below it .. meson." the lowest tetrachorel .. hypaton" (n rst) , anel those ahove the mese ·'diezeugmenon" (disjunct) and "by perbo laion·· (of the extre mes). There was also a Lesser Perfect System, spanning an octave plus a fourth. with only one conjuncl teti-achord ( ..synemmenon." conjuncl) above the mese. Tbe system was ll!ll based on ahsolute F,xed pit.ch but on 1.he inte1vallic ·relat ions hips of notes anel letracho rds to each ot her_The transcriplion here in t.he range A-a' is purely conventional. Cleonides noled lhal in the d ia tonic genus the three mai 11 consona nces of perfcct fourth , lifth, and octavc wcre subd ivid ed into tones (T) and semi tonc8 (S) in on.ly a lim ited ournber of ways. wh ich he callcd sp ecies. This concept has proven useh1J in understanding Creek me lody, medieval cha nt , Henaissa11ce polyphonic mus ic, and eve n twentieth - century music, so it is worthy of special attention. A fourth contains two tones and one sem itone, and therc are only thrcc possiblc arrangcmcnts or spec ies. illustrated in Example 1.3a: with the semitone at the bottom (as in B- c--d- e), on top (as in c-d--e-j), or in the middle (as in d--e-f-g). Example 1.3b shows the four spccies of lifth. The seven species of octave, shown in Example 1.3c, are cornbinalio11s of the species of fourth and nfth, a division of the octave tbat beca me importam in medieval and Renaissance theory. Cleonides identined the species by whal .. the ancients" s upposedly called 1.hem. The ftrsl octave species. represenced by the span from B to b, was Mixo lydian, followed by Lycüan (e-e') , Pluygian (d-d'). Dorian (e-e'). Hypolydian (f-f). Hypophrygian (g-g') . and Hypodorian (a- a'). These seven octave s pecies parallel Lhe seven diatonic tunings recognized by the Babylonians, suggesting a continuity of practice and perhaps oí theory. As we will see in chapler 2. some medieval Lheorists !ater adopted these names for their mocles, but the latter cio nol match Cleonides'

Music ln Ancient Gre•~ Life and Thought

EXAMPLE 1.3, T • Tone

C ti A P T E li 1 ·

Cleonides· species of consonances

is common to ali eras. and we will see it many times in forthcoming chapters. lt can be frustratingwheu learning the history of music, since defmitions seem always to be changing. What is most important here is to recognize that not ali uses of words such as "' harmonia" and .. tones.. or of names such as .. Dor ian'' mean the sarne thing. and to seek to understand how each is used in concext.

S • Semítone

a. Spccies of fourtb

~- ;:==~=.:=:.==t3. ª=,. . -=-=-- 1@;__-- ·- ·- 1w-= =-=--=a S

T T S

T T

1,. Spccics óÍ fííth

. -. • H'r • 2.

'·

S T T T

• • . 1,·

T T

S T

... • . .. • • .. l!Y 4.

T T

ANCIENT GREEK MUSIC ~

T T

... • • .. 1 1 ~- - ,. . .. . • =:,: • • - • li t)=• - • - s s .. . • • ____m ::;,: • • -s .,, .. ... • e. Species or ocwve 1. MixolyJi:m

4. Dori:1n

•

2. Lydion

3. Phrygian

5 . Hypolyd ion

Fulli\\

1 Concose :\\ 1 1

6. HYJ>opluygin n

li'

Music in Antlqully

Epitaph of Seikilos

About fo rty- fwe pieccs or l'ragrnents of ancient Creek rnusic surv ive, ra nging from t.he flflh centu ry u.c.E. to lhe fowth century e.E. Mos[ a re from relatively late periods, com posed to Creek tex1s when Creece was dominated by Rome, and mos l were ,·ecovcrcd on ly in thc 1wcntic1 h ccnl.ury. AI I crnploy a mus ica l notalion i n which lette rs and othe r s igns are placed above the text lo ind icate notes and thei r du rations. The ea rl iesl exa mples are two fragmentary choruses from plays by Eurípides (ca. 485- 406 a.e. r..) wi th music that is probably by Eu rípides himself. Later pieces are more complete, including lwo Delphic hym ns to Apo ll o, lhe sccond from 128- 127 a.e.E.: a short verse or cpigra m by Seikilos inscribed as an epitaph on a tombstone from around the nrst cenlury e.E.; and four hymns by Mesomedes of Grete from the second cenlury c.r.. Co nsistencies among thesc survivingp ieces of music anel the theoretical writings reveal a close correspondence betweeu 1heory anel practice. The Epitaph of Seikilos (NA\VM 1), inscribed ou the tombstone in Figure 1.1 O. is sbown in Example 1.4 in original notation and modem transcription .

3 EXAMPLE 1.4:

• • T

Seikilos so,ig in origi,w.l notc,.tion. (o.bove the stojf) anel. t.ro.n.script,io,i

..,.,

(

llt rJ f ,po;( vou

i;nç

GOV

~Ir ~O-

octavc spccics, and thc octavc specics Jac k onc dclining aspcct of modc: a pri"ncipal note on wbich a melody is expectcd to end . The names Cleonid es used fo r lhe octave species also had oi her associa tions. Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian were cthnic names originally associated wilh s1yles of rnusic pracliced i n d ifferent regions of lhe Greek world (see map in Pigurc 1.6). Pia to anel Aristotlc used thesc narncs for harmoniai, in thc sense of scale types or melodie styles. The addition ofprefixes (such as Hypo -) multiplied the nurnber of names in use. La ter writers, incl ud ingAristoxenus, Cleonides, and Aristides Quintil ianus. used the sa1ne TJamcs for up to li fteen different tonoi, defming a tonos as a scale or se1 of pitcbes within a speciftc range or region ofthe voice. These essentially involve transposing the system of tones up or down by some number of semitones. Like lia.rmonia.i. tonoi were associated wi th character and mood. the h igher tonei being energetic and the lower tonoi seda te. \Ve should not presume that ali music from the Dorian region (southern Greece) used the Dorian octave species. Dorian harmonia. aml Dorian tonos. or that these three concepts were equivalent or even closely related. Rather, it appears t.hal writers over a spanof almosl a lhousand years we re applying fantiliar lerrns lo new uses. This tendency for musicians l.o use old !enns in new ways

J •·

--, ~

hU - •OO·-

Tonoi J

•pó<; ó - Ài -yov to

-t-ªFAP U

~ j tO

o q,'

Çfiv._

As long a.s yoidi,•e. be lightl,ea rted. Let n othing lroul>I~ yoi,. Lije is on!y too sho,i. and lime takes its 1011.

FIGURE 1.10: Tombstel~fro,n Tralles. nearAydin in southem Turkcy. probably first century· c.E. lt is inscribed with an epi&aph by Seik·ilos with pilch ondrhytlunnolotion, transcribed in Example / .4 and NA Wi\J J. ( <:01•1:N11Act N. NATJONAL Mus r.uM. 1x-vEN~ TORY NO. 148??)

Music in Ancient Rome

C ti A P T E li 1 • Music in Antlqulty

Over the modem no1ation appear alphaberical signs for the notes. and above those are marks indicaring when the basic rhythmic unit should be douhled or tripled. The melody is diatonic. covers an octave in range, and uses the Phrygian octave species. The notalion indicates the tonos called laslian by the lheorists, in which the sysrem shown in Example 1.2 is transposed up a whole step

(resulting in Fj and Q). The text balances extremes. counseling us to be liglnhearted even while acknowledging death. This is consistent wilh the Jastian tonos. which is near lhe middJe of the lifteen wnoi in terms of range and ums suggesrs moderation. The melody seems similarly moderate in ethos, neithcr excited nor depressed. but balancing the rising f1fth and lhüds thal begin mosl li nes of rhe poem with falling gestures at the end of each line. Thc fragmcnt from Eu,·ipides· Orestes (NAWM 2) su rvivcs on a scrap ofpapyrus from about 200 n.c.E .. shown in Figure 1.11. There ai-e seven lines of text with musica l notation above them, but only the m idtl lc po rtion of cach li ne survivcs. The notation calls fo r either the chromatic or enharmonic genus along with the diatonic and for instrumental notes inters perseel wi th thc vocal. Both tra its are notecl in clcscriptions of Eu rípides· music, suggesting tbat this music is indeed by hlm. ln this chorai ode, the women of Argos implore the gods to have mercy for Orestes, who has murdered bis mother Clytemnesrra for her inftdeHty to bis l'ather, Agamemnon. The poetry, and therefore the music, is dominated by a rhythmic pattern (the dochmaic foot) used in Greek t ragedy for passages of intense agitalion and grief. The music reinforces this ethos through smaU chromatic or enharmonic intervals. stark changes of register. anel lruncated lines f11led in by instrumencal notes. These examp les conform to the descriptions we have of Greek music and show (1) lhe ro le of instruments in supporling vocal music; (2) lhe idea thal music imitates ethos: (3) Lhe importance of poetic rhythm and structure in shaping mcloely: and (4) the use of dialonic. chromaüc, and enharmon ic genera as we ll as nolation. tonai, and octave species. While many questions rema in, we can underst.and the musica l culture of ancient Greece th rough thc four types of evidence we have exam incd i,, this chapter.

Enripides· Orestes 1

Full '-'

in.stmments. CAou1u. M Uiôt'.ô C:IVIC:0 )

FIGURE 1.11: Papyrusfragment. ca. 200 e.e.E.• wi1hpa,tofa choro$Jrom Eurípides· Q,.estes. 1.ranscribed i rl

f,4 1( \f 2. (ijS'íBR•

llEICJIISCAt NATCQXAL•

Music in Ancient Rome We know less about music in ancient Rome. There are plenty of images, some instruments. and thousands of written descriptions. but no settings of Latiu te,-ns survive from d1e Roman period. The Romans took much of their musical culture from Greece, especially after the Greek islands became a Roman province in 146 ».e.E. As in Greece, lyric poeu'Y was ofien sung. The tibia. (Roman version of Lhe aulos) played importa nt roles in religious r ites, mili tary music, anel theatrical performances. which included musical preludes and inlerludes. songs. and dances. Thetubri. a longs1raight trumpe t. derived from the 8t ruscans (earlie r

FIGURE 1.12: RomM fim erol proccssion 011 a sarcophagus relieffrom Amitemum. e11(Loff,rs1 centw:,•B.C. E. AI the bouo,n right we secfour men. plaJing 1he tibiu. whicli was simi/a,· 10 lhe Creek a.u/os. Abovc 1/wm are two men playingthe comi.and one an the lituu$. bali, T::I msca n - Roman bra.ss

8IBUOTHt•.v•• ••AJ

resielents of the ltalian pen insula), was usecl in religious, state, and mi li tary ceremonies. The most characteristic instruments were a large G-sbaped circular born calleel rhe comu and a smaller vers ion. the buccina. F'igu re 1. 12 shows tibias anel cornus being played in a funeral procession. Music was pan of mos! public ceremonies anel was featured in private entertainment and education. Cicero. Quintili an. anel other writers state that cultivated people should be eelucated in music. Ouringthe great days of the Romau Empire in the iirst and second centuries e. E •• ar!. architectme. music. philosophy. and other aspects of Greek cu]wre were imported into Rome and other cilies. Ancient writers tel1 of famous virtuosos, large choruses anel orchestras. and grandiose musical festivais and competitions. Many of lhe emperors supported and cult ivated music: Nero even aspired to personal fame as a musician and competed in contests. But with the econom ic decline of the empire in thc third and fourth centuries, production of music on the large and expensive sca.le of earlier days ceased. Wha tever el irect inlluence Roman mus ic may have had on )ater Eu ropean dcvclopmcnts sccms to havc lcft almost no traces.

The Greek Heritage Although many details remain uncertain , we know that in tbe ancient wo rld (1) melody was intimately linked with the rhythm and meter of words; (2) musicians reliecl on their memories anel 011 knowleelge of conventions and formulas, rather rhan read ing from nocation; and (3) philosophers conceived of music as an orderly system interlocked with the system of nature and as a force in human thought and conduct. To these elements the Greeks comributed rwo more: (4) an acoustical theory founded on science. and (5) a well-developed music theo1y. Many of these characterislics continued in !ater \Vestem music. Much vocal melody is shaped by Lhe rhythm and meterof Lhe words. Many musical traditions still depend on memory and conventions, even as notation beca me increasfogly importanl in Western music from the ninlh centwy on. Notions of musicas an orderly system anel an inlluence on human behavior continue to this clay. Plato's

The Greek Heritage

eoneern that ehanges iu musical eonveutious tbreaten anarehy in society has been voiced repeatedly by those who resist change, and il echoes today among those lamenting current tastes in popular music. Despite the virtual d isappearance of aneient Greek musie until its recovery in recent cenluries. aspects of Greek musical lhoughc influenced

medieval cburcb music and music theory. Renaíssance and Baroque musicians revived Greek concepts and joined !hem to modero ones to create new melhods and genres. including expression of mood. rhecorical <levices. chromalieism, monody, and opera. while eiting Plato a.nd Arislotle in defense of lhei r innovations. Opera composers such as Peri in the seventeenlb century. Cluck in the eighteenth. andWagner in the n ineteen1h looked baek to C.-eek lragcdies fo r models oi' how to use music Lo convey drama. Twcntic1hcentury composers sueh as Ol ivier Mess iaen and Hany Parlch have rev ived Cree k rhythms and tuning syste ms. And a lthough ancient mus ic is still lit1le known , currcnt musical concepts continue those addressed by anc ient Grcck writers, from the diatonic scales on the piano to the use of music in educating the young and debates about the cthieal and moral effccts of mus ic. The Crccks are still vcry much witb us, and we will cucounter thcm aga in and again as we explore lhe Western musica l tradition.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM The bistory of music iu medieval Europe is intertwined w:ith the histo1y of the Christian church, the dominant social institution for most of the

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Middle Ages. Religious services were mostly sung or intoned rather than spoken. Many aspects of Western music. from notation LO po lyphony. fu-s1 cleveloped within chureb music. Most schools were part of the ehu rch. and most composers and writers on music were trai ned t here. Moreover, because noiat io11 was invented for church music. that type of medieval music is lhe best preserved today. Th is chapter traces the development of the church in the Wcst and of its mus ic, ine ludingthe trad itionsand va lues thats haped howrrnusic was used and rega rded, attempts to standa rdize liturgy and musicas unifying forces, and the development of notalion as a tool for specifying and teae hing melody. The church drew on Greek p hilosophy and music theory, but also fostered practical theory for training musicians.

The Diffusion of Christianity Jesus of Nazareth. whose life and teacbings gave rise to Christianity. was both a Jew and a subject of lhe Roman Empire. His ceaehings drew from Hebrew Scripture, yet his charge to "make discip les of aU nations" (Matlhew 28: 19) sparked a movement that spread throughoul the Roman world. Si. Paul (ca. 10-ca. 67 e.E.) and other apostles

Th• Judaic Hori\ag•

C H A P T E K 2 • The Christian Church in the First Mlll,nnium

traveled the Near East. Greece. and ltaly proclaiming Christianity as a re ligion open to ali. Tbe promise of salvarion in lhe afterlife, and a strong sense of co mmunity and of equality between social classes . drew many converts. Women were attracted to Christianity and played major roles in its growth. Roman subjects were allowed to practice their own religions as longas they

sacrince- usually of a laml>- performed by priests. assisteel by Levites (mem bers of lhe priestly class, including musicians), anel witnessed by lay wor s hipers . Depending on the occasion. priests anel sometimes worshipers ate some of the offering. Sacrinces were celebrated twice daily. with additional services on festivais anel the Sabbath. During the ritual, a choir of Levites sang

also worshiped the Roman gods and emperors. But any group thal worshiped

psalms assigned to that day. accompanied by harp and psaltery. Trumpets and

a single god. denying ali olhers. and sought to convert people of all nationali ties was a lhrea t to 1.h e sta te religion and lhus to lhe snate. Christ ians were ai. Limes persecuted; they had to gather in secret, and some were martyred. YeL Chrislianity gained adherenls. even among leading Roman families. Empero r Constantine 1 ( r. 3'!0-37) was introduced to Christianity by his mothe r Hele na, anel in 313 hc issucel thc Eelict o f Milan, which lega lizcd Ch ristianity and allowed lhe cburch to own prope rty. By lhen. Chsislianily was li rmly establi shed in mos t ci ti es of the empire. l:n 392, Emperor Theo elos ius 1 (r. 374- 95) mad c Christianity Lhe oflicial rc ligion anel supp rcsscel othe rs , exce pl for Juelaism. Thc church organized itself on the model of the empirc. with tc rritori es calleel dioceses and a hierarchy of loca l churches. bishops, and a rchbishops hcadcel by patriarcbs in Reme, Antio ch, Alexan dria, Constantinople, anel Jerusalem. By 600, virlually the entire area once co nh·o llcel by Rome was Christian, as wc sec in Figure 2. 1.

Synagogiies Legalization and establish men t Christian parallels

The Judaic Heritage Chrislfanity sprang from Jewish roots . anel some elements of Christian observances re ílect lbose origins, chiel1y lhe chanting of Scripture and the s inging of p salms, poems of p raise from the Hebrew Book of Psalms. The seconel Temple of Jerusalem. buil t in the lace sixth cenltu:y B.C.E. on Lhe si te of lhe o rig inal Temple of Solomon, was a place fo r pub lic worsh ip unt il its elcstructi on by the Romans in 70 c.i:. Obsc rvanccs ccntercd around a

Temple rites FIGURE 2.1 , The dif

ft,sion. o[Cllr'i.srio,iiiy. 1

í'

t D3mll!cus: f

J\rc..is srrongl,\·

[::JChrislian b) 3:.e5

c:::::JAr••• strongly Chr1$li:Ut Ô) 6 00

• Cil)'wnh P3triueh 1 Atthbi•hopri<

cymbals were also used. ln ancient limes. synagor,rues were cen ters fo r read ings anel homilies rather than worship. Public readi ng from Scripture was p robably performed in chant. as in later centuries, employing a sys lern of cw1tillu tio11 (chanling of sacred texts) baseei on melod ie fo rmulas that re fl ected the phrase d ivis ions of the tcxt. Certain read ings wcrc assigncd to particula r days od est iva ls. There are parallels between Lhe Te mple ri tes anel the Christian Mass or !ate r ce nturies (desc rib ed in chapte r 3), incluel ing a symb olic sacrili ce in wh ich wo rs hipc rs anel priests partake of the body anel blood of Ch rist in the form of bread and wine. Singing psalms assigneel to certa in days became a cent ral elcme nt of all Chri stian observa nces, as did thc synagogue practice of gathering h1 a meeting house to hear readings from Scripmre anel public co mmen tary upon them. Yet the Christian services arose independently, with no d irect derivation from either thc Temple or the synagogue. The most immediate link to Jewish pracrice lies in the Mass, which commemo rates the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples anel thus imitares the festive Passover mea l. \Vhether the melodies Christians used for singing psalms and chan ting Scriptw'e were dsawn from those used in Jewish observances cannot be known, s ince none were written down until many centuries la ter.

Music in the Early Church The ca rli cst reco rd eei musical activity of Jesus anel hi s foll owcrs was s inging hymns (M at thew 26:30, Ma rk 14:26) . The apostle Paul exo rted Christian commun ities to si ng ''psalms anel hymns and spiritual so ngs·· (Ephesians 5: 19, Co lossians 3: 16). ln abom 112, Pliny the Younger. governor of a Roman p rovince in Asia Minor, reported lhe Ch ristian custo m of singing ·'a so n g lo Christ as if to a go d." Ch risti ans often mct for communal evcni ng mca ls at whicb they sang psalms anel hymns. As the number of converts increased in the fourth century anel official recogni tion grew. small in formal gatherings gave way to public meeti ngs in large rectangular build ings called basílicas, s uch as the one in Figure 2.2. Here the chanting of prayers a11d Scripmre helped ca rry the text clearly lhroughout the large s pace. The most devout believers sough t a life of conslam prayer. Living in isolation as hermits or togethe r in mouaste ries. tl1ey cbanteel or recited psalms many times each day aud during tl1eir nightly vigils as a form of prayer or meditation. Singing psalms was seen as a practice that used che pleas ures of music to discipline the so ul. tw·n the minei to spiritual tliings, and build the Christian co mmunity (see Sou rce Read ing, p. 26). and it became a central focus ofmonastic life. By the late fourth century. Christian ohservances began to rellect a standa rdized formal. and singing was a regular featu re, d rawing texts bor h from the Book of Psa lms anel fro m

0ivisions in1he Church and Dialecu oi Chant

C H A PT E K 2 • The Christian Church in the First Mill,nnium

nonbiblical hymns (see Source Reading. p. 27 ). This practice of singing psalms and hymns was codined in the rites of the medieval church (described in chapler 3) and has continued to this clay. in modif1ed forms, among Chrislians worldwide.

While songs of praise were encouraged . some early church Jeaders rejected otber aspects of anciem practice. lniluenlial Christian wricers such as St. Basil (ca. 330- 379), S1. John Chrysostom (ca. 345-407), Sl. Jerome (ca. 340-420), and S1. Augus ti ne (354- 430). known today as ;o lhe ch urch fathers," intcrpreted t.hc Bi blc and sct down principies to gwde the church. Like the a.ncienl. Greeks. they belicved the va lue of music lay in its power to inf'luence the cthos of listeners, for good or for il l. St. Augustine was so deeply moved by lh e singing o[ psalms lhal he fcarcd thc plcasu re it gavc him , wh i le approving its ab il ity to stimulate dcvout thoughts (see Source Reading, p. 26). Most church fathers rejectecl l:he idea of culliva1 ing music simp ly for enjoyment and held to Plato's principlc that beautiful things exist to remind us of divine beauty. This view underlay many pro nouncements about music by church leaders and by )ater theologians of the Protestant Reformation. For early church Jeade rs, rnusic was che servam of religion, and only music that opened the mind to Christian teachings and holy thoughts was worthy of hearing in church. Believing that rnusic without words cannot do rhis. mosl churcb fathers condemned instrumental music. The many references to harp, trumpet, anel other instrum ents in the Book of Psalms and other Hebrew Scriptures were explained away as allegories. Although Christians may bave used lyres lo accornpany hymns and psalms in their homes. ins truments were no l used in chu rch. Fo r th is reason. the e nt ire tradi ti on of Christ ian music for over a thousand years was onc of unaccompanied singing. Moreover, early converls associated elaborate si ngi ng, large choruses, instrume nts, anel clan cingw i1h pagan spectacles. Avoiding such music helped to sei off thc Christian com rnunity frorn the surrouod ing pagan sociely and to procla irn the urgency of subord in at ing the pleasu res of th is world to the eterna l welf'arc of the sou 1.

ST. BASIL ON PSALMS AND ST. AUGUSTINE ON THE USEFULNESS AND DANGERS OF MUSIC St. Basil (ca. 330- 379) was a theologian , bishop of Caesa rea (in modern-day central Turkey). anda strong advocate of communal monasticism. He extolled psalm-singing as a method that used the pleasure of music to convey a rellglous message and a sense of community.

- ~ FIGURE 2.2: Interior 11i~w ofthe basílica

Ernperor Conston tine bu,ilt a.s a throne room ond audience /1 a.li in Treveris (now Trier ir1 Gemianr), then ,oesiern c<•pital ofLhe Rornan E:mpire. wlrere he resided bettoee,i 306 and 316. As Chrisllans grew i.n, num ber. they meL .for worslttp ,n basílicas like this one. where su ng words carried betterand rnore clearly throughout Lhe large. reso,w n t space than didspoke,i words. (WC)I .-(;,\~Ç KA EII UR/

COl1BIS)

Divisions in the Church and Dialects of Chant Disputes about theology and govemance led to severa] divisions among Christians during the fust millennium. The mos t s ignificanl b egan in 395 with die partit ion of the Roman Em pire into two parts. The \Vestern Empire, ruled from Rome or Milan. suffered repeated invasions by Germanic tribes unlil it collapsed in 476. The Eastern Em pire was centered al Conslantinople (formerly Byzant ium. now lstan bul), which Constant in e rebu ilt as his cap ital.

When the Holy Spirit saw that mankind was illinclined toward virtue and that we were heed less of the righteous lile because oi our inclination to pleasure. what did he do? He blended the delight oi me lody with docttine in order that through the pleasantness and soltness oi the sound we might unawares receive what was useful in the words, according to the practice of wise physicians, who, when they give the more bitter draughts to the sick, olten smear the rim oi the cup with honey. For this purpose these harrnonious melodies of the Psalms have been designed for us, that those who are of boyish age or wholly youthful in their character, while in appearance they sing, may in reality be educating their souls. For hardly a single one of the many. and even of the indolent. has gone away retaining in his memory any precept of the apostles or of the prophets. but the oracles of the Psalrns they both sing at home and disserninate in the marketplace. And if somewhere one who r.ages like a wild beast from excessive anger falis under the spell of the psalm, he straightway departs. with the fierceness of his soul calrned by the melody. A psalm is the tranquillity of souls. the arbitra· tor of peace, restraining the disorder and turbulence of thoughts. for it softens the passion of the soul a nd moderates its unruliness. A psalm forms friendships, unites the divided , mediates between enem ies. For who can still consider him an enemy with whom he has sent forth one voice to God?

So that the singing of psalms brings love, the greatest of good things. contriving harmony like some bond of union and uniting the people in the symphony of a single choir. ... Oh. the wise invention of the teacher who devised how we might at the sarne time sing and learn profitable things. whereby doctrines are somehow more deeply impressed upon the mind! St. Basil. Homi/y on che Firsr Psalm. trans. William Strunk. Jr.. Oliver Strunk. and James W, McKinnon, ln SR 9 (2:1). pp, 121-22.

St. Augustine (354-430) is one of che most sígnificant thinkers in the hisrory of Christianity and of Western philosophy. ln his Con{essions, often considered the first modem autobiography. he expresses tl1e tension between music's abilities to heighten devotion and to seduce with mere pleasure.

When I recall the tears that I shed at the song oi the Church in the first days of my recovered Faith, and even now as I am rnoved not by the song but by the things which are sung-when chanted with íluent voice and cornpletely appropriate melody-1 acknowledge the great benefit of this practice. Thus I waver between the peril of pleasure and the benefit of my experience; bu t 1am inclined, while not maintaining an irrevocable position, to endorse the custem of singing in church so that weaker souls might rise to a state of devotion by indulging their ears. Yet when it happens that I am moved more by the song than by what is sung. 1confess sinning grievously. and 1 would prefer not to hear the singer at such times. See now my condition! S1. Augustine, Confessions 10:33, trans. James W. McKinnon. in SR 13 (2:5), p. 133.

Oivisions in the Church and Dialects oi Chant

C H A P T E K 2 • The Christian Church in the First Mlll,nnium

T IMELINE The Early Christia11, Chiirch

A CHRISTIAN OBSERVANCE IN JERUSALEM. CA. 400 ln ca. 400 C.E .. a Spanish nun named Egeria on pilgrimage to Jerusalem descrlbed the services there. noting the psalms and hymns sung between prayers and Bible readings. Her eyewitness report is a crucial document of early ChristlM practices. The excerpt below describes the Sunday morn,ng V,g,I. wh,ch became the service called Matins.

As soon as the first cock crows. straightway the bishop comes down and enters the cave in (the church of] the Anastasis. Ali the gates are opened. and the entire throng enters the Anastasis, where already countless lamps are burn· ing. and when the people are within, one of the priests sings a psalm and ali respond, after which there is a prayer. T hen one of the deacons sings a psalm. similarly foliowed by a prayer, anda third psalm is sung by some cleric, followed by a third prayer and the commemoration of ali. When these three psalms have been sung and the

three prayers said. behold censers are brought into the cave of the Anastasis. so that the entire Anastasis basilica is filled with the smell. And then as the bishop stands behind the railings. he takes the Gospel book and goes to the gate and the bishop himselí reads the Resurrection of the Lord. When the reading of it has begun. there is such moaning and groaning among everybody and such crying. that even the hardes I of hearts could be moved to tears because the Lord has suffered so much for us. When the Gospel has been read, the bishop leaves and is led with hym ns to the Cross, accompanied by ali the people. There, again, one psalm is sung and a prayer said. Then he biesses the people. and the dismissal takes place. Andas the bishop goes out, all approach to kiss his hand. F(om ltintr-a,ium Egeri8exx1v, 9-11, in Music ,n Ea,ly Chns•

tian Liceracure, ed James W McKinnon (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press. 1987), 11 S.

BYZANTINE CH A NT MUSICAL

H ISTOR ICAL

• 1000- 973 B.C.E. Reig n of King

David in Israel • after 538, by 516 Second

Temple built in Jerusalem • 63 Reme conquers Jerusalem

• ca. 33 e.e. C rucifixion of Jesus • 70 Romans destroy Temple of

Jerusalem • 135 Romans destroy Jerusa-

lem and expel the Jews • 313 Emperor Constantine

issues Edict of Milan legaliz:ing C hristianity • 392 Christianity becomes

Rite. calendar, liturgy. and nwsic

Byzantine services incluclecl Scriptural readings-which were chanted usi ng formulas thal rellected the phrasing or lhe 1.e xt-and psalms and hym ns s ung to fully developed m elodies. Melod ies were classed into eight modes or ec/,.oi (sing. echos), which se rved as a model for th e e ight modes of lhe Weste rn Church (see below). The most characteris tic Byzantin e chan ts wer e hymns , which b ecame more prominenl in lh e liturgy and more high ly devclopcd in Eastern churches t han in th c West, with many different typ es. Hymn melodies were notated in books from t he tenth century on, and many are still sung in Greek Orthodox services. Byzantine missionaries took thcir rite north 10 the Slavs starting in the uinth century, resulting in the establishment of th e Russian and other Slavic Orthoclox church es. The Greek texts were translated into local lan guages and [he melodies adopted faithfully, but over ti me the traditions diverged.

official Roman religion • 395 Separation of Eastern and

Western Roman Empires

La ter known as the Byzantine Em pi r e, it lasted over a t housand years, until Constantinople fell to lhe Turks in 1453. ln the Eastern Empi re, the church was under th e control ofthe cmpcror. But as the Western Em pi r e declined and collapsed , the bishop of Rome gradu ally asserted contro l of thc church in t hc West. Th c Eastc rn Chu r ch continucd to use Greek, the language of the early Christian apostles, but after the tbfrcl century. Latin, the language of the Roman Empire, was usecl in Rome and the West. Growing t heologica l cliffer ences intensifted thc division until 1054. when it became permanent. The Wescern Church became che Roman Catholic Church. and the bishop of Rome was known as the pope (from papa. "fath er" or "bishop''). The Byzantine Church is the ancestor of t h e present· day Ortho· dox chw·ches. Early services were not rigiclly cletermined but followed patterns common amongChristian churches as a whole. As Christianityd.iversifted. each branch or r egion evolved its own rile . cons isling of a cl,w·ch calemlur. or schedule of days comm emorating special events, individua is, or times of year; a liturgy. or body of texts and ritual aclions . ass igned lo each service: anda reperlOJy of pluim;h"ut. or c/11111l, unison so ng with melod ies for the prescr ibed

texts. The different regional repertories are called cha n.t di<tlects by analogy to language. We will focus 011 the cbant dialect most important for the histo1y of\Vestern music, Grcgorim1 clw11t . witb brief discussions of By::.a11ti11 e. A111b1·osi<111. and Old Ro11w11 chw,t and mention of other dialects .

WES T ERN D IALECTS

After the Western Empir e disintegrated. control of weslern Europe was disl ributed among severa] peoples. i nclucl ing • early 5th cent. Martianus Celts, Angles, and Saxons i n the British lsles; Franks in Caul Capella. The Marriage of (a pproximatcly modcrn · day Francc) and wcstcrn Ccrmany: Mercury and Philology Vis igo ths in Spa in; and Ost.rogoths and Lo mbards in no rth c rn lta ly. AI I cvcntually convertcd to Christ ian ity and adoptcd the doct r in es of the Westcrn Church. A nunibcr of loca l anel regio nal rites eme rged . each wi th its own liturgy anel body of chant. Besides the t raditio n of Rome, thcsc incluclccl a varicty of usages in GauJ , collcctivc ly known as Gal · lican chant; Celtic chanl in lreland and parts of Britain; Mozarabic in Spain; Bcncve ntan in sot1thcrn ltaly; and Ambros ian in Milan. Am,brosian chant The most important ccn tcr for thc Western Church outside Rome was Milan , a thriving city witb close cultural t ies to Byzantimn and the East. lt was the chief residence for the Western emperors and !ater the capital for the Lombard kingdom in northern ltaly. which flourishecl between 568 anel 744. Toe songs of the Milanese rite became known as Ambrosiau clumt, after St. Ambrose. bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. although we do not know whelher any of the music dates from his time. Arnbrosian liturgy and chant have smvived in Milan to the present day despi te atte mpts to suppress them. Many of these chants are similar to those of Rome. indicating e it.her an interchange or a common sou rce.

Oivisions in the Church and Dialects oi Chant

From the eigbth century on. popes and secul.ar ru lers allled with them tried to consolidate their authority by attempting to standardize what was sai d and sung in church services. ln lhis process liturgy and music were valu ed nol only for cheir religious functions but also as means of assen -

ing centralized control. in parallel to the unified liturgy and church in the East under the Byzantine emperor. Over time. many of the local cham dialects disap peared or were abso rbed into a s ingle practice wiLh authority emana Ling from Rome, although local variants in litusgy and cham melod ies continued into modern limes.

C ti A P T E li 2 • Th• Christian Church in the Fim Mlll•nnlum

Books of liturgical texts from th is time. which stiU lacked musical notation, attributed the develop ing repertory of chant used in Frankish lands to Pope Gregory l (St. Gregory the Great. r. 590- 604). leading to the name Grcgorian chant. But there is no evidence

• 476 End of Western Rornan

Empire

from his own time that Grego1}' played any role in com-

• ca. 500-10 Boethius. De institutione musica • ca. 530

Rufe of St. Benedict,

guide for rnonasteries in the West • 590-604 Reign of Pope

THE CREATION OF GREGORIAN CHANT

Gregory 1(the Great)

• by late 7th cent. Schola Cantorurn established

The cod iftcatio n of liturgy and music under Roman leaders, helped by the Frankish kings, led to lhe reperto1y known as • 751 - 68 Reign of Pippin the Grcgorion clwnt. Thc Schola Ca ntorum (School ofSi.ngers), Short. king of the Franks the choir that sa11g when the pope offtciated at observances, was estab lished by the late seventh century and may have • ca. 754 Pippin orders use of p laycd a role in staudardiiing chant texts. By th e midd le of Rornan liturgy and chant the eighth century, particular limrgical texts were assigned to • 768- 814 Reign of services throughout the year it1 an order that was added to but Charlemagne not essentially changed until the sixteenth century. • 800 Charlernagne crowned Between 752 and 754, Pope Stephen II sojourned in the emperor by pope Fraukish kingdom with a retinue that may have included the Schola Cantorum. As a result of this visit. Pippin the Short • ca. 850-900 Musica enchíria(r. 751-68). who had become king of the Franks with the dis and Scolica enchiriadis suppo rt of the p revious pope, sought to impora rhe Roman • 1025- 28 Guido of Arezzo, liturgy and chant and have them performed throughoul bis Micrologus domain. The alliance hetween pope and king slrengthened • 1054 Final split between both, and in seeking to impose a commo n liturgy arnd body Roman and Byzantine churches of music Pippin s ought Lo consolidatc bis d ivcrsc kingdom. se rving goa ls that were as mu ch political as re ligious. His son Cha rlemagne (C harles the Great, r. 768- 814), whose con quests expand ed h is tenilo ry throughout modern - day France. Bclgiurn, lhe Netherla nds, weslern Ge rmany. Switzerland. and n ort.he rn ltaly, co ntinued this policy, scnding for s ingc rs from Ro mc to rcac h t hc chant in thc north. Ties belween Rome and the Franks were slrengthened when Po pe Leo Ili crowncd Charlcmagn c c mperor in Romc o n Chri stmas 800. in itiat ing what !ater heca.1nc known as tbe Holy Roman Empire. Figure 2.3 shows Cbarlemagne with the pope, and Figure 2.4 a map of his empire. We cannot b e certain what melodies were brought from Rome to the Frankisb lands. s ince they were not yet written down. Simple chancs and melodies ]ater preservecl in almost identical form over a wide area may be very ancient. Some chants were probably altered by til.e Franks. either to suit nonhern tastes or to fu them inco the system of eight modes (see below) imported from the Byzantine Church. Some melodies that became widely used were probably drawn from Gallican chanl. Furlhermore, many new melodies were developed in the norlh afler the eighlh century.

FIGURE 2.3, Ch<1rlemo.gnewearinghis crown as Holy Rom.~n Emperor. wilh Pope Leo Ili on the

right. Gold,J11nerarysc11lp1ure(ca. 12/S)Jrom 1/ie Palaiine Chapei i11, ihe cc,,1/tedml in At1c!1en.

Cliar/emag,1e ·s capital. (CArntoKAt, r.unNt c•Arn. AACJUN. CERMANY. PHOTO: SCAWART llESOURCE,

FIGURE 2.4: Holy

Ro,nan E,npire u11der Char!cmQbl'flC around 800.

NY)

posing or standardizing chant. The allrihulion of lhe chant reperto ry to Gregory may have a1·isen among the Engl ish, who adopted the Roma ,, rite shorlly befor,e lhe Franks. They revered Grego,y as the founder of Lheir church aad consequen1 ly at 1.ribu1.ed their liturgy and ils music 1.0 him. Thc legcnd arose that the chants werc dictated lo Cregory by the Holy Spi ril in lhe form of a dove, as depicted in Pigu re 2.5. Bolh the ascription to a revcrcd popc and this lcgcncl cnhanced thc pcrccption of the chaol as old, aulhentic, anel divinely inspired, and thus focilitated its adoption. This is a fascinating dcvclopment: it shows th c desi rc to estab lish as lraditional a repertory that was relatively new in lhis form and also thc use or propaganda to do so, After Charlemagne a11d bis successors promulgated Grego rian chant throughout their lands. it gradually spread across almost aJJ ofwestern Ettrope. ultimately serving

The Developmen, of No,allon

FIGURE 2.5:

Pope Crcgory thc Grcat (r. 590-604-) alternutcly

C H A P T E K 2 • The Chris<lan Church in ,he Firn Mill, nnium

EXAMPLE 2.1,

The second pltrases of the jirsifour verses ofthe Tract Deus. Deus meus

listcns lo the d-0ve (symbofüingthe HoLy Spiril) reveal 1he chants

to /1irn and dictates rl1ern to a scribe. Such manu,script illustraf rom thc lcgcnd that Gregorr codified thc ehu/ll Ihui has been named for hi,n and dissem.inated it in wri1i11g. So /ar as we know. chant ivasftrst nolated more t/ian, 1wocenturies la ler. lllmnirwtion from anAnttphoner (book ofchant forthe Office) copiedca. 1000 ar the monasteryo/S1. Cal/ in modemdarSwiuerland. (COD. SAN0. '23. l'AGI! liS. S'l'l tTSJsl&LI01'11U.: ST. CALLl!N'. 1ions aros e

H'M'l•:IIWVlftll.c:r.sc.uNIFk.CU)

• 1.

De-us me · us.

re.s

pi - ce

--.-- . ==-- • -7.. • • .=-- s.1

in me:

, ;::. .7.

;

lu - 1e me

nec ex-au

<li - es:

e::

4·

as the common music of a more unilied chu rch despite a great dca l of local variation. lronically, another body of chanl survived for some time in Rome itsel f and is prcserved in m:mu scripts from the cleventh and cwelfth centurics. Now cailed Olcl Romau clwut., il uses essentially the sarne texts as Crcgorian chant and thus rcprcsents thc sarne liturgical tradition. The melodies resemhle those of Gregorian chant but are often more ornace. suggesting that both chat1t dialects derive from a common source. \Vhether the Old Roman melodies represent the original stock frorn which the Gregorian melodies were adapted, 0l' are a va1·ian1 of that eighth-centwy repertory reflecting centuries of oral transmission and continuing embellishment before they were written down . or are simply a local and more ornate variant ofCregoria.n cha.nt iiself. is still a matter for dispute.

The Development of Notation ORAL TRANSM ISSION We can trace lhe developmenl of tbe liturgy of lhe Wcstern Church because the words wcre written down. Yct lhe melodies wcrc lcarned by hcaring othcrs sing them, a process called oral tr:msmission, leaving 110 written traces. We have only one fragment of Christian music befor e the ninth centwy- a hymn to th e Trinity from the late third century found on a papyrus at Oxyrhynchos in Egypt and wri11en in ancient Greek noca.tion. Bm chis 11orarion had been forgotten by the sevemh century, when lsido re of Seville (ca. 560636) wrote tbat .. Un less sounds are remembe red by man. theyperish. for they cannot be wl'illen down." How chant me lodies were created and transm itted witbout writing has been a subject of mucb study and controversy. Recent studies of memory and oral transmission suggest tha.t medieval singers composed new songs by singing aloud, drawing on existing co1wentions and formulas, and nxed Lhe melodies in their minds through repetitio n. Chanl was learned by rote and s ung from memory. requiring singers lo retain hundreds of melodies.

in s:mc - ro h:i

bi tas.

many sung only once a year. Chants that were simple, were sung frequently, or wcrc cspecially distinctivc anel memorabl e may have becn passcd down with little change. Other chants may have been improvised or composed orally within strict conventions, following a given melodie contour anel using opening. closing. anel ornamental formulas approprinte to a part icular texc or place in the liturgy. This process resemhles otber oral traditions; for example. epic singers from the Balkans recited long poems seemingly by rote but actual ly using formulas associatiug themes. syntax. meters. line endings, and other elements. \T/e can fmd evidence for suc h oral composition in th e chants themselves. Example 2 .1 compares parallel phrases from the tirst four verses of Deus. Deus meus. a Tract (for 1.he carego ries of chant. see chapter 3). Each phrase hovers around F, then descends to close with 1he sa rn e caden tial figure at the midpoint of lhe verse. No two verses are exac tly Lhe same. but each fealures lhe same fund of formulas. which also app ear in many otherTracts. Since Tracts wcre originally performed by a solo ist, il seems likely that over lhe centurics singc rs dcveloped a. standa rd patte rn, consisti ng of a general melodie co nto ur anda sel oí fo rmulas to delineale the pb rases i n each ve rse, and varied it to tit thc syllablcs and acccntuat ion of 1hc parti cular text for each ve rse or cha nl. \T/h en the rn elod ies we re wri tten down, these va ri at ions we re prescrved.

STAGES O F NOTATION Individual variation was not suüable if the chants were to be performed in the sarne way each time in churches across a wide 1erritory. During the eighth century, attempts were made to bring Roman chants to the Frankish l.ands and to train Frank:isb singers how to reproduce them. Bm as longas this process depended ou memory and Oll learning by ear, melodies were subject to change. and accounts from both Roman and Frankish perspectives tel1 of melodies being corrupted as they were transmi[[ed to the north. What was needed to stabilize the chants was 11otatio11. a way to w1·ite down the music. The earliesl surviving books of chanl with music notation. copied in monasteries (see Music in Cont.ext), date from lhe late nint.h century. but l.hei r

The Developmen, of No,allon

C ti A P T E li 2 •

Th• Chris<lan Church in ,he Fim Mill•nnlum

i,1.-

:i··'~

'\J,:,;.,.,_..._, __;/ ; ."' "·'IN THE MONASTIC SCRIPTORIUM The preservation of the Roman liturgy and the repertory of Gregorian chant in manuscriptsbooks laboriously written and copied by handwas one of the great accomplishments of the monastic communities of the Middle Ages. Manuscript production was a routine part of monastic life. Places within the monastery were set aside as wrítíng workshops, or scriptoria. The word scriptorium also reÍers to the entíre group of monks who were engaged in producing a manuscript, from the novices who prepared the ink and parchment or drew the lines on which music was then notated, to the skilled workers who put the finishing touches on the bookºs covers. The bookmaking process extended beyond the scriptorium to the monks who toiled outside the monastery. An entire ílock of sheep was needed to provide the parchment for a single book: and wild game such as deer and boar were hunted to furnish the leather used for binding the volumes. But the copyist's job was central and involved both manual dexterity and intellectual fortitude. Trainees first had to learn how to make the le11ers and notes conform exactly to the style of writing that was in use at the time; there was no room for individuality. Comparing the manuscripts in Figures 2.6-2.8 shows how consístent the shape of letters remained over hundreds of years and great distances. Copying text and music was only one stage of a manuscript's production. Another was deco· rating the more important books with elaborate inítials and capital letters in gold leaf or colored paints. and illustrating them with miniature scenes or brightening up the margins with illuminated designs. Finally came the binding. which could be more or less elaborate. The most important books were encased in ornamental covers enriched with metais and gems. AII this labor helped to keep alive a wide-

sp read appreciation for music manuscripts whose creation represented so much effort and expense. And for the monks themselves. copying a book was regarded like prayer and fasting. as a way to keep one's unruly passions in check. But the monks also saw in their tedious work a means of spreading the word of God. The abbot of one ímportant Benedictíne monastery in the twelfth century wrote this about the monk who devotes his life to the scriptorium: He cannot take to the plow? Then let him take up the pen; lt is much more useful. ln the furrows he traces on the parchment. he will sow the seeds of the divine words .. . , He will preach wlthout opening his mou1h: ... and w1thou1 leaving his cloister. he wlll journey farover land and sea.'-BRH

--------.. . i...

~-,-.i:

;.......:.a;;;:..,- ,,r__ _ _ _ .,,,.....,_~.....- - _ . : : _,

(

,;,'I ... .

,..

e ,,.

,.;.,.,.: . ,. ,.r

l 1-1 /1":

'Peter 1he Vener•ble, Abbot of Cluny in France. quolec:I

by Jean LeClercq. The Love of Learning and the Des1re for God(New York: Fordham Universíty Press.1961).128.

,.í.

,,. l

7-? ,. ,//"'l,,.

,..

lhe Gradual Vidernnl omncs in neumatic rwtalw,i.fro,n Me ofllie car/iesr nota1ed Graduais (books of chanl$ for 1he Mass). copied in Britianyaround 9/J'0. The neumes indicate melotlicdirection. bui n-OI precise notes orirllen•als. (srnuoTHtou, FIGURE 2 .6 (TOP),

}.IUNICll'AL"f, CHARTRF.S)

FIGURE 2.9: Scribes ai work in thescnptoriu-inof 1heAbbey of Echtemach. ca. 1040 (manu.script iJ/u.-

m.,nalwn.). (TH! Cl!lANCP.R COLLF.CTIO!li', NY)

FIGURE 2.7 (M IDDLE) , The Gradual Videnint omnes in /1eighted nmmes,from the Grocluc,/, ofS1. Yrieix. near Limoges in sauthem Fr<u1ce. copied in the secondhalf 0[1/1,e eleventhce,u,,,y. 1'1,e relir.1ii·e lieigh1 uf1he neumes over rhe 1e.,;1 indicares the relativepirch. A !i,,e scro1ched in 1he nianusc,ipr identifies 1/ie note A. <•••uoTtttQus NAnoMcr. l'AR1s) FIGURE 2 .8 (BOTTOM). The Gradual Viderunl omncs in Cuidonian notation.from a Gradual from Kloslemeubcrg. copied ca. / / 50. ln accordance with Cuido 's recommenda tions. the note F(loworhigh) is indicatedwith a red line. Cwitha ye/./ow line. and lin.es undspo.ces are identified with leHers in the leji margin (F, A. C. and E). (uN1v,.•srr,,·s•••uo1·J1 tt:: GRAZ.. MS. 807. f'OL. 14V lJ•i:ftCAMENT 168

CUil Nl!UMIS)

1:n •• XII JII,,

Vôlll:U;s1n CHOllll l!BRCN!HlYI' S.ECKAUJ. CftAIDUALe

The Development of Notatlon

C ti A P T E li 2 • Th• Christian Church in the Fim Mill•nnlum

substantial agreemem suggesrs to some scbolars tbat notation may already have been in use in Charlemague·s time or soon thereafter. We have some written testimony to support this view. though scholars d iffer in inte11)reti ng the evid ence. anel lhe first definitive references to notation date f'rom about 850. \Vhenever notation was inven ted , writing down che melodies was an

EXAMPLE 2.2:

Idérunt ó-

attempt to assure that from then on each melody would be sung in essemially lhe sarne way each time and in each place it was s ung. Thus notation was both a result of striving for unifo nnity anda means of pe rpetuating that unifo rmity. Notal.ion deve loped through a series of inn ovations, each of wh ich made the melodie outline mo re precise. The s ign if1cant h isto ricaJ steps are shown in Figures 2.6-2.8, wi1 h modem eq uivale nts in Examples 2.2-2.3. Al i s hCJw thc Gradual Videru.nt om,ies from 1hc Mass for Clwistmas Day (:--!A\VM 3d). lo lhe earliest notalions. s igns called 11 e u111es (Latin neuma. mea ning "gestu re") were placed abovc the word s, as in Figure 2.6, to indicate thc me lod ie gesn1re for cach syllable, including th e numb er of notes , whether the melody ascended, desceoded, or repeated a pitch, and perhaps rhythm or mann cr of performance. Ncumcs may havc dc rivcd from s igns for inflcction and accem , akin co accent marks in modem French. Because neumes did not denote speciftc pitches or inte rvals, they served as reminders of the melodie s hape but could not be reacl at s ight by som cone who clicl not already know th e melody. Melodies still had to be learned by ear. ln the tenth and eleve nth centur ies. scribes placed neumes at varying heigh ts al>ove the text to indicate the relative size as well as directioo of intervals, as in Figure 2.7. Tbese are called he ighte d 11e11mes. Th is approach made the pitch co ntam· clearer but was not adopted everywhere because it apparently sacri l'iced the more subtle perfo rmance indications in oeumatic notation. The scribe of 1his manuscript scratched a hori zontal line in the parchmen t corresponding to a pa1·ticular note and orienced tl1e neumes around that line. Th is was a revolutionary idea: a musical sign lhal did nol represe nl a sound. but clarined 1.he meaning of other s igns. ln other manuscripts, the line was labcled wiili a lctter fo r lhe note it rc preseotcd , mosl often F or C bccause of their posit ion just above lhe semitones in the d iato ni c scale; lhese letlers cvo lved into ou r clc f s igns, and with them eac h pitch in the melody was clca r. The eleveath -century monk Cuido of Arezzo (ca. 991- a fte r 1033) s uggestecl an arrangement of lines and spaces. using a line of recl ink fo r F anel of yellow ink for C anel sc ratching oth er lines in to rhe parchment. Letters in the left margin identify each line. This scheme was widely adopted, and the neumes wcrc reshaped to nt the arrangcmcnt. as shown in Figure 2.8. From this system evolved a staff of four lines a third apart, che aucestor of our modem hve -liue staff. The use of lines and letters. culminating in the staff anel clefs. enab led scribes to no tate pitcbes anel intervals precisely. ln practice. pitch was s1ill relative, as it bad been for the Greeks; a notated chant couJel be sung bigher or lower to suit the singers. but lhe notes relative to each other would form the sarne incervals. The new notatíon also freed music from its de pende nce on oral trans mi ssio n. With his notation , Cuido demonstrated tha 1. a s inger could ''learn a verse himself without havi ng heard it beforehand" simply hy reaeling lhe notes. Th is achievemeot was as cru cial for the history of

The Gradual Viderum omnes inSo/,esmes cha,ii no1a!ion

~~ N

mnes • fínes tér- rae

~••n. ~.;"" r• 1

Iu-tá- re

Dé-

4.,._ :~• 1• I ~

r- l'-1\: j • I'- • ...

nóstri :

sa-

jubi- lá-te Dé-

•

1 Concose :\\ 1 1 Full :\\ 1

Neu.mes

ó- mnis

·=·it9·••.=

• ••

yr, Nó-t um fé-cit D ó-

tér-ra.

•

1§ . , ... ,

• ••

• •

1 1 ••

u ~·~-; Pllllt .. ;..

I • r- J

,.. •• •

mi-nus

• tá-

Heighted neumes

re sú-

e=-;a1-t~ k:111111 - ~l!\:• 1-a 1t~ve-Iá-

.•

• =,

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um : ante conspéctum génti- um i

sa-lu-

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re-

•IIL:a i ~ •111_ • •:~ ~~~:"'"•!•~_,.s_l:tt~~;::::;::;;t--~::::_ -,,. ! _1!-~ _•. _......__ li .2a. _• __,__s_ ~ 7

-.- - i•_1 -_- _..

vit • justf-

lc ~

•

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ti- am sú- am.

Ali ih.e ends of the eMh hcwe seen ih.e so.lvotion ofour God: singjoJfally to God, an rhe FUH'lh.. (Psalm 97:3-4 [98:3-4]) Verse: Tlte Lo,-d has made kno wn Tfis salvatio11; He lias re,•e11/etl Hisju,siu:ein 1hesigluof1hepeoples. ( Psalm 97"Z 198:2])

Linl's, clefs. staff

Notalio,1 and memory

Reading music Rhythm

Western mus icas the invent ion of writing was for the his tory of language anel lite rature. Mus ic co ulcl now be made visible in notation , but it was still a so un d ing art. Oral transm issio n of musi c co ntinu cd alongside written transmis sion, as it does today. Churc h c ho irs in many placcs coutinuecl to si ng most chant from memory for cent1.iries. Notatioo proved a valuable tool for memorization , because it is easier to reme mbe r worels anel music if we visualize them in our mind's eye. Moreover, notatíon made it possible to memorize music exactly. by fixing each note in a document thar we can check if our memory fails us. Thus notation did not rep lace memory but enabled s ingers lo learn hundreds of challls mo re quickly anel to repro duce them verbatim eacb time. Staff notation with neumes conveyed pitch but not durations. Some manu scripts contain signs for rbythm. but scholars have not agreed on theil'meaning. One modern practice is to sing chants as if aJl no tes had tl1e sam e basic value: notes are grouped in twos or Lhrees, and these groups are ílexibly combined into larger units. This inlerpre!ation. worked out in the early twentieth

The Development of Notatlon

EXAMPLE 2 .3,

C H A P T E K 2 • The Christian Church in the First Mill,nnium

The Gradual Viderunt omnes transcribed in modem notation

_ _ s___ _

,. -:. ---:--- v :. e-_·_=;w

no - strt

$?= --:-:.

ju - bi - lote

; =-- .:::;::-; ;

has four lines. one of wlúch is designated by a clef as either midclle C ( C) or the F below midclle C Jike our modern C clefs and hass clef. The notes and notegroups are called neumes. A neume may carry only oue syllable of text. Neumes are read Jeft to right. except that when one note is below anocher the lower note is su ng n rst; chus the melody 011 "fines·· in Example 2.2 is c'- d'-c'-a,. (Compare Figures 2.7 and 2.8. in which vertically stacked notes are sung from the top down inslead of from the bottom u p.) An obliqiie neume (~ ) ind ica tes th ree notes, so that "te rrae .. begins c'-a-c'. Diamo nd -shaped notes appear in descending pallerns, as on "o mnes," as a way to save s pace, but receive lhe same values as squa re ones. The s.ma ll notes ind icate partia lly clos ing the mo uth on a vo iced consonan1. at the e nd of a sy ll able, as on lhe "n .. in "Vidcrun1.. in the li rst staff. Thc wavy linc in ascending figu res(• . called quilisma). as on "omnis·· in the third staff. may have in d icatecl a voca l ornamen t. The o nly accidenta ls used a re flat and n atu ral signs, which can appear on ly on 8 . Except in a s ign.atu re at the begin ning of a line, a flat is valid only until the beginning of the next word or vertical divis ion line; lhus in ..omnis terra" in lhe third staff. lhe fi rst word featurcs & ( marked on "- mnis··) and the second B: (because the llat has been canceled by beginuing a new word). The Solesmes editions include interpretive signs that are uot in the manuscripts. A dot douhles the value of a note , and a horizontal dash indicates a slight lengtJ1ening, as on ·' fmes:· Vertical li nes of varied lengths show the clivision of a melody inlo sections (double barline), periocls (full barline). phrases (half-ba rl ine), and smaller uuits (a stroke through Lhe uppermost staff- li ne). An asterisk iu the text shows where the chorus takes over from the soloist.

<-C ),

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Verse, No- 1u111

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F :=:-~ •u:,, : .:c:,~s:.c-t:m7'. _s_ 1

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li - um

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vit* ju-sri

;

M usic Theory and Practice

Sll-31U,

THE TRANSMISSION OF GREEK M USIC THEORY century by the Benedictine monks of the Abbcy of Solesmes in France under Dom André Mocquereau, was approved by the Cathol ic Church as conform· ing with the spiri t of thc liturgy. \Xlhatcver differenccs in duratio n thcrc may have been in early practice, chant was almost certainJy re latively free rather than metered in rhythm. lts movement has been compared to the 11ow of sand through an hourglass. the medieval standard for timekeeping, as opposed to the ticking of a clock.

Marlian.us Capella

SOLESMES CHANT NOTATION The Solesmes mon.ks prepared modem editions of chaut, whicb Pope Pius X proclaimed in 1903 as lhe ofácial Vatican editions. lntended for use in church rather than historical study. they use a modernized fonn of chant notation. Examples 2.2 and 2.3 show the Gradual Vu:lerunt omnes in Solesmes n otation anel in transcriplion. to facilitate comparison with each other a11d with lhe medieval neumalic nolations in Fir,,ures 2.6-2.8. The staff in chant nolalion

Boethius

Thc chant repertory drcw on sources in anc ient Israel anel in Christian commun ities from Syria anel Byzanlium in the East to Milan , Romc , and Gaul in thc West. Bu t for their undc rsta nd ing of th is mus ic, church musicia ns a lso cl rew 011 rhe music tbcory and philosop hy of ancicnt Greece. Dur ing thc early Christian era, this legacy was gathered, su mmarized, modifted, and transmitted to the West, most notably by Martianus Capell a anel Boethius. ln !tis widely read treatise The Marriage of Merciuy and Philology (early nfth century), Martianus clescribed the seven liberal arts: granunar, dialectic. rhetoric. geometry. arithmetic, astronomy, and harmonics (music). The nrst three. the verbal arts. carne to be called the 1rivi111n (three paths). while the !ase four, the mathematical disciplines, were called the qiwdriviwn (four path,s) by Boetlúus. The section on music is a modined translatiou of On Music by Aristides Quintilianus. Such heavy borrowing from earlier authorities was typical of scholarly writing aud remained so throughout the Middle Ages. Boethius (ca. 480- ca. 524) was the most revered authority on music in the Midd le Ages. Born into a palrician fami ly in Rome. Boeth us became consul a nd rn in ist e r 10 Theodo ric, Ostrogo1h rul er of Ita ly. and wrote on

Music Theory and Prac1ice

C ti A P T E li 2 • Th• Christian Church in the Fim Millennlum

pbilosophy. logic. theology. and the matbematical ans. His De in.s1itutione mu.sica (The Fundamentals of Music), written when Boethius was a young ma n and widely copied and ci ted for the next thousand years. treats music as pati oi' the quadrivium. Music for Boe thius is a sci-

provi des exercises for locating semi tones i11 chaut. a11d explains the consonances and how they are usecl to sing in polyph ony (see chapter 5). The most w:idely read treatise after Boethius was Cuido of Arezzo's Micrologus (ca. l 025-28), a practical guide for singers that covers notes.

ence of numbers. and numerical ratios and proportious

intervals. scales. the modes, melodie composition. and

determine inter vals. consonances. scales. and tuning. Boelhius compil ed the book from Greek so urces, mainly a lost trea lise by Nicomachus a nd the first book of Ptolemy's Harrnonics. Although medieval reade rs may not have realized how much Boe1 hiu s clepended on otbe r au thors. they unclcrsl.ood 1hat his s1a1eme n1.s i·ested crn Greek mathematics and music th eo1y . The most ori ginal pa rt of h is book is the ope ning chaptcrs. whc rc Bocrhius divid es mus ic in to thrcc typcs , depicted in Figure 2. 1O. The f,rsl type he calls musica m.mula,w (the mu sic of the univcrse). the numerica l relations controlling the movement of stars and planers, the changing of tbe seaso ns. and the elements. Second is musico h11111a110 ( bu man music). whfoh harmonizes and unifi.es the body and soul and their paris. Last is musica i11st1·11111c11wlis (instrumental music), audib le music produced by instruments or voices. which exemplifles lhe same principies of order, especiaJJy in Lhe num erical ratios of musical intervals. Boeth ius emphasized the inl1uence of music on chara cter. As a consequence. h e be lieved music was impor1an1 in edu cating the young, both in its own righ t and as an introduction to more advanced philosophica l studies. He valued music primari ly as an objec l of knowledge, nol a practical pu rs uit. For him music was the study ofhigh and low sounds by means of reasou aad the se nses; the phi losop her who usecl reason lo make judgmcnts a bo ut music was thc truc musician, n ot thc singer or someo ne who macle up songs by instinct.

improvised polyphony. It was commissioned by !he bishop of Arezzo. shown wilh Guida in Figure 2.11.

T HE CH URCH MODES An csscnt ial com pon cnl of 1hc cu rriculum for chui·ch mus icians was the sys tem of 11wtles . Each chan l was assigned to a particular modc, and learning thc m odcs and cla ssifying chants by moclc made it easier to lea rn and memorize chan!s. The system evolved gradually, and wr itersdiffcrcd in thcir approachcs. ln its completcform . achieved by the temh centmy, the system encompassed eigh t modes identined by nuniber, Exa mple 2.4a shows thc important cbaracteristics of each mode. especiaJJy its

final , muge , anel reciti11g tone. FIGURE2 .11: Guidoof

Thirtee11th -ce11tur)'m(lnuscript illumination showi11g the three tJpes ofmusi.c Boethius described: at t/1e top. musica mun dana. rl, e ma1hemct1ical orderof rhe 1miverse. represellled bysta,·s. planer.s. a,1d i/1efou,· elemenl-s (fire. air. watcr. an.d eart/1): in lhe middw. musica humana. theharmonyoftlw human bodyan.d sou/. w,lh ,nen represent ing the four lempcramcnts; and on the bottom. musica instrumentalis. aitdible music.

FIGURE 2.10:

Areno (left) withhis sponsor TI, eodald.us. bisl1op ofArezzo. colc1,lo.1irigrl1c string lcngrh.s ofthesteps ofrhescale. Cu.ido ded.icuted hi.s MicrologLLSlo tlte bishop. 1wclftlt-ccnrury mcrnusc11p1oJGerman origin. (BILOARCHIV, ÕSTI.JLREICH[SCH I NATION•

ALBULJ01'HEK, VJESNA)

The mocles are differentiated by the arrangement of wbole and balf steps in relation to tbefinal. the main note in tbe mode a11d us ually lhe last note in lhe melocly. Each mode is pairet.l wilh anolhe r rl1a1 shares tbe sarne final. Tbere are four fmals . eac h witb a unique combina tion of tones and semitones surrounding it. as sbown in Example 2.4a. and ou1:lined below: Modes

Final

l ntc rval helow final

ln t.crvals above &naJ

1 and 2

l.one

to ne, sem itone

3 and4

tone

semito ne. tone

5 and6

E F

semitonc

tone, tone

7and 8

tone

tone . tone

(LE.BRECHT ).WSlC & ARTS)

PRAC TICAL T HEORY Treatises from th e nintb ccntury th rough the la ter Middlc Ages wcre more oriented toward practical concerns tban were earlier writings. Boethius was mentioned with reverence. and rhe mathematical fundamentais of music that he transmitted still undergirded the treatment of intervals. consonances. and scales. But d iscussions of music as a liberal art clid no Lbelp church musicians norate, read, classify, and sing plainchant or improvise or com pose p olyphony. These latter topics now domi nated the treatises. Among Lhe most imponam treatises wern the anonymous nintb-century Mu.sica encliiriadis (Music Handbook) and an accompanying dialogue, Scoli-ca en.chiriadi.s (Commen ts on Lhe Handbook). Oil·ected at studenLs who aspi red to enter cle rical orde rs . bo l.h emphasize practical mat te rs over theore ti cal speculati on. Mu,sica enchiria,d.is describes e igh t mod es (see be low),

Attth entic a11d

plagal nwdes

Beca use pitch is re la tive rathcr than a bso lutc in chant. it is thc intervall ic relationship co the surrounding notes tbat distinguisbes each fmal, not its absolute pitch. Modes that have the same fin al differ in range. The odd - numbered modes are called <mtheutic and typically cover a range from a step below the flnal to an octave above il, as sh own in Example 2.4a. Each authentic mode is paired with a plagol mode that has the sarne fmal but is deeper in range. moving from a fourlh (or sometimes a L'úth) below lhe hnal to a flfth or six th above it. Because Gregorian cha11ts are unaccompanied melodies that typically use a range of about an octave. the effect of cadencing around ú1e middle of tbat octave in the plagal modes was heard in lhe MicldleAges as q11ite clistinct rrom closing at or near the bottom of the range in the authentic modes. Mode m lisleners may ónd this difference hard to understand . since we consider both Row. Row. Row Your Boat and Happy Bir1hda1 t.o be in l he major mode. despi te 1he differe nt ranges ofth eir melodies in respecl 10 th e toni c. But to medieval

Music Theory and Pra«ico

EXAMPLE 2.4:

C H A P T E K 2 • The Christian Church in the First Mill,nnium

The churi:h modes

unique. corresponding ro Cleonicles' four species oi' lifth. although in a differ ent arder; each scale is then completed with one of the three specíes of fourth. This way of looking at the modes clarifies th e relations hip between plaga l anel aulhenl ic medes. helps in analyiing some chants. and is very useful for unders1andi11g musíc in rhe Renaissance. In practice. however, the medes as

l=t • f'inal ReciringTone T • Tone

o •

S Semitone a. Modcs with finru. ,·angc. and reciling tone

b. Modes w11bspcc ies of fifth and fourtb and Crcck namcs

t,1

• l=t ,

• ---º •

used in medieval melodies were not really octave species. as the diagrams in

Oorian

,?i---½=$1

1=t • • •

T T S

Reciting tonr

TSTT ,.u...I.,

liypodoiian

--:''l;,S. '1'1=1T• S

T T,

11', -'--'"-'--"'

Phrygian li •

J:::t :l

4..

f $

7. ,

li •

....â....I....L, . . . 1=1S-· T T

Lydian

!,)

. 11 · • ·

.. -:.:

llypophrygian

(b)

•

* • -

, S T T T,. ~

11 · • ·

•••

S T T

11 •

Modal theory and chant

TTT S , , ~ 3 3

. ,, ... ---

llypolydian •

•

• 11•

. ~

•

S T T

=1 +• -=° *

~T· T 5 11 T T T S 1 :l 3

• •

M ixolydian

• ;-o-..-:

ÊI 1 T T S T "Ll....I..,

T T T

Hypomixolyrlian

7T l

• - J:=(?C.

S T 11 T T S T , 4

church musicfons. the comhination of different inter-vais around each fmal with different ranges relative to the final for authentic: and plagal modes gave each of the eight modes an individual sound . Only one chromatic alteration was normally al lowed: B~ often appears in place of B in chants tbal. give prominence 10 F. as chan 1 melodies ln medes 1. 2 , 4, 5, and 6 frequently do . Some theorists applied to lhe medes lhe species of fifth and fourth described by Cleonides (see chapLer l and Example 1.3). as diagrammed in Example 2.4b. They divid ed eac h mode int.o two spans, marked by bracke ts in lhe exam ple: a fiflh ris ing from the fmal, and. a fourlh lha! is ahove Lhe fifth in the aulhenlic modes a nd below lhe fma l in the plagal mod es. The a rrangeme nt of whole tones and se mi to nes above each of the four F111als is

Application of Greek narnes Useofffe Species ofNth andfoiirth

Example 2.1b mighl suggest. but ex tended to a range oi' a ninth or tenlh and ofien allowed B~. as shown in Exa mp le 2.4a. ln add ition to the fmal, each mode has a seco nd characterislic note, ca lled lhe reciti11g to11e . TI1e finais of co rrespond ing plaga! and aulhenlic modes are the sa rne. but the reci1. ing tones d ifíer (see Example 2.4.). The ge neral ru ie is 1hat in t:hc authent ic medes thc ,·eciting tone is a Mth above the frn al. anel in the plagal modes il. is a third helow the rec iling to ne of the co rres ponding authent ic mode, exce pt lhat wheneve r a reci ting to ne would fali o n the note B, thcn it is moved up to C. The ftnal , range, anel reciting tone ali contribute to characterizing a mocle. Th e recitiug tone is often the most freq11ent or promincnt note in a chant, ora center of gravity around which a phrasc is oricnted, and phrases rarely begin or end above tbe reciting tone. ln each mode, certain notes appear more often than others as initia l or fi nal n otes of phrases, further lending each mode a distinctive souncl . The medes were órst coclífted as a means for classifying ch ants and arranging them in books for liturgical use . Books called tonaries grouped chants together by mode. making the s imilarities between chants in the s ame mode more apparenl an d thus helping s ingers to learn and memorize Lhe repertory of chant more rapidJy. Many chants fit well into a p articular mode, moving within the indicated range. lingering ou lhe recit ing tone . and clos ing on the fmal. Vidernn.L omnes in Example 2.3 on page 37 is a good example . ln mod e 5, it begins on the final F; rises to circle around the reciting tone C. which predom inates in most plu·ases: touches high F an octave above the ftnal three limes and E below lhe fiiia! once, us ing lhe whole range oi lhe mode; uses bot h B and 81.,, as allowcd in this mod c; anel closcs on thc fma l. Most pb rascs bcgin and cnd on F. A. o r C. as is typica l of the mode. But not a ll chanl melodies conform to modal theory. Many ex is ted before th e theo ry was developcd, anel some of these do not fit gracefully in any mode. Chants composed after the modes were codified in the tenth century often have a very differc nt stylc from oldcr oncs, making thc modc clear from thc outset and using few if any of the standard melodie figures associated with each mode in oider chants. Begi nning in the nin th century. som e writers app lied the n ames of the Greek scales Lo the church medes, as shown in Example 2.4b. Misreading Boethius. th ey mixed up the names. calling the lowest mode in the medi eval system (A- a) Hypodorian. the highest in Cleonides· arrangement of the octave species (a-(J,') , and moving tlu-ough 1he 01her names in rising rather than descending order (compare Example 2.4b with Example 1.3c). ln the resulting nomenclature. plagal modes had lhe preflx Hypo - (Greek for .. below") added to the name of che related aULhenlic mode. Although medi eval treatises anel liturgical books usually refer to the modes by number, the Greek names are often used in modern lextbooks and in d iscussions of mod ern music and jazz. Thc attemp1 s by med ieval theo rists to link their music to anc ient Gree k

Music Theory and Pra«ico

EXAMPLE 2.5,

~ Ut•

Hymn, Ut quea11t lax is

C ti A P T E li 2 • Th• Christian Church in the Fim Mlll•nnlum

EXAMPLE 2.6 , The sysiem of hexachords

7. ul rc ini fa sol la G. ui re mi fa sol 1:,

•

- ;:. • ' • • .. • • • 1 ; ;:;

que -:mt la - xis re-s0-113 -re f1-bris Ali

ra gt'-Sto - rum /a--mu-li w- o - rum.

' ! -•- . - . . -. -.-. ve

pol-h.1 - ri

/..a -bi - i

5.u1

.. . .

4.ut re

--· ----·

3. ut re · ~ ~- sol la

Jo·an-nes.

Thai 1hyse1van1s mayfreelysingfor1h1hewoncwrs of thydeeds. remove ali stain of 1,ru.,ltJrarn lheirunclean lips, O Sa.int]ahn.

1. u1

2. ut 1·e mi fa sol Ja fo sol la

rc mi

EXAMPLE 2.7:

1.h eory, despi te the poor F1t be t.ween the moeles (which we re baseei on fmal. reci ting to ne, and ranges excced ing an octave) and the Creek system (wh ich was bascd on tctrach ords, octave species, :ind tonoi) , s how how important it was for medieval scholars to ground their work in the authoritative and pres tigious Creck traditio n .

SOLMIZATION To facilitate sight-singing, Cuido of A:rezzo introduced a set of syllables corresponding to the pattern of tones and semi tones in the succession C-D-Ef -G-A. He noted tbat the ti.rst six phrases of the hymn Ut qt,~ant laxis. shown in Example 2.5, began on those notes in ascending arder, and he used thefr iniúal syllahles for the names of the steps: ut, re. mi,fa. sol, la. Tb ese sol111botio11 syllables (so called from sol-mi) are still used . although the most common version of 1:heset substilutes do foru1 and adds Li above la. Guido's syllables helped to locate the semitones in chant: only Lhe step between mi anelfo. was a semitone, and ali others were whole tones. Moreover. C-D-E-F-G-A includes all four flnals of Lhe modes p iusa tone on each encl, so Guido's syllab les could be used to teach the pattcrn of wholc and ha lf stcps around thc lina l oi' cach modc.

THE HEXACHORD SYSTEM Guido·s fo llowers developecl the six - step sol mization pattern into a system of hexnchol'(ls. On ly thrce scmitoncs occur in chant: E- F', B- C, anel A- Bt Thus the hexachord, the interval pattern of six notes from ut to/.a with a semi· tone between mi andfa, could be found in three posi tions: beginning on C, ca.lled the "nahtra l" hcxachord; on G, the " hard" hexachorei; anel 011 F, th e "soft" hexachord. The hexachord 011 G used B- natural, forwhich the sign was 6("square b"); the F hexachord used 8 - llat, which had the sign b("round b"). These signs evolved into our ~- #· and ~ but their original purpose was to indi • cate whether B took the syllable mi (as in the G hexacbord) orfa (as in the F hexachord). The basic scale described by medieval theorists extended from G (writ· Len as Lhe Greek le11er gam,na) 10 e", as shown in Example 2.6. Within this range. each note was named by i ts letter and the position it occupied within Lhe hexachord(s) to wllich it belouged. Thusgarnma. the first note of its hexa· chord. was called ga,nma ui. from which comes our word gamut . Middle C. wh ich belonged to three d iffe rem hexachords, wasCsolfau!.

rt: rni fo sol la

mi fa sol Ja

End ofGradual Vide r um omnes in solmiza.t,ion syllables

rc rc ía fa rc: mi ut rc: fa- sol mi fa re-sol fa mi fa sol la sol fa sol la - mi sol mi rc ut n: mi sol sol re fa mi ui

hard hexachord

soft natural hexachord bcxachord

sof1 hcxachord

Afatation

Using the syllables to leam a melody that exceeded a si.x- note ra.nge required changing from one bexachord to another. For example, in the passage from Vídenmt omnes iu Example 2.7, no single hexachord can be found that contains all the notes: the G or hard hexachord accounts l'or the órst ten notes, including B~, but the F or soft hexachord is needed for Lhe B!,_ lhe C hexachord for the low E, anel the F hexachord for the C and BI, in the cadential phrase. Changing hexachords was clone by a process caUed 11111tatio11. whe reby a note t.haLwas shared by bo th hexachords was begun as if i n one hexachord and left as if i n anorhe r, as shown in 1.he example. F'ollowers of Cuido developed a pedagogical aid called lhe "Guidonian hand ,'' shown in Figu re 2.1 2. Pupils we re taught to sing interva ls as lhe - -..,,.~~- - tcachc r po inted with thc índex lingc r of thc right hand to thc d ifíere nt joints of t:hc open leít hand . Each joinl stood fo r on e oí the twe nty notes of the system; any othe r note, such as IF'ª o r

FIGURE 212, Tlte "Guidonéan hand, "a m11erno11icdevice usedfor locai.ng lhe pitches of the system of he.wchords (shown in Example 2.6) l,y poin ling !o the joints of the le/1 hand. Although credited lo Cuidu, lhe hand was probabl)' a laier app!ication of his solmi.1:ation syllables. The notes are laidoul in a counten:lockwise spirol. beginningwilh lhe low· cs1.note (gamma ui) at the lip of the 1humb. movingdown the 1/wmb. across the base ofeach finger. up the liir.lefinger. across the rips. down lhe ind= finge,, and around lhe midd.le joints, then lo lhe back kn ILCkle of tlie middlefinger. (The rcd tine ha.s been added to show 1hi.s spira.l.) Thts places the semiron es bet-ween mi and ía. the most important in ten•ols lo locate. near lhe comers ofthe h~md: between lhe base o[ lhe lhumb and indexfinger. lhe base ofthe tliird andfourthfingers. and the 1íps and top joi111s of the ouierfingers. <e 1.r.11nr.c11T ,iusoc • ••<T•>

Echoes of History

EI,, was considered to be ·'outside the hand.'' No late medieval or Renaissance music textbook was complete without a drawing of this hand. Using solmization and staff notation. Guida boasted that he could "produce a perfect singer in 1he s pace of one yea r, orai the most in two," instead of

the tenor more it usuaJly took teaching melodies by rote. No statement more pointedly shows the change from three cenluxies earlier. when all music was learned by ea r and lhe Prank ish kings struggled Lo rnake Lhe cham consistent across their lands, or more clearly illustrates how innovations in church mus ic sprang from lhe desire to ca rry on lradition.

Echoes of H istory The stories in this chapter bear witness to astounding continuities and to the transformat ion oftrad itions by ncw circumstances. Although wc do not have any music from the ancient Jews or early Christians, theit musical customs resonated through the Middle Ages and beyond to the present. The texts of the psalms su ng in the Tcmple and the Scripture chanted in the synagogue are still in use in both Jewish and Christian services. The monastic practice of singingpsalms became a central focus of Christian observances. Early church leaders. drawing on Greek views of music while rejecting pagan customs. elevated worship over emertainment and singing over instrumemal music, altitudes that held sway for centuries and persist today. Attempts by popes and secuJar rulers to consolidate conlrol and unify th.eir realms led to standa rdized lilurgies and f1xed melod ies that were assigned Lo certain texts and days. The adoption by the Western Cburch of the eigh.t church modes, based on lhe Byzantine echoi. shows both a link lo lhe Eastern Church and a desire to syslemalize and classify lhe vasl repe rlory of cha.nl. wbich helped lo make it easier to memo rize. Promoting and preserving that reperto ry in turn led Lo nolalion a.nd solmization, wbich dcvclopcd ove r lime and are still pa rla r musical life. Ma ny particular fealures ofWeslern 1101.a tion have been a round for a millcnnium, including staff li nes, clcfs. and notes placcd abovc thc tcxt and arranged so that h ighe r notes indicate h ighe r pitches. The invent ion or a notation that could reco rei pitches anel interva ls precisely and could be rcad at sight was dccisive in the later evolution of' Western music, which mo re than other musica l lradilions is nol jus! played and heard, bul wrilten and read. lndccd. notat ion is thc very reason why wc have a thousand years of music we can still perform and hear, and why books like this can be written. Almost as important, the codili.cation ofGregorian chaut and its diffusion in notation made it the basis for much new music from the ninth through the sixteemh cenrnries. That these events cook place under the Pranks was signilicant, since Charlemagne's empire was the political and cultural center of western Europe. From bis day through the fomieenth century. the most impo1iant developments i11 European music wokplace in the area he once ruled.

Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/st udyspace.

ROMAN LITURGY AND CHANT Gregorian chant is one ofthe greattreasw·es ofWestern civilization. Like Romanesque architectu.t·e. it stands as a memorial to religious faith in the Middle Ages, embodying the community spitit and artistic sensibility of the time. This body of chant includes some of the oldest and most beauLi.ful melodies. and it served as the basis for much la ter music. As beautiful as the chants are. they cannol be sepa ra ted from thei r ceremonial cont.ext. We saw in chapter 2 how Grego rian cbanl was codif1ed and notated afle r ccnturies of devel opment as an oral tradition a nd how il played a unifyi ng ro le in lhe Western Church. ln this chapter, we will re late chant to liturgy and sec how each chant is shaped by its role, text, and manner of perfo rmance. We will also see how ncw chants and types of chant we re added to the authorized füurgical chant during a wave of creal'ivity arouncl the margins of the repertory.

The Roman Liturgy Gregorian chant is music for Christian religious observances. Tunes vary from simple recitarion to elaborate melodies. depending ou chei.r role in the liturgy. Thus Ullderstanding chant requires some knowledge of lhe services in which it is used. The Roman liturgy is complex, resulting from a long history of addition and codilicalion lhaa was large ly unknown to those who parricipated in services. This histo-ricaJ framework ca.n help us comprehend both Lhe shape of lhe liturgy a.nd the diversity of chanl.

The Roman Llturgy

C H A PT E K 3

•

Roman Liturgy and Chant

PURPOSE OF THE LITURGY The ro le of the church was to teach Christianity and to aid in saving souls. 0ver the centuries. as missionaries spreacl tbe faith across Europe l'rom Spain to Sweden, they taughc the basic precepts oi' Roman church doctrine:

the immortality or each person's sou!; 1he Trinity of the Father. Son. and Holy

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE MASS

Spirit; Jesus' crucilixion. resurrection. and ascension into heaven: salvation and eternal heavenly life for Lhose judged worthy; and damnation in hell for the rest. 0ne purpose of religious services was to reinforce these lessons for worshjpers. making clear lhe path to salvation lhrough the church's teachings. This purpose was served chiefly by lhe litu rgy, Lhe texts Lha! were spoken or sung and lhe ri tua is that were performed during each service. The role of mus ic was to ca rry those words, accompany lhose r ituais. and insp ire the faithlu l. At the sarne rime, thc words, praycrs. anel singing wc re dirccted to Coei, who was in some respecls the primary aud ience. The daily cycle of services in monasteries anel convents, attenrlecl only by the participa nts, reflected the belicf that humans on earth, like tbc angcls in hcaven, sbouJd offcr unceas· ing praises to God. Tbus the liturgy and music of the Roman church hacl dual aims: addrcssing Coei anel reinforcing lhe faith of those in attcndance.

The Mass was the focal point of medieval religious life. For the largely illiterate populace, it was their main source of instruction. where they were told what to believe and how to live. lt was up to rhe church to present those fundamental truths in a way that would engage and inspire, gripping not only the mind but also rhe heart. The building where Mass was celebrated was designed to evoke awe. Whether a simple church ora grand cathedral. it was likely to be the tallest structure most people would ever enter. The high ceiling and windows drew the eye heavenward. Pillars and walls were adomed with sculptvres. tapestries. or paintings depicting pious saints. the liíe oí Jesus. or the torments of hell, each image a visual sermon. ln these resonant spaces. the spoken word was easily lost. but singing carried words clearly to ali corners. European Christians. especially in central and northern Europe, were not long removed from old pagan customs of propitiating the gods to ensure good crops or prevent misfortune, and they looked to Christian observances to serve the same role. Life for most was hard. and with the constant threat of disease, famine, and war, average life expectancy was under thirty years. Worship in a well-appointed church, conducted by clergy arrayed in colorful vestments, using chalices, crosses. and books bedecked with gold. and singing heavenly chants. offered not only an interlude of beauty. but a way to please God and secure blessings in this life and the next. ln such a space. the Mass begins with the entrance procession of the celebrant (the priest) and his assistants to the altar. incense wafting through the air. The choir sings a psalm, the lntroit (from Latin for ·entrance"). After ali are in place. the choir continues with the Kyríe. whose threefold invocations of Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy). Christe eleison (Christ have mercy). and Kyrie eleison capture the hopes of the worship-

CHURCH CALENDAR Pari of teachlng Cbrislianity was repeating Lhe stories of Jesus and of the saints, exemplary Christians whom the church raisecl up as models of faith or actiou. Eve1y year. the church commemorated each event or saint with a feast day. in a cycle known as the church calemlar. Tbe mosl imporlant feasls are Christmas (December 25), marking Jesus' birth, and Easter, celebrating his resurrection anel observecl on the Sunday after lhe ftrst full moon of spring. Both are preceded by pe riods of preparation anel penitence: Advent begins fou r Sundays befo re Christmas, and Lent starts on Ash Wcdnesday, forty- six days bcfo rc Easter. The church calendar is impo rtant for understanding the li turgy. Although much of cach rc ligious service is thc sarne at evcry obscrva11cc. orher aspccts change with lhe clay or sealõon.

MASS Thc most imponant service in thc Roman Chu rch is the itfass. which evolved from commemorations of the Last Supper of Jesus with his ilisciples (Luke 22: 11-20). The central act, shown in Figure 3.1, is a symholic reenactment of the Last Supper in wbich a priest consecrates breacl and wine. designated as the body and blood of Ch:rist. anel oi'fers them LO lhe worsbipers in communion. This ritual fulfills Jesus' commandment to ''do this in rememhrance of me" (1 Corint.bfans 11 :23- 26) and reminds ali present of his sacriflce for Lhe aLonement of sin. Over lime. other 1'itual aclions and words wete addecl. includ ingprayers, Bible readings, and psalm -siuging. The Mass is perfonned every day in monasleries. convents. and major churches. on Sundays in ali chu rches. and more than once on lhe most imporlanl feasl days.

FIGURE 3.1: A priesr consecrates 1/ie winc Mdbreadforcommuriion. tltc central ritual of the Mass. in an e!eventh.-cenlu'J'

Cerman ivorycarving. (LIEBIECUAUS MUSEUM ALT.&ft J•IJ\STJ ... r nANKJ'UIIT)

ers and symbolize the Trinity of Father. Son. anel Holy Spirit. The Greek words and text repetitions reffect the Kyrie's origins in a Byzantine processional litany, a form in which participants repeat a short prayer in response to a leader. On Sundays and feast days (except in Advent and Lent), there follows the Gloria, or Greater Doxology. a formula of praise to God that encapsulates the doctrine of the Trinity and again asks for mercy. The priest then intones the Collect. a collective prayer on behalf of all those present. After these introductory items. the next section of the Mass focuses on Bible readings, fforid chants. and church teachings. Here the service offers instruction, familiarizing worshipers (at least, those who understand Latin) with the Scriptures and central tenets of the faith. First the subdeacon intones the Epistle for the day, a passage from the letters of the apostles. Next come two elaborate chants sung by a soloist or soloists with responses from the choir: the Gradual (from Latin gradus, "stairstep: from which it was sung) and the AI/e· luia (from the Hebrew Hal/e/ujah. "praise God"), both based on psalm texts. These chants are the musical high points of the Gregorian Mass. performed when no ritual is taking place and text and music are the center of attention. On some days in the Easter season. the Gradual is replaced by another Alleluia as a sign of celebration: during Lent, the joyful Alleluia is omitted or replaced by the more solemn Tract, a Aorid setting of several verses from a psalm. On some occasions the choir sings a sequence after the Alleluia. The deacon then intones the Gospel, a reading from one of the four books of the New Testament that relate the life of Jesus. The priest may offer a sermon. On Sundays and importam feast days, this section of the Mass condudes wíth the Credo. a statement of faith summarizing church doctrine and telling the story of Jesus' incarnation. crucifixion. and resurrection.

The Roman Lhurgy

lntroduc1ory l. lnt roit

2 Kyrie 3. Clom

scction 4. Collccl

Readmgs ond psahns

5 . Epl&lle 6 . Gradual 7. Allehu• <or Tracl) 8. Sequence (on mo1or feas t&) 9. Gospd 10 Srtmou \UJ•l11111.I

Prayersond 12. Olf,r1ory communion

11 ,

Credo

l'ra,rrs

5l'crr

15. Prefacc 16. Sanctu~ (;mm

18. Paternoster (Lord'• P,·,yer)

19. Ab"'"" Dei 20. Communion 21 . Pos1conunUJ11on

22. he. miss3 est Bluc: Sung by eboir Burgundy: lntoned Ora111:,•. Spukeu FIGURE 3.2

Next the priest turns from words to actions. As he prepares the bread and wine for communion, the choir sings the Offertory, a Aorid chant on a psalm. There follow spoken prayers and the Secret. read in silence by the priest. The Preface. a dialogue berween priest and choir leads inro rhe Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy). whose text begins with the angelic chorus of praise from the vision of lsaiah (lsaiah 6:3). The priest speaks the Canon, rhe core of the Mass that includes the consecration of bread and wine. He sings the Lord's Prayer, and the choir sings the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), which like the Kyrie was adapted from a litany. ln the medieval Mass. the priest then takes communion. consuming the bread and wine on behalf of ali those assembled , rather than sharing it with everyone as was the custom earlier (and again today). After communion, the choir sings the Communion, based on a psalm. The priest intones the Postcommunion prayer. and lhe priest or deacon concludes the service by singing /te. missa est (Go. it is ended), with a response by the choir; from this phrase carne the Latin name for the entire service. Missa. which became the English "Mass.· When the Gloria is omitted, /te, missa est is replaced by Benedicamvs Domino (Let us bless the Lord). Throughout rhe Mass, the music serves both to convey the words and engage the worshipers.

C ti A PT E li 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chant

folJowed by a sennon. Then the catechumens, those receiving instruction in Christian beliefs but not confirmed itt the church and thus unab le to receive communion, were dismissed. ending the hrst pa1i. The faithful offered gifts to tbe church. includ.ing bread and wine for ú1e communion. The priest sai d prayers of thanksgiving, consecrated rhe bread and wine, and gave commu-

nion. accompanied by a psalm. After a final prayer. he dismissed the faithful. From this outline. lhe Mass gradually emerged (see Music in Conlext: The Expe ri ence of Lhe Mass. pp. 4 8--49). The opening greeting was expanded into an inlroducto,y seclion. The nrsr part of the early Mass beca me a seclion focused on Bible readings and psalms: the final pa,t centered on offe rings and prayers lead ing LO communion. The main musical items of the OrdLaa,y-1.he Kyrie. Gloria. Credo, Sanctus, anel Agnus Dei- wcre rclativcly late add itions. l ronically. these are now lhe portions most familiar to mus icians. because lhc ir texts do not change and because almost all co mpositions callcd "mass" from the founeenth ccntury on are scttings ofthcse portions on ly.

PROPER FOR CHR ISTMAS MASS

1 Conoso M

Th.e Mass.

The Mass as il stood by the eleventh century is d escribed in the Music in Contcxt sidebar above. (For the comp lete Mass for Chri stmas Day, see NAWM 3.) The most important musical items, each sung to an independent melody by the choir and its soloists, are shown in blue in Figure 3.2. The other items were either in toned (recited to a simpl e melodie formula) or spoken by the priest or an assistant. The texts for ce11ain pa11s of the Mass vary from day to day and are collectively called the Proper of the /lfoss. The texts of other parts. called the Ordimiry of the Mass . do not change. allhough the melodies may vary. The Proper cbants a re caJled by their function, the Ordina1y chants by their injtiaJ words. The sung portions of tbe Ordinary were originally performed by the congregation. but were !ater taken over by Lhe choir, which was ali male (or. in convents, ali l'ema le). Early forros of lhe ceremony thal became the Mass fel! into 1wo parts. The commun ily heard prayers, readings from lh e Bible, and psalms, often

1 Conciso ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

While lhe Ordinary chants give a similar shape to every Mass, il is the Proper that links it to a particular day of the church yea r and gives the service a more 1 1 Full ~ 1 speciác meaning. Por example, in the Mass for Cbristmas Day (NA\V\1 3), eacb element of tbe Proper addresses tbe nativity of Jesus or places it in a broadertheological context. Some ofthe texts are drawn l'rom psalms or oú1er books of the Hebrew Scriptures, and it is through Lheir juxtapositioo wiú1 each otber and with New Testament passages that a Chri stian message emerges. The Inlroil (NAWM 3a) announces lhe birtb of a child who shall rule. 1.1sing words from Isaiah 9:6 that Christians understood to prophesy Jesus' birth. and continues with a celebrato1y psalm verse. The Gradual (NAWM 3d) uses verses from the sarne psalm that declare lhe revelatjou of salvation to ali peoples, and the Alleluia (NA\vt.l 3e) hails this sanctihed day wheo a greal Light descended to ea rth. These e laborate and ílorid chanls come betwecn lhe two main rcadings in this Mass: lhe EpistJc. from lhe lcttcr lo thc Hcbrews (1: 1l 2), relates lhe imporlance of Jesus as lhe son oi' Cod, and lhe Gospel, from John 1:1- 14, depicts Jesus as t.he Word of God bom into human form. The Offerto ry (NAWM 3g) sets psalm verses that acknowledge Cod's dominion

FIGURE 3. 3.

The Office.

Properand Ordinary

Sunns~

M 1dmgh1

l '-..-' I

Evolution ofthe Mass

M:uina

L.,ud.s

G.im

... Noon

3pm

Sun~et

M1dmgh1

1 l)rimc

Terce Littlc llours

Nonei

Ve&pers. then Compline

The Roman Llturgy

C H A PT E K 3

over heaven and eartb. anel the Communion (NAWM 3j) returns to i:he opening words of the Gradual. Togei:her, these chants celebrate Jesus' birth and summarize the Christian theology that regareis him as Savior. Lord. son of God. Word of God, and light of rhe world.

•

Roman Liturgy and Chant

Characteristics of Chant Gregorian chants are very diverse in style. with varyi.ng approaches to pe1-formance, treatmenl of the text , and melod ie cbaraecer. These stylistic differ-

ences re11ect the disparate functions aud lústories of the items in the liturgy. THE OFFICE Early Christians often prayed and sang psalms at regu la r times throughoul lhe day and nigb l. , in private o r public gathe rings. These observances we re codified i11 the Offi.ce, a se ri es o f c ight se rvices that. s incc th c ea rly Middle Ages have been celebrated dai ly at specified times, as s hown in f'igu re 3.3. The Office was particularly important in monasteries and convents, whe re Mass anel Office observances occupied severa! hours every day a nd ni ghL Ali mc mbers of the com munity sang in tbe services. Figure 3.4 depicts tbis centra l focus of monas tic Jife. Monasteries and convents in the Roman churc.h foUowed the liturgy for tbe Office codified in the Rule of St. Benedict (ca. 530), a sei o f instructions 011 run - FIG URE 3.4: Monks and choirboys singing in the ning a monastery. The Office liturgy for churches choir. celebratingone ofthe manysen•ices 1/iat outside monasteries differed in some respects. Office took up most of each dar ,na mon.a.stery·. la.1e • obse rvances include seve ra) psaJms, each with an medieval mrinuscript il/1,m.inarion. (couaTr.srT11r. <111t.ipho11. a chant sung before and after the psalm: ••1T1• 11 LrnRA•r> lessons (Bible read ings) with musical responses called respousorie s; hymns: c"11t.icles, poe l.i c passages from pa rts of the Bible other than the Book of Psalms: anel p rayers. Ove r lhe cou rse of a norma l week. ali 150 psal ms a re sung al least once. The most impo rlan l Offi ce services, liturgica lly and musica lly, are Matins, Lauds, and Vcspcrs.

and will belp bruide us tbr ough the genres of ehant. Mannerof Singers use three manners of perfol'tnance for chan1: re.~p,ms o rial (from pe,fonnance "response''), in which a so loist alternates with the choil' OI' eongregation; a 11tiplwm 1l (from Greek fo r "sound- returning") . in wh ieh two groups or ha lves of the choi r alteroate: and tlir-ect , wi1h()ut al ternat icrn. Certain genres o f chanl are traditionally associa ted with each mannel' of perfol'manee, aJt.hougb lhe way some chants are suog bas changed o ver time. Text setling There a re also three styles of sett ing texts. Chants in which almost eve ry syllab lc has a singlc note are called syll<tbic. Chants in which syllablcs ca rry one to six notes or so- generally one neume per syllableare 11c11m<ttic (from ··ncume"). Long melod ie passagcs on a single syllable are meUsnws , anel chants that fearure them are mclismatic . Not every chant can be neatly classi fied, TIMELINE beeause some chants mix stylcs. and ehants that are mainly in Roman Liturgy one style may use another at various points. and Chant Some parts of the Mass anel Office are chanted to rccitation formulas . simple melodie outlines that can be used MUSICAL H ISTORICAL wich many differenr texts. Ot.her parts of che liturgy are sung to fully formed me lodies. The two categories are not entirely • ca. 530 Rule o{St. Benedict separate. as even comp lex melodies may be elaborations of an • 884 Notker Balbulus com· underlying formula. pletes Liber hymnorum • late 10th cent. Ouem queritis

inpresepe • 1000- 1300

European popula-

tion tripies

LITURG ICAL BOOKS Texls and music for services were gat h erecl in books, copied by sc ri bes in thc Middle Ages and later printed u nder chu rch autho,rity. Tcxts for thc Mass are in a book called the Missal. and its cbants are in the Gradua.!. Texts for the Ofiice are collected in lhe Brevinry, the music in tbe Antiphoner (from ..antip bon"). ln t.he late nineteemh anel early twemieth cenruries, monks of the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes (see p. 37) prepared modern editions of the Gradual and Antiphoner and issued tbe über u-suali-s (Book of Common Use). whicb conta.ins t.he most frequemly used tex ts and ebants for ihe Mass and Offiee. The Solesmes ed itions wel'e adopted as the ofncial books for use in services and are used in mos! recordings of Gregorian chant. Although t.hese editions reflect a modern standard ization o f a reperto ry tha t varied over time and fl'om p lace to place, they provide a good introduction to Gregorian chant and will serve as t.he basis for lhe diseussion below and in NA\VM 3 (Mass) and NA\VM 4 (Vespers).

Last major item (Credo) added to Mass

• 101•

• ca. 1020- 50 Wipo. Victimae

paschali laudes • 1054 Spli t between Roman

Solesmes editions

and Byzantine churches Battle of Hastings: England falis lo Normans

• 1066

• 1095-99 First Crusade • 1146

Adam of St. Victor dies

• ca. 1151 Hildegard of Bingen.

Ordo virtutum • 1215 Magna Carta signed

M ELODY AND DECLAM ATION Simp le or ornate, chant melod ies are vehicles fo r deelaiming the words. The crcator8 of chanl made no atle rnpl to cxp ress emotions o r dep ict images, as in !ater ope ra o r song, bul the ir me lodies rcflcct the shapc of thc tcxt. Evcry chant mclody is a rticu laled in lo ph rases and periods eo rrespo nd ing to those of the text. Mos t ph rases resemb le an arch, begin ning low. rising into a higber range , li ngering therc, thcn descending. This parallels the way Latin was spoken. Accented syllables are often sei to higher notes. Some syl lables are givcn more notes. lcnding empbasis th rougb lcngth. But sometimes tbe reverse is mie; melismatic cbants may include long melismas on weak syllables and emphasize important words and accents with syJJabic settings that stand out in eontrast. Ali of tbese features can be seen in Videmnt omnes in Example2.3 (p. 37). Mostph rasesarearchlike. Theaccented first syUableof"Dominus" (Lord). the most important word in the verse, is highligbted with the longest melisma and highest note in the chant. By contrast. "jubilate" (sing joy fully) is set almost syllabieally. making i t easy to hear. and

Genres and Forms of Chant

both parts of' tbe cbant close witb long rnelismas on unaccented syllables (011 ·'terra"' and ·'suam'').

C H A P T E K 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chant

EXAMPLE 5.1,

Office psabn. Oixit Dominus. Psalm. /09 (JJO)

ln1o n>1i on Reci1ing1one

= -; a. Oi xit

Genres and Forms of Chant

3. 9. 10.

Given the va ried styles and histories of 1.be cbanrs for tbe Mass and OfEtce. it will be helpful to lreat 1hem in broad categories, beginn ing wilh syllabic Ly pes. proceeding to neumat ic and mel ismatic ones. and considering tbe Mass Ordina1y chants separately at Lhe e nd. (For a d iscussion of chant types in liturbtical order and conLext, see t11e commentary for I\AWM 3 and NAWM 1.) Eacb type of cbanl bas a distinctive form in b,ith texl and music. and a pa rticular way to perform it. Wh ile examining the cha11ts, we should not lose sight of who sings thcm anel in what placcs in the littll'g)', s incc thcsc factors explain the differences in musical style.

4 ..

Domh1us Donec ponam ini

14 1 -

Reci1 ing1onc •

06 mi no mé mi - cos t1.'t

Virgam virtmis tuae emittet Domi -mis Gloria Sicut erat in pl'inc1pio. ct

ex SI

14 1 4

1 li

Termin;u ion •

;

•

Jcx- u·is mé 1s. os, scahellum pe dum lu - ô - 1rum . on, domí111re il, 1Mdío inimitó-rum tu - 6 - m111. O;

St!Jca

Pá lri. et l'í li o. ct Spiri núnc c t sém - per. ct in $3Ccula saecu

i Sánc

10.

lo - rum. Á - men.

Tlie /,o,rd so.ys 10 my /.,ord: Sit Ot my righr ho.nd.

~. Until I moke Thyenemies 17iyfootsr.ool. 3. 77ie Lord sends rlie rod oJThy strengtlt forth Jroni Zior1: mie in tlte midst of Thy enemies.

9. Glo,ybe to rltefother. 011d lo lhe Son, ond to rhe HolySpirit. ,o. As il was in 1/Je begir1.11i11g. is r1ow, and e,,er silo/! be. world williout en<L. Amen.

syllablcs of the phrase. Th e last verse of the psalm is followecl by the Lcsscr Doxology, a formula of praise to tbe Trinity (Father, S011, and Holy Splirit), sung to the same psalm tone and shown here as verses 9-1O. The addition of this brief text puts tbe psalm. from the Hebrew Scriptures, li.rmly into a Christian framework. More elaborate variants of t11e psaln1 tones are used for canticles in the Office and for the psalm verse in the lntroit at Mass (NAWM 3a).

RECITATION FORMULAS The simplest chants are the fonnuJas for intoning prayers and Bible rcaclings. sucb as the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel. Here tlle music's sole function is to project the words clearly, without embellisbment. so the formulas are spare and almost entirely syllabic. The text is chanted on a reciting note. usually A or C, with brief mo tives marking the ends of phrases, sentences, anel tl1e ent ire reading; some formulas also begin phrases with a rise to the reciting note. Tbese recitalion formulas are quite old. predating lhe systern oi' modes, anel are not ass igned w any mode. They are sung by che priest or an assistant. wiili occasional responses from the choir or congregation . Priests were not usually trained singers. and tbey had a 101 of texl to recite. so it makes sense lhat their melodies we re s im pie andina very limited range.

OFFICE ANTIPHONS

PSALM TONES Slightly more complcx are thc psa/111 to11cs, formuJas for singing psalms in the Offtce. These are des igned so they can be adaptecl lo ftt any psalm. There is one psa lm tone for cach of thc c ight modes, using thc moclc's recit ing tone as a note for recitingmost of tbe text. Tbese psahn tones are still used today in Catholic, Anglican, and other cburches, continuing a practice that is well over twelve huJ1drecl years olcl. Example 3.1 shows the fu·st psalm for Vespers on Christmas Day, Dixii Domirius (Psalm l 09 in the Latin Bible. 110 in tbe HebrewScriptures and most modern translations). using the tone for mode 1 (NAWM 4a). Each psalm tone consists of ao iriionaiiori. a rising motive used only for Lhe ôrsl verse: recita tio o on the reciting tone; the media11t, a cadence for the middle of each verse; further recitation: and a lenrii11atio1i. a fmal cadence for each verse. The structure of 1he music exactly reílects tha t of i:he text. Eacb psalm verse is co mposed of two statements, the second echoing or co mpleting the ftrst. The med iant marks tl1e e nd of lhe ftrsl statemenl. and lhe lerminailion signals lhe end of 1.he verse: both int roduce melodi e motion around lhe last one,or l.wo acce nted

Mcdi,111

1 Conoise :\\ 1 1 Full :.\ 1

1 Concise :.\ 1 1 Full :.\ 1

Perforrnancl'

An Offlce psalm or canlicle is nol complete in itself, bulis preceded and followed by an antiphon. Since I he cycle of the 150 psa l rns is s ung every week whil e the antiphon varies with each day in the chu rch calendar, each psal m is framed by many elifferent anliphons during tbe yea r. The Lext of the antiphon. whethe r from lhe Bible or newly wri1ten, often refers lo the evenl o r pe rso n bcing commemo ratccl that clay. placing thc words of thc psalm in a speciftc cere monial co ntexl. On Chris tmas Day, the f, rsl psalm ai. Vespe rs is pa ired with lhe a ntip hon Tec1,1,mprincipittm, show,1 in Example3.2 (NAWM 4a). Here the text for the antiphon is the fourt h verse of 1he psahn, wbose images of clominion, st rength, lhe womb, and divine parentage were unele rstood by Christians to hcrald the birth of Jesus. be ingce lcbrated at this Vcspers service. The moele of the antiphon de termines the mode for tbe psa.lm tone. Tbe antiphon is in mode 1, so the ps alm tone for mode I must be useel for the psalm, as in Example 3.1. Bec:iuse antiphons begin in various ways. medieval singers developed severa! terminations for each psalm tone, to lead appro priately to different opening notes or gestures. The termination to be used with a particular antiphon is shown at the end of the antiphon. using the vowels for the Jast six syllables of the Doxology. E tt o tt a e (for saEcUlOrU,n A11iE11), as in Example 3.2. Tbe termination does not necessa rily end on the ftrst note of the antiphon. as longas the succession is srnootb: here. the medieval musicims cbose G as Lhe most suitable ending note to Jead back to ilie antiphon's opeuing notes, E-C-D. Thus the psalm tone need not close on the final of the mo de. but tbe antiphon does. The manner of performing psalms and cant icles with anliphons has var-

Genres and Forms of Chant

EXAMPLE 3.2,

O.ffi.ce o,nriphon. Tecum principium

. .. . .

Te - cum prin - ci

- *

pium

---=- .; : ;.

• in e.li - e

vi r

• .=-

insplen..Jo - rí .. bussanc - to ..rum,

ex u .. ,c .. ro

• - ; 4 .-.

1is

ln - :u:.

:m- tc: lu - ci .. Íi;:--mm ge..nu - i - te.

;füj

E u o u a

C H A P T E K 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chant

with t:wo contrasting scyles. free me lody anel recitation. iu which the outer sections emphasize the fmal, the longer central section the reciting tone.

tS& .. :-- -==..=---JI

- - - • • • .-.

-=·.

Thine silo/! be tliedominion in lliedayof11,ystrer1g1/i itt lhe brighrness oflhe Saints: Jrorn lhe womb beforc lhcdarswrl bego1 Tlwe. (Psa lrn 109:4 [ 110 :3))

ied over time. Early descriptions include direct peJrformance by soloists, rcsponsorial a ltcrnation between a so loist and cho im- or congrcgation . and antiphonal alternai ion betwceu two siugers or groups. ln medieval monastic practice, the entire community of monks or nuns was d ivided into two choirs singing tbe psalm antipbonalJy. alternating verses or half- verses: the antiphon could be sung by soloists, reading from tbe A,itiphoner. or by ali. singing from memory. Antiphonal performance was suggested by tbe division of each psalm verse inro two parts, as descrihed above, aud encouraged by the layout of medieval cburches. wilh the choir arranged in two sets of stalls Jlanking rhe a lta r. as shown in Figure 3.5. ln most mode m performa nces, the c aut()r, the leader of the choir. sings lhe opening words of Lhe antiphon to sel lhe pitch (up lo Lhe asierisk in modcrn ed itions), and thc full cho ir comp letes thc ant iphon: thc canto r singi; thc Í'trsl half of thc first psalm or ca nlicle ve rse, and ha lr the choir co mpletes it; the two balf- choirs alternate verses or haJf- verses; :md the full choi r joins togetherfor th e rep rise of the anliphon. Offiec antiphons are simple and mostly sylla bie. reflecting their historica l association with group singing and the practieal fact that ove r thirty are sung each day. making great length burdensome. Yet th ey are fully independem melodies. Tectim pr'irtci,pit1m (Example 3.2) illustrates the elegance of even simpie Gregorian ehants. Text phrases and aeeents are FIGURE 3.5: A mid-fijieenrh -centurymanuscripl clearly delineated. Eacb pbrase cenrers around and illumina.non showing monks singing a memorial cadences on impol'tant tiotes of tbe mo de while trac- setvice. The choir is seated in two seis ofsta /1s lhat ing a unique areh. The openingpbrase eireles around face each other across lhe chance!. the area of the Lhe linal D. rises dramatically 1.0 the reciting tone A. ch11rch aro11nd the altar. Two mon~·s- presumably then meanders down to D, the last two phrases both rhe cantor. orchoirleader, andon assistant- sland bover around F, Lhen sink Lo encircle and close on D. in front. 1-eading lhe singingand probablype,jomt· Antiphon and psalm tone combine lo creale a piece ing,heantiphons. <cou•T.,YT11 n111T"111.1 •11A11vJ

OFFICE HYMNS

Hymns are the most familiar type of sacred song. practiced in almost ali branches oi' Christianity from ancient times to lhe preseni. The choir sings a hymn in eve ry Offtce se rvi ce. Hymns are sl,rophic , consis ti ng of severa! stam.as that are all sung to the sarne melody. Sta111.as may be four Lo seven tines long. and some include rhymes. Melodies often repeaL one o r more ph.rases, produc ing a va riety of patterns. The hymn Christe Redemptor om.nium, sung at Vespers 011 Christmas Oay (NAWM 4h) anel shown in Example 3.3. welcomes the birth of Chri.st as redeemer, begotte n by God and born of the Virgin Ma ry, who took on human form and carne to savc th e worlcl. Likc most Crcgorian hymns, it has one note on most syll ables with two o.r three notes on others. lt is in mode 1, and eaeh phrase and thc mclody as a wbolc bave a s hape ly risc and fa li. Thc nrst ph rasc asecnds from C to G and falis to thc fina l D; thc second climbs to bigh C and cadences on the recitingtoneA; the third phrase s teps down to E; and the fmal phrase rcpcats thc ftrst, to close on D. This kind of eontour, moving mostly by seconds and thirds to a peak and descending to a caclence, has been typical of western European melodies ever since.

ANTIPHONAL PSALMODY IN THE MASS

l'salmody. lhe singing of psalms. was pari of the Massas well as the Ofiice . ln the early Mass. psalms sung antiphonally with antiphons were used to accompany actions: the en trance procession and giving communion. These became the Introil and tbe Communion respect ively. Over time. the opening process ion of the Mass was shorlened and lhe failbful carne to receive communion less freque ntly. Eventua lly both chants were s hifled to come aftc r Lhe rituais rathe r Lhan accompanying Lhcm. Both chants wcrc abbrcv iatcd, lhe Commun ion to lhe antiphon alo ne, the lntroit to the antipho n , one p:salm verse, Lcsscr Doxo logy, and thc rep rise of thc antiphon, for the musica l f'orm 1 Concise ;\\ 1 1 Full :\\ 1 ABB'A (see NAWM 3a). Beca use thc greater solemnity of the Mass ca llcd for grcatc r musica l sp le nclor, 1-foss antiphons are music:tl ly more c laborate than Offtcc :111tiphons,

EXAMPLE 3.3, Hymn,, Christe Redemptor omnium

Chri s~c

-=-· •

; Kc

•= •

dcmptor

-•

om nl

;

• Ex•' • P••

UU\.

. .

A • ; < • . ::;. . te prin ci pi um

lus ao

_--.:; ií .---. tll

ll'c l'a tris u

7. • ;

Na n1s in

• •

•

-1 CC.

A-4-91 .

1er.

Christ. redeemer ofali. Onewith the Father. hvho} atone. bejore t/Je beginning. was bom of ihe Pa1l1er. lin a way} 1/wt con11-0t be e.i:pressed.

Genres and Forms of Chant

EXAMPLE :S.4,

Communion, Yiderunt omnes

C H A P T E K 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chant

EXAMPLE 3.5

Alleluia Dies sanctilicatus

: - : •• , ..-s.=---- • > ;-:

Vi - de

----·

1,int

0~1

n~s

nes

ter

rae

.. ta

.. .

;, ;

;

nos

::: ;, .

+ ;

il - Ju - xit

Full !\\

RESPONSORIAL PSALMODY IN O FFICE AND MASS Early Christiaus often saug psalms responsorially. with a soloist per forming each verse anel the congregation or choir responding with a brief rnfrain. The responsorial psalms of Gregoria n chant- the Office responso ries anel the Gradual, Allelu ia , anel Offer tory in the Mass-stem from this practice. As we will see during )ater centuries. singe rs anel instrumental vi rtuoso s . given the o ppor tunity. would of1.en add embell ishmen ls and display thei r ski ll 1hrough elabora te passagework. So i1 shou lcl come as no surprise that over the cemuries of oral Lransm ission these chams assigned l.o soloists beca me the most melismat ic. They a re th e mus ical peaks of th e service, moments whcn thc wo rcls for oncc sccm sc,condary to thc cxpan sive melody fiJl ing 1.hc chu rch. The different ge nres oi' respo nsorial psa lm assum ed differenl. conligura tions. The t.cxt was usually shortcnccl to a singlc psa·lm ve rse with a chora i rcspond preceding and somet iru es following lhe verse. Officc responsorics ta kc severa! forms, but all incluclc a rcsponcl, a ve rse, anel a full or partia) repetition of the respond. Matiras, ce lebrated between midnight anel sunrise, inclueles nine Bible readings. e.ach followeel by a Great Responsory that rauges from ncumatic to meli smafü:. Severa] othcr Oftice services include a brief Bible reading followecl by a Short Responsory that is nemnatic rather than me lismatic. Gradua is are considerably more melismatic than responsories. Videnmt omnes. lhe Gradual for Chris tmas Day (Example 2.3 and NAWM 3d). contaius a úfty-two - uote melisma on ·'Domiuus .. anel thr·ee other melismas ten to twenty notes long. ln some Graduais. the encl of the verse repeats or varies the end of Lhe responcl. ln pe rformance. the cantor begins Lhe respond and the choi r completes it: then on e or more so loists sing t he verse, a nel the choir joins in 011 the Jast phrase. Alleluias include a respond on the word "alleluia ." a psaJm verse.anda

;

.. ... M M M

---.

de~scen - di1 lux ma

F. ~

ê:: • per

- ?; s~ Q

lt:r

----

-...,,, ,

•

;

• • ; • • 1 • ••

Do rni - t'lum: qui - a ho

; ; ; 8::S•

•

= ..---

:,.

•

;; :::::..--- ]

ti - Fi - ca - tus

. ;:::. . • . . .. . -:: ; • .: . . ·~ • : - •

Ali rheends of1heear1hliavesee11 tliesalvalion of otir·God. (Psal m 97:3 [98:3])

1.ypically neumat ic wi1h occasiona l mclismas. \Y/e can see this in Example 3.4, 1.he Communio n from Mass for Ch ristmas Day, Viderunl omnes (NAWM 3j). ln this more ornate stylc, the charactcri stics of previous cxamples are still apparenr: articulated phrases; motion mostly by steps and thirds; and arching lines that rise to a peak and sink to the cadence, circling arou nd and closing on impor1ant notes in the mode (again moei e 1). Here high er notes anel longer notegroups emphas ize the most importam accents and worcls.

.---.-sane -

tn .

;; ;

bis:

·- -

te gen - res.

- -- ; • ; - • • ; ; • ; • -

s ••

•

; ;"" ;

- :::;

r:uu, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Allel,dc,. Aliei ui-a. Verse: A sa,1ctijied day lias sho11e upon us: come people. and adore Lhe LonL: for rhis d<>r a grec,1 lig/11. /L(l,S desce,1 ded up0111/ie earih.

Office responsories

Gradual. 1

Concise !\li

Alleluia

1~ ~

repetition of the respond. The final syllable of "alleluia" is extended by an effus ive melisma called a jubilus. St. Augustine and others regarded such long melismas as an expressio n of a joy heyoncl words. mak ing them espee ially appropriatc for Allcluias. Examplc 3.5 shows Alleluia Dies sunctificaius. from the Mass fo r Christmas Day (NAWM 3e). The solo ist s ings the frrs t pan of lhe respond o n "all clu ia" (to thc astcrisk). thcn the choi r rcpcats it (as indicatcd by ij, the sign for repetilion) and con tinues wi1h lhe juhilus. The soloisl s i1,g·s the verse, with thc choir joining on the last phrasc (at thc asterisk). thcn thc solo ist repeats the lirstpart of the respond., and the choir joins at the juhilus. Often the encl of the verse repeats all or part of the respond me lody; here, there is instcad a varice! rcpctition of thc opcning of th c verse (a t "Cfuia hod ic clcsccnclil lux magna"), Despite the lo1tger and more effusive melody, the characteristics seen in other chants are evident. including articulated phrases. motion primarily by steps and thlrcls. anel gelllly arching coll!ours. This chant is in mode 2, lhe plagal mode on D. lt ranges an octave from low A to high A , centers on 1.he reciting tone F in several places. cadences most often on D or the C b elow il. and encls both respond and ve rse on D. There are severaJ long melismas. most focused around P and D, anel some passages that resemble recitation, as at "sancti!1calus" and "et adorate:· Buc underneath the inlricacies is the sarne sense of a melodie curve as in syllabic anel neumatic chants.

Genres and Forms of Chant

Offertori es are as melismatic as Graduals but include the respond only (see NA\VM 3g). ln the MiddleAges, they were performed during the offering of bread and wine, with a chorai respo nd and two or three very ornate verses sung by a soloist. eacb folJowed by tbe second half of tbe respond. Wben the ceremony was cunailed , the verses were dropp ed.

Tracts (from Latin tractus. ·'drawn out") are the longest chants in the lit-

C H A P T E K 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chant

Offertory 1

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Kyrie

Tract

the same music for ali three statemems (AAA); others are in ABA form or close alJ three sections with the same music (AB CB DB). The Kyrie text is even more repetitive, with three statements each of "Kyrie eleison," "Christe eleison." and "Kyrie eleison." The brief text invites a 11orid setting, and mosl Kyrie melodies have melismas on che Jast syllahles

of ·'Kyrie·· and "Christe" and the first syllable of "eleison." The text repe-

urgy. with seve ral psalm verses se t in very llorid style. Though now often pe rforrned like Graduals. they were o riginalJy direcL solo psal mody. with no responses and 1hus no respond. Tnstead. each verse comb ines rec itation with llorid me lis mas. The seq uence of cadences, lhe melodie outJine. and many of 1.he melismas are s hared betwee n ve rses and between d irfe ren t Tracts in 1he samc mode, ind icaling 1ha1 Lhe wrillen melodies rcsult cd l'rom a 1radi1ion oi' oral composilion baseei ou formulas (see chaple r2 a11d Example 2.1). ln ali these cha nts derived from res ponso ri al or d irect psalmody, we see thc ha llmarks of so lo performance: long, virtuosic melismas that s how off thc voice, and passages that resemble improvised embellishmenl of a s im pie me lodie outli nc. Ali but thc Offcrtory are attachcd to Biblc readings, orn amcnting anel thcrcby ho noring that most holy text io a musical parallcl to thc colorful illuminations that decorate medieval Bible manuscripts.

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Cycles of Ordinary chants

tition is rellecled in a variety of musical forms. sucb as AAA BBB AAA'. AAA BBB CCC' (as in NA\VM 3b). or ABA CDC EFE'. The Kyrie is usua lly performed antipho nally, with half-cho irs alternating statements. The fmal "Kyrie" is oflen extended by a phrase. allowingeach half- choir to sing a ph rase befo re bo1 h joi n on the 1inal "eleison." Starting in the thirteenth centu ry. scribes oflen grouped Ordinary chants in cyd e.~. with one settiag of each text excepl lhe Credo. Simila r cycles appear in thc Liber usiu:ilis. Although th erc wcrc many melodies for /te, niissa est in the MiddleAges, in the Uberu.sualis cycles this is ser to thc melody of the lirst Kyric.

STYLE. USE . AND HISTORY

CHANTS OF THE MASS ORDINARY The stmg portions of the Mass Ordinary were originally performed by the congrega ti on to sim pie syllabic melodies. Bul over the ceoturies, lirurgical Latin became hard er for members of the congregati on to understand or speak, as the language of daily life graduaHy evolved from Litin into new vemacular tOll(,'Ues. such as ltalian. French. Spanish. and Porrnguese. Perhaps beca use of th is linguisti c gu lf, church Ieaders red uced the co ngregation's participation in the Mass. and the choir look over singing the Ordina1y chants. From the ninth cenlury ou. cbu1·ch rnusicians com posed many new. mo re ornate melodies for the Ordinary, su itable for performance by trained s ingers. These chants te nd to be in a )ater stylc than mosl Proper chants. wüh clcarcr pitch ecntcrs and more melodi e repetition. The mus ical fo rms used in O1·dina1y chaat s vary. bul. ofte n re flect lhe shape of thei r tex rs. The Credo (see NAWM 3f) was always sei in syllabic stylc because it has the longest text and bccause. as thc statcmcnt of faith. it was the last to be reassignecl to tbe choir. The Gloria also bas a long text, but most settiogs are neumatic (see NA\VM 3c). Gloria and Credo melodies o ften feature recurring motives but have no set form . ln both cases, tb e priest in tones the open ing words and 1he choir completes the chant. Most melodies for the Sanctus and Agnus Dei are neumatic. The ir texts include repetition. so melodies composed for them often have musical rep etition as welJ. The Sanctus (see NA\VM 3h) begins with the word "Sancrus" (Holy) stated tlu·ee times, and the tlurd statement often ech oes the music for the f:trst. Tbe second and thüd sections of the text both end witb the phrase "Hosanna in excelsis" (Hosanna in lhe highesl) and oflen are set LOvaJ'iants of the s ame music (producing rJ1e form ABB') or use the sarn e melody for t.he Hosanna (creating the fo rm A BC DC). The Agnus Dei (see NA\VM 3i) states a prayer three times. altering lhe fmal words lhe last lime. Some settings use

G/ oria and. Credo

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Sanctiisand AgnusDei 1

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Each type of chan t is u nique, reflecting its role and history. Recitation formulas were valued for tbeir abi lity to projcct the words clear ly in large spaces and for being easy to memorize anel a pply to many texts. Antiphons and hymns added melodie interest. and during Mass the neumatic chan ts of the choi r adorn ed the service. Melismatic cbants were valued for theirdecora1i ve beau1y and became lhe mus ical jewels of lhe liturgy, sung by soloists and choir when no ritual actions competed for attention. As tl1e m ost elaborate chants in lhe repertory. they were used especialJy Lo embellish the readings from Scripture. When revisions in che liturgy changed the function o f a chant or who performed it. mu sicians responded by changing its form or slyle. as when the Introit and Communion were s hortened. or when more o rnate melodies were writlen fo r the Ordinary c hants after they were reassigned to the cho ir. Bulai! thcsc chants also s hared a common hislorywithancicnt roots. Thc ir creators d rew o n psa lm t.exts. co ntinuingJewish pra ctice as adapted by early Christians; uscd modes and melodie formubs, as in thc Jewish, Ncar Eas tcrn, and Byzant ine tradilions; and e mphasized correct phras iag and declamation of the text., bo rrowi ng from classical l..atin rhetoric. Both thc divers ity o f lhe chant repertory and the melodie aod structuraJ featu res most chao ts s.hare beco me more apparent when we know the histories of plainchanl as a who le anel of thc many individua l typcs of chant.

Additions to the Authorized Chants

Even after the chant reperto1y was standardized in about lhe nintb century. church musicians conti.nued LOadd to it. Besides composingnew melodies for t.he Mass Ordina1y, they supplied music whenever a new sain t's day or other l'easl was added to lhe calendar. crealing new chants or adapting existi11g-0nes for lhe day's Mass Pro pe r and Off1ce ant iph ons. Mo re than lifty compose rs

Additions lo1he Authorized Chams

C H A PT E K 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chan,

lmown by narne. and hundreds of anonymous ones. cornposed such chauts. most for observances in honor of local saints. Moreover, church musicíans developed three new types of chant that were additions to the authorized liturgy: tropes. sequences. and liturgical dramas.

Form

are set to the same music. Both syllable count and music change for each new

TROPE A trope expanded an exisling cham in one of three ways: by adding (1) new words and musie bcfore 1.he chanl and often hetwee 11 phrases; (2) melody only. extending melismas or adcling new ones; or (3) text only (usually eall ed prosula.. o r ''p rose"), set L/J exisLing melismas. The f1 rs t type was by l'ar Lhe mos 1. common , used espeeia lly with lntroits and Glorias. Ali three types inereased Lhe solemnity of a chant hy enlarging it. and all offe red musicians an outlet for creat ivity in t.he margi ns of th e authorized reperto ry, pa ra ll eli ng the way medieva l seholars somctimcs addcd commcntary in thc ma rgins of Biblc texts. Moreover, the added words provided a gloss, inte rpreting lhe chanl text and usua lly link-ing it more closely to thc occasion. for exa mp le, the ln troit antiphon for Christrnas Day (NAWM 3a) uscd a text frorn tbc Old Testarncnt, a passage Christians view as a prophecy of Jesus· birth Osaiah 9:6). Prefacing it with atrope text ( he re in ita li cs) made this interpretation explicit:

1 Concl!• :\\ 1 1

God the Farher today sent his Son into rhe world, forwhich we say. rejoicing withtheprophet: A chi ld is bom to us, anda Son is given to us: ... Two otl1er tropes to tllis same Introit appear in NAWM 6: a brief dialogue , Quem qii.eritis iti presepe (discussed below). anda textless melisma that emhellishes the end oi' 1he antiphon. Tropes were typically sung by soloists and set neumatically to frt wi th the chant to which they were attached. sometimes borrowing melodie figures from the chant. Musicians in France. Germa.ny. ltaly. and England composed bundreds o f tropes. so rne adopted wide ly but most s ung only in ce rtain tocaies. Trope composition Oour ished espccially in monastcrics during lhe tenth and e leve nlh centuries. The use of tropes declined du r.i ng lhe twelfth cen lury, and ali were banncd by the Cou ncil of Tre nt ( 1545- 63; see cha pter 10) in lhe intercsl of simplifying and stanclardizing the liturgy. Tropes test ify to lh e dcsire among med ieva l church mus icia ns to e mbe llish the authorized chant by adcli ngmusic and words. This is of crucial im portancc forthc dcvclop mcnt oi' polyphony, which embodies the sarne impulse.

SEQUENCE The seq11 e11 ce was a genre popular from the late ninth through the twelfth centuries. Seq uences are sung after lhe Alleluia at Mass and are set syllahically to a text that is mostly in couplets. The origiu of the sequence is uncertain, but it derives its name and place in the liturgy frorn an earlier praetice called sequentia. (Latin for "something that follows"). a melisma added aLlhe end of an Alleluia. Composers of sequences sometimes drew melodie mater ial from an Alleluia. hut most melodies were newly composed. ManuscripL coll ections of sequences customa rily present tl1em in two forms. with texl. andas exlended

rnelisrnas on "Allelttia." New texts were often written for exist ing sec[Uence melodies (see Source Reading). Most sequences consist of an initial single sentence; a series of pa ired sentences or phrases: and a fmal unpau·ed sentence. Within each pair. the two semences or phrases generally have Lhe same numher of syllables and

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l!ull §j

pair. creating lhe form A BB CC ... N. The length of lhe pa ired phrases tends to rise or fali ia a sim ple pallern. The tonal focus is usually cleas. with most ph rases ending 011 the moda l nnal. Th ese characteristies are evidenl in Lhe Easter sequence Victirnae paschali la.udes (NAWM 5), att rihuted Lo Wipo (ca. 995-ca. 1050). chaplain to Lhe Holy Ro man Empero r. ln 1.he twelfth ce ntury. ,·hy,ncd poeiry in lincs oi' even len&tth bceame more co mmon fo1· sequences, as ia lhose by Ada.m of St. Victo r in Paris (d. 1146). a.nd many sequences lacked the unpaired phrases at beginning and e nd.

NOTKER BALBULUS ON WRITING SEQUENCES 1

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The most famous early writer of sequence texts. Notker Balbulus ("the stammerer." ca. 840-912). a Frankish monk at the monastery of St Gall in Sw,tzerland, explalned how he learned to write words syllabically under long melis· mas. He appears to be describing the practice of writing new texts for existing sequence melodies. Though histo· rians once interpreted this as a descnption oí the mven-

tion oF the sequence. it is clear that Notker is refining a practice that developed elsewhere.

- ~ When I was still young. and very long melo d ies-repeatedly entrusted to memoryescaped from my poor little head. 1 began to reason with myself how I could bind them fast. ln the meantime it happened that a certain priest from Jumiêges (recently laid waste by the Normans) carne to us. brínging wíth him hís an tiphonary. in which some verses had been set to se· quences: but they were in a very corrupt state. Upon doser inspectíon I was as bítterly dísappoínted in them as I had been delighted at first glance. Nevertheless. in imitation of them I began to wri te Laudes Deo concinat orbis universus, qui gratis est redemptus. and further on Coluber adae

deceptor. When I took these lines to my teacher lso. he, commending my índustry while taking pity on my lack of experience, praised what was pleasing, and what was not he set about to improve. saying. "The individual motions of the melody should receive separate syllables:· Hearing that. 1immediately corrected those which fell under ia; those under /e or lu. however. 1 left as too difficult; but !ater, with practice, 1 managed it easilyfor example in "Dominus in Sina- and "Mater." lnstructed in this manner. 1 soon composed my second piece. Psallat ecclesia mater i/libata. When I showed these little verses to my teacher Marcellus. he. filled with joy. had them copied as a group on a roll: and he gave out different pieces to different boys to be sung. And when he told me that I should collect them in a book and offer them as a gift to some eminent person, 1 shrank back in shame, thínkíng I would never be able to do that. Notker Balbulus, Preface l0 Liber hymno,.,m (Book of Hymns). trans. in Richard Crocker. The Early MedieviJI SequMce (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Unlversity of Calífornia Press. 1977). 1.

Addilions lo the Authorizod Chants

C H A P T E K 3 • Roman Lilurgy and Chant

of Daniel from Beauvais (north oi' Paris) anel The Slattgh1er of the Innocents. from the Benedictine monastery of Fleury in central France. The music for these plays consists of a number of chants strung together. sometimes joinecl by songs in more secular styles. Ali p3l'ts. even women's roles. were usually sung by the mal e clergy and choir, excep t in a few lo cales wbere nuns

Like tropes. sequences embellished the limrgy and provided an outlet for creativiry. Some were widely used , but local practice varied. Seeking greater uniformity. the Council ofTrent banned most sequences, retaining only four of lhe besl known. including Victimae paschali lau.des and the sequence from the Requiem (Mass for the Dead). Dies irae.

participared. LITURG ICAL DRAMA Some Lropes took the form of dialogues. Among Lhe ea rliest was thc tenth centu1y Quem queritis in sepuLchro. preceding the lntroi.l fo r Easter. ln the dia logue, Lhe 1hree Marys come 10 Jesus' tomb, and the a nge l asks them. " Whom do you scck in l he scpu lchcr?" They reply, "Jesus of Naza rcth," Lo wh ich lhe angel answe rs . "Heis not bere. Heis risen as He said: go and proclaim thal He has ri se n from the grave" ( Mark 16:5- 7). Accounts fro m th c pcriod s how th at this dialogue was sung respons ively and accompan icd by appropriatc el ra mat ic aclion. Qitem queritis in presepe (NAWM 6) , a };de- tenth - century h·ope to the lntroit for Mass on Cbrist mas Day. sh owu in Figure 3.6. functio ns in a similar way. The midwives at Christ's binh ask the shepherds who come to admire the child, wh om do they seek. The s hepherds answer that they are Jooking for tbe Savior. lhe infant Christ. Such dialogues tbat were added to tbe liturgy have become known as li1.111·gical d,·amas . They were recorded in liturgical books and performed in clrnrcb. wi.th processions and stylized actions. The Easter and Cbristrnas plays were lhe most common and were performed ali over Europe. Severa! oth er plays su rvive from the twelfth century and !ater th at enact the even ts commemorated in the Church year. sorne performed wi thin tbe liturgy and others staged sepa rately. These include che early - tbir teenth - cen l.ury Play

S 'U.,C ........J• ..,.,.,.,.

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FIGURE 3.6 :

. ., :..... . . . •

.·, • ·'/ _-

·'

Hildegard of Bingen

..• .. Yf,\t chtC -.1-r1SIN1f'f )trt

•" .......

.. ;l . ., : .··'!._ r.d ultt uu_o H

~ .,tuAi:111'.,..:

•l • .·I

•

.,q,;(.,,.,, ~1nu•",\'"fn.rr~ T'• •

••

•

The earliest stuviv-

i11gcopy of1he Chrisimo-s dra· motic 1rope Quem querin,s in presepe. in a,ma,ittscriptfroni ,he regiori of Aq1iituir1e in. southwestern Frunce. For a /rtmscriplion. see NAIL\1 6. <•••uorH EQUE lt-ATIONAU . 11ARIS . MS 118 . POL. tlV)

Wome n were excluded l'rom the p ri esthood. and as lh e choi r took ove,· the s inging in serv ices, women were s il encecl in church . But in conve n tsseparate co mmun ities of ce li bate rc ligious womcn- thcy cou ld hold positrions of leadership, except for ofnc iati ug at Mass, and participate fully in singing and composing music. As in monasteries, convent life revolved a round singingthe eight daily Office services anel Mass. Here wom en learned to read latin and music and had access to an intellectual life available to few women oucside convent walls. ln this context. Hildegard of Bingeu ( 1098- 1179) acbieved great success as prioress and abbess of her own convent and as a writer anel composer (see Figure 3.7 and biography). There are more surviv ing chants by Hilde gard than by any olher composer from tbe entire Middle Ages. Most oi' her songs praise Lhe Vi rgin Mary, Lhe Trinity. or local saims. Her works, mos tly composed for Office services, va,y from syllab ic hy mn s to highly melismatic responsories. Her sequences are uuusual in that lhe paired ti nes often differ in syllab le coum and acce111.. and Hildegard varies Lhe music accordingly. Her melodies often exceed lhe range of an oct.ave by a fourlh o r Fift.h. Sh e repea tedly uses a small repertoire of melodie figures in constant variation. Some patterns derive from ch anl, s uch as a rising f1 fth and sl epwise descent, o r circling arouncl a caclential note: o th crs are extraorel ina ry. s uch as success ivc lcaps and otbe r pauerns that quickly s pan an octave o r mo re. Tbe music serves to pro long 1.he words, e ncou ragíng co nl.emplation o f their mea ning through sung praycr. Hil dega rcl's mosl exte nded musical work is Ordo vir/.utu.m (Th e Virtues , ca. Ordo virtutum 11 S 1), a sacrcd mus ic drama in ve rse with cighty- two songs. 1t is a mora lity play wit h a llego ri cal cha racters, incluel ing the Prophcts, tbe Virtues, tbe Happy Sou!, the Unhappy Sou!, a nd the Penitent Soul, in which the female Virtues lead the fall en soul back to the com munity of t be fait hful. Ali sing i11 plainchant except the Devi!, who can ouly speak; the absence of music sym1 Conci,e ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1 bo lizes bis separation from God. The final cborus of th e Virrues and Souls (NAWM 7) is typical of Hildegard's expansive and individual melodies . Hilelegarcl clairned that her songs. like ber prose writings. were elivinely Reputation inspired. Ata time wheu women were forbidden to instrue! or supervise meu , having a reputation for direct comrnuuication from God was the only way she eo uld be beard outside the convent. Sbe was renowned as a visionary. but her music, like that of countless orher composers, was apparently known only locally. Herwritings were ed ited and published in the nineteeuLh centt11y . her music only in the late twent ieth when sh e was rediscoverecl in 1.he searcb l.o

l he Continuing Presence oi Chant

H ILDEGARD OF BI NGEN (1098-1179)

C H A P T E K 3 • Roman Liturgy and Chant

Palestrina. spent most of their time singing and directing the performance of chant, while the sacred polyphonic music they a11d others composed was sung on ly 011 high feasts. Chant was reformed in the late sixteenth and early sevenlee11tb centuries and again in the late ru11etee11th a11d early twentieth cemuries. Bur the Second Vatican Cou11cil of 1962- 65. i11 an effon co engage

Born to a noble family in Bermersheim in

congregations more directly in worsbip. permitted holding Catholic services

the Rhine region of Germany, Hildegard at age eight was consecrated to the church by her parents. Six years later she took vows at the Benedictine monastery of Disiboden· berg. becoming prioress of the attached convent in 1136. Led by a vision, she founded her own convent around 1150 at Rupertsberg near Bingen. where she was abbess. Famous for her prophecies. Hildegard corresponded with emperors, kings, popes, and bishops and preached throughout Germany. Her many prose works include Scivias (Know the Ways, 1141-51), an account of twenty·six visions. and books on science and healing. Hildegard wrote religious poems as well as prose. and by the 1140s she was settlng them to music. Her songs, primarily ant,phons and responsories for the Office and sequences for Masses dedicated to local saints, are preserved in two manuscripts organized in a liturgical cycle. with indications that many were sung in her con· vents and nearby monasteries and churches. Her Ordo virtutum (The Virtues. ca. 1151) is the ear· liest surviving music drama not attached to the liturgy. ln a male-dominated church with aprescribed liturgy and repertory of chant, Hildegard

in local la11guages rather tban i11 Lati11. Cha11t was no lo11ger prescribed. a11d il bas vircually tlisappea red from regular Catholic services, replaced by new tunes with vernacular lexts. By l he late twent iclh century. chan t was prac ticed moslly io monasleries and cooveots o r performed in concerts. aod was lmowo main ly through recordings. Oo e recording by 1he Bened ic1 ine mon ks of Santo Domingo de Si los in Spain, til Icei s i mply Cho,n.t, was Lhe bcst - sclling CD in Ew·ope for more lllan six montbs in 1993 and was a besl- sell er in lhe Un ited States as well. The tre nd continues in the twenty- firs t century: music i11 the style of chant is used in Ha lo and other video games, and in 2008, the monks of Heil igenkreuz (Holy Cross) Abbey in Austria r eleased an a i bum titled Cho.nt: Mu,sicfor Po.ro.dise t hat became a top - tcn hit. From thc nintb through thc thfrtccoth centuries, chaot formcd the f'oun dation for most polyphonic music, and il continued lo p.l ay a leading r ole i n po lyp hon ic sacred musicwe ll into the sixteenth century, The diversity already ioherent in chaot, from the contrast between syllabic and melismatic styles 10 the various modes. was rellected i11 similar diversity in later service music. Frorn tbe begin11ing of the Reformation. composers adapted many chaots for use as chorale or bymn tunes in cbe Pro1estam churches, and melodies derived from chant are still used today in Lutheran, Anglican, and other chu rches. During the nineteenth a11d twentieth ce11turies. composers frequently used cham melod ies. i11 secular as well as sacred music, Ye1 the importance of Gregorian chan t for !ater music goes beyond its prese11ce in pieces directly based 011 it. Chant was part of the musical world of most Eur opeaos for over a thousand years, and it deeply inlluenced their sense of how melodies should be shaped and how music should go. Ali late r music i11 lhe \Vcstern tradition wcai-s its impri111.

FIGURE 3.7; H1ldegarcJ, of Bingen with Volmar. a monk who assistedherin recording hervisions. in an. ülustrc.tion. from Scivias. (Puoro: .esrou uss1Nc1 AJlT RESOU'RC2~ l\.'Y)

had to make a place in the margins, for herself and for her compositions. 01do vi,wwm. 4 3 antiphons. 18 responsorles. 7 sequences. 4 hymns. 5 other chants

MAJOR WO RKS:

(® rccb im l he history of mus ic bywomcn, Shc cp.1ickly beca me tbc most rccor dcd and best - known composer of sacred monopbony, and one ofve1r few k:nown to have wr il ten both the music and the words.

The Continuing Presence of Chant Gregor ian chant was importa11t in itself and for its i nflue nce on other music. lt was used in Ch1·istia11 services throughout central a11d westem Europe until the Reformalion and io Catholic areas afler thaL Almos1 everyone in these areas hea r d ic at least weekly. 11 remainecl the principal acliv ity ofpr ofessional singers un til lhe eud of the sixteeuth centu ry; musicians we know prima r ily as composers, such as Leoninus . Du Fay, Ockeghem. Josquin, anel

Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

C ti A PT E li 4

• Song and Dance Music 10 1300

(

SONG AND DANCE MUSIC TO 1300

A 114 n l l e

Oe e a n

Gregorian chant was a revered tradition, preserved in notation. taught in church schools, and discussed in treatises. Outside the churcb. few in the Midd1e Ages read music, and except amongtbe educated elites, secular music was seldom written down or written about. For mosL people. music was purely aural. and mosL of the secular and nonlitw·gical music they heard, saug, and played has vanished. What survives are severa]

'10 R 'III

A l• RI C A

htmdred monophonic songs, many poems s ung 1.0 melodies now 10s1, a few dance tunes, descriptions of music- making. pictures of musicians playingvarious instruments, anda few actual instrnments. f'ro m these we can learn how music was used and can identify severa) im portant repertories. including the songs of the troubadours and trouveres in F'rance and the Minnesingcr in Gcrmany; the ltalian lauda and Span.ish cantiga; and dance music. ln these songs and dances we cansee reflecnions of medieval society and discovertraits common in European music ever since.

European Society, 800- 1300 Medieval music was shaped by currents in the wider society: political developments. linguistic regions, economic growth. social class, and support for learning and the arts. By the ni.nth century. three principal successors to the Roman Empire emerged. The most direct successor was lhe Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor and southea.stern Europe. The strongest and most vibrant was tbe Arab world. which from lhe founding oJ' the Islamic religion around 61 Oby Muhammad (ca. 570-632) rapidly expanded to

FIGURE 4.1: Europe in 1050.

conquer a vasl lerritory from modern - day Pak:istan tbrough the Middle Easl, North Africa. anel Spain. Thc weakest. poorest. anel most fragmcnted of the tl1ree was western Europe. ln t.hfa context, Charlemagne·s coronation in 800 as emperor in Rome marked an assertion of continu ity with the Roman past, inelepcndence from t he Byzantine East. and contiel ence in the íuture of civili zalion in westel'll Europe. European culture owes much to ali three empires. The Byzantines preserved Greek and Roman science, architecture, and culture. Most writings tl1a1 survive from ancient Greece exis1 ooJy because Byzantine scribes recop ied them. The Arahs exteuded Greek philosophy and science, fostered trade and industry. and contributed to medicine. chemistry. technology. and math ematics. Arab rule rs were patroas of liLe rature. architectw·e. and olher arts. Charlemagn e also promoted learning anel artistic achievement. He improved education. encouraging primaiy schools in monasteries and calhedral towns throughout his realm. By s ponsoring scholarship and the a rls. Charlemagne

European Society, 800-1300

and his son Louis the Pious (r. 814-43) made their courts into cemers for intellectual anel cultural life, setting a pa ttern for Western rulers that endured for a thousand years. After Louis's death. his emp ire was divided. Over the next few centuries the countries of modern Europe began 10 emerge. altllough 1heir boundaries

CH A PT E K 4

• Song and Dance Music 10 1300

TIMELINE European Society,

changed frequently. Figure 4.1 shows the situation around 1050. The western part of lh e empire became France. Unlil about 1200. the French king was rela1ively weak , directly r uling only the area arou nd Paris. while other regions were governed by nobles who owed nom inal allegiance 10 lhe king bul often acted independenLly. Their cou rls provid ed opportunities for poets and music ians. nu rtu ring the troubadours aad trouve ces (see be low). Among thc most important of thcsc rcgio ns for mus ic was lhe duchy oi' Aquitaine in southwestern France. h ome to i mpo rlant lradilions o f Lal in songs. lrouba dour so ngs, anel ea rly po lyphony (see chapte r 5). ín the easte rn pari of the empire, German kings claimed the litle of e mperor .,s Cbarle magne·s successors. Their realm, evcntually known as the Holy Roman Empire, included n on - Gcr man lands as wcll , from the Nethcrlancls to north crn ltaly. The regional nobiJity and cities in the cmpire bad conside ,·able autonomy, anel by 1250 real powerlay in th e hands oí hundreels oílocal pa·inces, clukes, bishops. anel adm in istrators. They competecl for prestige by h iring the best singers. instrumemalists, anel composers, wbich fueled tbe d evelopment of music until the nineteenth century. Outside the former Frankish lands. a cemralized kingdom emerged in Engl;md in the late ninth century and continued after Lhe No rman Conquest of England in 1066. Iialy remained fragmented among several rulers includiug the pope, and Spain was clivided between Christian kingdoms in the north and Muslim lands iin ú1e south. Tbe Crn sades. a series of campaigns becween 1095 anel 1270 to rerake Jerusalem from the Turks, u ltimate ly fa iled but showed the growing conf1dence anel military powe r of western Europe. Amid these poli tical elevelopmen l.s. western Europe saw rema rkable econo mi c p rogress. Tech nol ogical advances in agriculture anel an expa n sio n ofla nds unelcr cullivat ion Jcd to grcat growth in production. Incrcasing the food supply rai sed the sta ndard of living and allowed lhe population to tripie be twee n 1000 anel 1300. Prom about 1050 on, water- powered mills and windmills p rov ided mecha ,, ica l powe r fo r rnilling grain, manufactu ring goods. anel ol hcr uses, fu rther boosting productivity. By 1300, western Eu rop c had surpasscd rhe Byzantinc Emp ire anel the ls lami c world in eco nomic s trenb>i h . The medieval economy was largcly agricu ltura!, and thc population mostly rural. Society was organized into three b road classes, as s bown in Pigure 4.2: the nobility and lmights, who controlled the land and fought the wars; priests, monks, and mms, who prayed; and peasants. the vast majority of the population. who worked tbe lancl and served the oobles. But by the twelftb ceotu:ry. trade in food and other products promoted the growth of markets, towns, anel cities. although t he largest cities were still small in modem terms: in 1300. Paris had about 200.000 residents. Lonclon abou1 70.000. Venice. Milan. and Florence about 100.000 each. ln eve1)' city, independem artisans made products from shoes to paintings. organizing themselves iuto groups calledgu.ilds to protect their interests by regulating produclion. pricing. apprenliceship. a nd

800- 1300 MUSICAL

H ISTORICAL

• 843 Death of Louis the Pious.

Charlemagne's empire divided Windmillsand water-powered mills provide mechanical power

• ca.1050

Normans conquer England

• 1066

• 1095-99

First Crusade

• ca. 1100

Song of Roland

• 12th cent. Cult of Virgin Marybegins The throe "estutes. "ore/asses. o}' medieval soc,ety: the mibility. who govemed and waged war; 1/ui clergy. who prayed; and the peasants. who worked the land con• trolled by the nobles. Fourree111h-cen1ury French. manuscript illumination froni a Latin tran.slation of Aristot,le's Pol itics. FIGURE 4.2,

• 12th ce nt. Universities of Bologna. Paris. and Oxford established Hildegard of Bingen, O,do virtutum

• ca. 1151

(ROY.AJ, l.1.6kARY OF l'EL·

CIUM , '-1S. Bll l l lOI 2, F2MR)

Lalinsecularsongs

Goliard songs

comp etition . Together witb doctors. lawyers. and merchants. these artisans constintted a new midclle class, between nobles anel peasants. Prosperily provided resources for learning anel the arts. Guilds organizeel apprentice systems for pa inters, sculptors, and musicians. both men and women. From 1050 to 1300. cathedral schools were establish ed throughout westem and central Europe, teachi ng fu ture church off1cials Latin gra.inmar, rhe tori c, anel mus ic. After 1200, independe nt schools for laymen spread rapidly as well , foste ring a more secular culture anel a tre mendous rise in literacy. Wo rn en we re excluded f'rom mosl. schools, but many we re laught to rcad ai h ome. From the twelflh century on. universities were founded in Bologna , Pa ris, Oxfo rd , anel othe r cit ies, teaching libera l arts, theo logy, law, :md medicine. Works of Aristotlc anel 01hc r importanl writers were translated from Greek andA.rabic inl.o Lat in . \Vestem scho lars such as Rogcr Bacon and St. Thomas Aquinas madc ncw contribut io,,s to scicnce anel philosophy. Write rs in Latin anel vernacular languages wrole epic, lyric, anel n arrntive poems that grew increasingly indcpendent from ancient models. Much oi' tbis p oetry was sung, f'orming che repertories of medieval song.

Latin and Vernacular Song

One type of Lati r, so ng, callcd versu.s (singular and plu ral), was normally sac red and sometim es attached to the litu rgy. The poe try was rhy rned and usually followed a regular pal tcrn of acccnts. Mo nopho nic versus were composcd from t.he clcvcn th ccntury lh rough thc thi r tcenth , particularly in Aquitaine. and t.hey in íl ucnccd two othe r repertories from lhe sa rn e regio n , trou barlou r songs (see be.low) and Aquitanian polyphony (see chapter 5). A refated typc, co,ulucllls (sin gular and plura l), originated in lh e twelfth century as a ser ious La tiu song with a r hymcd. r hythmical tcxt, a kin to a scqucncc but withou t thc pai red pbrases. Bo tb versus anel conductus were set to newly composed melodies not based on chant. Latin was no longer anyone·s native tongue but was taught in schools. and many people s poke and understood it. L1tin songs were composed for performan ce ourside religious contexts, it1cluding sett ings of anciem poetry, laments for Charlemagne and other notables. and satirical. moralizing, or a morous songs. The music. when preserved at ali. is usually in staf:iless neumes tha t caunot be transcribed unl ess t11e melody appears elsewheTe in more precise notation. Arnong medieval Latiu songs are lhe so - called guliunl s,mg.~ from the late tent h through thi rteent.h centuri es, associaied wilh wandering students. anel clerics known as goliards. To pies VaJ)' from religious and moral lhemes to salire and celeb rations of love, s pring. eat ing. drinking, anel ot.her ea rthly pleasu res.

Latln and Vernacular Song

The poems show breacltb of learning anel aclclress an educatecl audience, and poets who can be identiôed include respected teacl1ers and courtiers: this suggests that the dissolute way oflife celebratecl by some songs may be more pose than reality.

VERNACULAR SONG Many songs we re composed in medieval French, English, Cerman, ltalian, Spanish, anel various other vernacular languages. but mosl of lhese pieces are lost. Oulside lhe chu rches anel lega l system, most of medieval societ.y was nonl iterate. Becausc lhe common peoplc did not rcad or w,·itc, Lhei,· work songs. dance songs, lullab ies. lamenls, and other so ngs have disappearcd. The re are almost no descri ptions of musical life in rura l arcas, where nine -tenths ofthe popttlat ion lived. A few street cries anel folk songs are preserved, like íl ies in ambcr, only bccausc thcy wcrc quoted in polyphonic music written for eelucatecl audiences. One type of vernacular poem that surviveel is the epic, a long heroi c narrative. Many were transmittecl orally bcfore beingwritten elown. The clwnson de geste ("songof deeels") was an epic in the northern Frencb vernacular recouming the eleeels of national heroes anel sung to simple melodie formulas. The mos! famous chanson elegeste is theSongof Roland (ca. 1100), about Cbarlemagne's battle against the Muslims in Spain. Aboul one hundred other chansons de geste exisl. most from the twelfth cen tury. but liule of lhe music was preserved. Epics in other lands, like the Old English Beowulf (eighth century) . lhe Norse eddas (ca. 800- 1200) . anel the Cerman SongoftheNibelungs (thirleen!h cenlury), were likely also sung, but the music was neverw rillen down.

Eleanor of Aquitaine becomes queen of England

C ti A P T E li 4 • Song and Dance Music 10 1300

• 1154

• ca. 1170s Bernart de Ventadorn, Can vei la lauzeta mover • ca. 1200 Comtessa de Dia, A chantar Pope lnnocent Ili declares crusade against Albigensians

• 1208

Magna Carta signed by King John of England

• 1215

• 1225-1274

St. Thomas

Aquinas • ca. 1228 Walther von der

Vogelweide. Palastinalied • 1270 Seventh Crusade • ca. 1270- 90 Cantigas de Santa María • ca. 1284 Adam de la Halle.

Jeu de Robin et de Marion

MINSTRELS AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS As in any era, many people in the Midd le Ages musl have sung and playeel music for thcir own cnjoymcnt or for thci r fricncls. Yct thcre wc rc also professional musicians of various kinels. Poet- singers, called ba.rcls in Celtic lands, sang epics at banquets and other occasions, accompanying themselves on harp, fi ddl e. or simi lar instnunent . Jo11g lc11.l's (from the sarne root as English "jugglers") were lower-class itinerant musicians who traveled alone or in groups. earning a precarious living by performiug tricks. telling stories. and singing or playing instruments. By the thirteenth century, the term miust.rel (from Latin minister. "servant") was useel for more specializecl musicians, many of whom were employed ata court or city for at least part of the year (see Music in Comext: Minstrels in Medieval French Cities. antl Figure 4.3. p. 72). Unlike jongleurs, minsu·els came from varied backgrounds, ranging from former clerics to children of mercha nts. craftsmen . o r knights. Beginning arounel the twelfth century. professional musicians, both men and women, began t.o o rganize themselves inlo guilds.

MINSTRELS IN MEDIEVAL FRENCH CITIES Minstrels were an integral and prominent parl of the late medieval French city. Theycontributed to a sense of civic identity by saluting the inauguration of the city council. sanctifying relics of saints in processions. and welcoming visiting nobility: they provided order to the day by marking the opening and closing of cown gates, making official proclamations. warning citizens of danger, and announcing weddings: and they provided entertainm ent at dances, bathhouses, and tavems. The world of the urban minstrels was not preserved in music manuscripts. because the music they performed was created and passed down aurally. But their world can be recreated with archival records, through a research process similar to constructing an enormous jigsaw puzzle for which pieces are scattered far and wide. with many irretrievably lost. Some of the valuable pieces in this puzzle include city contracts that define duties. ordinances thatdescribe (and often restrict) common activities, partnership contracts, and guild statutes tha t delineate professional obligations (see Source Reading). Although civic patronage varied significantly from city to city, musicians throughout France were hired to participate in civic ritual and customs. The major city of Montpellier. for instance. which had a population as high as 40.000. regularly contracted in the mid-fourteenth century a five-member wind band with two reed instruments, two trumpets and a small kettledrum to precede the city council in processions, as well as two trumpeters to function as watchmen. and another to serve as public crier. Displaying expensive livery and banners adorned with the coat of

arms of the city. these musicians showcased the prosperity and political independence of the city. Reffecting this dose association between musicians and civic authority. the bishop of Albi. who was the city's overlord, retaliated after a revolt by the townspeople by insisting that the public crier's silver trumpet be "nailed to the pillory" and by requiring ali civic announcements to be made on a crude horn, a degrading change in ritual for the city. -GP

FIGURE 4.3, Jongle1,rormins1relplo.yinga. vieUe (mcdie,•o.l fiddle) ai courl, wi1h city roofiops in ihe dis1ance. lllumination f rom manuscripl of1he Cantigas de Santa Maria, fron, La.te-thirt.ee,uhcen tui;r Spain. (m e o, Luar coutar10N1co•&tsl

wh ich provided legal prolections. establisbed i,ruild members' exclusive rights 10 perform within a ciry or region, and laid out rules for conduct (see Source Read ing). Pormerly viewed as outcasts, musicians gained grea ter social acceptance through such guilels. the ancestors of moelern musicians· un ions and professional organizations.

Troubadour and Trouv~re Song

Troubadour and Trouvere Song

C ti A P T E li 4

• Song and Dance Music 10 1300

;o 1

100 m,1,...,

100 ldJomelf'r-.

The most signiócant body ofvernaculaJ· song in the MiddleAges was the lyric tradition cultivated i n courts and cities under aristoc r atic sponsorship. The

(orl = oui. yes); trobar anel trover were 1heir worels for "to compose a song," which )ater carne to mean "to invent" or .;to fmel.'' The many castles anel courts through out Ftance supporteel Lhe croubadours anel

tradition began in the twelfth century with the tro11bado11rs (frorn Occitan

trouvcres. Their lives are recounted in

trobador. femin ine trnbairitz). poet- composers in southern France wbose language was Occitan. and spread nonh to 1:he trmwen,s, whose lan1,'t1age was

somewhat fanciful biographies called vidas (l ives). often our only sou rce of information about them. Some werc nobles themse lves, such as lhe f1rst troubadour whose songs we have, CuUlaume [X, duke of Aqui1a in c and coun t. o i' Po ilicrs (1071 1126). anel the trobairitz Comlessa de Dia (Coun tess of Dia, 11. late twelfth and early thirtecnth centuries). Some wcre born to serva nts al co url, as was Bernart ele Ventaclorn (?ca. 1130- ca. 1200), o nc of lhe bcst- known and most in flucntial nou badours, shown in Figure 4.5. Son of a bakcr or servant at thc castle ofVentadorn. Bernart learned poetry and music from his noble patron there, then in the 1150s entered the service of Eleanor of Aqui taine FIGURE 4.4 , Lingiüstic bo1rndarybe1ween Occiwn (langue (l l 22- 1204), granddaughter o[ Guillaume cr oc) i1llh,e south ofPra,ice and Mcdie.,al Prench (langue IX and one of the most powerfuJ women of d 'o'il) m th.e north. the twelfth century as duchess of Aquitaine. queen of France (l 137-52) by marriage to Louis VII. anel ]ater eluchess of Normancly anel queen of England (1 1S4- 89) by marriage to Henry !L Through FIGURE 4. 5, Porlrait his sojourn with Eleanor in northern France anel possibly Englanel. Bernart of Bemarl de Ve11tab rought lhe troubadour tradition to lhe north anel inspired lhe development dom 011 a ltorse. J,-om, of t rouvere songs. Other troubadou rs anel Lrouveres carne from families of a thir·teer1lli ·celllur1 mcrchanls. craftsmen. or cvcn jongleurs, acceptcd into aristocratic cu:clcs French marW,Script. because of the ir aceomp lis hments in poelry and music and their adoption of (AKC•IMACES) the va lue system and behavior p racticed ar court . The songs wcre p rese rv ed ir, ,nanuscri pi antho logi es cal leel cha nsonni.c rs (song books). About 2,600 troubacl.our poems survive, a tenth with melodies; by contrast, two - thirds of the 2. l 00 cxtant trouvêre poems have music. Whether the melody was composed by the poe t is not always clear, Some poems appear with more than one melody. and some poets created new words to exisling melodies. a process called co111.rafactum. Varia.nts of text and music iu the manuscripts suggest that both poems and melo dies were composed orally rather than on papei-. memorized by rote, anel transmitted orally for a time before being written down. All Lhe survivi ng manuscripts date from well after t.he troubado urs'

Old French. The two languages, whose ranges are shown in Figure 4.4, were also called tangue d'oc and tangue d'oi1 afler lheir respective words for "yes'·

THE PARIS MINSTRELS' GU ILD ln 1321. musicians in Paris organized the Confrérie of 51.-Julien des Menestners, a guild that regulated standards and behavior for professional musicians. Their 1341 statutes. signed by thirty-seven musicians. both men and women, forbade the hiring of inferior muslcians, discouraged compet 1t1on between members.

and guaranteed 1ha1 only guild members could perform for pay ln Paris.

-~Know that we, by common accord, the menestrels and menestrelles, jongleurs and jongleresses [mal e and female minstrels and jongleurs) living in the city of Paris whose names are here signed, have ordained the points and articles contained and set forth below for the reformation of our craft and the common profit of the city of Paris. The persons named below have testified and affirn,ed by their oaths that they will be profitable and valuable to their avowed profession and to the community of the city, as indicated by the following points and articles:

(1) No trompeur (trumpeter) of the city of Paris may enter into a contract ata feast for anyone except himself and his companion, or for any other jongleur or jongleresse of any other guild than his own, for there are some who . . . take inferior musicians and ignore che better players; even though they perform less well the sarne salary is demanded. Because of this

good people are deceived and the reputation and common profit of the profession are damaged.

(2) Trompéeurs or other minstrels who have been hired to play for a function must wait until it ends before they move on to another engagement.

(3) Those who have agreed to play are not to senda substitute, except in case of illness, imprisonment or other emergency... . (6) When a prospective customer appears in the rue aus jongleurs [street of the jongleurs) he is to be allowed to approach whatever performer he wishes to engage withoul interference from rivais.

(7) Apprentices must observe the same rules as fully accredited members of the profession. (8) and (9) AII minstrels. whether Parisian or from other areas of France, must swear to obey the statutes. Any outside minstrel arriv· ing in Paris, either master or apprentice, is required to swear to the provost of St-Julíen that he will obey the statutes or else be banished for a year and a day. . . . Translated by Kay Brainerd Slocum. ·con{rér,e, Bruderscha{t and Guild: The Formation of Musicians Fraternal Organisations in Thirtccnth- and Fourtccnth-Ccntury Europa.- Early Music History 14 (1995): 264-65.

Troubadour and Trouv~re Song

own lifetimes and appear to be 1he result of a conscious attempt to preserve their poetry and music retrospeclively, so that we do 1101 know whether any of the troubadours were ab le to read and write music. Some troubadours and trouveres sang their own songs. but often the performance was entrusted to a jongleur or minscrel.

Alas! l lhought I kncw so much of !ove, and I know so little; for I cannot help loving a lady from whom I s hall never obtain any favor. She has taken away my heart and myself. and herself and the whole wo rld; and when she left me, l had nothing left bm desire anda yearning hean . Such poetry evokes the longing anel íluctuating moods fam il iar from )ater pornayals of unfulhlled romantic !ove. But it also serves another purpose: by playing on common themes in fresh ways through artfully constnicted lyrics. the poet demonstrates his relinement and eloquence. Since these traits were the two principal requirements for success in aristocratic circles. the entire gellfe of poeuy and song was more fi.ction than fact, add1·essed as much to olher men as to women. and rewarded not by !ove but by social status. Women poers adopted similar language. ye1 Lheir poems can seem more direct and realistic.A cliantar(NA\V119), shown in Example 1.1, is the onlysong by a trobairitz to su1'Vive with music. ln it. the Countess of Dia laments her lover's deception while defending her own virtue. inlelligence. courtesy. and beau1y.

C ti A P T E li 4

• Song and Dance Music 10 1300

EXAMPLE 4.1:

Comcessa, de Dia, A chantar 6

• 1, A

ch:m - Lar

~- but me

POETRY The so ngs of the troubadours and trouveres were the fountainhead of ali Western ve roacular poetry. Notahle for lhei r relinernenl. elegaoce, and intricacy, 1.he poe rns vary in s ubjecr , form, and trea1.ment. Lave songs predorn inate, joined by songs 011 polilical, mo,·al. anel li1era ry topics, dramal.i c ballads and dialogues. and dance songs. Most are stroph ic, and dance so ngs often include a refmin- a recurring phrase or verse with rnusic- that was typ ically sung by th e danccrs. There are scve ral particuJar gcnres, such as the al.ba (cfown -song), canso (love-song), and tenso (debate-song) ofthe troubadours. A central thcme isfi-11 ' (1111.ors (Occitan). or fine c,111.our (Prench), mea ning"refi.ned !ove.. (some times called courtl_y /ove, a term coined in the nine teenth century) . This was nota mutual love between equals, but a formal, iclealized love through which the lover was himself refmed. The object was a real womau of noble birth, usually another man's wi fe, but she was adored from a distance. with discretion. respect, and bumility. lndeed the language of adoration in these songs can border on the language of devotional songs to lhe Virgin Mary. The lady is depicted asso lofty and unattainable 1ha1 she wouJd step out of character if she condescended to reward her faithful lover. Thus Bernart de Veoladorn writes in bis canso Canvei la lauzeta mover (NAWM 8). one of lhe mos t widely disseminaced troubadow· songs. the classic complaint of unrequ ited love:

~ :r 3,

cur

"º

lui

c1u'ieu

~ c:ui

•

i:u r:m ::. ;e•

uui

-.=---::- , •.:;:..

+· vas

•

r;u1 -

m"cr

1 • .. . .

f ==-=~c=r---=:-. - • lui nu.m

vaJ

mcr - cca

s ui

• .- ;

l'Cll

;=.

(:Ql'

• prctz

F'in' amorsand fine amour

tt.i

·-~

,ni

'º

,·i

•a:

•

que

te -

•

mo n s.ens:

• nad' •

7. :m Je - gr·es • ser,

é;" s

s'icu los

.::::.. Sá

..--

-::;: - llért8.

/ rm1st sing ofll1atwh.ich / would rat-hernot.. so bitter f am 1owards hi,n wlw is my love:

1Condse 1"1 1 1 Full 1"1

for/ /ove him more ihan anrone: rnrkindness and courtesymalre no impression on.him . nor mr bear•I)', my 11inue or my intelligence: solam decei1•ed and betrayed. as f shov.ld be ifT were unattroclive.

MELODIES Troubadour anel trouvêre songs are strophic, sctting each stanza to tbe sarne melody. Text-setling is mostly syllabic with occasional gro ups of notes, cspcciaJly o n thc penu ltimate syllablc of a lin e. Thc melodie range is narrow, seldom over a nintb. Melodies move mostly by step with occasiooal ski1>s of a third. Phrases are generally a rch -shaped. rising lo a peak anel gradually descending to a close. Secular musicians did not conceive their me lodies ili terms of the church modes, and some do not li.t within any mode; yet most do. with modes I and 7 especially common. Many songs make their mode clear throughout. while iu others it may remain ambiguous until the end. Most troubadour melodies have oew music for each phrase in 1he stanza. but Bernart de Ventadorn often repeats oue or more pbsases, and AAB form occurs in some troubadour melodies and mos! trouvere songs. As we shall see. it remained tl1e most common forro for German medieval song. aod many other so ngforms resulted from adding a refrain to one or more verses in AAB form (see Forms ata Glance). A chantar illuslra1es 1l1ese characteris tics. [Is seven- line stanzas a re sel

Troubadour and Trouv~re Song

··-=

-·

sarne music. By convention. when a song form ha s a refrain, the repetition of both text and music is shown by capital letters, and the repetition of music with new lines of text is shown by lowercase letters. Robins maime has only one stanza, preceded and followed by a two-line refrain that us,es the sarne two musical phrases as the stanza. Non sofre Santa María has severa! stanzas. each preceded and followed by a refrain that uses only the last section of music from the stanza; because the refrain appears first, it is given the letter A, and rhe stanza is shown as bba rather than aab. R.cfrain

Srnnza

A çlwnror (.'<1\W\I '))

A ;\ 8

Pal11s11nal1ed ( N-\\X'M 11)

Rcfrain

Rob,ns rn',ume (N \\X'\1 101

A 8

•• b

A 8

Non sofreSan1a Maria (NA\X \112)

b b "

FIGURE 4.6:

C ti A P T E li 4 • Song and Dance Music 10 1300

bowed string instnnnents (see Medieval lnstruments. below). The instrumentalists may have played the melody in unison , variations of the melody (producing heterophony). drones. or imprnvisecl counterpoims. Some sch olars have suggested that serious or elevated genres of song like the canso were more often

ORMS ATA GLANCE : AAB

Most medieval songs are strophic. with several stanzas that are sung to the sarne melody. The melody can take many forms. but the most com· mon pattern is AAB, either alone or with a refrain. ln AAB form, a section of one or more phrases is sung twice, with new text the second time, followed by a contrasting section. Two of the songs in NAWM take this form, as shown in Figure 4.6. ln both cases. the A and B sections end with the sarne musical phrase, producing a musical rhyme that is a frequent feature of AAB form. Two other songs add to this basic strucrure refrains. recurring lines of text always sung to the

Four songs wilh Slanzas inAAB fonn, ,vilh or witlwut o ref,-ain.

to phrases in the pallern ah ab cdb, for an AAB fo rm in whi ch A and B sha re a musical rhyme. Melodie motion is mostly stepwise wilhin an octave range, wilh frequent bigh points on the noteAand cadences on D clcarly indicating mode 1. Usua lly thc notation does no t indi catc r hyt hm , cxccpt in some late manuscripts. Some scbolars maintain that the melodies were s1.111g in a free, unmeasured style; others that each note or each syllable shou ld have a roughly equa l duration; and still others that the sougs were sung metrically. with loug aud short no tes corresponding to the accented and unaccented syllables. alrhough there is disagreement on how to apply meter ro syllables with more than one note or to the frequent cases wheTe accentuation differs between stamas. Thus the trea tmen t of rhythm varies considerahly be[Ween editions, and perfonners can choose from a range of approaches. Most likely the dance songs were sung metrically. while the elevated love songs may have been sung more freely. Thc songs wcre writ tcn as unaccompanied melodies, but pictu rcs and accounts of performance suggest that at least someLimes and perhaps most of the time singers were accompanied by instruments. especially plucked or

sung unaccompanied. while dance songs would more likely use instruments. includingpercussion.

MUSICAL PLAYS Musica l plays we re built around na rrative pastoral songs (songs in idealizcd r-ur'a l scttings). The most famous was]eu ele Robin et de Marion (Tbe Play of Robin and Marion, ca. 1284) by lhe I rou vêrc Adam de la Ha lle (ca. 1240- ?1288), s hown in Figure 4.7. Adam was the nrst vernacular poet- composer whose compl ete works were collecled in a manuscript., showing lhe greal esteem in which he was held. Thc p lay does nol exa lt lhe lofty th eme ofjin' amors, in which a noblewoman is adoreel discreetly from afar, but draws on lhe lndition of lhe pastotm:lle, a song aboul FI GURE 4. 7: Ada,n de la Halle a.t depicred in. a ,n.i11ia111,-e from the Chan- a shepherdess and a knight who see ks to seduce or ahduct her. somúer d·Arras, wliicJ1 cor1tains six oj' Wome11 of the peasant class were not venerateel, nor wooeel his clwn.s0,1s. Tl1e 1e:i;1 says "Adam. 1he through courtly manners or poetry, so these songs either celhunchback ma ele these songs. "<•rnuoebrate tJ1e pleasures of !ove or depict th e wiles of a shepherdess Tni~Qut; MUS IC:l l-'Al,r, Alt11AS) wbo is able to evade unwanced aclvances. ln tbis play, the sh ep herdess Marion enjoys the !ove ofthe shepherd Robin, anel botb work to resista knighl who tries to force himself upon her. ln the opening song. Robins m·aime (NAWM 1O). Marion sings of Rohin's love for her. This is a roude{l/1., a dance song wirh a refrain in two phrases whose music is also used for tbe ve rse. here in lhe pattern ABaahAB (where capilal letters ind icatc the refraLn). Th is fo rm is clea rly related Lo lheMB lform that wc havc alrcady cncountcrcd; thc verse is in that form , framed by a rclfrain hased oo lhe sarne music.

D ISSEMINATION

Rhythm

Accompaniment

T he origins of the troubadour tradition are unclear. Possib lc sourccs or influences include Arabic songs, known in southern France since the nintb century, which have lhemes of idealized love similar to ftn· amors; lhe versus (sec ahove). which was a prom inent genre in tbe same region of Aquitain e and sou thern France; anel secular Latia songs. From southern France the tradition spread to the trouvéres of northern France by the late rwelfth ,century. in large part through the inl1uence oi' Bernart de Ventadorn. and on to England. Germany. ltaly. anel Spain. ln 1208. Pope lnnocent III declareel a crusade aga i nst the Albigensians, a heretica l Christian sect centered in southern France. and the noiihern French joined the crusade as a way to vursue polilical goals of clomina ting tbe s01.1Lh. The war lasted for two decades uutil the aristocracy, courrs, and wealth that supported the troubadours collapsed. The Lroubaelours dispersed. spreading their influence into neighboring lands and remaining aclive in ltaly until the fourteenth century. The

Song ln Other lands

C ti A P T E li 4

trouvêres in uortbern France continued through the thirteentb century. They admired tbe troubadours and preserved tbeir art; indeed, most extant manu scripts of troubadour song were copied in nortbern France in the mid - to -late thisleenth century.

• Song and Dance Music to 1300

LAUDE Few secular songs in ltalian from before 1300 survive with music, but we do have melodies for several dozen laude (sing. lau,da). sacred ltalian monophonic songs. Composed in cities rather than at court. laude were sung in processions

ofreligious peuitents and iu coufraternilies. associations of citizens who gath-

Song in Other Lands

ered for prayer and mutual supporl. Toe lauda tradilion continued for several centuries. From tbe late fou1teenth century on. most laude were polypbonic.

The lroubadour and trouvêre tradiiion inspired lypes of lyric song in other tongues, spann ingsubjects from love 1.0 religi on.

CANTIGAS

ENGLISH SONG Afterthe Norman Conquestof 1066, French was th e language ofthe kings and nobility in England. Tbe English king, as duke of Normandy and !ater also dukc of Aquitaine, heid lands in Prance. and he participated in Frcneh politics and culture. Thc royal house sponsored troubadours and trouvéres, including Bernart de Ventadorn. King Richard 1 (the Lionheart, 1157- 1199). the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine. was himsclf a trouvêrc. writing songs in French. Few melodies S11rvive for songs in Middle English, the language of tbe lower and middl e classes. lndeed, we have little secular music for these social strata f'rom anywhere in Europe. showing how much our view of medieval music depends on tbe ioterest tbe religious, eco no mie, and intellectual eliLes had iu preserving their owu music. But most s urviving poems in Miclclle English. from narrative ballads lo secular and religious ly rics. were no do'Ltbt meant 10 be sung. and 1hey s uggesi a rich musica.! life.

FIGURE 4.8, IPalther von der Voge'1ueide as depicted in a fuur· t.eenth-centmySwiss manuscript. Vogelweide meuns "bird·ineadow. •· and his shield. shawn in the upperleft. includes acaged bird.

1 Concl,e :\\ 1 1 Full ~

(UN lVERSl1'ÃTS818Ll 0Ttt EK.

UNfVE.RSITÃT ll tlDELBEBC)

MINNESINGER The troubadours wcre the model for the Cerman Mi11nesi11ger, knightly poet- music ians who flourish ed betwee n th e twe lfth and fourteenth ce nt.uri es and wrote in Middl e High German. The love (Min.ne) ofwhich thcy sang in tbeir Mi1111eliecler (!ove songs) was even more spíritual than fin· umors, with an emphasís on foithfulness, duty. anel service tbat rcflccted th e loya lty that knights and nob les owed to their king and that Cbristians owed to the church. Most songs are strophic. and the most common 111elodic form is AAB, called bar form by scholars of Cerman music since tbe 11inetee11tb century. Each A section, or Stollen, uses the sarne poetic meter. rhyme scheme, and melody. The B section. or Abgescmg. is usually longer and may end with a li or tbe la tLet part of tbe melody for tbe Siollen. The rhythm is seidom cleu in the notation, raising the sarne issues as iu troubadour song. Genres parallel those of the troubadours. including tbe crusade song. recounLing tbe experiences of Lhose who renounced worldly co mfort to trave i on the Crusades. A famous example is the Paliistinalied (Palesline Song. NAWM l l) by Walther voo der Vogelweide (?ca. 11 70-?ca. 1230). perhaps the best- known Minriesinger. shown in Figure 4 .8.

Onc of thc treasures of mcd ieval song is lhe Co,n.r.igas de Sa,u a. Ma,da. a co ll cction of ove r four hundred cn11tigns (songs) in Galician-Po rtuguese in ho nor of the Vi rgi n Mary. The co llcclio n was prc parcd about 1270- 90 unde1· the dircction of King Alfonso cl Sabio (the Wise) of Castile anel León ( northwesr Spain) and preserved in four beautífuUy illuminated manuscripts. Whe ther Alfonso wrote some of th e poems anel melodies is uncertain. Most songs in the collection relate stories of miracles performed by the Virgin, the object of increasingveneration from the twelfth cenn.uy on; after nine such tales, every tenth cantiga is a hymn of praise for Mary. Cantiga 159. Non sofre So.ntci Maria, (NAWM l 2), tells ofa cut of meat, stolen fromsome pilgrims, that Mary caused to jump about. revealing where it was hidden. The songs ali have refraius. perhaps strng by a g:roup alternating with a soloist singing tbe verses. Songs witb refrains were often associated with dancing, a possibility reinforced by illustrations of daneers in the Cantigas manuscripts. ln mosl oi' the songs che verses are in che by now familiar AAB form, with music fo r the B section also used for lhe refrain: because lhe re l'rain appears firsl. and it is customa ry lo labe] the sections ()Í a piece in alphabet ical order begin ning wilh tbc fusl scction. tbe musical form is written A bba A bba ... A.

Medieval lnstruments f!/u~lralionfrom a French Btbiefrom abot;t 1250 slw wing a feasl with musician~ playing (froni left to right) a tiielle, hu.rdy-gurdJ'. ha,p. and psallery. (COUllTl!S\' TII E HRlTISll Llhl\Al'l'I'. flA l}Lt:Y IS.t? . P. 31'.\?

The songs descri bed above were notatcd as si ngle melo d ic lines, but may sometimes have been accompanied by instruments playíng in unison or improvising accompaniments. lllustrated manuscripts depict the wide variety ofmedieval instruments. Aminialure from a rhirteenLh-cenrwy French Bible. ln Figure 4.9. shows four mu sicians playing ata feast. On the left is a vielle or fiddle, the princi pal medieval bowed instrument and predecessor of the Renaissance viol and modern violin. Although vielles vasied in sha pe and size, th e typical tbirtee ntb cen tury vielle had live strings tun ed in f'ourths and lif'ths so tl1e melody cou ld be suppo rted by one o r more cfrones 011 open strings. Nexl is a lwrdy-g,udy. a th ree-s tri nged vielle sounded by a rolating wheel inside the instrument

Medieval lnstrumems

C H A P T E K 4 • Song and Dance Music 10 1300

an animal skin or b laclder) tbat iu turn forcecl au unbroken stream of air ihrough the chanter and one or more dro11e pipes, ali sounded by reeds. Bells were played in chw-cb and used as signals. By 1100, monastic churches began to have early

DANCING AS DESCRIBED IN THE

forms of the organ. and by 1300. organs were

ROMANCE OF THE ROSE

common in calhedrals as well. Bes ides church organs, tbere were Lwo smaller types. Tbe purluti1Je 01-go11 was small cnough to be carried (portatu.m) or suspended by a s Lrap a round lhe oeck. lt had a s ingle se i. of pipes, and 1he right hand playecl Lhe kcys wh il c rhe lc ft workecl the be ll.ows. The positive orgm, had to be placed (positum) on a table to bc played, and requirccl an assistant to pump the bel lows. Most of these instmments carne into Europe from Asia, through ci ther thc Byzantinc Ennp ire or the Arahs in North Africa aud Spain. Their early history is obscure and their nomenclah.ire ineo11sistent. But in them we can recognize thc variety of bowed and plucked strings, winds, hrass, percussion, and organs familiar from !ater eras. and understand that medieval musicians already had a rich palelle of instrumental colar in r.heir hands.

The Romance of the Rose (ca. 1235) is rhe best known of rhe medieval romances. long narrative poems on heroic subiects. lt includes a valuable description of 1he caro/e. danced to the accompaniment of a rerrouenge. a song with a refraln. and of JOngleurs and minstrels playing instruments.

fll.ustrationsfrom 1l1e Cantigas de Santa María (ca. 1250-80) showing m1,sicians playing (clochvi.se Jrom upper left) tro.nsverse ]lutes. shawms. pipes and tabors. ond rn1111pe1s. 77,e hond posilions sho wn for ,he}11.ies and sh(, wms cu-e opposileJ,-om the posirions 1,sed on m.odemjltttes and oboes. bi,t tho.t mar be 1he resulto[arti<1tic lice,ise FIGURE 4.10,

rather' tha,i pe,fonnance tradition..

(l•HOT01 ORONOZ, MADRJD)

turned by a crank al one end; lhe player presses levers to change pilches 0 11 lh e mclody string while the other strings sound droncs. crcating a tcxtu rc similar to a bagpipe. The third musician p lays a harp of a type tbat appareutly originated io the British Isles. On the right is a psaltery, played by plucking strings attached to a frame over a wooden sounding board: it is a remote ancestor of the harpsichord and piano. Miniatures from the Cantigas de Santa María in Figure 1.1 Oshow musicians playing wind and percussion instruments of the time. The trnnsvcrsc /lute was similar 10 che modern flute, bu c made of wood or ivory and wir.houl keys. The slu,wm was a double-reed iustrume nt , si m il ar to the oboe. The medieval trumpet was straight and lacked valves. so it could play only the harmonic series. The pipe a11d t11bur fea Lured a high whistle üngered with lhe left band while the right hand beat a sma ll d rum with a stick. Other tnstruments familiar Lo us today were already in use . Tbe universal íolk instrumenl. was the bagpipe. whose player in íl ated a bag (o ften made from

Now see the caro! go! Each man and maid Most daintily sreps out wirh many a turn And arabesque upon the tender grass. See there the ílutists and the minstrel men. Performers on the fiddle! Now they sing A retrouenge, a tune from old Lorraine: For it has better songs than orher lands. A troop of skillful jongleurs thereabout Well played their parts, and girls with tambourines Danced jollily. and, finishing each tune. Threw high their instruments, and as these fell Caught each on Íinger tip. and never failed.

Dance Music

Dancing io lhe Midd.Je Ages was accompanied by songs or instrum ental music, usually not wr:ittcn W Ro bbins (New York: Dutton. 1962). 16 (lines down but performcd from memory. so that fcw 753 - 6-4). melod ies survive. To judgc from written accounts and picturcs, thc most popu lar social dan ce in France from Lhe lwelfth through the fourteenth centuries was thc carolc, a ci rclc dance that was usua lly accompanicd by a song sung by one or more of the dancers. The dancers were sometimes also joinecl by instrumentalists (see Source Reading). Despite the carole"s popularity. only about two clozen me lodies are extant. About flfty instrumental dance nrnes survive from the thirteenth and Instnunental dances fourteenth centuries. most monophonic. some set i11 polyphony for a keyboard instrument. These dances are the earliest notated instrumental music and must have been preserved because 1hey were particularly admired. Like European dance nmsic ever since, they are marked by a steady beat, clear meter. repeated sections. and predictable pbrasing. Although in most cases only the melody was wrinen down. these dances could be performed by severa! players, includ ing d rum and other improvisecl accompaniments. Of the surviving medieval instrumeutal dauces. Lhe mosL common forro Estampie is the estampie. li. has seve ra! sections, each played LWice wil.h two dil"ferent

Guillaume de Lorris, Roman de k, rose, trans. Horry

The Lover's Complaint

endings. the first with an ope11 (01wert) or incomp lete cadence and the second with a closed (elos) or full cadence. The sarne open and closed e ndings are usually employed throughout. A late-thirteenth -century chansonnier called Lc nia.nusc,it du roi (The Manuscript of the King) includes eight "royal estampies" (the fourth is NAWM 13). Ali Frenchestampies are in tripie meter

Full ~

and consist of relatively short sectious. A fourteenth-century ltalian relative. the istampita. uses the same forro but is in duple or compound meter. with longer sections and more repetition beLween sections.

The Lover's Complaint Thc lyric so ngs of the troubadours and their successors s hare traits typica l of European songs ever since. These medieval songs are strop hi c, diaton ic, and primarily syllabic, moving most ly stepwise in a range of arouncl an octave, usua lly wit h a clcar pitch cc ntcr. Thcy havc s hort musical phrascs. roughly cqual in sizc, cacb typically rising to a high point and falling to a cadcncc. Often one or more phrases of music are repeated to cl ifferent words within each stanza, and some songs have a refrain after every verse. Thc most common subject, apure, usually unattainable love, and the tbemes and imagery of these songs-especially the complaints oflovers whose faithful devorion goes unrewarded- also have many echoes in !ater music. including popular songs. Equally enduring are the irn ages of the minstrel- the itineram rnusician- and the troubadoui~the poet-composer-and the structures of professionaJ life and tra ining embodied by musicians' guilds. The songs themselves concinued to be sung for a few years or even decades, and many were preserved in writing. Some m elodies were borrowed for new songs. sometimes in other languages. Eventually. rnost of lhe songs passeei from lhe scene along wilh the society that gave them birLh. replaced by new styles. Dance melodies me t a simila r fate. In the nineteenth century, a rcncwcd intcrcst in lhe Middlc Ages anda ncw conccr.n for cach nation's cul1.ural heritage led i.o lhe collect ion and publication of medieval poetry. Adam de la Ha lle's musical works were transcri becl and published in 1872, and ediLions of oiher medieval song reperlo r·ies followed in the l.wcn li elh centu ry. Recent decades have brought a reviva! of med ieval secular and nonliturgical song and instn,mcnral dances in conccrt anel rcco1·dings, both in performances that try to reconstruct Lhe sounds of medieval voices anel inslruments and in new guises s uch as lh e "medieval rock" a,,-ange ments of Walthe r von der Vogelweidc's PalastinaJied.

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Resources for study and review available at wwnorton,com/studyspace.

POLYPHONY THROUGH THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY During Europe's economic growth between 1050 and 1300, the church prospered. Pio1.1s donors funded hundreds of new monasteries and convents. tilled by rising numbers of men, women, and children seeking a religious life. St. Francis. St. Dominic. St. Clare. and oLhers founded new religious orders. ln tbe eleventh and ea rly twelfth centu ri es, builders erected large Romanesque churches that used the principies of Lhe Rornan basilica and Lhe round arch, and artists deco ratcd Lhese buildings wilh frescoes anel scul pturcs. By lhe mid- twelflh century, crafismen created a new style of church architecture, !ater called Cothic, which emphasized height and spaciousness with soaring vaults, pointed arches, slencler columns, large stained-glass win dows, and intricatc tracery (sec Figure 5.3 below). As scholars revived ancient learning. St. Anselm, St. ThomasAquinas, and others associated with the intellectual movcmcnt called Scholasticism sought to reconcite the classical philosophy of Aristotle and others with Christian doctrine through commentary 011 authoritative tex'ts. These developmems found parallels in lhe art of poly phony. music in whicb voices sing together in independent parts. At ftrst, polyphony in church music was a style of performance. a manner of accompanying chant with one or more added voices. Those who sang and heard po lyphony valued it as decoration, a concept central to medieval art. Polyphonic performance heightened the grandeur of chant and t.hus of t be liturgy itself, just like art and architectural d ecoration ornamcnted the church and thus lhe service. The addcd voices elaborated Lhe autho rized chanls tbrough a musical gloss. resembling

Early O rganum

C H A P 1' E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth C entury

botb the monophonic trope (see cbapter 3) and Scholastic commentary on Scriprure. New developments in theory and notation during the eleventh,

EXAMPLE 5.1: Princi p:LI vo~ce Organal voice

twelfth. and thirteenth centuries allowed musicians to write down polyphony and to develop progressively more elaborate varieties. in genres such as orga11um , c o1uluct1u, and motet.

Paralle! o,ganu,n ai the.fijih below.Jrom Musica enchiriadis

:97 • Tu

•

..... ... ... ... ... - tris

sem

- ter -

nw;

•

• llS,

l'ou uf 1he Ja1l1 er ore 1/Je everlas1i11g son (Jrom Te Deu m lauda mus).

The rise of written polyphony is of particular interest as il inaugurated four concepts tha t have distinguished Western mus ic ever s ince: (l) cmmterpoi11t. thc comhinalion of multiplc indcpcndcnt Jincs: (2) harmo11y. thc rcgulal.ion of si multaneous sound s; (3) the centrality o f 11olatio11; and (4) the idea of composition as distinct from performance. Thcsc conccpts changed ovcr time, but the i r presence in t.hi s music links il to ali that followed. Polyphony bcgan as a manncr of performance, beca mc a practicc of oral composilion, an<l developed into a writlen tradition. As is lnte for other oral trad itions, much of its history is hidd cn from ourview an el can on ly be rccon structed partially from the traces that remain, chiefly descriptions in treatises, nrsthand accounts, and notated examples. lt is easy for us to conceive of polyphony as essentially a tradilion ofwritten composilion. as music histori ans used to do, hecause that is what we see in the manuscripts. But we must always remember that what was written down was only a small pa1i of the polyphony that was sung. and it requires historical ima gination 10 understand the oral polyphony that existed only in the throats of s ingers, the ears of lis1.e ne rs. and the minds and memories of performers and composers.

Full '-'

Mixed para/lei a,nd oblique organiini

Early Organum Europeans probably performed mus ic in multi pie par·ts lo ng befo re it was described. The s im plest type, singing or p laying a me lody against a rfro11 e, is found in most European folk traditions and many Asian cultu res, suggcsting it dates from antiquity or even preh isto ric times. Drones typically sustai n the moda l ftn al. sometimes joincd by the iift h abovc. Por a listcncr, droncs ground the melody in its tonal cc nte r and heighten the sense of closure when the melody cadences on the final. Another way to enrich a melody. doubling it in pa rnllel consonant intervals, was apparently already an old practice when first explained and illustrated in th e ninth-cemury anonymous treacises Musica enchiriadis and Scolica enchiriadis. Examples from the former are transcribed in Example 5.1 and NA\VM l4a - b. These treatises use the term 0 1-gc111um for two or more voices singing different notes in agreeable combinations according to given rules. This term was used for severa] s tyles of polyphony from the ninth r.hrough 1.h lrteemh centu ri es. The resu lting piece is always called "an organum" ( pi. orga,ia), but in refe rring to lhe style it is besl to add a modifier. The l.y pe s hown in Example 5.1 is known loday as 1uimllel o,gnmmi. The

Prom peiformance lo composition

[iu11i] Organum

Parallel o,ganum

o ti ginal chanl mclody is thc pri11ciplll voice, lhe olhcr thc o ,-gll11<ll voice, moving ia exact pa rallel motion a f1fth below. Fifths were consonances. considered bot h pe rfect and beaut ifu i. AJthough parallcl fr~hs would la1.er be for bidden in Re naissance co untcrpoinl , lo medieval ca rs they adtled resonance and rn agnificence to an otherwise ba re uniso n. ln ea rly o rganum, the o rga nal voice is n ormally s1.111g bclow the principa l vo ice. Either or both voices m:iy be doubled at the octave to create an even ri chersound (see NAWM 14b). We might expect parallel organum at the fourth below to b e as straightforward as para ll el fifths. aud it may once have been so in practice. But the scale sys tem described in Mtisica encliiriadis contained augmemed fourths (or tritones), such as Bl,-e and f-b. and th e adjustments necessary to avoid them produced organum that was not strictly parallcl. To prevent thesc tri tones From occurring, the writer of the trearise prohibits the organal voice from moving below e when a segment of chant includes e or below g wh en it iJ1cludes b. The singers performing the organal added voice must remain on one note until they can proceed in parallel fow·ths without sounding a tritone. The result, illustrated in Example 5.2 (NAWM 11c), combines ob lique motion. like a melody moving over a drone. with parallel molion. and tbus this s 1.y le is ca lled mi.wd para/lei aml oblique org a11um.. Figure 5 .1 shows how th is exampl e appears in one manu scriptcopy of th e treatise. Avoiding tritones in this manner had s ignif1cant el'fects. When the o rga nal voice is Slationary. ha rmon ic major seco nds and th ircls may resull. but they were not considered co nso nant; il' e ither would occu r on the last note of a phrasc. thc organal voice must move up lo a unison with thc principal voice. Converging on lhe unison e mphas izes the cadences and phrasing oi' thc origin al chant. This brcak away from simp le drones and pa rall cl motion ra ised tbe possibility of polyphony as a combination of i nd ependent voices. The styles of organum described in Musica, enchiriodis we re ways fo r singers to adorn chant in performance based on strict rules for deriving added voices from lhe chant. They were nol methods of cornposition. But the next theorist to descri bc orga num, Cuido of Arczzo in his Mú:ro!og11s (ca. 102528), allowed a range of choices that could result in a variety of organal voices combining oblique and paral lel motion, and with choice comes the possibility of composition. ln most cases. we can assume these organal voices were composed orally. e ither lmprovised by a soloist or worked out ln rehearsal. We have evidence for sucb oral composition both from theorists and Frorn a few practical sources in which organa l voices were written down. The Jargest source is the Winchester Troper. a manuscript of tropes and otber \irurgical music from a monastery in Wincbester, England. lt contains 17 4 organa, perhaps by Wulfslan of Winchester (íl. 992- 996). the cantor there. Only the organal voices are notated: the monks would have known the chants by heart.

Early Organum

EXAMPLE 5.2,

l\cx

cac

. : : : • • : :

: :=:

hu .. mi .. les

iu .. bc ..

:is

ris

. - ... .- . 1y

tiJ tt-r-

CH A PT E K 5

Mixed parallel and oblu1ue organwn . .fi-om Musica encb iriadis

voke -9: t

Principal Org:anal voice

sq11•I - li

-•-

NOTE-AGAINST-NOTE ORGANUM

As possible ways to add an organal voice multiplied , musicians must have sensed an opportunity to decorate the chants of the service. in the same way tbat sculptors, painters. and tapestry makers decorated the walls oi che

ni.

: : - 29 di

que

churches. By the late eleventh century. singers were improvising and scribes

li.

••

fa .. mu .. li

: :

OJ .. gi ..

1;1n1

mo .. du .. lis

v;1 -

ve • ne .. ran .. do

: : : : :

li .. bc •

1·;1 ..

pi - is.

.. ---,

ma .. lis .

Kir1gof Heave11. Lordof 1he roarü1gsea. Of thc shiningTitM (Sun) ond lhesqualid earth. l'our lwmble seiwrn ts. worshipping ;rou with pio1LS melodies. Beseech _rott. as ;rou command, IO free them from diverse ills.

FIGUR E 5 l Excerptfrom a manu.script of Musica enchiriadis, showingthefirst two pl1ro$eS of Rex cacli domü,e (E.romple 5.2) iri m"<edparolletand oblique orgMum. 7he shapes on lhe left oresignsforpitcl1es. wilh ·r ond ..s··in ihe margin indicatingwhich steps are tones and which aresemitones. The heigh1 ofeach syllable indica.tes ÍI$ pilch. and lhe mol ions in eu eh voice are sita wn by lines Iin king lhe sylla.bles. 1rn til lhe l wo voices imite on 1/ic last two SJ~labl~s in cach phrase. Thescribc has not womedabout ali1,~1ingthe pans ,,enically. assuming IM reader wiJt unders1and 1ha1 IM 11oices wiJLdeclcúm the words together. (SrAA'l'SIUSLIO'rHU. 8AJ,IIU:kC}

and in ali probability tbe organal voices were composed and transmit ted orally and were written down as an aid to memory. The scribe·s concern to Jix them in writing s hows that organum was becoming a form of composition as well as a manner of performing chant. Tbe new possibilities did not entü-ely displace the old, bowever. Later tbeorists. sucb as Elias Salomo in the late thirteenth ce ntury and Jacques de Liege ín about 1330. descrihe singing in parallel founhs and hlths as a ctuTent practice. lndeed , as each new style of polyphony described in this chapter was introduced. oider ones continued in othe r places o r were used alongside lhe new. oíi.e n for d ifferent occasions or purposes.

• Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

Concise

l_ju11A]

were recording a new style of organum. known today as 11ote-<rgni11st-11ote m g a uwn, in wbich Lhe organal vo ice is more inde pe nd en t and pro minem. Ru les for improvis ing or composing in the new style are preserved in Ad organumfo.ciendum (On Making Organ um. ca.1 100). which gives as an example lhe solo sec1.ions of Allelu,ia]ustu,s ui palma (NAWM 15). As s hown in Examp le 5.3, the added voice now usually lies above the chan1 rather than below it (though lhe parts may cross}. pe rhaps because lha l allows a wider range of mot ion. The o rganal voice moves aga inst the chant, mostly note fo r note , in a frce mixture of co ntrary, o bl ique, pa rall el, ,llld s imilar moti on wh ilc forming consonant harmonic intervals with il. The consonances remain the u n ison, fourth, Ílfth, and octave, with cad ences on th e uniso n or octave, somctimcs preccdcd by a third or sinh to allow stcpwisc motion. The organaJ voice is more disjunct than the chant because of the limited number of harmonic inte rvals from which thc singer may choose. Yet 1his style of organum offers much more freedom tban its predecesso rs, allowing singers a11d com posers to show tbeir artistry wbile embellishing the liturgical chan t. During the next severa! centuri es. polyphony was primarily the respon sibility of soloists, 1101 the choir. This anangement makes sense in severa! ways. By long tradition tbe most omate chants, tbe responsorial psalms, were mainly sung by soloists. and it was appropriate for them to take tbe lead in any further musical elaboration of che service. Soloists cypically sang the trepes. and polyphony was analogous to troping as an addition to the autbo rized cbanls. Most important. only a soloist could improvise a free organal line against a given cbant. so tbat wben nole -against - note organum carne to be wr illen down it was already associa ted wi1h solo pe rformance. Thus, although oider styles of organum could bc sung by cboirs and uscd for any cbant. noLc against - note organ wn and late r styles were used only where soloists sang. prima ri ly in the solo portions of Graduais, Alle luias, and Office responso ries, and in lropcd secli ons of lhe Mass Ord inary. Polyphony d id no1 sta nd alo ne;

EXAMPLE 5.3, A

Free organtim from Ad organum faciendum (ca. II00)

Organal voice

=:::

('Qnir:i'!.-

-=::

$tm1far

abdique

mo 4

oonn•:iry '.:::::::::oh1hq,.~

p:ar;iJJr.l

p;ma.Lld

comr:ary

,.. Principal voice

Jus 1utcrvals: 1 4

tus

... .

Th.e ri.gh.i.eo1,s [sh.all jlou.ris/J l lik·e C1 pal,n iree.

ut 8

pai

Aquhanían Polyphony

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

EXAMPLE 5.4, Florid 011raniun and discant siyl,es in Jubilemus. exultemus

rather. soloists singing polyphonic sections ahernated with monophonic chant sung by the choir.

ci.

Verse~

Aquitanian Polyphony Early in lhe LweHlh century. s inge rs and composers in France developed a new, more ornare type of polyphony. li is known today as Aquit<t.11i<111 p olyplw11 y because lhe maio sources are lhree manusc rip ls once he ld in the Abbey of' St. Martia l ai Limoges in the cluchy of Aqu ilaine and cop ied in Acruitan ian notar ion. Thc provcnancc of these man usc ripts suggcsts that rhis style of polyphony emerged in Aquitaine. in lhe sarne regio n and arouncl lhe sarne ti me as the ca rly troubadours (see chapter 4). A manuscrip t with s imi lar works , the Codcx Ca lixtinus , was prepa red nearby in central France and brought by l 173 to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. Thcse ma nuscripts co ntain the writtcn traces of a primarily oral trad i• tion. Most polyphony was improvised using conventions anel formulas devei· oped by singers anel recordecl in treatises of the time, and even the pieces that scribes presenred in notation werc most .likely composcd ora lly and lixecl in memory rather than workecl out 011 paper. Aquitanian polyphony includes settings of chant. such as sequences. Benedicamus Domino melodies. anel solo portions of responsorial chants. But most of Lhe repertory comprises seuings of versus, rhyming, scanning, accentual Latiu poems, which were also set monop honically (see chapter 4). Some theorists of lhe lime described two main polyphonic styles. both evident in Aquitanian polyphony. Dis,:aut st.yle occu rs when both parls move ai abou t the sa rne rate, with one to t.hree notes in the upper part for each note of the lower voice. Organum style now refe]·s to a texiure in which the upper voice s ings notegroups of va rying le ngths above eacb nole of the lowcr vo ice, wh ich accordingly moves much more slowly than the upper; this s tylc is known today as jlorid orgwwm bccausc oí thc Oorid uppe r pa ri.. ln bot h styles, the lowervoice ho lds the principal mclody a nel is called th c l.e n or (from Latin tenere, "to hold"") . And in both stylcs, the upper part e labo rates an und erlying nole· againsl'-l1ole counterpo int wilh the tenor. Thcse styles are illustratcd in two passagcs from ]tibitenws. exultemus ( NAW\1 16) , a versus whose tenor was apparen dy newly composed. The section in Example 5.4a uses the style of llorid organum, with melismas of three to ftftcen notes in the upper part for most notes in the tenor. Example 5.4b shows a passage in discant style, with one to thl'ee notes in the upper part for each tenor note until the pell\tltimate syllable. which typically has a longer melisma. ln both excerpts. contrary motion is more common than parallel. anel mos1 notegroups in the upper voice begin on a perfec1 consonance with the tenor. The lower staff in each example shows the underlying note· against - note polyphony between the voices that is embellished by the more 11orid motion of lhe upper pari. As in no1e -agains1 - note organum. phrases encl on octaves or unisons , heigh tening the se nse of closure. Both Oorid organum and discant exemp li fy their medieval creators· )ove of deco ration. omamenting lhe syllahic teno r line with varied melodie geslu res

Undcrlying note against

dem - pto

••

note counlf.:rpoint

ri pias · ma -

• •

•

• sal - va

••

·- -

••

To lhe redeemer. crealor. savior of ali. b. Verse+

Polyphonic verms

----•

,_,. Disca,it a,id organum

---

-1 ·

-- ·

lr,1,.1 - dct. si

.. -- :

p1au

dct per e

: :

ter - n t~

se - cu

h1.

•.,._

Praise God anel elcrnallr applo,ud.

Score notation I

Full ~

andrhythm

in the upper voice and changing ba rmonies betwccn the paris. By altcrnating lhese two styles, musicians providecl varie ty anel gave thei r pieces shape. Jubilemus. exu,ltemus appcars in thc manuscri pt in sco,.e 11 otatio11 , as shown in Figure 5.2. The voices are writtcn above the text, tbe top voice above the tenor, separated by a line. We presume both voices sang tbe words. Both are in heighted neumes. so the pitches are reasonably clear but not always certai.n. The vertical alignment of parts indicales approx:imately which notes are sung together, yet there are arnhiguities. Durations are not indicated, leaving many questions: Should the tenor proceed ata steady pace while the upper voice moves more or less quickly to fn? Or the reverse. in which case the tenor in most llorid passages loses its character as a tune anel becomes a series of sustained pitches? Or were both coordinated through a meter or rhytbmic convemion understood at lhe lime or conveyecl orally bm not appare111 in the notation? These uncertainties may wony historians, but they open opportu nities for interpretation by modern editors and perforrners. who vary considerably in lhe solutions they offer.

Notre Oam• Polyphony

C ti A P T E li 5 • Polyphony through che Thirttenth Century

Jubi·

in Aquilcmian nola lian. The ttvo voices

in memory befo re it was written down. How such a vast and complex repertory was rememhered. and how it was written clown. are aspects tbat make this music especiaJly signiftcam

are wriuen abo,•e 1he

in music history.

FIGURE 5.2:

lemus, exLLhemus. a. t·wo-voice ,,erst1,S,

words and separated fram each other ~y a lirie. The coordination between the parts is not always clear.

THE RHYTHMIC MODES

(rllOTO: lll BLIOTII f.QUC NATIONAI.~ 1)1:! fhAXCf. , Jl()Nl)S u1·1N, ,_,~. 11:,9,

fOL. -11 )

FIGURE 5. 3: Ca1/1edral ofNotre Dcime in Paris, builr ca. 1160- 12S8. 11sgreat heil,m t, elabura1e decorcúio11. a r1d innovcitive ardiilectu,.e have para/leis in t/,e w1preceder11ed length. "'tnca,,-. cuid carefi,llr wor~:ed-our srmcr.ure of the mus,c tha1 composers wrote to s,ng in lhe calhedral. ( KOYAL1'Y , •• ...,

Notre Dame Polyphony Musicians in Pa ris developecl a stiJJ more o mate style of po lypbony in the late twelfth and early thirteemb centuries. The creators oí this style were associated with the University of Paris. which furthered the intellectual atmosphere for this new style and where severa! of them had studied. and with the new CaLhedral of Paris, Notre Dame ("Our Lady,'º the Virgin Mary), shown in Figure 5.3. One o f the grandest Gothi c cathed raJs. Notre Dame took almost a centwy to build: the foundations were begun arou:nd 1160. the apse and choir com pleted ia 1182, the li rs LMass celeb ra Lecl ia 11 83. 1he transe p1. aad nave fmished around 1200, and the façad e co mple te d ahou L1250. Dur ing this time. musicians at or conneeted to Notre Dame created a new reperiory of unp recedented grand eur and co mpl ex ity, includ ing the f1rst body of music for more than two ind ependcnt voices. Such clabo ratc mus ic was valucd for its artisuy ia dccorating thc authorized chanl, makiag importanl services more impressive, anel paralleli ng in sound lhe s tunning s ize and beautiful decora tion of the building itsclf. The reperto1y created al Notre Dame was s ung for more lhan a century, from thc late twelfth century through thc thi rtccnth. and was disse minatcd across much of Europe, from Spain to Scotland. Music histo rians bave long regarded it as the firsl polyphony to be primarily composed in writing and rca d from notation rath er than improvised or ora lly co mp osed. But rcccn t research complicates thar view. According to recoreis of ceremonies ai Notre Dame, neither chant nor po lyphony was performed from notar ion. The ea rliest s urviving manuscripts of Notre Dame polyphony date from the l 240s. decades aíter the reperto1y began lo be created. The musical text of individual pieces can vary considerably from one manuscript to the aext, in a manner that suggests oral ratber than (or alongside) written transmission. A treatise eopied in Paris in the eady 1200s. now preserved at the Vatican in Rome. describes how to improvise organum in Notre Dame style, including numerous melod ie gestures that are present throughout lhe repertory. Al1 this evidence indicates a fluid hody oí polyphony developed by singe rs and p reserved

COB.IJS)

W,-itte11 or oral cumposition?

Variety

Notation

Mus ic ians ai. Not re Dame develu ped t he l'irsLnotat ion s ince ande nt Greece to indicai.e durat ion, a siep o f g .-ca l imporlance for !ater music. ln its fanai form, the i r system was described in a thirteenth -ce ntury treatise attributed to Johan nes de Garlaadia. lnstead of usi ngnotc shapcs to show reiative durations. as in mode rn notatio n, thcy·uscd combinations of notegroups , or liga tures, to indicate d ifferent patterns of lo11gs (iong notes) and breves (short notes). According to Garlandia , there were six basic patterns ca lled ··modes.'· known today as the 1·/1,ythmic modes. These were identi..lied by nu mbe r and are shown here both as patterns oflo ngs (L) and breves (B) and in modern transcription: 1. LB

J J\

3. LBB

2. B L

11)

4. BBL

J. J\J Ji J J.

5. L L

6. B B B

1111 Ji

The bas ic lime uniL (t.empus. pi. tempora). here cranscribecl as an e igh th note, was alwaysgrouped in threes, as in a modem me terof~ or ~. This grouping resuJted natu1·alJy from Lhe alternation in modes 1 and 2 of a long (two tempora) anda breve (o ne te mpus). To preserve the groups oí t.h ree in modes 3, 4, and 5, thc longwas lc n&rthcncd to thrcc tcmpora, anel lhe sccond breve in modes 3 and 4 was doubl ed in length. Modcs l and 5 were most co mmon and apparenlly thc oldest. Mode 4 was rarely empl oyed, and Carlandia may have includ ed it primarily to round out the syste m, which he apparently mode led on a set oí six poetic metcrs listed in an earlier lreatise on Lat i n grammar. ln th eo1y. a modc l melodywould consist of repctit ions of thc pattcrn, cach phrase ending with a rest:

But such a melody could be monotonous. and in practice the rhythm was more flexible. Notes could be broken into s horter units. or two notes of a paue rn could be combined into one. ln some pieces, the mode cbanges from one phrase to the next , anel many pieces combine mocle 5 in the tenor with another mode in tbe upper voice. To ind icate which rhythmic mocle was in force, scribes used ligatures, s igns derived from t.he neu mes of chant notation that denoted groups o f notes. When a melody was written as in Exam ple 5.Sa. with one three· note ligatu re íollowed by a series of l.wo-note ligatures. it signaled the singer to use modc 1, as in th e lranscription in Exa mple 5.5b. Because ligatu res are the key

Notre Oam• Polyphony

EXAMPLE 5.5,

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through 1he Thir1een1h Century

Use of!igatures r.o indicate a.rhythmic ,nod.e

a..

1 ,..

r. 1 ••

ttc. -

ANONYMOUS IV ON THE MAGNUS LIBER ORGANI ln the late thirteenth century. an Englishman who apparently studied at the University of Paris wrote a treatise that has become known as Anonymous IV bec:ause ,t was the fourth anonymous ireatise ln C.-E.-H. de Coussemaker's collection of med ieval treatlses. ln the context of a d1scuss1on on notatlon. the

featu res of 1he rhy1 hmic notalion, they are represented in modern edilions by horizo nta l brackets over the notes, as here. ln this mode. eaeh ligature ends with a long, and all but 1.he ftrst have the sarne rhylh mic paltero. making 1he no1ation easy to read once i1 becomes fam iliar. The o lher rhythm ic modes we ,·e shown in sirnilan vays. with a d ifferen t combin ation oi' 1igaturcs fo r each mode. Departu res from the prevailing patlern. changes of rnode, or repeated tones (which could not bc inclucled in liga tures) rcquired modiii cations. Writing the music down preserved the repertory, served as a memory aid, helped si ngers learn new pieces, anel made it possible to transmit 1he music from Notre Dame to othcr ccnt crs across Europ c. But the rhythmic moclcs were not only a notational device. The repeating rhythmic panerns gave shape to the music and made it easier to memorize and recall, in the sarne way that verse is often more mcmorable than prose.

wtiter rnentions musicians assodated wlth the creation

of Notre Dame polyphony. He seems to ascribe the whole repertory to Leoninus and Perot,nus, but it is far more likely that they were leading figures among successive generations of singers who collectively created the music over several decades.

These rules [for notational signs] are use d in many old books. and this from the time of Perotinus the Great (and in his own time). . and similarly from the time of Leo(ninus] to a certain extent. ... And note that Master Leoninus was an excellent organista [singer or composer of organum]. so it is said, who made the great book of organum (mag· nus liber orgam1 on the gradual and antiphonary to enrich the Oivine Service. lt was in use up to the time of Perotinus the Great, who edited it and

THE MAGNUS LIBER ORGANI Thanks to a 1reatise from about 1285 known as Anonymous IV, we know lhe uames of two musicians associated with creating polyphony for Notre Dame, Leoninus and Perotinus (see Source Reading. p. 94). Leoninus (or Léonin.11. 1lS0s-ca. 1201) served at the Cathedral of Paris in many capacities. beginoi ng in the 11S0s, before the current build ing was begun. He was a canon at Notre Dame. became a priest. and was afhliated witb 1he monastery of St. Victor. As a poeL. he wro te a paraph rase of lhe first eigh1 books of lhe Bible in verse anel severa! shorterworks. Liu.le is known aboul Perolinus (o r Pérotin, ri. late LwelftJ1 aod ea rly thirteenth centuúes), bul hc musl bavc held an impo1taol posilion at the cathed ral. Tbe treatise's reference to both as ·'masler·· suggests that both earned thc maste r of ans dcgrec at the school that woulcl beco me thc Unive rsity of Paris, a cenler of inlellectua l i nnovation intertwined wi1h Nol re Dame Cathecl ral sincc 1.hc last dccades of 1he twclfth ce n1u1y. Anonymous IV calls Leoninus an excellent organista, meani11g a singer or cornposer of organum, and cred its him with compiling a Magnc,s liber organi Cgreat book of polyp hony"). This collcction containecl two -voicc settings of the solo portions of the responsorial chants (Graduais, Alleluias, and Office Responsories) for the major feasts of the churcb year. To undertake such a cycle, elaborating the chants that were the central musical focus of the year·s most importaut services. shows a visiou as gra nel as chat of tbose building Notre Dame Catbedral. But Leoninus did not undertake it alone. despite Anonymous IV's testimouy. Like build ing the cathed ral. creating this repert0t)' was a collective project. \Ve cannot be certai n wbaL Leoninus' role was. though we may guess tbat he was a Jead ing figure in its crea tion or preservation. No "great book'' survives from Leoninus's lifetime. and i1 is not even certai n whether Lhe music was wriuen d()wn then. But 1.he reperto,y he helped to

Magnus liber organi

Layersof adaptotion

made many better clausulae or puncta. being an excellent discancor [singer or composer of discant]. and better [at discant] than Leoninus was. (This, however, is not to be asserted regarding the subtlety of organum, etc.) Now. this sarne Master Perotinus made the best quadrupla (four-voice organa], such as Viderunt and Sederunt, with an abundance of musical colores [melodie formulas]; likewise, the noblest tripla [three-voice organa]. such as Alleluia Posui adiucorium and (Alleluia] Nacivicas, etc. He also made three-voice conduc tus. such as Salvatori5 hodie. and two·voice conductus, such as Dum sigillum summi patris. and also, among many others, monophonic conductus, such as Beata víscera, etc. The book or. rather. books of Master Perotinus were in use up to the time of Master Robertus de Sabilone in the choir of the Paris cathedral of the Blessed Virgin [Notre Dame]. and from his time up to the present day. Translation adapted from Edward H. Roesner. "Who 'Made' lhe /vlagnus /,ber?." Early /v1us1c History 20 (2001): 227-28.

devclop is containecl in later manuscripts, primariJy two now in WolfenbüttcJ, Germany, and one in Florence, Ttaly. We do no1 know how much of the survivingmusic is by Leoninos. Thc manyvariants that occur bctwccn versions of the sarne piece suggest that much of the music was trat1smitted oraUy. Moreover, it is clear thal musicians during and after Leoninus· lime freely altered and acldecl to the collection. Thc manuscripts offer cliffercnt setti ngs for the sarne passages of chant, ofteu preseming severa! alternatives, and inclucle organa for two. three. or ÍO\tr voices as well as pieces in the newer genres of conductus and motel (see below). Clearly the ..great book" was nota hxed canon. but a lluid repertory from wbicb material could be chosen for each year's services. By compariug different settiugs of a single chant , we can see thjs process of revision aud substitution in action and can trace cbanges in style. An ideal example is Viderunt, omnes. the Gradual for Christmas Day. already familiar from our discussion of chaut in chapters 2 and 3 (see NAWM 3d and Examples 2.2 and 2.3) aud elaborated polypbonically by Leoninus. Perotinus. and tbeir colleagues (NAWM 17-19).

Notre Oam• Polyphony

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

Videru,nt omries is on tbe syllable ··Do- " of ·· Dorninus:· shown in Example 5.'7.

ORGANUM IN THE STYLE OF LEONINUS The version of Videnmt om11es in the earlier Wolfenbüttel manuscript (NAWM l 7). whicb also appears in virtually tbe same form in the Florenee manuscript. may be the earliesr surviving serting of this melody in the Nocre Dame reper-

ln the original chant, this was by far the longest melisma. Scholars have suggested that Leoninus and his colleagues set the long melismas in discant style beeause organum. with its elongated tenor notes. would bave rnade the music too long. Thus ehanges of style in the polyphony. f'rom organum to diseant and

I Concose ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

tOJ)'. Although we cannot ascribe it to Leoninus wilh cerlainty. we assume it

back. occuJ precisely where. in the chant. the style changes from neumatic

resembles the polyphony he sang. It is in two voices and features two difíerent sryles of polypbony, o rganum and discant. panlleling Lhe contrasr we ohserved in Aquitanian polyphony. Only the solo portions of the chant, the intonation of the respond and most of the verse. were sung poly phonically. The ehoir sang the re maining porlions i n uniso n, so thal three styles- plain chant. organum. and discant- were heard side by side. The opening intonation on "Vicleru.nt."' shown in Example 5.6. exemplifies organum s tyle (a lso called organum pun,ni, .;pure organum"). The chant melody appears in the te nor in unmeasurcd long notes. likc a series of drones. Over these suslained tones lhe upper voice, called t he duplu111 (Latin for .;double"). sings e~-pansivc mc lismas, moving mostly :stcpwisc, often li ngcring on dissonances with the tenor, and cadencing at irregular intervals on an octave, hfth, or unison followed by a rest. Ligatures and descending neumes in the original notation are shown herc by horizontal brackets and dotted slurs. respectively; the notation does not clearly indicate any rbytlunic mode, suggesting thatthe duplum should be sung in free rhythm, although some scholars and performers have applied modal rbytbms. Most of this setting is in organum style, but iL is punctuated hy passages in discant style where botb voices move in modal rhythm , the tenor usuaJly in mode 5 and lhe duplum primarily in mode 1. The longest discant passage in

text -setling to melismalie anel baek. ln lhis section. the phrases are relatively shon. usually four or six longs in rhe teno r. As in organum, phrases end on a un ison, flf1 h, or octave, buL here consonance is more pervasive. wi th a perfect consonance on aJmost every long. The uppe r part of thi~ organ um may seem far too long aml U)O co mpl ex to eompose, lcarn, anel rcp roducc withou t nolal ion, bu t scveral faeto,·s suggcst that it was composed oraJly and was easier to remember lhau it first appears. Pirst, it is depende nt upon melod ie formu las, ca ll ed cal.ores by Anonymous IV. Almost ali thc liguration in the duplum is madc from formulas that rccur throughoul lhe reperto,y, such as lhose marked a and b in Example 5.6. Singcrs me morized thesc formulas anel could use th em to improvise, compose, anel rcmember long organa, witbout recours e to notation. ln addition , the repealing patterns oí lhe rhythmic modes in relatively short phrases made discant passages especially memorablc. Evidencc can be found by comparing the surviving manuscripts, where sections in discant are often exactly the same but seetions in o rganum purum may differ through the addition or omission of standard melodie formulas. Long-standing babits of improvising, composing orally, anel memorizing large amounts of music and lext make it likely that aJl of the Notre Dame repertory, including the three- anel four voice o rgana. conductus. and motets discussed !ater in this chapter. could have been conceived orally before being written down.

[!"-.--,._. - .- - -.- EXAMPLE 5.6:

Oral transmission Organwn style

Discantstyle

First seclionof Viderunt omnesi11 organumduplurn à

EXAlvlPLE 5.7:

Discant seclion on "Do-" of Viderunt omnes ~

~Vi -

~·--

Notre Oam• Polyphony

The organa of Leoniuus and his colleagues were in their day by far the longest and most elabora te settings of chant ever created. I n weaving intricate strands of melody around the liturgical chant, they were worthy musical analogues to the sculptures aud nguratiou that adorned Notre Dame Cathedral, then still under construccion, or the Scholastic theologians' detailed

The orga,na in peifomiance

C ti A P T E li 5 • Polyphony through che Thirtoenth Century

PEROTIN US ORGAN UM Perotinus and his contemporaries also created organa for three or even four voices. A two - voice organum was called an org a1111111 d11plm11 ( doub!e"º): a chree-voice organum an orgaruun triplum, or simply 1,·iplwn ("trip ie"); 00

commentary on Scripture. They must have nlled the cathedral with sound.

anda four-voice organum a q11odru11lu111 ("quadruple"). The voices above

overpowering the sense of hearing just like the tal! columns. stained-glass windows, and de lica1e sLOnework overwhelmed Lhe sense of s ight, and moving worsh ipers to deeper devotion. But theywou ld not be the last word.

the tenor were likewise named in ascending order d11pl11m. t.riplum.. and q1uulrupl111n. The uppe r vo ices ali use the rbyth mie modes, allow i ng e xact coord ination among them, and move in s imilar ranges, crossing repeatedly. Anonymous íV tells us Pe rolinus composed tripla and quadrupla and names two of each. includ ing a fou r - voice se1ting of Vid.erun.t omnes. Ponu na1cly, such a seu ing su,·vivcs (NAWM 19), appa ren11y c,·cated i n 1198 at thc request of the bishop of Pa ris, and we p resume it is by Perotinus. although it may represcnt the eollcctivc work of many singers and scribcs. Likc other tripla and quadrupla. it begins in a style of organum with measu red ph rases in FIGURE 5.-4: Ope,11ng modal rhythm in the uppervoices above very long notes in the tenor, as shown of l'erolinu.s · seuing of in Pigure 5.4 anel Example 5.9. As in the two - vo icc sctting, such passages alternate with seetions of discant, of which the longest is again on ·' Dominus·· Viderunl Olnnes in orgo num.quadroptu m. (not shown here) . To give long sections in organum style both coherencc and variety. PeroTh~ uppcr Uiree voices tinus uses several repetitive atid harmonic devices in constantly cbanging are ir1 modal rhythm oi•era sustcúned tenor ways. He may repeat a phrase in one voice (see rhe quadruplum. phrases a note. For a traru;crip anel e) while the other voices change. or restate a phrase ata new pitch leve i (quadruplum, ph.rases a anel a'; duplum, phrases d and d'). Especially cha1·action. see E:t:ample S. 9 a.nd NAWM 19. (fl•<N•t. teristic is repetition of a pbrase in another voice (phrases b and e throug:hout lHULIOTl!CA MÉDICl?Athe example). including voice e.,·clwnge, where voices trade phrases (as LAUlU:N21ANA. ~fS. PLUT. the dupl um and 1.riplum do with phrases b anel c). Each phrase emphasizes 1?.J , C. ltl. COUh'l't:SYOttTHf. st riking dissonances before resolving to the f,flh anel octave above rhe tenor, MINIST l!Kó 1,' l;!R l IH : XI !! U A'ITJVJTÀ CUL.1' UHA.LI} using ha rmonic tens ion to re inforce lhe consonance while sustaining the listener's interest. ln the passage shown here, ph rases are s hort anel ali voices stop together. ln the next section (not shown), voices rest at different times. produeing longer spans. Each new section inlroduces ";.\ 1- ,l,, ;• a nd varies new motives in secmingly endJess decoration. Through such means Perotinus and his coll eagues crcatecl poly-.,• ..t"" • ... • •• • phonic works or unprecedented ... • .• ,; . .... J "'• • ~ • • length, even more grancliose than those of Leoninus' generation. ••• p• • •• • " .... • ·~· • •, :!•. •• • ..... ' • ••• V.·-- ..... though they served the sarne lirurgical ro les. Just as the vastness of Notre Dame Cathedral depended upon a carefully designed structure of pillars, arches, and llying buttresses, the organa of Perotinus' li me were lhe most intri-

SU BSTITUTE CLAUSULAE Anonyrnous íV writes that Pe rotinus ed ited the Magnus liber and ··made many bette r clausulae." By clausuhr. the L.atin word for a ela use or phrase in a sentence, he mcant a self- conta ined section of an organum, setting a wo rd or syll able from the chant and closing with a cadence. Since organa consisted of a series of such sections, it was possib le to writc new clausulac designed to rcplace the original setting of a particular scgmcnt of chaot. Most of thcsc new clausulac, known toclay as s11bstit11l.c clc111s11foc, are in discant style, which may reflect a growing prefereuce for discant. Hunclreds appear in the sarne manuscripts as the organa themselves; aU are unattributed, so we cannot know wbich are by Perotinus. if any. The Florence 111anuscript includes te11 clausulae on the word .. Dominus" from Videnmt omnes, any of wbich could be usecl at Christmas Mass. The openings of two of them are shown in Example 5.8 (NAWM 18), Both clausulae exhibit a trait found in many discant sections: the tenor repeats a rhythmic motive based on a rhythmic mod e, here mocle 5 in ú1e f1rs1: clausula and mode 2 in the second. Some clausulae teno rs aJso re peat 1.he melody (over a much lo nger span than the rhythmic figure). ln bo1.h forms of repetition. the composer uses musical means to creaLe a sense of cohe rence fo r an extenclecl passage. giv ing it shape and st ructu re and making il easier to follow and to rcmcm bcr. These two kinds of rcpetition in lhe leno r, of rh)'1 hm and of mclody, beca me very signif1cant in thc moter. llÍ the th irteenth and fou rteenth centuries (see be low and chapter 6).

EXAMPLE 5.8,

Two s1ilistitute cLausulae on ··Dominusº'ji-om Videru nl om nes

o..

~·f r- : Do •

:. : p

r ; :. :=r : :.

Full ~

Repetition and structctre

.;- -...r

,,., ,~.. .. ..

Notre Oam• Polyphony

100

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

Peroiinus. Viderunl omnes. opening. with repeatingelements indica1ed li)' leuer

EXAMPLE 5.9:

Quadruplum

V A

JVi - .

e r-,

,,r--ir-i

Triplum

[V, -

(Vi ·

Vi -

.. b

e -, ,

,--.,

e -, ,

,-,

_,..V

·v "

e ,--------,

,----, r

e ,--------,

,----------,

,--,

,---,

" _ 11

r=---1

vir - gi- ,1um

Ver

b1 cat - n1s cel

la.

Hc1il. virgin uf virgins. si, rinc of1/ic word mude flesh .

" "

-t'l.1 "

·-

'lcnor

A - ve vir - go

Duplum

r=-1

-~-

,------,,-,

,,--.,,-,

Ave virgo virginum. early-thirtee111h-ceniuryconducms ,-, ,-,

~--~.-.

. ,3 , - - . , , - ,

,<_li

EXAMPLE 5.10:

·v

rhythmic , strophic L:iti n pocms, rarc ly take n from thc liturgy th ough usually on a sacred or serious topic. Typica l is Ave virgo vi,rginu,111, (NAWM 20 ~ ). shown in Example S. 10. lt addresses the Virgin Mary and was perhaps used in special devotions and processions. The conductus differs from other Narre Dame polyphony in musical features as welJ as text. First, the tenor melody is TIMELINE newly composed or drawn from an existing monopbonic conEarly Polyphoriy ductus. Second, ali voices sing the text together in essentially the sarne rhytlun. Third. the words are set syll abically for the MUSICAL H ISTORICAL most part. Some conductus are largely syllabic throughout. but most feattu·e melismatic passages, called cwufo e (sing. • ca. 850-900 Musica ench11iacauda, "taü "), at the beginning and end and before impor dis and Scolica enchiriadis tant cadences. Conductus with caudae are generally through• ca. 992-96 Wulfstan of composed . although caudae often featu re ph rase repelitions Winchester. polyphony in and voice exchange. Conductus without caudae, such as Ave Winchester Troper virgo virginu,n. tend to be simpler in style and slrophic in form. • 11th c-ent. Romanesque churches and monasteries • ca.1025-28 Guido of Arezzo,

Micrologus • 1054 Final split between

Roma n and Byzantine churches • ca. 1100

catelystructured musicyet composed, usingtechn iques of musical claboration to sustain great spans of time. This music sounds glorious, evoking the awe appropriate to its religious setting, but the skilJ of its creators as architects in tones is justas impressive.

POLYPHONIC CONDUCTUS The Notre Dame composers and others in France. England, and elsewhere also composed po lyphonic co11ductus. These wcre settings for t.wo to four voices of the sarne types of Lext used in the closely related genres of mono phon ic conduclus (see chapter 4) and Aqu ilania n vers us (see above): rhym ed .

Adorganum

faciendum • 1109 Death of St. Anselm,

founder of Scholasticism • 12th cent. Aquitanian polyphony • ca. 1140 First Gothic buildings • mid -12th cent. University of

Paris founded

Motet Musicians at NolTe Dame created a new genre in the early tt.h irteenth cennny by add ing ncwly wTittcn Latin words to the uppcr voices of discam clausulae, analogous to the way ea rlier musicians had added texts to chant melismas to create sequences and textuaJ tropes (see chapter 3). Thc resulting piece was calJed a motet (Latin moien1s. from French moi, .. word"; the duplum of a motet could also be called niotetus). Over the course of the centt.uy. poets and composers developed new forms of the motet. includingsome with French words. secular topics, t.hree or more voices, or rhytlunic patterns increasingly free of the rhythnúc modes. As conductus and organum gradually fell out of faslúon in Lhe middle of the cenrury. Lhe motel became lhe leacling polyphonic genre for both s acred anel secular music. evolvingfrom a textual trope of a clausula to a newly composed piece valued for its complex paltems and mulliple layers of meaning.

101

10 2

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

EXAMPLE 511, Factum est sa lutare/ Dorninus Ouplum

~ r,

•

1.Fa - ctum

2.w -w

est

Tenor

no longer necessarily linked to the chant text and often on a secular top ic; (2) adding a third or fourth voice to those already present; (3) giving the additional parts texts of their own. to create a do ublc motel (with two texts above the tenor) or Lriple m otet (witb three); or (4) deleting the original duplum anel writing one or more new voices, each with il.s own 1.ext, rn go

- - ..

-'li- . - .

-·

-~.

witb the existingtenor. Composers also wrote motets from scratch. by laying

OOM INUS

Sa!vation -was made known in the sight of lhe people. 1

EARLY MOTETS A lyp ical ea rly rn otet is focium est sa-lutare/Dominu.s (NAWM 2 \ a) , sh own in Exa mple 5.1 1 and based on the discant clausula in Examp lc 5.8a. (Because motets usua lly have a d ifferent text in each voice, they are identiiicd by a compound title comprising lhe ftrst words of each voice from hi ghcsl to lowcst.) Sincc th e poct fit words to thc cx ist ing duplum melody, 1he varying n umber of notes in each short phrase rcquired him to wríte a poem with irregular line • 1150s- ca. 1201 Leoninus at lengths. accentuation. anel rhyme schcme. Likc many early Cathedral of Paris Latin motets based on clausulae, this text is a kind of trope • ca. 1160 Construction of on th e original chant text, elaborating its meaning and drawNotre Dame Cathedral of ing on its words or sounds. The poem ends with th e word Paris begins "Dominus'" (Lord), on which Lhe Lenor melody was originally sung, and incorporates severa! other worcls from the chant • ca. 1200 Perotinus at Notre (underlined in lhe example). some of which are echoed in Dame of Paris subsequent. rhymes. The discam clausula. a musical decora • early 13th cent. Early motets tion of a word, is here in tum embellished by the add ition of • 1209 St. Francis of Assisi words. like a gloss upon a gloss. both referring back to the founds Franciscan order origina l chant and ils words. drawn from a psalm. The resul cing mote l is an ingenio us composite artwo rk wilh mull iple • 1215 Magna Carta laycrs of borrowing and of meaning. ln an ccclcsiaslical cul• ca. 1215 St. Clare founds 1.u re lhal l.reasu recl co mm entary, allegory, anel new ways of Order of the Poor Clares rcwo rking trad it iona l th cmcs, such p icccs must havc bccn • 1216 St. Dominic founds highly esleemed for lh eir rnany allusio ns. Dominican order This motct wou ld not be inappropriatc for perfonnance at Massas part of the Gradual Viderurit omn.es, like the origina l clausula, anel its presence in one of lhe main manuscripts of Notre Dame polyphony suggcsts that it may havc p laycd a linirgical role. But it coul d also be sung on ocher occasions, even for entertai11n1ent. Musicians soon regarded the motet as a genre independent of church p erformance. The tenor lost its liturgical function anel became raw marerial for compositio n. its melody serving as a supporting framework for the upper voice or voices while. in many cases. its text related to theirs in meaningful ways. This change in the role of motets raised new possibilities. Composers reworked existing motets in severa! ways: (l) wril ing a d ifferent text for the duplum. in Latin or French.

• ca. 1250 Sumer is icumen in • ca. 1260 Johannes de Garlandia (?). De mensurabili musica

Concise '-' 1 l !ull

§j

outone of the tenor melodies from the Notre Dame clausula repe rto1y in a new rhythmic pattern and wriling new voices co Fn iL The two motets in Examples 5.12 and 5.13 illustrate some of these poss ih ilities. Fole acostumance/Dominu~ (NA\VM 21 b) featurns the sa rne tenor as Factum esisalurare/ Dominus (Exa mpl e 5.11 ), in both melody and rhyt.hm. but statcs .it tw ice and subsi itutcs a ncw, more cruickly moving dup lum mclocly for the original one. The doubled length and fas ter motion acco rnmod.at.e a much longer text, a secular French poem compla ining thal e nvy, hypoc risy. and deception have ruined France. Such a motet, witb its bitter but amt1sing lexl in lhe vernacular, can only have been inl'enclecl for entcrtainrnent. Thc co mp osc r of Super te lerusalem/Sedfulsit virgi,iitas/ Dominus (NAWM EXAMPLE 5.12, fole acostu mance/Dom inus

º'"'·· w; Tenor

Fole

·• me

a - cos - m - m:m - ce

rei

<1ue

chant;

~ - -

·,ii

IJOMINUS

lt is 011lyc1 cra.zy liabu 1h11t makes me smg. EXAMPLE 5.13, Super te lerusa lcm/Sed fu lsil virgi n itas/ Oom i nus ,---, ,---, A

r::--,

Tr-iphnn :)'{:

te.

per

Ouplum

• ca. 1280 Franco of Cologne, Ars canlus mensurabilis

• ca. 1285 Treatise known as

~-·

',I

00 MINUS)

ma - ire

CTO

(,)

fui

,.Sed

vir

sit

- ni

,---, vir

,---,

na -

1cm. 2.dc

·-. tas ·,.de un -

.,. .

_,. '

,..._

...

'"' (, ) ,---,

--·

_/J

Tenor

,---,

• 1267- 73 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

Anonymous IV

,---,

,--,

3. or -

IUS

CSI

J)i

-•·

nc:

3. Er

Triplu m: fo,.yo11. Jerusolern.from o vitgin nu,rher. wa.s lioni in (Be,h!elwnl . . Du1>lum: Bu1 her11irginiiyglowed with tli eSpirit's breath. 711 erefore, piou.s .

103

21 e). ou the other hand. did not take a tenor unchanged f'rom a clausula. but used the nrst half of the sarne cham melisma 011 "Dominus·· (minus its órst two notes) with a different rhythmic pattern. The top two voices set the first and seconel halves respect ively of a Latiu poem ou tbe birth of Jesus to lhe Virgin Mary, appropriace to the feast of Christmas on which the tenor mel-

104

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

Franconian notation

showeel the rhythm. L1ter motets followed the rhythmic moeles less closely. in part by subdividing many notes, and theír increasing rhythmic varíety and eomplexity ca lled for a new notational system. Composer anel theorist Franco of Cologne codil'ted the oew system. now called Fm11 co11u111 1101<ttio11, in his Ars cantus mensurabilis (The An of Mea-

ody was originally sung: such a moiet could have been sung in private devo-

surable Music). written around 1280. For the nrst lime. reiative durations were

tions in that season. The poem was apparently written before the music. to judge from its regular line Jeng1.hs. As in most mote ts with more lhan cwo voices, Lhe upper parts rarely rest t.ogether or with the tenor, so that the music moves fo rwa rd in an tLOb roken strearn . This motel exists in two va ria nts: Lhe Montpellier Codex (late lh irtee nth century), a majo r Frencl1 rnoie1 manusc,·ipt, has a version l'o r tlwcc voices (NAWM 2 J e), shown in Example 5.13, and one of lhe Engl ish rnaouscr ipls known as the Wo rceste r fragments inc ludes an untexted fourth voice. Such altern.ate versions show tha t motets, like the cfousufae and o rgana that spawned th em, werc regarded not as immutable works bulas common property o pen to reworking. Whcn. whe rc, and how motctswcrcperformcd are inrerestingqucstions. Sacred motcts might bavc bcen pcrformed in services, but we p resume tbat secttlar ones were not, a lthough the language of !ove often resembled the vaca bu lary of devotion. Motets were almost eertain ly music for the elite. including clerics, teachers, university students, poets, musicians, and their patrons. Sínce the words ü1 the tenor 110 longer neede d to be sung, the tenor part may have been played on an ínstrument. but there is no elear evidence to indieate whether this was customary. The eli te audience must have enjoyed mo tets for their comp lex inter weaving of familiar borrowed material and new elements. in both music anel words. Allhough il is difficult for modern listeners to imagine how two texis were hearel at once in a elouble motet, the clever interrelationships between topically related poems were part of the appeal. building on the early motel lradition of writing words fo r lhe duplum that amplify the meaniog and echo the sounds of the tenor's text. Often certa in vowels Ot' syllables appear in ali voices. so that s imilaritics of sound rcinforcc lhe inter play of idcas. This was music for refaned and discerning listeners who treasu red witty texts, skillfuJ eomposit ion, and int riguingjuxtapos itions.

signifled by note shapes. a characteristic ofWestern notation ever sinee. This is such an importaDL innoval.ion. and it had such an irnpact on what musicians coulel nota te. tJ1at we should pause to examine how Franco's system worked. There were four sigos for single notes:

[jull !\\

doLtble long long

Peiforniance

Reception Format

MOTETS IN THE LATER THIRTEENTH CENTURY By about 1250, three - voice motets were the ru le, with two texls on related topics ín Lat in or French, or occasionally one in each languagc. After mid cenrury, composers drew motet tenor me lodies from sourees otber tban Notre Dame clausulae, including other ehanrs and secular music. The tenor became simply a cm1t11s fim111 s, a term introeluced around 1270 by the theo t'isl Hieronymus de Moravia co designate an existing melody. usually a plainchant, on which a new polyphonic work is based. The further motel composers moved away from ad ding text lo a clausula. Lhe more they needed a oew rhythm ic notat ioo. The rhythmic modes were notat.ed t.hrough pat.terns of ligatures. Except for the tenor, motet.s were predominantly syllabic; each syllable required a sepante note. so Jjgatures could no longer be used lo ind icate rhythm. Scribes oota l.ed early motets in l.wo versio ns, with wo rds and wi thout (that is, as elausulae). and on ly the latte r

FIGURE 5.5: Frattconian notation attd

modem equimlents.

breve semibreve

•

Like the rhythmic medes, Franeonian notation is based on ternary groupings of the basic unit, the tempus (now norma lly transerLbed as a quarter note rathcr than an e ighth, as is customa,y for Notre Dame po lyphony: see pp. 92- 93 and Examples 5.5- 5.10 above). Three tempera constinue a pe,fectio11 , akin to a measure of three beats. A$ in the rhythmic modes. a long may last two or three tempera, anel a breve is normally one tem pus but ean last two tempora (as in medes 3 anel 4) if needed to fill a perfection. A double long has the vah1e of two longs. and a tempus may contain two or three semibreves. Signs for rests anel for ligatures indicate durations in a similar manner. What we would transcribe as 1ies across the barline we re no t possible to no cate, except for doub le longs. Figure 5.5 shows some of the possibilities. Figure 5.6 shows a manuseript in this notation. transcribed in Example 5 .14. Changes in motet s tyle and notation led to a new way of laying out the mus ic. Scri.bes wrote the earliest motets in score, like the elausulae from wh ich they were derived. But the upper voices. with each syllable need ing a sepa rai.e nole, took up much mo re room oo the page thao the teno r, whjch had fewer notes and eould bc written in ligarures. [na score, the re would be long vacaol st rctchcs in the tenor slaff. a wastc of space and parchment. And sincc lhe upper vo ices sang different texls, il seemed natural to sepa rai.e tl1 em. So, in a threc - vo iec motet, the triplum and motetus carne to bc writtcn eithe r on facing pages or in separa te columns on Lhe same page, with the tenor extencling across thc bottom, as in Pigure 5.6. This fo rm al, whieh allowed a li the singers to rcad their parts from the sarne opening, remained the custornary way of notating polyphony from 1280 until the sixteenth centmy.

, , , , , •

IJ IJ IJ IJ • IJ J 1j IJ IJ

, ,. . . . . • • 1 • •

1 m 1J 1'J J 1 l

~ .l -i

105

106

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth Century

FIGURE 5.6: Pagefrom lhe MontpellierCode.tin per· formance formai. sho·wing the beginningofAdam de la

rarely repeats from one measure to tbe next in either voice. The duplum moves faster than the tenor, and the triplum often moves faster still. creating a hierarchy of proportions. Oifferences between tbe voices reinforce the contras! of texts. the triphun voicing the eomplaint of a man separated l'rom bis lady and the duplmn the woman's rhoughts of him. The tex ts rhemselves are

flnllis De ma da me vient/D ieus, co mmen l po rroie/ Onrncs and 1.he end ofthe pre11ious motet. The triplum is in the lejt colmnn. rhe motetus (d,uplum) on the righr. and the tenor is written across the bouoni. Compare 1he rranscrip-

very much in the manuer of trouvere poetry. showing that composers and

tfon i.n Example 5.14. (IH8U01ll i;QUli INTf.N- UNIVEJtS JTAltll' , }.fONTl'&I.LI f.111. Sf.CTION ),1 fiDEC INI!)

F'ranconia n notalion a llowed composers lo achieve more rhythmi c freedo m a nd va riety. bnth betwee n and within vo ices. This new type of motet, in which each upper voice has a distinctive rhyth mic shape, is sometimes called a Franconian mote!, after F'ranco of Cologne. \Vbereas upper voices in early motets tend to conform closely to the rhyth mic modes and repeat the sarne patterns frequent ly. this is no longer as true in a motet like Adam de la Halle's De ma dame vient/Dieus, comment porroie/Omnes (NA\VM 22 Full i<I ) . shown in Example5. l4and FigureS.6. Here tbeuppervoices tend to diffe r in rhythm , and lhe same pa11 ern

EXAMPLE 5.14,

r--:,

Triplum

,.Oe

"--·•-

v;ent ~-H

EXAMPLE 5.15:

' - J -'-'

Tríplum

L ;J ~

grics. maus. que jc Irai.

L 3 .....J

pôr

1. Dit:11s,

roi

cham

" je

. _ ,'J ~

sa - ge.

' - - - 5 .,---,-~ mes a moi en doune

L..'j __J

o - choi

( ~)

sui

Lonc

Tenor OMNES

·,t

,-----, L.3..J

mor - r:ii.

r.:1-, !

4.s cs

" voi

' - - 3 _____J pu u -

L..3--'

1.Au - cun

Duplwn ..

" '\'

Petru.s de Cruce. Aucun ont 1rouvé/Lonc tans/Annuntiames

Ouplllm

\'3.dont

,,. " V

Tenor

Full :\'\

Adam de la Halle, De ma dame vient/Oieus, comment porroie/Omnes .------,

Petrus de Cruce

poels were combining in their mote ls the secular. originally eourtly style and subjecL matter of the trouveres with the polyphoni c Lradition of the Notre Dame Cathedra l. The tenor reiterates the melody for "omnes" from the Grad ual Vtderwit omrtes twelve times. using lhree different rhythmie pallerns fow· times each. The first rhy1 hmic mode underl ies th e rhytl1m in each vo ice. t ra.nscribcd hcre as ahcrnal ing ha lf and quarter n otes, bul is now more li kc a shared meter 1.h an a stricl pallern. The tem po is no! ind icated by lhe nolalion but mus l have bee n slowe r than in ea rli er motets, to accommodate th e many semibreves in th c upper parts. Phrases may las t any number of' pcrfections, and the voices rarely cadence together. Thc resulting motet is a highly indi vidua l composition, no longer part of a common stock of claus ula e and motets available for reworking. The rhythmic variety of the Franconian motet was ex-tended one step further by Pe m1s de Cruce ( Pierre de la Croix. mid • tbirteenth to early fourteenth century). His motet Auctm on.t trou11é/ Lo11c tans/An.nwttiantes (NA\VNI 23) , sbown in Example 5.15. is a good illustratiou of b is style. The tenor mov,es in longs (doited half notes in transcription) anel tbe duplum has no more than lhree semibreves per Lempus, as in Franco's system, bu Lthe triplwn may have as many as seven semibreves in a tempus. p erfonned as equal subd ivisions

e 3.d'a

l~r

L3~

pe-r:m - ce oe

.....,,

ANNUN[TIANTl::S]

._3 _,

me re - tie nl.

L-.'$ ~

3. A moun;, qui

ri :1-,

li .

l..J ...J

,i,qui

t _ . 6 ___J

L-.l __J

rcs-bau-dis mon-eou-ro gc. 4.. si

ehan

1.... ,'~ _,J

que

Duplum: Cod. how can 1jind a.wa.y u1go 10 him. whose noverl am?J

L 3 _,J

m ·es - mc1 fai - rc

ter.

Triplum: F'rom rnylo.dy comes ll1egrie11ous pa.inwhic/1 1bearan d ofwhich f will die. if liope does not keep me a.tive . . .

T ri pIum: Some compose thei r songs out ofhabi t. liu t Love gives me a re~on I o sing. he who so fills my hea.rt with joy that l hm1e to make a song: .. . Du plu m: r hal'e Iong rejrr,i,ied from singing. .

chon -

English Polyphony

EXAMPLE 5.16,

107

108

C ti A P T E li 5 • Polyphony through che Thirttenth Century

Cadencefonns

proeluces many harmonic thirds and triads; even the finaJ sonority has a third, unheard of in French music t hen. One elemenl of Not re Dame style that particularly incrigued English

composers was voice exchange. the of lhe breve. To accommodate the smallest notes. the tempo must have been even slower lhan i.n a Franconian motel. The three voices move at qu ite different paces, producing a highly s tratifted texture wi th the teno1· as harmonic foundalion and the slow duplum as accornpanirnenl Lo the vo luhle triplurn. The harmonic vocahulary of 1J1e motet changed less during the thirteen1h ccntury than elid th c 1·hy1 hmic struct urc. By lhe time of Adam anel Pet rus, a f1fth . an oclave. o r bot h togethe r were expec ted al the heginning of each perfection, although th i rei s werc allowed and dissonances appeared occasionally. A fourth above the lowest note, s till uscel as a eonsonanee ea rly in the eentury (see Exam ple 5.11), was now treated more often as a dissonance. The typical caelcncc fcaturcel thc tenor elcsceneling by step and the uppervoices risi ng by step to forma 1- 5- 8 sonority, as shown in Example 5.16. This type of caelcnce remained standard fo r the next lwo centuries. The motet hael an astonishing career in its nrst century. What began as a work of poetry more than of musical composicion, füting a new text to an existing piece of music, was developed by generations of composers into the leaeling polyphonic genre. home to the most complex interplay of simultaneous differenc rhythms and texts ye1 conceived. The app roach of Adam, Petrns, anel other late-thirteenth-ceurury composers reflects a new value placed 011 the distinctiveness of each pi ece. heralding an increased interest in the individual that became characteristic of the fourteenth century.

technique we observed in Peroti nus' organum in which voices lrade segments of melody. An elaboralc form of this was lhe romlellus , in which lwo o r th ree phrases, n rs t hea rd sim ul taneously, ai·e each 1akcn up in tum by each of 1.he vo ices:

Hamumic

vocabulary

Triplum Duplum Te nor

Tradition and innovation

FIGURE 57'

Sumer is

icu.men io (ca. 1250)

in ilsoriginal notalion. The i;pper parts ha,,e a seconda,y Latin 1e.r1. written in red ini· l,elow 1he Englisli words. The pes is sliown auhe boitom of lhe poge. tcou•-

English Polyphony Alter the No rman Conquest of England in 1066, English cultu re anel music werc closcly allicd to thosc of Francc. Wc s aw thcse links in secular song. with English trouveres such as Richard the Lionheart, and it is true as well for organum, coneluctus, anel motet. English composers wrote in ali thc Notre Dame gen res, as well as diseant scttings of sequenccs a nel of troped chants for the Mass Ordinary. They focused on sacred Latiu texts and tended to p refer the relatively homorhythmic style anel regular phrasing of the conductus. A elistinctive musical dialect emerged when English composers began to extend cerrain aspects of Continenta.1 practice. Most signincant was their use of imperfect consonances. often in parallel motion . J-larmonic thirds anel sLxths were aJlowed in the Notre Dame repertory. as we have seen. but were much more common in English nmsic. This apparentJy reflects tJ1e influence of follc polyphony. Writing about 1200. Gerald of Wales described improvised partsinging in close harmony in WaJes and northern Brilain. anda twelflh- century Hymn to St. Ma.gnus. patron Saint of t11e Orkney ls lands. features parallel thirds. The four- voice version ofSuperle Ierusalem/Sedful.sit virginita.s/ Dominu.s from England. menlioned above. shows lhis inl1uence, s ince the fourth voice

·resr 1·u11. l:1KJ'l' ISH LIBflAll'Y)

Distinctive features

a b e ~ b b e a

Since the three voices are in the sarne range. the listener hears a threefolel repetition of the polyphonic phrase , but with voice parts traded. Rondellus sections appear frequently in English conductus from the )ater truneenth century. There are a lso independem rondellus anel rondellus- molets. such as Fulget coelestis curi-0/0 Petre fios/ Roma goudet from 1he Woreeste,· fragments, wh ich has 1wo t11ree - voice rondellus sections framed by an introduction and coda. Closely related to 1.he rondellus is lhe rota, a perpetua] canon or rounel al thc un ison. Thc most íamous is Sumer is icumen in. (NAWM 24 lcono,.;,.I Full ;,. ,) from ahout 1250. shown in Figure 5. 7 and Exarnple 5. 17. Two vo ices s ing a pes (Lati n for "foot," or "ground''), a repeating melody that serves as a tenor; s ince the scconel half of eachpes is the nrst balf ofth e other, they fo rma two - voi ce ro ndellus. Ahove this, two, three, or fou r voices ente r in canoa, singing in pra ise of summer. Ali the voices have s imi lar rhythms in the nrst or n fth rhythmic modes, producing an effect of alternating F- A- C- F and G-m- D sono rities. The clistinctive quaJ ities of English po lyphony. particularlythe preferencc for imperfect consonances and for rela1ively s imple, syllabic, and perioelic melodies, exerc ised an important inlluence on nfteenth-century Continental composers and contributed to the development of a new international style in 1.he f1fteenth cemm·y (see chapter 8).

A Polyphonic Tradition The e me rge nce in 1:he eleve nl.h through thi rleenth ce nl.uri es o f co rn plex polyph ony. whe1her improv iscd , composed anrJ 1ransmit1ed orally, o r wri r-

A Polyphonic Traditlon

EXAMPLE 5.17, f\

,i>

Sumer is icumen in ,--,

Su - u\Cr is

cu - menin.

cu!

UlU - de s iog tuc

Su - mc r i.s

,--,

., ,-------,-,

Pes

t '\'

, Sing

cuc

Sing

cuc

nu~

cul

,------,

Su - me r is

cu - men in.

cuc

cu!

.-----:,

Sing

cuc

nu·

w - <le

·' cuc de e.1ng mer is

cuc

Siug

cuc

cu!

nu:

nu.

Crow • c1h sed a~,d blow-cth uicd

Sing

'-'---

Sing

,--,

-, 1

spriú()''l.h 1..lte

Sing

~ · Siug-

cu!

110

C H A P T E K 5 • Polyphony through the Thirteenth C entury

For all the contributions made by singers. composers. anel theorists of medievaJ polyphony, their music selelom outlived them by more than a generation or two. As new styles of polyphony were createel. older styles fell out of fashion. sometimes persisting for a time in local practice or in clistan t regions but evenrually replaceel by newer styles. We saw this in the rewriting o.f the

Magnus liberorga,ü by !ater generations. and will see it in chapter 6 when four-

cu - mc n tu.

, f\

109

aml

,------,

cu-men in.

cuc

cu!

.----,-,

cuc

nu;

S11n11ncris come. sing loud. cuckoo! Thc seed grows and rhc meadow b!ooms. and now thc wood tums grun. Pcs: Si11g. cuckuo, now: sing, cuckoo!

ten down , was a major rurning poim in \Vestem music. The coordinaliou of multiple parts. interest in verticaJ sonorities. and use of counterpoint and harmony to create a seuse of directiou. tension. and resolution became characterislics of tlie Western traditio n Lhat set iLapart from almos t ali others. ln this sense, medievaJ polyphouy was of enormous historicaJ importance. Moreover. the nolation that composers develop ed for polyphouy introduced Lwo features tba t became funda memal co !ater Weslern no talion: vertical placement to coordinate mu ltip le parts, as in Aquilanian anel Notre Dame organum anel moJern scores. anel different noteshapes to ind icate relative eluration. pioneered in Franconian notation and continued in our whole. half. 1iuarter, and e ighth notes and rests.

1eentl1-century compose rs and ilieorists embrace a "new ar1:· When rediscovereel and u·anscribeel in Lhe eighteemh anel nineteenlh centuries. polyphony of the eleve nth , twelfth, ann thirteenth centuries was rcga rded as crude and harsh. its open harmonies. casual dissonaoce, anel pa rallel f1fths anel oclaves la cking Lhe fu ll, sweet, con1 r()lled sound of Renafasance mu sic. Although bislo rians rccog11izcd its signi l1cance, thc music itsclf at first fou ncl fcw lis tencrs. Jn ilie late nineteenth and early twe ntieth cenluries. co mposers began to draw on med ieval musicas an exotic elemen t, distant in time rathe r than geography. Pa ra lle l organum found :in echo in thc p:ira ll e l chord -st rca ms of Debussy and othe rs. As composers exploreel sonoritíes based on fourths. lifths, a11d seconds, partly inspirecl by medi eva l harmony, listcncrs gl'CW accustomed to sucb sounds, and polyphony bcforc 1300 began to secm lcss crude and more appeali_ng. Sometechniques of medieval polyphony have eon temporary parallels, s howing their continuecl relevance if not clirect influence: the repetition of short rbythmic and melodie ideas in minimaJist music has echos of the modal rhythm and repeated motives of Perotinus·s o rgana , and the layering of new texts over borrowecl material in rap music resembles that in thirteemh -centu1y motets. ln the late twentieth cenru1y, meelievaJ polypho ny experienced a revivaJ in concert and recordiug. What were once seen as defects- its differences from common- praclice harmony and counterpoiuc. lack of instruments. uncertain rhythmic notation, and unfamili arity- became stre ngths, offeringnew sounds, purevocal beauty. performer freedom. and freshness. Music once employeel to add solernnily to religious services or to entertain clerics and intellectuals has now found a small but permanen Ln iche in modem musical life, d ivorced írom ils original co ntcx t buL vaJucel for its unique sounels anel stylcs.

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Resources for study and review available ai wwnorlon.com/studyspace.

112

C ti A P T E li <, • N,w Dev,lopmen<> in t he Fourteen1h Century

FIGURE 6.1 : Ciotro (ca. 1266-

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY After the comparative stability of the tlürteentb

133?). \'íleddi ng procession. 11,isfruco (w(lll pClintingdon e in wet pla.ster) is one of Cl seriu on the life uf the Vi,gin ,lfa,y pai,11.ed around 1305 in thc Chapei oftli e Madon,w della Carità deAnma. known as the Scro.,egni Chapei afrer rhe banke,· Enrico Scro1•egni. who bu,lt the cliopeton thesite ofa. Roma11amph1thcater. Mo,y (wilh halo) leads a group ofvirgin.s. wli,le a .,,elte player ond nvo pipers prooide music. The large-leafbranch jrmingfrom rhe window is a sign ofthe Vi11,'Ín ·s pregnancy. (SCI\O\'ECNJ (;IIAJ'EL. l'AOIJA. l'rALY. ''110'1'0: CAMl'.11.Al'IIOTO AllTf., \'!NICJ'l"J Alt't lU!Sc)UftCF., N'r)

century, the fourteenth sawdisruption and turmoil. The economy and population of western Europe declined, ravaged hy famine, war, and plague. Conflicts and scandals tarnished the church. and revohs challenged secular authorities. Yet the fourteenth century was also a period of remarkable creativity. The desire to understa.nd and control na 1.ure spurred advances i n science anel 1.echnology, and an increasing interest in the world. the individual. and buman nature led to arL and literature that was more true to life and more eager to please its audi ence. The po lyphonic musicofthc time is characteri1.ed by an interplay between structure and pleasure, 1he former evident in the rhythmic and melodie patterning known as isorhy thm and in standardi1.cd forms fo r secular song, and lhe latter in engaging me lod ies, chromalic inflections, more frequcnt imperfcct consonanccs, and newpossibilities in notating rbythm and meter.

The clwrch in crisis

European Society in the Fourteenth Century The emphasis on structure and pleasure in fourteenth- century music may seem in ren·ospect a response to 1.he forces of di.sorder and discontent in society at large. The rising econom ic tide of the previous Lhree centuries reversed in lhe 1300s. Cooler wealher reduced agricull.ural production. leading lo a prolonged economic slu mp. Floods

Science and secularism

in northwestern Europe brought famine in 1315-22, and about one person in ten perished. ln 1347- 50 lhe Black Death. a terrible combination oi' buhonic and pneumon ic plagues. marched across Europe. wiping oul. a 1.hird of the populat ion; almost everyonc infected died in agony withi ,, days, and many of those lefl alive Oed lhe cities and towns. The resulling disruptions in agricullure, manufaclu ring, and trade deepened the eco nomic problems. So did frequcnt wars, cspccially thc Hundred Years· War (1337- 1453) bctwccn Francc anel England. Poverty, wa r, taxes, and political grievances comhined to s,park peasani. and urban rebcllions in France, Engl:md, Flanders ( modern -day Belgium). Cc rmany. ltaly. and Spain. Th e church was also in crisis. 1n the th irteen th century, Europeaas vie wed the church as thc suprcme authority not on ly in mattcrs of fait.h but to a largc extent in intellectual and po litical affo irs ; now its authority, especia lly the supremacy of the pope, was widely q11eslioned. ln 1305, King Philip IV (the Fair) of Prancc cnginccrcd thc clect ioo of a F'rcnch pope. Clemcnt V, who ncver wem to Rome beca.use of hostility there to foreigners. From 1309 until 1377, the popes resided atAvignon in southeastern France, u11derthevirt11al control of tbe French k'ing. This period. known as the Babylonian Captivity ofthe papacy. was succeeded by the Grea t Schism: from 1378 lo 1417. there were rival claimants 10 the papacy in Rome, in Avignon, anel !ater in Pisa. This state of affairs, compounded by the often corrupt life of the clergy. drew sharp criticism. expressed hoth in wrilings and in Lhe rise of populaJ' heretical movemems. Thirteenth-century Europeans could generally reconcile revelation and reason. the divine and human realms, and religion and politics. But in the fourteenth cenLury. people began to separai.e science from religion and to see

Europ..n Soc,oty in th• Fourteenth C•ntury

113

differem roles for church anel state. notions still held 1oelay. William of Ockham (ca. 1285-1319) anel his followers argued that knowledge of nature anel of humanity shou ld rest 011 the experience of the senses rather than on reason alone anel shoulel seek natural rather than supernatural explanations. \Vithout elenying the claims of religion, this view laid the foundations for the modero

114

C ti A P T E li <, • N•w Oev•lopment> in the Fourteenth Century

The Ars Nova in France Philippe de Vit1y O291- 1361). French composer. poet. church canon. adminisu·ator for the duke of Bourbon and the lung of France. and !ater bishop of

scientinc method and made way for a growing secular culture. New technolo-

Meaux. is named by one writer as the "inventor of a new art"- in Latin. ars

gies brought soc ial change: eyeglasses enabled the aging to read. the magnetic compass allowed ships to venture farthe r from land, and rnechanical clocks began to change the way people experienced time , from a daily cycle of tasks anel events marked by the so uoding of lo cal bells lo a universal rneasu1·e of eliscre te, propor1iona l. arithmetical units. Th is crucia l shift was re rlected in mus ical practicc, cspecially i11 fou1·teenth - cc11tu,·y systcms of notat ion. Scie11tis1s· reliaoce ou the se nses had parallels among art ists and wrilers. in thei r pursuit of rea l ism and i n their focus o n pleasing their audience. The Flo rcntine paintcr Giotto (ca. 1266- l337) broke away from the forma lized Byzanline style and achieved more naturalistic represenlation, as seen in the facia l cxpressions. posturc, anel ga rmcnts of thc wcdding participants in the painting shown in Figure 6.1. He creatcd a scnse of dcpth by placing figures anel objects on different planes of the pictorial space, and the beauty of the faces and the symmetry of the composition show an i nterest in pleasing the eye. The growth of literacy among the public encouraged writers to produce works in che vernacular. including Dante Alighieri's Divtne Comedy ( 1307), Giovanni Boccaccio's Decamero1i (1348- 53). anel Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (ca. 1387- 1400) . The latter cwo, wril ten to emenain rather than e levate the reader, reflect daily life and po11ray people of all social classes more realistically than earlier lilerature had clone. The secular interests of the fourteenth century a:re well representeei in music. The best- known co mposers of the time, Guilllaume de Machaut and Francesco Landini. focused on secular music, anel even the papal court at Avignon is known today for ils culüva tion of secular song. But composition of sacred music, inclueling both monophonic chants anel po lyphony, continucd to flourish. The fl avor of the ti mes is captu red in the Roman de fouvel, an allegorical narrative poem satirizing corruption in politics anel the church, apparently wriUen as a waming to the king of France and cnjoyeel in high polit ical circles at court. Fauvel, a horsc who rises from the stablc to a powcrful position, sym bolizes a world turned upside down , in wbich the king outranks the pope and France is deliJed. Fauvel em.bodies the sins represented by the let ters of bis namc: Flatte1y. Avarice. Villainy ("U" anel --v·· were interchangeable), Variété (tickleness), Envy, and Lâcheté (cowardice). He ultimately marries and produces little Fauvels who destroy rhe world. Abeautifolly decorated man\1script from around 1317. sbown in Figure 6.2. has 169 pieces of rnusic interpolated wi1hin rhe poem. These constitute a veritable amhology of works from the thirteenth and early founeenth centuries, some written for this collection, others chosen for their relevance to the poem's message. Most are mono phonic. from Latin chants to secular songs. But thirty- fout are motets. many with texts that denounce the lax morals of the clergy or referto polí tica) events. Among Lhese motets in the Roman de Fau.ve! are the nrst examples of a new style. known today as theArs Nova.

nova. Severa!. versions of a lreatise from ca. 1320 representingVitry"s teaching, though perhaps not w1·iuen by him, end wi th the words "this compl etes lhe Ars nova of Magister Philippe de Vitry," implying that Ars novo (New Arl or New Method) is the title of Lhe treatise anel Vitry its author. The te n n Ars Novn has come to denote the new French musica l s tyle inaugurated by Vitry in the 1310s and con tinued through th e l370s.

77ie arts ARS NOVA NOTATION

Sacredandsecular in music

Roman de Fauvel

The ·'new art'' p roceeded from two innovations in rhythmic nolal ion, described in the Ars no,,a trcatise and in treatiscs by Jchan des Murs, a mathcmatician and astronomcr as wcll as music theorist. Thc hrst int10vation allowed dup lc ("imperfect") clivision of note values along with the traclitional tripie Cperfect") division; the second provideel for division of the semibreve. formerly the smallest possihle note value, into minims. Tbe resulting system offered new meters a11d allowed much greater rhytlmúc llexibüity, including. foy rhe lirst time. syncopation. Around 1340, des Murs discusseel another innovation, 11w 11sun1Lio11 sig11s , symbols that are the ancestors of modem time signatures. Understanding the new rhythmic profi.le of fourtee111.h-cemu1y French music requires some knowledge of the notation itself, described in a sidebar (see hmovalions: \Vriting Rhythm, pp. 116-17). The efíects o i' the new notational system werc profound and endu ring. Foi· Lhe lirst time. notatio n was so spec if1 c and unambiguous for borh pi tch and rhythm that a piece of music could be writt en down in one c ity. ca rricel to another. and pcrformed there cxactly as the composer in tended it by singers who hacl nothingbut

FIGURE 6.2, fnt.his mi.niawrefrom the Romaa de Fauvel. o poem bJCen,êsdu Bus. a cha,i1,ari, or n oisy serenade. awakens Fauvel and Vain C!ory ajier theirwedding. This manuscript from abatlt /3/ 7. probablypreparedat the royal court. includes man.y interpolat.ed pieces ofmusic. (BlBLI01'11 .E0UE ~ATIONALI?. l'AHIS, l'll01'0: l'~lMAfllON/ 81llDGU.1.AN AKT LIBJlAflY)

The Ars Nova in Franc•

the manuscript to work from. Such a p iece could be as fixed and permanent as a poem, and perhaps for that reasou composers beg.an more often to attach their names to their works and take pride in their autborship, as poets had dane for centuries. Opponents as well as supporters acknowledged the new art. The Flemish theorist Jacques de Liege vigorously defended the "ancient ai1'' (ars antiqua) of lhe late thirteenth century against the new innovalions (see Source Reading). This rna rks the Jirs1 well-documented dispute since ancient times between advocates of newer and older musical styles, a 1ype of argumen l that has recurred <lÍle n and always reflects diffe rences io what is valued io music. \Vben Ja cques de Liege complained 1ha1 in the new mu s ic "perfecti on is brought low, íand] impcrfec1ion is cxalted," hc was objecting 1ha1 thc "imperfect"" duple division was now eq ually as vali d as Lhe ·'perfect" th ree-fold div is ion , which carried assoc iations with the Trin it:y. He may also have bee n condemn ingthc increased use ofthe im pe rfcct consonances in compositions of the Ars Nova. Thirds, long considered dissonant , were f,rsl categorized as ''im perfect co nso nances" by Johanncs de Carlandia in thc thirtee nlh ce11tu1-y. wbile sixths, considercd dissonant by earlicrtbcori sts, wcrc rcgardcd as consonant by followers of Vitry and Jehan des Murs.

115

NNOVATIONS A,guments against

theArs Nova

Writing Rhythm

hat made the new musical style of the Ars Nova possible was a set of inno· vations in notating rhythm. innovations that underlie our modem system of whole. half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests. The new notation required a rethinking of musical time. Remember that a century or so earlier, musicians of the Notre Dame school had conceived of musical rhythm in terms of certain repeating patterns of long and short notes-the rhythmic modes (see chapter S). Ali six modes Íit a framework in which the basic time unit, or tempus, was always grouped in threes. like a measure of tripie time. Franco· nian notation, introduced in the late thirteenth century. made it possible to escape the rigid mold of the rhythmic modes by using the shapes oi notes to indicate their durations, yet still relied on the sarne three-fold groupings. called perfections. As long as theorists insiste d on seeing musical time as a succession of perfec tions. each of which could only be divided in certain ways, many rhythms simply could not be written down. induding anything in duple meter. ln Ars Nova notation. units of time could be grouped in either twos or threes. at severa! different leveis oi duration, allowing a much wider variety of rhythms to be written. The long (.,),breve(•), and semibreve(+) could each be divided into either two or three notes oi the next smaller value. as shown in Figur,e 6.3. The division of the long was called mode (modus), that of the breve time (tem· pus), and that of the semibreve prolation (pro/a tio). Division was perfect or major ('greater") if tripie, imperfect or minar ('lesser') if duple. The terms ' mode." ' tempus," "perfect," and "imperfecr' are ali derived from Notre Dame and Franconian notation and applied here to new but closely related uses (see chapter 5). A new noteform was introduced to indicate one-half or one-third of a semibreve: the minim ( • ), meaning ' least" in Latin. The addition of smaller values was associated with a slowing of the tempo. so that for fourteenth-century music the breve rather than the long is typically transcribed as a measure in modem notation. The four possible combinations of time and prolation, shown in Figure 6.4, produce in effect four different meters. comparable to four in use today. Later in the century, time and prolation were indi· cated with m ensuration signs that are the ancestors of modem time signatures: a circle for perfect time or incomplete circle for imperfect, with a dot for major prolation or no dot for minor. The incomplete circle C without a dot has come down

JACQUES DE LI ÊGE RAlLS AGA INST T HE ARS NOVA Jacques de Llêge (ca. 1260-after 1330) apparently was a native of Liege ,n modem Belg,um and studied at the Un,versity of Paris. His Speculum musícae (The M11ror of Muslc. ca. 1330) is ,he longes! survivlng medieval treatlse on music, ln the last of lts seven booh. he argued that the old style of the thirteenth century was more pleasing and more perfecl than the new art of the younger generation. 1do not deny that the modems have composed

much good and beautiful music. but this is no reason why the ancients should be maligned and banished from the fellowship of singers. For one good thing does not oppose another. ln a certain company in which some able singers and judicious laymen were assembled. and where new motets in the modern manner and some old ones were sung, 1 observed that even the laymen were better pleased with the ancient

motets and the ancient manner than with the new. And even if the new manner pleased when it was a novelty, it does so no longer. but begins 10 displease many. So let 1he ancient music and the ancient manner of singing be brought back to their native land: let them come back into use: let the rational art Aourish once more. lt has been in exile, along with its manner of singing; they have been cast out from the fellowship of sing· ers with near violence. but violence should not be perpetuai. Wherein does this lasciviousness in singing so greatly please. this excessive refinement, by which, as some think. the words are lost. the harmony oi consonances is diminished. the value of the notes is changed. perfection is brought low. imperfection is exalted, and measure is confused? From Speculum musicae (ca. 1330). Book 7, Chapter 48. trans. James McKinnon. ,n SR 35 (2:27}, p. 277.

FIGURE 6.3. Divisi-Ons of

the long. breve. and semi· breve ínArs Nova, notatüm.

Long,

Mode ,

Time

Breve:

•

Prolation Se,n i b /• ~

Pcríecl

fmpcrfcct

Pcrfcct

lmpcrfcct

Perfec1or Major

• • •

• •

• • •

• •

! ! •

116

lmperfecr or Minor

! !

C H A P T E K <, • New Developments in the Founeen1h Century

118

to us as a sign for : time (equivalent Rrcvc Scmibrt \'CS M inims to lmperfect time, minar prolation), Pcrfcct time. 0 showing the link between these four major prolation = = · prolations" and modem conceptions = = of meter. ln Ars Nova notation, noteshapes Perfect time. minor prol::nfon = • • • = could indicate certain durations that remained unchanged by the notes 1 = = around them. Such specificity made lmpcrfcc11 ime. it possible for the first time to notate (: major prolarion = = syncopation , a prominent feature in melodies of composers from the = = fourteenth century on, lndeed, Jehan 1mpcrfect t inic. des Murs wrote of the new system, tninor prolalion = • = "whatever can be sung can be written down." That was certainly not true = = of rhythmic notation in the thirteenth century, which greatly limited what FIGURE 6.4 , 11iefou,·combincuions o/time Md prolation.. wirh modem could be composed and preserved in eq1tivale111s. written form, Our modem notation system is the direct descen· or two ffags to the semiminim to produce a fusa and dant of Ars Nova notation, as shown in Figure 6.5. a s,emi{usa. Toward the end of the sixteenth century. The noteshapes of Ars Nova notation are the sarne as the diamond -shaped notes of Renaissance notation those of Franconian notation, with the addition of the changed to the round noteheads we use now, and liga· minim. ln both systems, ligatures continued to be used tures fell out of use. With the addition of barlines in the for certain combinations of longs and breves. as had seventeenth century. rhythmic notation had evolved been true since Notre Dame notation. About 1425. Írom its first manifestations to its modero form in a scribes began to write all these forms with open note- little over four hundred years. heads (sometimes called "wh ite notation") rather ArsNova fr.t0C01l13Jl ReoaiS$anc:e Modern than filling each in with ink (e,. 1280) ( 1300-1425) (1450-1600) fon:u ("black notation "). This Oou.blc long change may have occurred or m.axima at that time because Long scribes shifted from writ· Breve Oouble whole ing on parchment (scraped li F=l • rlOIC sheepskin or goatskin) to Wbolc 001e paper; filling in black notes Scrrubreve o on rough-surfaced paper Mir'lím Holf no1e increased the chance o f spattered ink or bleed· Scmi11li.11im Qu.uler ooce through and thus a ruined page. Renaissance com· Fusa Eigh1h no1e ) posers added still shorter Sixh:.c:nth note values. each half the Semifusa ~ ~ note duration of the next higher Normal r.itio of value, by filling in the note1 1 • = lr.tnscriprion •= head of a minim to create a semiminim and adding one FIGURE 6.5: Comparison of notaiion sys1ems.

•

• • •

g d,__) . J. J. J.

o • f J

J .

g J

• • J. J.

• •

i d

J J

•

, ,

, , .

•

117

!!! !!

m .rn !!

l l

d J

!! .ri

written by Vitry himself. His motets use a device modem scholars have called

n n n

9 9

•

The earliest musical works to exemplify the Ars Nova are the motets of Philippe de Vitry. severa! of whicb appear in the Roman de FaiweL or a re cited in theArs nova treacises. Most are in three voices with Latin texcs probahly

mmm !

ISORHYTHM

!! !! !!!

isorltyl/1111 ("equal rhythm''), in which the tenor is laid out in segmenots of iclemical rhy thm. Th is extends the praccice we observed in Notre Dame clausulae and thi rteen th -century motets. where lhe tenor oftcn repeats a rhythmic patte rn and may also repeal a segmenl of melody (see chap te r 5 and Examples 5.8 and 5.1 1- 14). ln rhe isorhythm ic mo te l of the fourceenth cen tui-y. the rhythm ic pal tcrns a re longcr and more comp lex, anel lhe tenor tends lo move so slowly in comparison 1.0 lhe uppe r voices lhal it is hea rd less as a melody than as a fou ndatio n for the entire polyphon ic structure. Theorists of the time recogni1,cd rwo recurring elements in mot.et tenors , Tcilea. a,nd color rhythmic a11d me lod ie. They called lhe re peating rhyth mic unil lhe t<tle a (p i. taleae) and the recurring scgmen t of me lody thc color. The co lor an d talea could be the sarne length, always bcginning and ending togetbcr. but mosl oflen the color extended over two, three, or mo re ta leae. ln some motets. the endings of the co lor anel talea do not coincide. so that reperi.tions of the color hegi.n in the midclle of a calea. Upper voices may also be organized isorhythmically. in whole or part, to emphasize th e recurring rhythmic patterns iu the tenor. Vitry's motec C111n siawa/Hugo, Hugo/ Magister i1widie (NAWM 25) illus1 Conc,se ~ 1 1 Full :\\ 1 trates isorhythm. The tenor includes tbree statemems of the color, and each color is divided into three equa l parts to lit three statements of the taJea. Example 6.1 shows the beginnngs of the Jast two statements of the talea. ln

EXAMPLE 6 .1, , r,6

~i: t)

Philippe de Vi.try. c/.osing ta.I.eaefrom. Cum statua/Hugo , Hugo/ Mag istcr invidie

-· -·

"º

-·· ·=-=-= pi

,---·

qui

. _..., _

s1u -pe

... .. .le-dor ·•

,i-.

l:UOl

lin - gua

•.

sic

dtLS

U·

ni-us

'·

S IS

pá -

A ~

'\' A

,:,

V li

·v

pre

" pcr-pc

,.lo

1::.5

,_.. .

~·

--· CC

1- pro

i-.• .

cri

ro: a

-·

1301

J>rO· ÍC · ti6

• 1

faJ. sis.

ª' -·

pos .sum

Guillaume de Machaut

this transcriptiou. 1he ~ meter in the upper voices reflects the dupl e division of the breve (th e measure) and tripie divisiou of the semibreve (dotted quai-ter note), or imperfect time and major prolation (see Figure 6.4. p. 11 7). The longer measures in the tenor. each co rrespouding to three measures of the upper paris, reílecL 1he criple divisiou of che long inlo three breves, or perfect

Guillaume de Machaut The most important composer and poet of the f'rench Ars Nova period was Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300- 1377: see biography and Figure 6.6, p. 120).

120

C ti A P T E li <, • N,w 0ev,lopment> in the Fourteenth Century

GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT (CA. 1300-1377)

mode (see Figure 6.3. p. 116). For mosL of the motel. the upper voices move in ever-changing rhythms ahove Lhe tenor. But as shown in Example 6.1 . Vilry pairs 1he last two taleae. which set th e frnal four lines of the poem in each upp e r voice, by making 1he duplum and lriplum isorhythmic as well. featuring the sarne rhytiuns in hot.b tal eae. This effec1. is used in many iso rhyü1mi c works to make recu rrences of thc 1alca more aueliblc. The upper voices ia Example 6.1 exemplify a Lecha iqu e caUed lwckct (French hoquei, "hiccup"), in which two voices alternate in rap iel succession, each resting wh il c thc orher sings. Passages in hocket appear in some thirteenth-century conductus anel motets and are frequently used in fou r tccnth - century isorhythmic works in coord ination with recurren ces of the talea, as in this Vitry motet. Pieces that use hocket extensively were themselves called hockets. Most were untexted and could be performed cithcr by voices or by iustrumcnts. The basic idea of isorhythm- arranging durati-011s in a pattern that repeats-was not new in the fourteenth century. but it was applied in ever more extended and complex ways. The rhythmic and melodie repetitions gave coherence LO long composilions, building upon the del ighLin struccure we noticed in discant clausulae and thirteenth-century motets. Using iso rhytl:unic structures helped composers al every stage of composition. from ove rali planning and lay ing out sections to filling in lhe upp er voices ovei· 1he tenor. Singers could see the repeating patterns ata glance, especially in lhe original notation. helpi ng them to grasp the shape of lhe music and commit it to memory . Allhougb some lisleners may barcUy notice the i nl.erlocked repctit ions of colo r and ta lea. the recurring rhythmic patterns are ev ident to the performcrs and are not difficult to hea r if onc knows to listcn for Lhem, es pecia lly when the co mposer uses isorhytbm in ali voices to ma rk signili ca nt points in t hc cyc le ofthe ca lca. Such motets were composed primarily for performance before musically and textua lly literatc audicnces. fr om cle rgy to students to cou rtiers, and no doubt many in the audicncc undcrstood and apprcciateel the structu re. As in earlier motets, intricate webs of meaning and sound link the texls. The com p lex intcrrclation sh ips in both tcxt anel mus ic wcrc aimcd at celucated listcn ers who treasured the search for meaning, whether in motets, in allegories sucb as the Ronian. de Fatwel, or in imerpretations of the Bible itse lf.

119

Machaut was the most important com· Isorhyth,n in uppervoices

Hocket

Usefidness of isorh;tthni

Andience

poser and poet in fourteenth-century Franc,e. He exercised a profound in fluence on his contemporaries and later artists, and his music has come to typify the French Ars Nova. Much of what we know about Machaut's liíe and career comes from his own narrative poems. many of which describe events in the lives of himself and his patrons. He was born in che province of Champagne in nor theastern France, probably to a middle-class family. He was edu· cated as a cleric, probably in Reims. and !ater took Holy Orders. Around 1323. he entered the service of John of Luxembourg. king of Bohemia, as FIGURE 6 .6 , ln this mi11i(lturefroni the lC>sl m(lnuscriptof a clerk, eventually becoming che king's Gtâlfowne de Machm,t 's works prepC>red during his lifetinte (cC>. secretary. ln that role. he accompanied 1372), the elderly Macl1<111t is visited in his studr by /.,Qve. who John on his traveis and military cam- il,troduces his threechildren. SweetThougiirs. Pleasure. and paigns across Europe. describing chese Hope. (ul8uorni:QuE ••no•••'·· vAJuStomo«M••> exploits in his poetry. From 1340 until his death in 1377. Machaut resided in Reims as the resources to supervise the preparation o f canon of the cathedral, an office whose liturgiseveral illuminated manuscripts containing his cal duties left ample time for poecry and comworks, but the choice to do so seems to have position. Machaut had close ties to royalty all his been his own, inspired by a sense of his own life, always moving in elite circles. Other patrons worth as an arcist and a desire to preserve included John of Luxembourg's daughter Bonne, his music and poetry for future generations.. the kings of Navarre and France; and the dukes Such attitudes, commonplace today, remained rare among composers before the nineteenth of Berry and Burgundy. century. Machaut was among the first composers to compile his complete works and to discuss his working methods. both signs of his self-awareMAJOR MUS ICAL WORKS: La Messe de Nostre ness as a e reator. He addressed Le livre du voir Dame (Mass of Our lady}, Hoquetus David (hocket), dit (The Book of the True Poem, 1363-65) to 23 motets (20 isorhythmic). 42 ballades (1 monophonic). 22 rondeaux, 33 virelois (25 monophonic), 19 lois (15 Peronne. a young admirer with whom he had monophonic). 1 complainte. ond 1 chonson royale (both fallen in !ove in his six ties. ln it he says he typimonophonic) cally writes his poems before setting them to music and is happiest when the music is sweet POETI CAL WORKS: Remede de Fortune (Remedy <>Í and pleasing. Fortune). Le livre du voir dit. numerous other narrative The strong support of his patrons gave him poems. over 280 lyfic poems

Guillaume de Machaut

121

His support by royal anel aristocratic patrons alloweel Machaut time to produce over 11 O musical works, mostly settings of his own poetry, along with almost three hundred other poems. From about 1350 on, he gathered ali his works in manuscripts prepared for his patrons. These collections show MachaUl's awareness of himself as an individual crealOr and his desire to pre-

C H A P T E K <, • New Oevelopment1 in the Founeenth Century

122

EXAM PLE 6 .2,

r--7

·-

Tl'iplum

serve his creations for posterity. He composed iu most of the genres then current. from motets to secular songs. anda survey of his music also serves to introduce us to lhe main types of Al·s Nova composil ion.

Guil/.aume de Machaut. La Messe de Nostre Dame. begimiingofChrisie

= ligatm·c in origir,a l notation

Motetus

\! MOTETS Mosr of Ma chau 1,.s rwcnry - th,·c e molets ela le l'rom relalively ead y in his ca ree r. Twenly are isorhythmic, based oo lenors from chant., anel three use secular songs as tenors. Like other motets of the tim e, Machaut's are lo nge r anel more rhythmi c:tlly comp lcx than earlier exampl es and often includ e hockel anel isorhythmic passages in the upper voices.

MASS Machaut's La Messe de Mostre Dame (Mass of Our l-1dy) was one of th e earliest polyphonic settings of the Mass Ordinary, probably the nrsr polyphonic mass to be wTitten by a single composer and conceived as a unit. Machaut apparently composed the work in the early 1360s for performance ata Mass for the Virgin Ma1y celebrated eve1y Saturday at an altar of tille cathedral in Reims. After his death, an 01·ation for Machaut's soul was added to the service, and his mass continued to be performed lhere well inlo the fifteenú1 century. As we saw in chapter S. through the thirteenth century chants from the Polyphomc settings Mass Properwereset polyphonically much more often than Ordina,y chants. of Lhe Ordinary But in the fourteenth cemury. lhere are numerous settings of Ordinary texl.s by French, English. and ltalian composers. some com posed for lhe papal chap ei at Avignon. others for Masses celebrated on special occasions descrving of addcd solcmniLy. Most wcrc scl as individual pieccs thaL could be freely co mbin ed with ot.he rs in a service, so me were composed as pai rs of move me nts (such as a Sanctus and Agnus Dei). anda fcw wcrc gath cred inlo anonymous cycles. Se11 ings were typically in onc of three styles: iso rhythmi c, with a cha nt teno r; songlike, with a decorated chant in the uppc r voice; or homop honic. with ali pa rts movingtogethcr. Machaut's mass builds on this tradition, but treals the six lexls of the Ordinary as one composition rathcr than separa te picces. Thc movcmcnts are linked togcthcr by similari· ties of style anel approach and by a tonal focus on Diu tbe ftrst thrce move ments anel on F in the last three. Ali six movements are for four voices, with the motetus (duplum) and triphnn above the tenor and a second supporting voice. called the c o11t ra te11 o r ("against the te nor"). in lhe sarne range as the tenor, sometimes below it and sometimes above. The Kyrie (NA\VM 26a). Sanctus. Agnus Dei. and lle. missa est are iso - lsorhythmic rhythmic. ln each of lhese movements. lhe tenor ca rries a cantus ürmus , movements the melody to a chant on tb e same Ordina1y text, d ivided into two or more 1:aleae. The conLratellOr is also isorhythmic, coordinated wilh the tenor. and 1Concise ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

Chri

SIC

Chri

Sl C

_,.. ,.......,__

Tenor

,-----,

. .

~ ~-

. 1

"l'- '1<

Chri

stc

•

stc

:-a-

Co1111':11eoor

Cbri 1

·-

·S

,----,

-\!

r---,

;,.. ,.

·---

...-

,-----,

.. - -

._... tJ

1i'

.----,

......

r---71

---·-·

~ --.

..---,

- - _... ,-----,

,-,

,-----,

.----,

,-----,

Ili

,,-.a:

~_...-

'! -6

-6

Ili

t0gelher rhey form lhe harmonic foundation. Example 6.2 shows Lhe openü1g of tl1e Christe, Lncluding the ftrst two statements of the seven-measure talea. marked by roman numerals. The upper lwo voices move more rapidly. with synco pation typical of Machaut. They are also panly isorhythmic: ,dw·ing the seco nd statement of the talea , lhe rhythms in the uppervoices closely parallel those in the nrst. and are vinually identical in ali but tl1e second and s ixth measures o f each talea . The rhythmic repe l:ilion in lhe upper vo ices

123

Guillaume de Machaut

EXAMPLE 6.3,

Machaut. La Messe de Nostre Dame. excerptfrom. Glori.a.

greater prominence of imperfect co:nsonances in the Ars Nova style, in contrast to earlier polyphony. Most of the verti cal sonorities include thirds or sixths. resolving to perfect consonances a1 the

.----, .----,

f.)

rí

Der1l11-ne

LJ'L

C ti A P T E li <, • N,w Oev,lopment> in the Fourteenth Century

= hg:iture in origina l notauon

1-----i I\

124

•

í1f. ..... ... • . la u-n,-ge-01

Oo-~1 nc '

li u-oi -gc-ni X

te. ..---,

u-ni gc~ni ~

•'

u-ni-ge-ni

te. r--7

1e.

' ' '

01i-11e

;

n -

Chri

ends of phrases. as in measure 46 of

~ue.

Example 6.3. The more frequent use of imperfect consonances in founee.nthcentury music can give it a sweete r sound to modern ea1·s than earlier polyphony fro m t:he Co ntinen t. YeLparallel oc1aves and Mths. likc 1hosc bet.wccn thc motc lus and contralenor in measures 42-46 of Exa mpl e 6.3. were still co mmon , dis ti ngu ishi ng fourtccnth - century music from the practice of the f1fteenth and s ixtcenth ccnturics.

..------,

Chri

SlC.

.,.. Sll

Chri

stc.

l•

Chri

s:1e.

•

.=---

Jc •1-!·

~-- - - .-.:.-;:;_ Do

,.-, 1

r-""xlr;:-;,

Ocr1ni-ne

H 8U

r--7

_________ r---,r----i -....-

Do-mi-ne n .----, .----,

te.

u--ni-~e - oi - te,

e: Je

$li

Lord. rlte on lJ' begouen Son. Jesu;; C/1ris1.

makes u1e recurring rnlea more evidem. So does Lhe ahernation of suscained notes ou the lirst and !ifth measures of each talea wit11 lively rhythms in the other measures. Such contrast of rhythmic rest and activily is characterislic of Machaut's blocklike conslruction. and il suggests an architectural parallel. li ke the alrernation of liligreed stained -glass windows and solid pillars along lhe wall of a Gothic calhedral. To gene rate rhythmic activity. Machaut often re lies on repealing f1gu ration; for example, the descending figure in the second measure of the t.riplum. echoed !ate r in both. motetus and triplum , recurs frequcntly throughoul thc mass, serving notas a unifying motive bul as a way t.o create movemenl.. Thc Gloria ( NAWM '.l6b) anel Credo, with thci r much longer texts, are sei in lhe style of discanl or conduct us: esse nliall.y syllabic and largely homo rhythmic, rapid ly declaiming the words in ali voices. as ill ustrated in Example 6.3. Th e words "Jesu Christe" (Jesus Christ) in the Gloria and "ex Maria Virgine" (of the Virgin Mary) in lhe Credo are set in relief with longsus tained choreis, a musical equivalent to thc tradit ion in medieval paintings of depicting Ma,y anel Jesus as much larger chan the ftgures around them, to emphasize their importance. The Gloria is baseei 011 a mo110phonic cbant Gloria that is paraphrased at times in different voices. most often the tenor anel colllra Leuor. As shown by 1he notes marked with x in Example 6.3. ilie chant melocly in this passage is paraphrased lirst in the contra tenor (the lowest voice). shifts to the tenor. and returns to the contrateuor. The Credo is apparemly uot based ou chant. Both movemeUls end wilh elabornte passages ou the word "Amen," marked by hocket and syncopation in the Gloria and isorhythm iu the Credo. The excerpls from Machaut's mass in Examples 6. 2 anel 6.3 illustrate lhe

DiscanL-style movements 1

Full !\\

Hannony

FIGURE 6. 8: Minia1ure from the earl.iest man U$Cript of Macltai,t 's collected worl.s (ca. 1350). sltowingjiçecouples dancín.gin a circle. Tlie dancerfarthesl to tlie righl i.ssinging lo accompan;rlhe dan.ce. T/1e singer rese111bles Maclwui as pictured i111he lawr man.1tscript in Fig,ire 6. 6. ata yottnger o,ge. The music u,nder tlte picture is a monophon ic virelai br Macha ui. whicli we mar assume is 1he s011g being peifon11ed i11 the picrure. (/,IIT RESounc•. NYI

Vi.relais 1 Con,ise ~

1 1 Full !\\ 1

MONOPHONIC SONGS

Machaut's monophonic French songs continued the trouvére traditiou. a11d most are on the subject of lave. Machaut's poetic arnbilion Jed him LO compose in forms that were prestigious yet largely outmoded by his time: the cha11t roial. the com.pLai111e. anel Lhe most lechnically difflcult of Prench poetic forros. lhe lai. a long twelfth -centuiy form akin to the sequence. A more popular genre was the virnlai. one of the tb ree fo rmes fixes (lixed forms) of fourteenth -centu1y Pre nch so11g, in which lexl and music have particula r pattcrns oi' rcpet ition that inc ludc a rcfrain, a phrasc or scc· tio n t hat rcpeats both worcls and mus ic (see Porms ala Glance). Twenty- live of Machaut's vi relais are monophon ic, and eight are polyphonic. One of the most at1ractive of bis monophonic vi relais is D011ce da.me jolie ( NAWM 27), wbicb illustrates Machaut·s blend of the trouvêre tra dition in poetry with up · to · clatc mus ical sty le. The poem continues the themes of{ine aniour, pleading for mercy from a lady who reigns over the poet like a lord over his vassals, anel like many lroubadour and trouvere poems it clemonstratcs the poet's virtuosity by using only two rhymes. repeared throughout ali rhe stanzas (see NAWM 8). Machaul emphasizes the poetic rhymes with musical ones, short motives whose frequent rep etitions and variations make the melody memorable. Together with the syncopaiions anel strong duple meler made possible by Ars Nova nola tion, the result is a playful , catchy melody that reflects Machaut's notion of the virelai as a chan.so,i ba.ladée. or "danced song." Figure 6.8 shows an illuminalion from a manuscript of his composilions. in which a s inger (perhaps Machaut himself) performs a monophonic vi relai while he and severa! companions dance in a circle.

Guillaume de Machaut

··-=

-·

ORMS ATA GLANCE : The

Formes FiKes

rondeau. and vire/ai. AII three formes fixes add a refrain to a stanza in AAB form. Each does so in a different way. resulting in a distincrive form. By convention. the repetition of both text and music in the refrains is shown in capital letters, and the repetition of rnusic with new words is shown in lowercase letters. The number of fines of poetry for each section of music may vary.

Ballade A ballade typically consists of three stanzas, each sung to the sarne music and each ending with the sarne line of poetry, which serves as a refrain. The form o f each stanza is aabC. with two couplets sung to the sarne music followed by contrasting music that culminates in the refrain. O ften the two a sections have different endings. the first open and the second closed. as in an estampie. The refrain may repeat the closing passage of the second a section to create a musical rhyme.

FIGURE 6.7a:

Stanza

Rcfrain

Ballade.

•

Stnnza

Rcfrain

Sranza

l\cftain

" • b

• • b

Rondeau A rondeau has only one stanza. framed by a refrain that includes both sections of music used for the stanza. ln addition , the Íirst half of the refrain returns midway through the piece between the a sections, creating a very distinctive form: Refra in

Ro11deau. A

Sta nza begins

•

Half

St.1 nza

refrain

continues

•

Refrain

ln practice the refrain isso closely integrated with the other fines ofpoetry that the entire poem functions as a single stanza with repeating lines whose impacr deepens with each repetirion. Typically. the A section cadences without finality, akin to an open ending. T he B section may echo the final passage of the A section, but doses conclusively on the tonal center.

Vire/ai T he typical virelai has three stanzas, each preceded and followed by a refrain. As in the cantiga we saw in chapter 4 (see pp. 77 and 80). the refrain uses the sarne musicas the last sec tion oi the stanza melody: because the refrain appears first. it is given the letter A. so that the stanza is shown as bba rather than aab. The b sections often have open and closed endings, like the a sections of a ballade. Refra in

Sta nta

Refra in

Sh\ ll1 Zil

b b a

b b

Refrain

Sta nza

b b

Refra in

FIGURE 6.7c:

Virei ai.

126

C H A P T E K <, • New Oevelopment1 in the Founeenth Century

POLYPHONIC SONGS

Most French songs of the fourteenth century are in one of the three formes fixes (fixed forms): ballade.

FIGURE 6.7b:

125

A major innovatio n of the Ars Nova p eriod was the devel oprn ent of polyphonic so ngs. or cha,11s011s ( French for TI M ELI NE ··songs"), in treble-domiuat ed style. ln this s1yle che 14th-Century upper voice carrying the text. called the cc111t11s (La1i11 Fran ce and l taly for song). or treble. is lh e principal line. supp orted by a slowe r -mo ving teno r withoul lext. To this essential twoMUSICAL H ISTORICAL vo ice fram ework may be added one or 1wo other unlexted vo ices: a con lra te oor in l.he sarne range as lhe teno.r or, • ca . 1300 Mechanical clocks less 01'1.en , a fast - mov ing trip lum in 1he 1reble range. T hat and magnetic compass Machaut wrotc the ca ntos bel'o re lhe teno ,·, rcvc,·s ing lhe introduced no rmal order of co mpos iLio n in ea rlie r polyphony, is i ndi • 1305 G iotto. frescos at Arena cated by the appea rance of one of his virelais , Mors sui seje chape i in Padua. ltaly ne 1101is voy, as a mon op honic so ng in an ea rly manuscri pt • 1307 Dante Alighieri. Divine and joined with a tenor in !ate r ones. ll is conf, rme cl by Comedy Ma chaut.'s state mcnt in a lettcr to his bclovcd Pero nn e (scc • 1309 Pope Clement V moves b iography, p. 120) that he had composed a song to whieh he wouJd soon add a tenor anel contra tenor. papal seat to Avignon. France As is true of Machaut's monophoni c songs, his polyphonic • 1315-22 Famine in northchansons set his own poems. Most are in the form of a balwestern Europe lc,de or ro11deC111 (pi. rondeaux), the other two fomies fixes • ca. 1317 Roman de Fauvel, along with the virelai (see Fonns ata Glance). The three manuscript with music genres tended co diJfer somewhat in subjecLmatter as well as • ca. 1320 Philippe de Virry, in form: bali ades were the most serious, appropriate for ph ilCum statua/Hugo osophical or historical themes or for celebrating an evenl or pe rson. as well as the mosl serious love songs: rondeaux ,cen• ca. 1320 Ars nova treatise on tered on 1hemes of love; and vire lais often related descrip new rhythmic techniques lions of nature to feeliugs of !ove. • 1321 Jehan des Murs, Notitia Al i Lhe formes fixes we re derived from genres associaLed artis musicae wilh danc ing, as evide nt by 1he ir use of re frains (see chapte r • ca. 1323 Guillaume de 4). As wc have seen, Machaut's monophonic vi relais could Machaut enters service of s till be <lanceei to and oftcn have a dancelike character. But J ohn of luxembourg Mac hau t's polyp hon ic chanso ns , li kc Bach's gigues anel Cho pin's wallzes, we re highly styl izecl anel not used for clancing. • ca. 1330 Jacques de liege, Often the repet itions of the refrain tines were invested wit.h Speculum musicae fresh meanings or contexts by the preced ing words. Machaut wrote ballades with two, three, and four parts , but his typical settings werc for high malc voice with lowcr voices ou the untexted tenor and contrateuor. (For au example of the form, see r.he baUade by Philippus de Casena cliscussed below.) Most rondeaux are for two or three voices. Machaut's Rose. liz. printemps, verd1tre (NAWM 28) is excepliooal in hav 1 Conclse ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1 ing four voices; its triplum. lackiug in oue early 111a1mscript, was prob ably added !ater. But it is typical of Ma chaut's style in tb e varied rhythms. supple syocopations. and mos1ly s te pwise ílow o f ils melo dy. ali designed to make it appea ling to the liste ner. Also cha racteristic are long melismas near the beginnings and sometimes in lhe middle of poelic li nes. Since

The Ars Subtilior

127

these melismas often fali on unimportant words or unaccentecl syllables, their function is formal anel decorative rather than serving to emph asize the text. REPUTAT ION

Hundred Years' War between France and

England • ca. 1340 Jehan des Murs' treatise describes mensuration signs • 1340 Machaut becomes

canon of Reims Cathedral • 1347-50 The Black Death kills

one-third of Europe • 1348-53 Giovanni Boccaccio,

Decameron • ca. 1350 First manuscript of

Machaut's works

The Ars Subtilior

• ca. 1350s Jacopo da Bologna,

Non ai suo amante • ca. 1360s Machaut. Messe de

Composers in th e later fourteenth eeutu ry continued and NostreDame ex tended tbe geares and tradi1io11s of the fü'S Nova. ln a par• 1365-97 Francesco Landini at adox typical of the century, the papal court at Avignon was San Lorenzo in Florence one of the main palrons of secular music. There and at other eourts aeross so uthern France and northern ltaly. a bril• 1378-1417 Great Schism of liant ch ivalric saciei)• allowed composers to íl ouris h. Their the papacy music consisted chie0y of polyphonic songs in lhe for,nes • ca. 1370s Philippus de fixes . es pecially ba Uades. These chansons were in lended fo r Caserta, En remiram vo douce a sop hi stica ted aud ience-a ris tocrats, cle rics, courtie rs, anrl portraiture connoissc urs who cstcemcd this music bccausc il dcvclopcd • ca. 1387-1400 Geoffrey every poss ibil ity or melody, rhylhm, counte rpoint. and espeChaucer, Canterbury Tales c ially notat io n. wh ich mad c evc rything cise possib le. Thc eompose rs· fascina tion with tech nique anel thei r willingness • ca. 1410-15 Squarcialupi to take a give n p roced ure to new extre mes lecl music histoCodex rian UrsuJa Günth er to term this repertory Ars Subtilior (the more suhtle manner). She derived the phrase from a treatise on no tat ion attributecl to Phi li ppus de Caserta (fl. 1370s). a tbeorist and eomposer at the Avignon eourt , whieh observes that eo mposers of the day had devised a "more subtle manner" (artem magi,s s1tbtilirer) than the aging Al·s Nova. The refmed and elevated style of these songs is matched by their sumpLuous appearanee in some of the manuseripts. including fanciful decorations, intermingled red and black notes, u1genious notation, and occasional eaprices that include a love song written in the shape of a heart or a eanon in shape of a circle. Caserta and ot.hers in troduced new notationa l signs and practices. includ- Rh.ythmic ing the ve rtical combination of differen t mensurations. As a resull. some complexity

C ti A P T E li <, • N, w Oev,lopment> in the Fourteenth Century

Philippus de Caser1a:s En rern irant vo douce pou1·ttaiture in o. manuscriptfrom ca. 14/ Q. Tlie lexted can11ts (siaves 1-4) ,sJollowed by the tex1less tenor (slarting middle of the four1h s1aj]) ar1 d co111ra1enor (staves 7- 10). Therednota.FIGURE 6 .9 :

• 1337- 1453

Machaut was widely esteemed in bis own time and for seve ra! decades al°Le r his death . exercis ing an iníluence on poe ts (including Chaucer) and co mp osers alike. Hi s works loom large because lhey s urvive , which Machaut ensured 1hey would by having 1hem copied into numerous manu sc ripts. Too much music by Vitry and other co n1 cmpora1·ies has been losl. so we ca nn ol eva lua te Machau t's true place. Hi s mod em re pu tatio n as the most imp ortant compose r of his time may rest at Jeast in part on his desire that his body of work be prescrved as a whole rat her than left to the vi cissitudes of fortune.

128

lion indicates chonges j'rom

tripie to duple subdivi.sion. such as from a doued quaner to o quarter. Changes of me1er and proportfon ore it1dicoted l1r mensurratio,i signs- smllll circles or partia! circles with orwilhout dois be1wee,1 the s1a!f lin.es. Bot-h red noiarion and rnensu ,·ation sig11s were used in earlierArs Nova noralion. bu,1liere lhe clwnges occur much more f requen.lly. A new feal1,re is the pruft1· sion of small notes with srems down (third stave) or both up and do um (end ofsecond stave). a!lowingfour notes i n the spa,ce afthree. <•••uonc. f..srf. S !lt UN IVtkSITAklA, A.J.I .S.14 , l'OL. !f.S\I')

• l

:,'. ,11,1,,. ., 1111 ., 1,11 t

" l'l•"'•

••,

&""'"'"'""' ..,..

1 ,,ti

,.,1., 11

l/'11\ 1 / 111,\1 \1 • ,,,,,, \1,,1~

: ,,,

,, ,, 11

~ili\ 1

11 ,, 1•

1\ 1 1" ,.,,

,,•• ' .... 4

1111•/ y,1

!.1" ''"" ,.,.. 1

..,,,,,· ,•,11i\ll_,,, 1' • •,, 1 ~I I' , • •'

v' 1,

\.'-ttn"I.,_...,,.....,,._

so ngs from this period featu re remarkable rhyt hmi c co mp lexities, reac h ing a leve! n ot sccn again until thc twenti eth ce ntury. Voices move in contrasting meters a nd co nílict ing group ings; beats are subdiv idecl ia many di lTe rent ways: phrascs are broke n by rcsts or bclcl in s uspe nse through chains of syn copations; and ha,·monies a re purpose ly blurred through rhythmic disjunc tion. Wbatever the notation allowed, someone would try. Case rta's ba llacle En remirant vo d,ouce pourtraiture ( I\AWM 29) cxe mpli li.es theAJ·s Subtilior. The original notation appears in Figure 6.9, anda tran scríptíon of the opening in Example 6.4. The prevailing meter is : -peTfect i-ime and major prolation. with threefold divisions of both lh e breve (the measure) and the semibreve ( the beat)- and is marked off by steady doued quarters (semibreves) in the teno r. But in the ca ntus, two eighth rests a r the beginning of lhe second measure shift the following phrase off lhe beat. and imerpolated s ingle notes kee p it so. prod ucing a se ri es of syncopaLio ns transcribed he re as ti es ac ross the beat. Red no tes, marked by broke n brackets in the transc rip tion. indieate duple divisions instead of tripie and

The Ars Subtilior

EXAMPLE 6.4,

129

130

C H A P T E K <, • New Oevelopmen11 in the Fourteen1h Century

Philipp1is de Caserta.. beginningof En remiram vo clouce pourtraiture

7 = ,·ed noia1ion

J, )i (J ) r

Camus

MUSIC-MAKING IN THE OECAMERON

:) 2

'--'

COr'll ràt~nor

..----------, Tenor

t·

I} J

J. 0)

}

o IJ)

...,,

,..., ~

mi - .-a.m

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was one of the great fourteenth-cemury wrlters whose use of the local d ialect of Tuscany, around Florence. made that dialect mto the national literary language of ltaly. H1s master· piece is the Decarneron (1348-53), a collection oí one hundred wltty and sometlmes ribald stories. told over a ten·day period by ten Íriends who have íled to the country to avo,d the Black Death ravaging Florence. The even,ng before the first day oi storytelllng. they enjoy dinner. dancing. and music.

-* -

(:;

,---

The t.ables having been cleared away. the queen commanded that instruments be brought in, for all the !adies knew how to dance the carole

lfltile / gazed ai your [sweet porlrait]

are used to creat.e hemio la effects in 1he contrateno1· (measures 1- 2) anel cantus (measure 6). A change of mensuralion s igo (lhe backwards C) indi ca t.es lhe equiva lenl of ~ meter in l he contrateno r in measures 3- 5 and 6. By supe rimposi ng different meters, hemio las, and extensive syncopa lion. Cascrta c rcates a tcxturc ia which notes ia diffcrcnt voices mosl oftcn do not coi n cid e, hc ighteni ng lhe se nse of independence between the paris. As the music continu es, me nsuratio n signs cha nge frequcntly and ncw rhythm ic arrangements are conl inually introduced , so 1hat e ach ph rase has adis tin ctivc profile, which hclps to articulatc the form of thc p iccc. Despite the ela borate composici o nal t.echniques and thc virtuosic demands thi s song makes on its performers, the aura! effect is quite attractive, wilh interesting melodies and many sweet con sonan ccs. Ais Subtilior music was intended for professional performers and cultivated listeners. lts formidable rhythmic and notational complexities were in fashion for only about a generation. At the sarne time, guilds of musicians from northern France created a simpler rype of secular polyphony. Their poems anel music had a popular character: instead of JPOlished courtly sentiments. the texts offered realistic scenes of the hunt and the marketplace. and the music imilaced the straigh tforwa1·d rhythms of folk song. Although few examp les are preserved, this s impler art may ult.imate ly have proveu more influential on la Ler musicians.

[round dance]. and the young men too. and some of them could play and sing very well. Upon her request, Dioneo took a lute and Fiammetta a viol, and they began sweetly to play a dance. Then the queen, having sent the servants out to eat, formed a circle with the other ladies and the two young men and struck up a round dance with a slow pace. When this was finished, they began to sing charming and merry songs. They continued in this way for a long time, until the queen thought it was time to go to sleep.

From G,ovanní Boccaccío, Decameron. Day One. lnt,od uction,

ltalian Trecento Music Unli ke France, wh ieh had a mona,·chy. Ttaly in lh e late Middle Ages was a col lection of citystates. each with its own political. cu! Lural. and linguistic tra clitions. lta lians refor to lhe fourteentJ1 century as the Trecm,to ( from "mi Ue trecento," 11.alian for 1300). and ltalian music of lhe period has a dislinctive

charactcr.

Sacia l roles for halion m.1isic

A limited and

brieffashion

ltalian secular polyphony

F'rom wrilings of the time, we learn how music accompanied nearly every aspcct of lta lian social lifc. ln Boccaccio's Deco,meron, for cxamp lc, a group of friends who have retreated lo lhe count ry from plague- ridden Florence pass thc tim e by tclling storics, dancing, s inging, anel playing instruments (sce Source Read ing). But they never referto n otatcd music, anel ind ced most ltal ian music from the times was never written down. Secular music for many leveis of socicty was purcly aura 1. The only music of thc pcoplc to havc come down to us in manuscripts is the lauda repertory (see chapter 4). Church polyphony was mostly improvised. either by a soloist singing in discam style over the written notes of a chant. or by an organist adding a line of counterpoint above the chant while alternating parases of 1he Mass Ordinary with a choir singing plainchant. \Vhat ltalian church polyphony survives in notatio11 , mostJy from late in the century. includes primarily settings oi' Mass Ordinary chan ts for two to fom voices or for keyboard. along with some other licurgical settings anel motets. The largest surviving body of ltalian music from lhe time is the repertory of secular polyphonic songs. composed and sungas a refmed entertain-

ltallan Trecento Music

131

132

C H A P T E K <, • New Oevelopments in the Fourteenth Century

FIGURE 6.11,

ment for literate audiences in courts and cities. These songs grew out of the flowering of ltalian poetry itself in the fouxteenth century; until Dante wro te his epic poem The Di11ine Comedy (1307) in his native Tuscan dialect and establisbed it as the Italian literary language. ltalian comts had prefened poetry in Occitan. che language oi' the 1roubadours. The principal centers of

Fo11r1ee11th-ce11tury ltalian songfom,s.

a. Madrigal

Sianza

Sia nza

Sections of music:

•

lines of poetry:

Treceuto polyphony were Bologna. Pactua. Modena. Milan. Perugia. Naples. and above all Florence. an importam cultural cen te r from the fourteenth Lhrougb tbe six1eenlh centuries. and home 10 bolh Dante and Boccaccio. The llalian notalional system diffcred from that of thc French Ars Nova. The rnost signilicaot diffe rences are that the breve can be broke n into lwo. th ree. four. six, e igh l. n ine, o r twelve equal semibreves o r various pallerns oi' 1.rneq ua l oncs, and that g,·oup ings o Fsemibreves are ma,·kcd off by dots, akin lo lhe modern barline. This kind of nolalion, parlicularly convenien t fo r fl orid me lodie tines , served lta li an music well unl il lhe !ater part of the centu ry. By then it was supp lcmented and eventually replaced by the Frcnch system, wbich had proved itself better adapled to lhe musical slyle of the time. Very few exa mpl cs of lta lian secula r polyp hony from beforc 1330 have survived, but after Lhat date there are several manuscripts. The most copious source, unfortunately late and not altogether reliable, is the richly decorated Squarcia lupi Codex. namcd for its former owner. the Floreminc organist An tonio Squarcialupi (1416- 1480). This collection, probably copied ahout 1410- 15, contains 354 pieces. mostly for two or tbree voices. by twelve com pos ers of Lhe Trecenw and early Quaw·ocemo (1400s). A miniature portrait of each composer appears at the beginningof the section con tainiog his works. as shown in Figure 6.1 O. Three types of secular ltalian pieces appea r in this anel olher manuscripts: ,nadrigal. caccia. a.nd ballata.

ltalian notation

Squarcialupi Codex

2 3

l\iprcsa

b. Ballata Sections of music:

Unes of poetry:

Sta11ia Picdi b

2 3

Kitornello

l\iprcsa Voha b

7 8

• 7 8 9

1 2 3

T HE FOU RTEENT H· CENT URY MADRIGA L The fourteemh -century 11w dl'ig al (not to be confused with the betterknown sixteenth-century madrigal) is a song for two or three voices withou t instrumental accompanimem. All lhe voices sing the sarne cext. usually an idyllic, pastoral, satirical, or )ove poem. Madrigals consist of t:wo or more three -l ine s tanzas. each set to the same music. followed by a closing pair of lines. called the ritom ello . sel to different music with a differen t meter. The form is charted in Figure 6. 1 l above. Jacopo da Bologna's madrigal Non alsuoamante (NAWM 30), settinga poem bythegreat ltalian lyric poet Francesco Petrarca ( 1304- 1371-). exhibits lhe characteristic rhythm ic variety anel 11uidity of che earlier Trecento style. One difference írom the French Ass Nova is that here the two vo ices are relatively cqual, occasionally e ngaging in hocketlike alternat ion. As is ty pical of 1he ltalian style. the f1rsl and last accented syllabl es of each line of poet ry are set with long me lismas, so mewhat more fl orid in thc uppc rvo icc, whilc thc syllab lcs in bctwcc n thc m are scl mostly syllabically in rcla tively rapid dcclamation to makc tl1c texl clear. The long melis ma s are clea rly decora tive, likc thc íanciful illuminations: tha l d ecorate th e margins of manuscripts as in Figure 6. 1O.

THE CACCIA FIGURE 6.10· A pagefrom th e richlyillustra ted

Squarcialu.pi Codex. cm early-f,fteenlh·century manttscript namedJor it.sfij) eenth -cen11117 own.er AnlMtO Squareialup,, showuig Francesco Landinipla)'Íng a portative organ. The portrait isset. insid.e the inilial letter MoJLandini's madrigal Musica son (Iam mu.sic). Thedecoratil•e border Jeatures piclUres ofother instrnments. including (cou111er-clock·wise Jrom upper lefi) lute. vielle. ciuem. orcitole. harp. psallelJ'· 1hree recorders. porta.tive organ. a.nd three sl1 awni.s. ( l;\1n1..10Tec>M E»1ceA-L.AuRENZ1A1','A , PLOR.ENCC. MS. l'A.LA'l"INÔ 87.

l'OL. l?IV)

The c a ccia (pi. cacce) parallels the French chace. in wh ich a popular-style melody is set in strict ca non to lively descriptive word s. The ltal ian caccfa. i11 fashion chielly from 1345 10 1370, fearures 1wo voices in canon at che unison; imli ke its French and Spanish counterparts. it usually bas a free untexted tenor in slower moti.on below. Cacce are irregular in poetic form. although. like mad.rigals. many have rilornellos, which are noL always cano nic. Caccia, anel chace mean "hunt." referriug to 1he pursuit of one voice after the other. ln some cases it a lso applies to the subjecl matter of the text. For example. Ghe rardello da Firenze's cace ia Tosto che folba descrihes a h um , anel the m usical imitations o i' calling the dogs anel sounding th e hunting horn are both high-sp irited and comic. especially when treated in canon. Besides hunting.

ltallanTrecento Music

cacce may describe other animated scenes. such as a bustling marketplace. a fire, ora battle. The music adds vivicl cletails such as bird songs, shouts, or dialogue. often with hocket or echo effects between the voices. ln Francesco Landini's caccia Cosl pensoso (NAW~I 31 ). the narrator hears voices shouting back and forth; as he draws closer, it becomes clear that he is overhearing a group of young women and men ou the bank of a pond trying to catch crabs and f1sh with Lhe ir hands. The canonic echoing be tween voices in the music evokes the exciled dialogue between the parlic:ipams.

Full ~

133

FRANCESCO LAND IN I (CA. 1325-1397) 1

Landini was bom in northern ltaly, probably in Flor· ence or nearby Fiesole. The son of a painter. he was blinded by smallpox during childhood and turned to music:, becoming an esteemed performer, composer, and poet. A master of many instruments. he was espec:ially known for his skill at the organetto. a small portative organ. According to a fourteenth-century Florentine chronicler, Filippo Villani, Landini played the organetto ·as readily as though he had the use of his eyes, with a touch of such rapidity (yet always obser ving the measure), with such skill and sweetness, that beyond ali doubt he excelled ali organists within memory." Landini was organist at the monastery of Santa Trinità in 1361-65, then became a chaplain at the church of San Lorenzo, where he remained until his death. He apparently wrote no sacred music. and is best known for his ballate. Landini is a principal char· acter in Giovanni da Prato's Paradiso degli Alberti. a narrative poem from around 1425 that records scenes and conversations in Florence from the year 1389. Prato lncludes a legendary incident that testifies to Landini's skill as a performer:

THE BALLATA The polyphonic b"lfota became popular later than the ma d rigaJ and caccia and showed so rne iníluence írorn Lhe Lre ble-do rni nalecl French chanson style. The word "ballata" (fro m ba!Lare, "to dance'') originally mcan t a song to accompany dancing. Thirteenth-century ballate (of wlhicb no mus ical examples are known today) were monophonic dance songs with chorai refrains, anel in Boccaccio's Decameron the ballata was still associared with dancing. AJthough a few early fourteenth -cenrury monophonic examples have survived. most ballate in the manuscripts are for two or three voices and date from after 1365. As shown in Figure 6.11, polyphonic ballate have the form AhbaA, like a single stanza of a French virelai. Aripresa. or refrain. is sung before and after a stania consisting of two piedi (feet). couplets sung to th e same musical phrase. and the volta, lhe closing lines of tex L, sung LO the sarne musicas lhe ripresa.

FRANCESCO LAND INI The lcadi ng composer of balia te and the foremost 1Lalian musician of the Trecento was Francesco Landini (ca. 1325- 1397: see biography and Fi&,ure 6.12, p. 134). Of his 14-0 ballate. 89 are for two voices. 42 fo r lhree, and nine su rvivc in both two- and three -pa rt vcrsions. Those for two voices, cvidcntly sorncwhat carli crworks, resemhlc madJ·igaJi; in tcxluJ·c. wil.h lwo texLed parts. Many of the th ree- parl ba li a te are in a treb le-dominated stylc, featuring solo voice with two untcxted accompanying parts that wcre most li kely sung, as in Machaut's chansons. Example 6.5 shows the opening of a ba1lata in this !ater style, Land in i'sNonavnima'pieià (NAWM 32). One of the charms of Lanclini's music is the sweet:ness of thc narmon ies. Sonorities containing thirds ancl sixths are plentifuJ, though they never begin or cnd a section or piece. Equa lly charming are his graceful vocal melod ies. arrangecl in arching phrases and moving most often by step, clecorated with varied and often syncopated rhythms but ulcimately smoother in both pitch contom and rhythm than most melodies by Machaut. Melismas on the first and penulcimate syllables of a poeric line are characteristic of the ltalian style. as is the clear, aJmost syllahic declamation between melismas. The encl of every line. and ofteu the ftrst word and the midpoint. or caesura. of a line. is marked by a caclence. Most are of the rype known as a Lw1di11i cmle11ce. in which, as the tenor descends by step, the uppcr voice decorates its ascent by fnst clescending to lhe lower neighhor and the:n skipping up a third

C ti A PT E li <, • N,w Oev,lopments in the Fourteenth Century

134

1 Concôso ~ 1 1 Full :s\ 1

Now the sun rose higher and the heat of the day increased. The whole company remained in the pleas· ant shade. as a thousand birds sang among the verdant branches. Someone asked Francesco [Landini) to play the organ a litde. to see whether the sound would make the birds increase or diminish their song. He did so at once, and a great wonder followed. When the sound began many of the birds fell silent and gathered around as if in amazement, listening for a long time. Then rhey resumed their song and redoubled it. showing ,ncon· ceivable del,ght. and especially one nightingale, who carne and perched above the organ on a branch over Francesco's head. MAJOR WORKS: 140 ballate.12 madrigals. l

caccia. 1virela,

From Filippo Villani, Le Vice d 'uommi llfustr, {iorentini, ed. G. Mazwchelli (Florence, 1847). 46: Giovanni da Pra10. li Paradiso degh Alberti, ed. A. Wesselofsky (Bologna. 1867), 111-13.

FIGURE 6.12: The tombstone of Francesco

La11dini. The l1li11d composer· plays a por· t(Uive orgo,n. occompMied byr.wo ongel

nuisicians. The l.otin iri;;criptionoround lhe perimet.er reods ''Francesco. w/10 was depnved ofsight but whose mind was skill · fi1/ ot [composingl songs orid (playing] me/.odies 011 lheorgan. whom o.tone Mime brough1 lo birthforaU theworld. ha.s left his osheshere on eortli. bul his so«l be)1md the stors. 2 September 1397." (SCAJNAllT aesoo,ce)

Fourteenth·Century Music in Performance

EXAMPLE 6 .5:

136

C ti A P T E li <, • N,w Dev,lopmen<> in the Fourteen1h Century

FrancescoLandini, beginningofNon avrâ ma· pietil •• J

,---,

1.. 5. Non _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

4. For Cont r;ucnor

a - \Tà _ _

ma pie

se ,,., _ _ kj ••

•

of seven cent1.1ries ago is uo easy matter.

# •• que - sta mie don

rc .. bo-.n~n me spcn

more basic information such as wbeiher a pan is vocal or instrumental. which instruments might be used, and when notes should be inl1ected by accidentals. Reconstructing tl1e performing practice

.'j

Tcuor

tà

135

""te

----,

Shewill neverlHwe pity. this llldrofmine . .. / Perhaps b:rher w.U be e.~tinguished lthe flomes] .

(see Example 6.5. measures 3- 4. 5- 6. and 10- 11). lt is named after Landini because he was rhe f1rs t ro use ir consisrently. although it occurs occasionally in eadier Tt.alian music. lt became ub iquitous in bo1h French and halian music of the late fourteenth and early f1fteenih cenluríes.

because we have no living ttadilion. and ev idence can be hard to frnd and .even harder to intc rpre l. For example, Figure 6.1 3 shows a singer reading írom a manuscript and accompan ied by an o rga ni st, bu1 we do oot know what they are pe rform ing; is it a monophonic so ng for which thc organist improvises an accompa FI GURE 6 .13: Tapest.ryfrom the Low Countri,is (ca. 1420), showing a mon in courtlr dress singingfrom o m 011 u-script. fie is occompa· nimenl, or is she playing one o t· two nied bya·tuomon playinga positive organ. tlie type 1ha1 is portable pa rts from a polyphonic setting? As but must be placed o,i a table to be plllyed. rather than resting on a described in a sidebar (sce ln Perforlap like lhe porta tive orgon pl.oyed by lcmdini i11 Figure 6.10. A bor mance: Voices or lnstruments?), there stands behi11d the organ. pumpingthe bellows to force air rhror,gll has bccn a livcly debate among scholars and performers about whether all parts 1M pipes ond produce 1h esotLnds. <Mv:,ir. 1n ~s ·r,.111ss 1 n11:s. ANGJ'.11s. l'ICOTO: GIJl,AIJl)()NIAllT "t.soum;K, NY) in fourteenth -ce ntury polyphony were sung or some were played on instru ments. Given cLuTent knowledge, il seems likely thal church polyphony was ouly sung, usuaUy witb one voice per part, and that secular polyphony was typically sung by so loists but cou ld also be played by instrumentalists. We may never know for sure. and il may be rhat pe rformances varied according to circumstances, depending on tas tes and preferences and 011 the s ingers or players at hand.

FRENCH INFLUENCE Towa rd the end of the Fourteent.h century, lhe musicof ltalian co mpose rs began to lose its speciftc national characteristi.cs and to absorb tbe contemporary French style. !tal ians wrote songs to French texts and in French gemes, and theirworks record eei in late - fourteenth -century manuscripts oftcn appear in French notation. Th e blending of nationaJ traditions became prominent in the fafteenth century, when northern musicians took up positions in ltaly, and traits of Frcnch, ltalian. Flemish. Netherlandish, anel English music were integrated into an internarional musical style (see chapter 8),

INSTRUMENTS

Hau tand bas

Fourteenth-Century Music in Performance Fourteentl1-ce ntUJy music manuscripts left a great <leal unspecif1ed that we expect scores l.oday to tel1 us. from how loud or sofl the music should be lo

Keyboard instrwnents

Mus ic iaos in 1.he fourteenth through sixlee nlh centu ries distinguis hed betwecn instrume nt s baseei on their relative loudness, using ha11t (French for .. high") and b(I.S ("low .. ) for volume rather than pitch. The most common low instrumcnts wcrc harps, vi elles, lutes. psa lteries, portativc organs. transverse llures, and recorders. Among the ltigh instruments were shawms, cornctts (hollowed-out wood, often slightly curved, with frnger holes and a brass- type mouthpiecc), and tnnnpets. Percussion instruments, includ ing keuledrums , small bells, and cymhals, were common in ensembles o f ali kinds . To judge from representations in the art of the time, instruments of contrastingtimbres were often grouped together. Out-of-doors music, dancing. and especially festive or solemn cetemonies called for relati vely larger e nsembles and louder instruments. Keyboard instruments became more practical and widely used in the fourreenth and fúteenth cen turies. ln addition to the po rta tive organ. shown in Figure 6. l O, positive organs Iike that in Figure 6. 13 were emp loyed in sec· ular music. and large, unmovable organs were installed in many churches. Pedal keyboards were added lo church o rgans i n Ge rmany in t he late l 300s.

Fourteenth·Century Music in Performance

137

138

C H A P T E K <, • New Oevelopments in the Founeen1h Century

A mecbanism of stop s ena.bling t he player to select different ranks of pipes and che addition of a second keyboard were boch achievements of the early nfteeuth century. Although t be earliest keyboard instruments of the harp s ichorcl and clavicbo r cl type were inven ted in the fourteenth century. they were not commonly used until tbe f11'1eenth.

VO ICES OR INSTRUMENTS? How were fourteenth-century polyphonic pieces performed? One voice on each part, or many' lnstruments on some parts? lí so, which instruments? T he manuscripts that contain this music do not speciíy performing medium. What evidence can we use to answer these questions? ln his book The Modem lnvention o{ Medieval Music, Daniel Leech-Wilkinson traces changes in scholarly opinion and in the practice oí modem performers. Nineteenth -century scholars gen erally assumed medieval polyphonic music was performed by voices on every pari. But in the early 1900s, Hugo Riemann and other iníluential musicologists asserted that untexted tenors and contratenors were instrumental. by analogy to the instrumental accompaniments for nineteenth century songs, and some argued that the elaborace melismas in Ars Nova and Trecento songs were too complex to have been sung and thus must have been played by instruments. From such assertions, built on little primary evidence, grew a decades-long tradition oí performing medieval music with instruments on the untexted parts, oíten doubling the voice on texted parts as well. Performers based their choice oí instruments on medieval pictures of angels making music, which olten show plucked and bowed string instruments alongside wind and brass instruments and singers. A heterogeneous sound, with a different timbre on every line. carne to be considered typical for medieval music. But in che 1970s and 1980s, a new generation of scholars, led by Christopher Page and David Fallows, presented lresh evidence to show that fourteenth-century polyphony was performed by voices without instruments. Evidence induded pay records showing that singers, but not instrumentalists, were paid to perform in church and that the typical cohort for singing church polyphony was one voice per part in the fourteenth century and two to six voices per pare in the fifteenth; separate

training systems for singers and instrumentalists, so that the latter were unlikely to read music; ardina nces that excluded instrumentalists from playing in church; literary accounts of three-voice chansons performed by three singers without instruments: no accounts of voices and instruments performing composed polyphony together: and the presence of texts for the tenor and contratenor parts in more pieces and manuscripts than had been realized. Page's singing group Gothic Voices made numerous recordings that demonstrated the viability and pleasing homogeneous sound oi one vo ice per part, without instruments (including the performances of Machaut's Rose, fiz and Landini's Cosi pensoso on the accompanying recordings), and other performers lollowed suit. The combination of solid evidence and winning recordings led to a new consensus chat fourteenth-century polyphony was normally sung with one voice on a part. although performance by instrurnents was also possible. But this was not the last word. A 2011 article by Peter Urquhart and Heather de Savage argued that the contratenors in some íiíteenthce ntury chansons were conceived for a plucked string instrument, using three kinds oi evidence: these parts are melodically angular. with more large leaps than other parts. making them harder to sing; sustained notes in these contratenors create dissonances and other problems in counterpoint that disappear ií the part is played on a plucked instrument (whose sounds decay rap idly) rather than being sung by a voice; and some contratenors are notated with more than one note sounding at once. impossible for a voice but suitable for a harp or lute. lf their view is confirmed for chansons in the íifteenth century, could it also be true for fourteenth-century chansons' Stray dissonances in the contratenor of Philippus de Caserta's ballade En remirant suggest it might (see the commentary on NAWM 29). Stay tuned.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC Liule purely i nstrumental mus ic survives from the fou rteenth cen tu ,y. Vocal pieces were some t imes playecl inst ru rnentally tb.r oughoul. with added emhellis h men ts in t he me lodie line. Inst rume ntal a rrangemen1s we re la r·gely impr ovised . bu 1 some for kcyboa rd wcr e w riltcn down. T he Robcr tsbridge Codex from about 1325 includes organ arrangernel1ts of th ree motets. and lhe Paenza Codex from t·he ftrst q uar ter of i he f1ftee nth centu ry conta i ns keyboa rd versio ns of balladcs by Machaut and madrigals and bal late by Landini and others. as well as keyboard pieces based on chanls for Mass. We can assume that thcr c was a lso a large rcpertory of instru m enta l dance melodies. but as thcsc picccs wcre gener aJly cithcr improviscd or playcd from mcmo1y, few wr itten examples have been preserved. There are aboul lifteen surv ivi ng instrumental dances from fourteenth - centu1y lta ly, most in t he lta lian form of tbe estampie, tbe i.stampi,ta. Otber monopbonic pieces from ltaly inclucle a Lamento and four tenors for group improvisation. Together the in stmmental works t hat survive from t he fourteen t h cen tmy suggest a vibram performing tradition tha t has left few trnces. Eehoes of this vibra.ncy can be heard in the va r ied approaches of modern perfor mers lo playing t hese dances. especially the istam.pita. Tracking the rea liiations of 1his music through generations of concer t - bali and folk artists o ver the last hu ndr ecl year s wou ld provi de a fascinating acoustical survey of t.he m od ern reinvention of medieval music.

MUSICA FICTA

Cadences

Ju sl as the cho ice of instrume nls was no rmally left to 1.he perfor me rs, so was the use of certa in ch romatic alte rations known as 11111.sico ficw . Musicians from the fourteeuth th roughsixleenlh centuries often raised or lowered notes by a sem i tone to avoid th e t r iton e P- 8 in a mc lody. to makea smoothe rmel odic line, to avoid sounding an augmented founh or diminished lif'tb above tbe lowest note , or to provide "a swceter- soundi ng h armony'' at cadences, as the theorist Prosdoci m o ele' Beldomandi observed (see Source Reading). T his practice was called musica ficia ("feigned music"), because mostaltered notes lay outside th e standard gamut. The system of hard, soft, and natural hexachoreis (see chapter 2) perm itteel sem itones. pronounced mi-f a in solmization syllables. between 8 and C. E and F. anel A and 81,. This was Lhe realm of musica reera (correct music) , the gamut of notes suug in liturgical cbant and mapped on the Guielonian band (see p. 44). A note outside this realm was considered ''o utside the hand.'" "false," o r "feigned" (fic1a), hecause it involved puuing t.he syllables mi an d fa 0 11 n ot es wher e t hey wou ld not normally go. Musica f1cta was often useel al cadences. Theorists. composers . and singers agreed 1.hat a sixt h expanding to an oclave s houl d be m ajo r rather than

Fourteenth·Century Music in Performance

139

140

C H A P T E K <, • New Oevelopments in the Founeen1h Century

EXAMPLE 6.6, :'l. Stric1

,Z: :

Musica ficta is che feign ing of [solm izacion] syllables or the placement of syllables in a location where they do not seem to be-to apply mi where there is no mi and fa where there is no fa. and so íorth. Concerning musica ficta. it is necessary to know first of all that it is never to be applied except where necessary, beca use in art nothing is to be applied without necessity. ... 3. lt musl be known, too, that the signs of musica ficta are two, round or soft b (which became the modern ~] and square or hard b (modem\ or H T hese two signs show us the feig ning of syllables in a location where such syl· lables cannot be.

6. Last. for understanding the placement of these two signs, round b and square b, it must be known that these signs are to be applied to octaves. fifths. and simila r intervals as it is necessary to enlarge or diminish them in order to make them good consonances if they earlier were dissonant. because such intervals ought always to be major or co nsonant in counterpoint. But these signs are to be applied to imperfectly consonant intervals-the third. the sixth. the tenth. and the like-as is necessary to enlarge or diminish them to give them major or minor inflections as appropriate, because such intervals ought sometimes to be major and sometimes minor in counterpoint: ... for you should always choose that form, whether major or minor. that is less distant from that location which yo u intend immediately to reach. . . . There is no other reason for this than a sweeter·sounding har· mony. , .. This is because the closer the imperfect consonance approaches the perfect one it intends to reach. the more perfect it becomes, and the sweeter the resulting harmony.

From Contrapunctus (Counterpoint, 1412]. Book 5. Chap· ters 1-6. trans. Jan Herlinger (Lincoln: Universíty of Nebraska Press. 1984). 71-8S,

min or, and a t hird con tr acti ng to a un ison s houl d be min or r;1thcr t han majo r, because, in Prosdocimo·s words. "the close r the imperfect consonance app roaches the perfect one it intends to reach, the more perfect it becomes, anel the sweeter t hc resu lting harmony." Thus tbe strictly moda l cadences in Example 6.6a were typicaily altered as shown in Example 6.6b; the last of tbese. in which borh upper notes resolve upwarel by a half step. is known as a do11ble leadi11g-1011e ccid ence anel is a characteristic sound in fourtee nth - anel .óJteent11- centUJ}' music. Caelences on G and C were altered ln simila r fashion, anel cadences on F naturally featured cllouble leadingtoues. ln caele11ces 011 E. however. the pe11ultimate i11terval s were already the right size. as shown i11 Example 6.6c. sono alteration was recruired . Cadences like Lhese. in which the lower voice descends by a semi tone and th e upper vo ice r ises a whole tone. a re called Phrygia11 cade11ces, slnce they occur nalurally in t11e Phrygian moele: they may also occur on B o r A .

b, Al!crcd íorms

f1: : 11:-=-w i

PROSDOCIMO DE' BELDOMANDI ON MUSICA FICTA Fourteenth-century musicians avoided tritones and smooLhed the harmony and melody by raising or lower1ng notes a sem,totie accordlng to a set of rules, a prac· tice called musk:a ficta. One of the best explanations of these mies is by Prosdocimo de' Beldomandi (d. 1428), a doctor and professor at the Un,versity of Padua. S,nce rnusicians of 1he time we,e trained to distinguish whole from half steps through solm,zat1on syllables and the natural, hard, and soft hexachords (see chapter 2), he used these concepts to explain musica {icta.

Allera.iions ai cadences

mod,,1íorms

e. Cadcnce on E

Omissionof accidentuls in notation

Such alter ation s woul d prescnt no difficu lty to mod ern performers if composers and scribes had consistcntly entcrcd t hc appropriate signs i n the manuscripts: what we think of as accidentals (which they used to indicate the unexpected appcH ance of mi or fa. as Prosdocimo exp lains). But often they did not , and when they did they were inco11sistent, as the same pas sage may appea r in differen(· manuscripts with different written accidentals. Tbis was no mere care lessuess. for it accoreled witl1 che tbeoretical fra me work of the time. Singers were trained to recognize s ituarions in which a note sbould be altered to produce a smoother melody or p rogression of interval s and would work out such changes in rehearsal. lt was uunecessa1y. p erJ1aps almost insulling, to specify a.n accidental where a skilled musician would have k11own to make an alteration. Moreover, many contrapunt al situat ions have more tha11 one possib le resolutio11. a11d performers hael the optio11 to cboose 1he solut.ion they pr el'erred. Thus a com poser like Machaut would place accidentals in his manuscripts only where he wanted a note to be alter ed for the sake of beauty (as in Example 6.2. measure 3 1 in the ca11tus anel 39 ia the conl ra teno r) and Lhe change co uld not be assumed from lhe ruJes. Mod ern ed itions or this mus ic gener ally place on ly t hose acci de nta ls found in thc original sou rccs in front or thc notes to wb icb lhcy apply and indicatc abovc lhe s taff t he additional alt.erations the editor believes the performers should supply (scc Examplcs 6.2- 6 .3). The tcrm mu sica neta is now o~cn uscd fo r any such aheralions lhat are suggested by context ralh er than notal ion, even when notes outs ide the Cuidonian ga mut are not invo lvcd.

Echoes of the New Art Fourteenth - century approaches to music had a profou11d and continuing impact 011 music anel musical life in !ater centur ies. Perhaps most signincant was the invention of a precise and unambiguous notation that could recorda wide variety of rhythms a11d allowed music to be distributed i11 writi11g anel performed accw·a tely whe rever it wenl. We now take 1lús for gr anted when we play from n otation and sight- read t hrough unfamiliar music, but it was a remarkable innovation in lhe fourtee11th century. Among its effects was that com posers could fu thei r music exactly as they wished it to be perfo rmeel. as

Echoes of the New Att

poets had long been able to set down their poems. leading them to take pride in authorship as few composers had clone before Machaut. The increased interest in the individual and in satisfying the human senses that was characteristic of the age grew stronger in the nfteenth anel sixteenth centuries anel has remaineel importam ever since. Fumre composers woulel claim credit for

their work more readily and would remain anonymous much less often than was true before 1300. Apparently a piece by Machaut or Landini was esleemed more highly. simply because it was by such a famous composer. This is of course still true today, for composers as d ispa1·ate as Beethoven, Irving Berlin, Count Basie, lhe Beatles, Bjü rk, or Justin Bieber. The inte r play between structu re anel pleasu re so typ ica l oi' fourteenth ecntury music has also had a continuing resonance. Speci fie sfl·uctwal <levices of lhe lime. such as isorhythm and 1.heformesftxes. Jasted only to Lhe late fiftee nth century, but ideas of musical structure continued and d iversi fied. French structure, ltalian smoothness of me locly and clarity of dcclama tion, and the growing use in bolh traditions of prominent harmonic thirds and sixths ali contributcd to the international style of the fiftecnth century. Thc metcrs and rhythmic combinations madc possLble by A:rs Nova notation , from common time to syucopation, are still part of mttsic today. The creation of a polyphonic style centerecl on a meloclious topmost voice ratherthan built around the tenor, exemplifted in Machaut's chansons, undergirded many la ter developmems. More recently. many modem composers bave drawn on music of tbe fourteenth century for sounds. teclmiques. and ideas. The structural artífice of AJ'S Nova isorhythmic motets aud the notational and proportional wizardry of A:rs Subtilior songs have influenced composers in the second half of the twentieth century such as Olivier Messiaen and Gyõrgy Ligeti. The music icself did not fare as well. Fourteenth-ce ntury styles fell out of use, anel figures like Machaut beca me best known as poets, while their music carne lo be considered old- fashioned in comparison to the new áfteenthcenlu1y slyle. Wben f1rsl rediscovered in lhe nineteent.h century. fourteentllcentury polyphony seemed harsh in its ha rmonies .and crude in allow ing parallcl nflhs and octavcs. for b idden in counterpoi nl since lhe úftecnth century. But twentieth-century music has used a wider range of so unds anel t.echniques and has he lped to make fourteenth - cemm-y music sound fresh in cornpariso,1 to cornrnon- pract ice harmony. lnteres l in rev iving fourlceolh centu ry music led to cd itio ns of the complete works of Vitry, Machaut, Lan din i, anel othe rs, many of them frrst appcaring alter World War 11. Now picccs by Machaut, Landini, anel others from the fourteenth century are again regularly pcrformcd and rccordcd, both by carly music spccia li sts and by main stream popular artists , including Jucly Collins's rendition of a Laudini ballata 011 her album Wildflowers (2007) anel Panda Bear·s sampling of Machaut's rondeau Rose. Uz. printeinps. Perdure in his song 'Tm Not'· (2005). Through modem media. the music of these fourteenth -centmy composers is heard by many times more people today than in theú· own lifetimes. ~ Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

141

THE RENAISSANCE

uropeans in the fifteenth and sixteenth cemuries combined a rediscovery of ancient learning with new discoveries and innovations to produce a ílowering of culture and the a rts that became known as the Renais-

sance. Changes in music we re far-reaching. Responding to a growing interest in pleasing the senses. musicians developed a new kind of counterpoint, featuring stric t control of dissonances and pervasive use of swee t•sounding sonori ties. They devised new methods for writing polyphonic music that included greater equality between the voices, more varied textures featuring imitation or homophony, and new ways of reworking borrowed mate· rial. Composers of vocal music endeavored to re flect in their melodies the accents. inAections, rhythms. and mea nings o f the words. Read ing Ancient G reek texts that extolled m usicas part of education. that expected every citizen to sing and play music, and that described the power o f music to evoke emotions a nd instill character, write rs a nd

musicians in the sixteenth century sought the sarne roles and effec ts for the music o f their times. The invention o f music printing in the ea rly six teenth century made writ ten m usic more widely accessible and created a ma rket for m usic that amateurs could sing o r play for their own e ntertainment. alone oras a social activity. The de mand stimulated new kinds of secular song anda great increase in ins tru mental music. No t least important, growing interest in the individual artist brough t a new prominence to compose rs. AII of these de velopments have affec ted music eve r since. Fro m the very language of music to o ur belief that music expresses feelings, we a re the heirs of the Renaissance.

Part Outline

MUSIC AND THE RENAISSANCE

7 MUSIC AND THE RENAISSANCE 144 B ENGLAND AND BURGUNDY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 165

9 FRANCO ·FLEM ISH COMPOS ERS. 1450-1520 188

10 SACRED MUSIC IN THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION 213

11 MADRIGAL AND SECULAR SONG IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 241 12 THE RISE OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC 264

The fifteenth and sixteenth cen turies were a period of great change for European cul ture, literature, art, and music. To some at the time. it seemecl that the arts had been reborn after a period of stagnation. ln his 1855 Histoire de France. Jules Michelet crystalized this notion in the term R e ,wissa11ce (French for "rebirth"), and soon historians ofl iter· ature. art. and music were using it to designate the histo rical period after the Midd le Ages. The idea of rebir1h captures the aüns of scholars and artists to restorc lhe lcarning. idcals. and values of ancienl Creece and Rome. But wrilers, arlists. and musicians did far more than rccover thc old. Currents alrcady strong in the late Middle Ages co ntinued, innovalions emerged in every f1eld, and lhe introdu ction of ncw lcchnologics such as thc printing prcss brought radical changes. 1n music. these centuries are better understood as a time of con· tinual and overlapping changes chan as a period characterized by a single uuified style. New genres emerged. from the polyphonic mass cycle in lhe mid-fi.fteenth cenru.ry to the sonata in the late sixteemh. and old genres like che motet and chanson were transformed. Prom the early ó.fteenth ceutury ou. musicians frequently held posit ions outside Lheir na tive regions. es pecially in ltaly. Their encounters wilh musi c and music ians from othcr regions led 10 lhe creation of a new inlernational style d rawing on elements of French. ltalian. and English traditions. This new style featured new rul es fo r polyphony bascd 011 stricl contrai of dissonancc. mark ing a distincl break írom previous eras. These ru les for counterpoint and dissonance treatment

Europ• from 1400 to 160 0

145

146

C H A P T E K 7 • Music and the Renaissanco

were followed by composers throughout the lifteenth anel sixteenth centuries. and this shared practice unices these centuries as a coherent historical perioel in music despite numerous other changes of style ancl practice. The greater

TIMELINE

use of thirds and sixths requireel new tuning systems. The late lifteenth century saw the emergence of two principa l textures 1h at wou ld predominate

Mttsic and the Renaissctnce

in sixteenth-century music-imitati've cow,terpoi,it and lwmophouy. l n Lhe late flfteen Lh anel sixteenth centu ries, Lhe rev iva! of classical learn ing

MUSICAL

had many pa1·allcls in mus ic. including a rcncwcd intcresl in ancicnl Crcck theory anel ideals for mus ic and a new focus on seu ing wo rds with correct dcclamat ion wh il e rcl7ccting thc mcanings anel emotions of thc tcxt. Thc

H ISTOR ICAL

• ca. 1400 European economy

begins to grow • 1417 End of papal schism

development o f music prin ting in tl1e ea rly s ixteen t.h century macle notatecl music availablc to a wider public. Amatcu rs bough t music to pcrform for

Masaccio, Holy Trinity with the Virgin, St. John, andDonors

• ca . 1425- 28

the ir own entertaioment, encouraging composers to produce new and more popular ldnels of music, cspccially songs in vema cu lar languagcs and mus ic

• ca. 1430s First polyphonic mass cycles on a cantus firmus

for instruments, and fostering the spread of many new genres of vocal and instrumental music. The Reformation brought new forms of religious music for Protestam churches and. in reaction. new sryles for Catholic music. All of

• ca . 1440s

Donatello, David

• ca . 1450 Gutenberg develops printing from movable type

these changes have affected music in fundamental ways ever since. These developments will be taken up individually in the nexi ftve chapters.

Turks conquer Constantinople. ending Byzaritine Empire

• 1453

Here we will set the stage hy placing the changes in music in lhe wider contexL of the Renaissance, showing some para li els with the other art.s.

• 1453

• 1477

Johannes Tinctoris, Liber

de arte contrapuncti Thc frftcent.h ccntury saw t.hc cnd of two long-standing conll icts: the Crcat Sc hism in the church was reso lved in 1417 with the retu rn to a singlc pope in Rome, and the Hunelred Yea rs' War co ncluded with thc expulsion of the English from France in 1453. That sarne ycar. Constantinople fe ll to the Ottoman Turks, ending the Byzantine Empire. New conílicts emerged in thei r p lacc. as thc Turks conqucrcd thc Balkans and Hungary ovcr thc next ccntury, and che Roman Church was sp lintered by the Reformation, a movement that began in 1517 as a debate about church practices but quickly led to the formation of new Protestant denominations and more tban a century of theological disputes anel religious wars. Most signincant in the long n.m was the rise of Europe as a world power. Larger ships. better navigationaJ aids. and more powerful artillery helped Europeans expanel their inll uence beyonel the Mediterranean anel northern Atlantic. During the nfteenth century, the Portuguese established colonies and trade routes extendingaroundAfrica to lndia and the East lndies. Columbus's encounter with the New World in 1492 led LO Spanish and Ponuguese colonies in the Ame ricas, to be fo ll owed in the early seventeenth century by the French. English. and Dutch. These events would ultimately lead to lhe expansion of European culture. i11cluding its rnusic. lhroughout theAmericas

Regions specialized in ditferent agricultura! and manufactured products anel traded with each other across great dis tances. Towns anel cities prospered from trade, anel many city- dwcllers accumulated wea lth through commcrce. banking, and crafts. The middle class of me rchants, arüsans, doc 1.ors, lawyers. and other independem en1.repreneurs continued to incrcasc in numbcrs. influcncc. anel cconom ic importancc, seekjng prosperity fo r tl1eir families. property and bea u tiful objects for themselves, anel education fo r their ch ildren. Ru lers, cspecia.l ly in the smal l principalities and city-states of lta ly, sought to glorify themselves and the reputalions of their realrns by crccting imprcssivc pa laces and country houses dccor.atcel with new artworks and newly uncarthed artifacts from ancient civilizations; by Javishly entertaining their subjects anel neigh bori ng potentatcs; anel by maintaining chapeis of talenteel singers and ensembles of gifted instntmentalists. These ,con ditions, strongest in Italy but increas ing throughout westem Europe during the fifteenth and sixteentb centuries. laid the economic anel social foundations for a ílowering of Lhe arts.

End of Hundred Years'

War

Europe from 1400 to 1600

and across Africa anel Asia and to a trans -Atlantic musical cuJ ture that blended genres, rhythms, styles, and traditions from Europe. the Americas. and Africa. After the economic turmoil of the fourteenth centLUy. the European economy stabilized aro und 1400 and began to grow.

Portuguese explorers round the southern tip of Africa

The Renaissance in Culture and Art

• 1487

European expansion

Thc ootion of the Renaissaocc has been dcbate<l cver sincc the term was introduced. Any hi sto ii cal period ization is an abstraction, imposed by latcrgcncrat ions as a wayto organ ize a • 1492 Columbus reaches West m.ass of details into a coherent picture, and different historrians lndies have suggested va1ying approac hes. Some begin the Rena is • 1492 Jews and Muslims sance in the fourtcenth centu1y with Ciotto, Dante, Petrarch, expelled from Spain and Trecento music, others in the early fifteenlh century or latcr: some scc it cnding by thc m id -sixtecn th ccntury. wh ilc • 1492 Franchino Gaffurio, others continue ic well into the sevemeenth cemm1•. Still other Theorica musice historians do away with the concept of a Renaissance period altogether. arguing that the lifteenth century is best regarded as the late Middle Ages and that a new era. tbe Early Modem. begins with the sixteenth. Those who emphasize the revival of anciem Creek and Roman writings and a11 and its effects 011 European cuJture lind the idea of rebirth a powerful metaphor. but others asgue tha t this revival düectly affecLed only the elite and does not explain many changes in this era, even in the arts. Por ourpurposes in studying music hjstory. it makes sense to consider the f1fteenth and sixleenth centuries as a unit. because lhe new approach to coun-

The Renaissance ln Culture and Art

te rpoint that emerged in the early 1400s marked a d ecisive change from the previous century and remained the esse n tial fabric of music until around 1600. But what shall we cal! this period? The idea of .. rebirtb" seems especially problem atic for music, because unlike wrilers. sculptors. and archi-

tects. musicians had no ancient classics to irnitate; not umil lhe late sixteemh century were the f1rst examples of a ncient Greek music red iscove red and transc rihed. The closest music ca me to a literal Renaissance was through the rediscovery of ancien t Greek writings ahout music, which iníluenced music 1.heo ris ts and then compose rs in their 1urn. Yet musicians d id noL revive a ncicnl pra c1 ices; rathcr, at 1imcs they useel ieleas from ancient writers as ins pirat ion oras justif1cation for new approaches to s uch issues as text- setti ng or the mudes:. Desp ite its problems, " Rcna issance .. is sti ll a useful term for the period between aboul 1400 and 1600, in music as in thc other arrs. if wc rcmcmber that thc id ca of rcbirth is a mctapho,· and that it captures only onc aspcct of a com plex era. ln every Fte ld , a conscious looking- back to Greece and Rom e was co mbine el with ele ments continued from the Middle Ages and witb etttirely new developmen ts. What seems most ch aracteristic of the period is a spirit of discovery and invention in ali aspects of life. from exanúning ancient writers to exploring 01b er pares of Lhe planei, clissecting 1he human body to see how it works , inventing n ew manufacturing processes. or devising a new way to paint more realistically or to compose a more compelling piece of music.

HUMAN ISM

• 1495

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sought to revive ancient learn ing. em phasizing the study oi' grammar. rheto ric, poetry, history, a11d moral philosophy, and centering ou classical Latin and Greek writings. They be lieved these subjects developed the individual's mind. spirit. and ethi cs. and prepareel students for lives of virtue anel service . Alongside their belief in Christian doe trine. humanists had failh in the dignity aud nobility of humans. in human reasou. and in our capacity to understand reality through our senses anel to improve our condition through our own effo rts. Gradually, human is tic s tudi es re placeel Scholasiicism. with its emphasis on logic anel metaphysics and its relian cc on au1hori1y. as the center of intellectual life anel of Lhe unive rs ily curriculum. The role of lhe church was not eliminisb eel: rather. 1he chu rch b orrowed from class ica l so urces. spon so rcd class ical st.udies. anel suppor1cd Lhinkcrs, a1·1is1s. and musicõ ans. Typical of the Renaissance. humanism rep resenteei a new approach thal synthesizeel ancient lea rning with Ch ri stia n id eas inherited fro m the Mielell e Ages and appl ied both to prese nt- day proble ms. Humanism had bot h direct and inelirecl influences on music. Thc rccovcry of ancien t texts incluelcd writings o n mus ic, and writers from tbe Iate nfteentb ccntury on i ncorpo rated these ca rl ie r ideas (see be low). More b roadly, the focus of the humanists ou rhetoric- t he art of oratory. including the abi lity to persuade li s teners and 10 organize a speech in a coherem manner- in fluenceel composers to apply ideas from rhetoric il1 their music. a movement that gath ered strengtb during this period and remained forcefu.l for centuries LO come. The traditional conneclion of music 10 math ematics did not elisappear, but tl1e immediate perce ption of music , and tbe ways it resembled a language. beca me increasingly important. Some aspects of music paralleled human ism without necess arily being caused by it. For example, human ists im itated anciem wri ters lo learn a graceful style ofwriting and drew on their fund of slories and themes for new works , a.nel, as we shall see. imita lion ( though of much more recen1 wo rks) became a cent ra l p ract ice in music of thc time.

Leonardo da Vinci. The

Last Suppe, Portuguese reach India by sea

• 1498

• 1501 Petrucci publishes

Odhecaton • 1504

Michelangelo. David

Luther posts 95 Theses, leading to Protes1an1 Reformation

• 1517

Hernán Cortés conquers Aztecs

• 1519- 21

• 1523 Pietro Aaron, Toscanello

in musica

Madrigal originates in Florence

• 1520s

Machiavelli"s The Prince published

• 1532

• 1533 Pizzarro defeats Incas • 1538 First published variation

sets Copernicus. On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

• 1543

The ielea of a Rena issance is mos t d irectly applicable to the rcalm oílcttcrs. Scholars anel lhinkcrs of lh e lime had broadcr • 1545-63 Council of Trent access 1.o lhe classics ofCreek and Ro man li teratu re anel phi• 1547 Heinrich Glareanus, losophy than 1hei r predeccssors. Ottoman atta cks o n Con Dodekachordon stant inople bcginning in 1396 promptcel many ByzanLine • 1558 Gioseffo Zarlino. Le scho la rs to flee to ltaly, taking with lhem num erous .ancie nt istitiutioni armoniche Crcck writi ngs. They taught thc C rcck languagc to lta lian scholars, some of whom lraveled to the easl to collect manu • 1594 Shakespeare, Romeo and scripts of wor ks unknown to thc Wcst. Soon thc Crcek clas J11/iet sics were translated into Latin, mak:ing most of Plato anel tbe Greek plays and histories accessible to western Europeans for the ftrst time. l n the early Ftfteenth century. scholars rediscovered complete copies of works on rhetoric by Cicero and Quintilian. Later that century. other texts from Roman antiquity also carne into circulation , including works by Livy. Tacitus. and Lucretius. The increasi.ng availabilily of ancient WTiLings was compl ementeel by new ways of approaching them . The strongest intellectual movement of the Renaissance was l11111w11is111. from l he Latin phrase "studia humanitatis." the study of i.he humaniti es, things pertaining 1.0 human lk nowledge. Humanis ts

SCULPTURE , PAIN TING , AN D ARCHITECTURE

FIGURE7.1. David (oo. /440s). b)'

Oonatello. 0(1.vid. clad in helmet (l.»d leggi.ngs bttl otherwise rmde. s1.0,1.ds astride the heocl ofthe slai,1 Goliath. 1hi.s bronze S1(1.l!IC was co111missioned. in tlie 111id·fif~entlt centurr brCosimode· Med.ici. 1/ic most powe,ful cit.ize11 <md def ac10 rulerofFlorence.for lhe Palazzo Mediei. (MIISEO NAZIOSAL.I!. oet BARc.cu.o. FLOR.E.SCE. ITA1.Y, NiOTO: N I MATA.LI.AH/AJL'I BESOURCE. t,,"Y)

Art in the Re nai ssa nce shows s tri kingco nt rasl s with medi eva l arl anel seve ra ! para llc ls with th c ncw elcvc lopme nts in sc holars hip and music. Thc revi vai of cla ssical antiquity in ncw guise is c mb oel icd in the bronze starue of David by Donatello (ca . 1386- 1466), shown in Figure 7. 1, the flrst freestanding nude since Roman times. Nakedness in the Middle Ages was used to sh ow s hame, as in pictures of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garelen of Eden. Here nudity shows the beauty of the human figure. as in the Greek and Romau scuJptures Donatello used as models. anel proclaims the nobility of the biblical hero. Thus classical means are useel to convey a reli gious theme, paralleling the church's use of classical and human istic s tudies. This combinat ion is truly new. and characteristic of ú1e Re naissance. The work's nalm·alism- its attempt to reproduce

The Renaissance ln Culture and Art

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150

C ti A P T E li 7 • Music ao,d the Renalssanco

nature realistically- is also in tun e with humanists.' encleavor to s ee anel unde rstancl the world as it really is. The naturalism anel iclealized beauty Donatello exhibits he re are typical of Renaissance art anel have parallels in music. as composers sought to please the ear with beautil'ul sonorities. more pervasive conso nance, grea ter contrai oi' elissonance. anel seemingly natural

rather than contorted melodies and rhythms. Italian painters had been pursuing greate r realism since Giotto in the ea rly fourtee mh centw·y (see chapter 6 anel Fibrure 6.1). But fa1· more naturalislic representations were mad e possible in the early l 400s through two innovations: perspective, a melhod for re presenting th1·ee-dimensional s pace on a llat s urfa ce. creating a se nse of depth. and chiaroscuro, 1he natu ra lis tic ls catmen t a r light anel shade. A cont rast be twccn two pai nt i ngs wi ll illustra l.c bo lh concepts. Figure 7.2 shows a fourteenth -century fresco of a city sce ne. Ind ividual pa ris of the painting look realistic, but the whole does not look rea l. This is cspecially truc oi' thc use of light, for so me bu il dings are bcu cr lit to the right side, others to the left, which cannot happen with natural sunlight. The build ings seem piled on top of onc another. thcir dis tancc from thc vicwer unclear. Tbc latc - iiftccnth - ccntury painting of an ideal city in Figure 7.3, by contrast, uses perspective, in which aJJ para!Jel tines co nverge to a si ngle vanis hi ng point. an el objccts of thc sa rn e size appca r s ma ll cr in exact proportion as they grow more distant. This reflects how we actua.lly see, creating the illusion of depth. ln addition. the lighr falis on ali surfaces as if coming from a single source. The overa ll effect is much more natural anel realist ic. The !ater picture is also more orderly, with clean lines, symmetry, anel little ch1tter. The decorative elements on the build ings make their structure clear. highlighting the íloors. pillars. anel arches. This preJ'erence for clarity. rypical of Re naissance architecture, co nt.rasts markedlywith Cothic decoration, such as the ornate and whimsical úligree on Notre Dame Cathedral in Figure 5.3. The use of col umns with capitais on lhe cen ter anel leftmos t build ings s hows Lhe Renaissance inte rest in imitating ancient architecLure. Thc fresco by Masaccio (Tommaso Cassai. 1401- 14 28) in Fi!,l'Ul'C7.4 illustrat es ali these charact.e ristics anel adds anot he r, an interest ia individuais. One of the li rst paintings to use perspective, it crea tes an impress ive se nse of depth. as if an actual chapei stood thc re insleacl of a ílat wall. Faces. bodies, drapery. a nel poses are natura l; co ntrasting co lors anel s hadings re i nforce thc imprcss ion of spacc while crcating a cl ear anel plcas ing compos ition; anel classical inlluence is rellected in the Greek columns with lonic anel Corinth ian capita is, th e arches. a nd the ceiling modeled after that· of the Roman Pan theo n. Kneeling on eitber sicle are tbe painting's donors, identilied as Lorenzo Lenzi anel his wife. Their presence anel Masaccio's lifelike portrayal of them re flect the heightened interest in individuais during the Renaissance: not forthis welJ · to -do couple the anonymity of the donors. masons. anel artisans who contribured to tbe Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris two cennu·ies earlier. The many portraits painted in the Reuaissance testify to the desire of patrons to be memorialized in art anel rb.e ability of artiscs to capture the pe rso11ality of each suhjecr. Like the ideais of beauty anel naturalism discussed above. ch iaroscuro. clarity. perspective. anel interest in indivicluals also have parallels in music.

Perspectil'e and chiaroscuro

FIGURE 7.2, A panelfrom The Eríects oí Good and Bad Government in the Town and i n l he Counl ry (1337-39). <&frescob)'Arnbrogw Lorenzeuipainted m the Polono Pubblico

(public pal(lee) in Siena. u city in Tuscany in norrlacrn lta!y. 7lac S(1bjec1 of 1hepaintingW.11s1ro.tes 1he 11~w humanisl co11cem w11h go,•em,netll «11d civic vir11,es. Yer rhe tech nique is still medicFal in manyrespecr.s. Whileobjec1sfurthcra1uayaredcpi.:1cd as bchi,1d and sornewltat srnallerl,han those closer w lhe 11i~wer. lhere is no lme perspecli11e. (SCAWART ••sou•ct, :<r>

Clarityand classical models Íli architecttire

foterest in i11dividuals

FIGURE 7.3: ldealized View oí the City (ca. /480) byapain1er from 1he school oj'Piflro de//,a, Francesca. ,n the d1ica! palace in Urb1110. n.orthem haly. The scene looks reahsoc because of the use ofperspective and CLll,:,ition lo lighting. Ali the lines 1hat in tliree · dimcnsi.onal realitywould be para/lei 10 each 01/,er. like 1he /ines in the pa1•emen1 oron the sid.es ofbuildings. converge towarda single vanishíng poirll. jusi under rhe 1op of the doorway of lhe centro! buildir1g. Th e light i.s comingfrom 1/ie lefl and so,newhar behind lhe ,~ewer. since lefi -facingsu,faces are brightest. su,facesfacing tlte ,~ewer soniewhat da.rker. ond rigl1L ·ftJ.cirtg surfoces dorker still. ((;All.f.RIA nnu t.lAKC1ll'., URU INO. ITALY. rllOTO: tnl CII 1.11.."SINC(All'r KU01Jne t . NY)

Musical parallels

Composers expanded the range of their pieces to include lower anel higher pitches than before, anel they e mployecl con trasts betv,een high and low registers anel between t.hin and full textures that recall the contrasts of light and dark in contempora.ry pai.nt ing. Many compose rs sough110 rnake Lhe musical stru ctu re clear through such contrasts, through frequent cadences, anel by otber means, akin to the cla rity of line and function in Renaissa nce architec ture. Pe rspect.ive, wh il e unique to painting. is anal ogo us to aspects ofRenais-

Music h, the Renaisianc,

FIGURE 7.4: M<&sc,ccio. HolyTrinitywith the Virgin,

151

152

C ti A P T E li 7 • Music ao,d the Renalssanc•

S1. John. anel Donors (c<1. 1125-28).fresco in ,he ch1uch ofSww• Afori<1 Nwella in Flore,ice. 1iie ar1ist ,ised perspectivc to creale a scnse ofdeplh and ofheigl1t. placing rhe vanishing point at e,ye levela.s onefacc.s 1he painting.

services. Fignre 7 .5 shows tbe chapei of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, at Mass. These musicians also contributed to the court entertainment. composing secular songs as well as sacred music. and accompanied their

below rhej'oo,oj' the cross, The three ITIA!mbers oj'1he

ruler on journeys.

Trin i.ty are shc,wn:Jesus lhe Son on th e cross m the center.

Cod 1he Father abo11e him. a1id the floly Spirit as a. dove flring be1ween them. The colors create a s«btle. almost symmelrical pattemofred.gra.y, andcreo.m. leadi11.g1he eyefrom onefigure 10 the nex,. <s. M.A1t1.A NovuLu. l'LostNc11. ITAI.Y. PIIOTO: NICOLO ORSI 8A1TACI.INJ/AltT flF..SOURCt. N"Y)

sance music 1hat oriem the listener's experience around a single point of reference. such as the increasing focus on makfog the mode of a polyphonic work clear by baving ali or most phrases cadence on the main notes of the mode. especially its fma l and reciting tone. in the same way lhe receding lines in Figure 7.3 ali Jead to lhe van ishing point. \'Ve wi ll encounter a few pieces that, like Masaccio's fresco . memorialize individuais. bul even more importanl is the rising signilicance of compose rs as ind ividual art ists. celebra ted in t:hei r sphere as were Donatello and Masacc io in theirs. The notion of a uni que personal style in music is rare before lhe Mteenlh century, but becomes ty pical of Lhe Renaissance and la le r pe riods.

Music in the Renaissance Thc broad in te llectual and artistic currents of thc Renaissancc affectcd music deep ly, yet in many respects music fo ll owcd its own path.

PATRONAGE ANO THE TRAINING OF MUSICIANS One key to developments in music in lhe ftfteenth and sixteenth centuries lies in musicians' training. empJoyment. and traveis. Court clwpel.s . groups of salaried musicians and clerics who were asso ciated with a ruJer rather tha.n with a parti cu.lar build.ing, sprang up aJI over Europe in the late fourteenth and early lifteenth centuries. The lirst chapeis were es tablished in the thineenth century by King Louis IX of France and King Edward [ of England. After the mid - fourteenth centu ry, the fash ion spread to other aristocrats and church leaders. Members of lhe chapei served as performers. co mpose rs, and scribes, fumishing music fo r chu rch

Coiirt chapeis

Most fifteenth - and sixteenth- century composers were trained as choir boys and hired as singers for churches or court chapeis. Choi r schools laught nol only s inging and how 10 pe rform sacred music bul. a lso music thco ry. read ing, writing, g,·ammar, math emat ics, basic lheology. and other subjects. Cities suc h as Cambrai , Bruges, Anlwerp, Pa ris, and Lyons, shown on the map in Fi gure 7.6, were the centers most renowned for their musical trainingin the iiftcc nth ccn tury; latcr thcy were joincd by Romc, Vcnicc. and otbcr ltalian cities. This helps to expJain why the FIGURE 7.5, Philip the Good. du~·e of Burgund:r, o.t Ma.ss. most prominent composcrs of the lifteenth Philip i.s i,i the cenrnrof 1he picture. 77te celebran1 (llie priest and early sixteentb cenmries, such as Dtt Fay, officioting 0,1 Moss) and deacon are 0.1 lowcr left. the singers Ockeghem. and Josquin. came from Flanders, in the cho.pel allowerright. and membersofrhe court ai the the Netherlands. and no1ihern France. while rea.r. Minic,iure b.rJe1111 /e Tavernier (ca. 1457-67). c,ovA1. lcalian composers became more prominent UBRARY OF BELCruM, BRUSStl.S. MANUSCRIPT Dtl•AAUftNT, MS, t092, fOL. 9) from the mid-sixteenth cemury on. Beeause only mate cbildren were admitted into choirs . women did not have this educa tional oppormnily or the chance to make careers in puhlic churches and princely courts. Nuns and novices in convents did receive musical instruction. anda few distinguished themselves as cornposers. Courts also emp loyed inslrumentalisls, who typically were minstrels or carne from families of mus icians and we re trained in the appren1 ice systcm. Fcw singc rs. composers. o r pcrfonners servcd only as musicians: as in lhe Middle Ages, most had 01.her duties as servanls, administrators, cle rics, or church oflicials. Many rul ers av idly suppo rt ed music and competed with each other fo r Patronage for nwsic the best co mposers and pcrformers (see ln Perfo rmance: A Star Singe,- and lmproviscr). Likc tine clot hes and imprcssivc pagcamry, cxccllent music was both enjoyable in itself and va luable as a way to display wealth and power to aud ie nccs at home and abroad. The kings of France and England and the dukes of Burgundy and Savoy were especially notal>le patrons in tbe fr.fteenth cenmry, but most striking is the breadth and depth of patronage in ltaly. ltalian rnlers brought to their cities the most talented musicians from France. Flanders. and the Netherlands. One of the frrst norrherners to make his career in Italy was Johannes Ciconia (ca. 1370- 1412) , born and trained in Flanders, who served in Rome, Pavia. and Padua. The Mediei. the leadingfamilyin Florence, sponsored Franco- Flemish musicianJacq1.1esA.rcadelt (ca. 1507- 1568) as welJ as native ltalian painters and scuJptors like Donatello, Botticelli. and Michelangelo. ln the 1480s both Josq1.1in Desprez (ca. 1450- 1521). the Jeading composer of bis generalion. and Leonardo da Vinci. lhe leading artist.

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i,, the Renaissance

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COSMOPOLITAN MUSICIANS ANO THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE The presence at courts of musicians from many lands allowed composers and performers to lea rn sryles and genres current in ocher regions. Many com-

poscrs cbangcd thcir place of service. exposing tl1em to numerous types or

A STAR SING ER AND IMPROVISER The competition between patrons for the best performers can be seen in the career of Jean Cor· dier (late 1430s-1501), recently traced by music historian Pamela Starr. Renowned as a singer wirh a beautiful voice and as a leader for impro· vised polyphony in church, Cordier was one of rhe most sought-after musicians in the fifreenth century. Trained in the choir school of St. Donatian in Bruges and ordained as a priest, he served in the choir there from 1460 to 1467, with regular increases in rank and pay. ln 1467 Cordier was recruited by the Mediei family, rulers of Florence, for the choirof the cha· pel ofSan G iovanni in Florence. He also traveled with the Mediei chapei, making connections that led to a series of prestigious appointments over the next decade: to the Papal Chapei in Rome in 1468; the chapei of Ferrante, king of Naples, in 1472: and the chapei of Galeazzo Sforza. duke of Milan. in 1474. The move to Milan carne only after an extended battle for Cordier's services that almost led to war between Naples and Milan. Each new appointment brought a raise in salary and other rewards. including benefices (lifetime salaried church appointments without duties) from the Vatican and land in Milanese territories. ln 1477 he returned north, and in 1481 he joined the chapei at the Burgundian court. Two years !ater he was appointed canon at St. Donatian in Bruges. where his career had begun, and

he stayed there until his death. with an occasional leave to visit courts in Italy. Cordier's career moves, and the competition for his services, let us glimpse what patrons most valued in their musicians. Contemporary accounts praised his exceptionally appealing voice, a quality thatstill today can lead to an inter· na tional career. Beyond this, he was esteemed for his abilities in singing and directing polyph· ony. especially improvised polyphony in church. His position in every chapei was as a tenorista, the singer who performed the tenor part in polyphony. Most church polyphony in the fiíteenth century was improvised over a cantus firmus from chant, and it was the tenorista who sang the cantus firmus and coordinated the other singers. shaping the improvised counterpoint like a composer. lt was his beautiful voice and skill in leading group improvisation-things we value today in a wide variety of musical traditions-that were so highly prized. ln studying music history, we spend most of our time focused on composers and composi· tions. because until the late nineteenth century there was no way to record music except to write it down. But Cordier's career reminds us that performers and improvisers have always been important, perhaps more important than composers, and that even the Renaissance composers whose works we study spent most of their time-and earned their paychecks-primarily as performers.

worked for members of the Sforza fam ily. rulers of Milan. The court of Ferrara under the Este family hostecl Josquin and Netherlandish composers Jacob Ob recht (1457/ 8-1505), Adrian \Vill aert (ca . 1490- 1562), and Cipriano de Rore (15 15/16- 1565). Mantua. ruled by the Gonzaga family. was a nother center of patronage, tbanks to the presence oflsabella d'Este (wife of marq uis Francesco li Gonzaga), who had studieel music seriously. Popes anel cardinais were as committed as secular princes to a high stand ard of cultural aclivity anel pa l:ro nage.

1ntematio,io l style

FIGURE 7.6,

Major

cenlersfortraining mu.sicia,is orformusicol,potrorrage in rh e Re11 ai.ssa,we.

)

music. Guillaume Du Fay (ca. 1397- 1474) . for example. served at the Calhe· el ral ol'Cambrai in the Bu rgund ian lands. ar courts in Pesa ro (northern l1aly) and Savoy (soulhcasrcrn France), and in lhe popc's chapei in Rome, Flo,·encc, and Bologna (see cha pter 8). Mobility among musicians encouraged li1e dis· semination of ncw ge nres, such as the polyphonic mass cycle on a s i ngle canlus frrmus, devclopcd by English composers in thc carly nflcenth ccntu1·y and laken up by composers like Ou Fay on Lhe Conline nl. Thc exchangc of nationa l trad itions, gcn res, an d ideas fostcred the devei· opmcnt of' an international stylc in the fifteenth century, synthesizing e lc ments from English, Prench, and ltalian lrad itions. The synthesis oi" 1his international style. descri bed in chapter 8. was the watershed event that set music of the lifteenth century apart from that of the fourteenth and undergirded most other developments.

THE NEW COUNTERPOINT The core of the international style was a new counterpoint. based on a preference for consonance, including thil'ds and sixths as well as perfect f1fths and octaves; on strict contrnl of clissonance; and on avoidance of paraJlel f,fths and octaves. This new approach to counterpoint rellects the high value musicians placed on beauty, order, and pleasing the senses. atti· rudes that closely puallel contemporary trends in arL Yet. li ke perspecl ive in pa inting, it is an invention oi' the ea rly F,free nth centu ry. not a reviva! of an anc ient lcchnique. More lhan anything c ise, it is th is co ntrapunta l practice that binds the fiftccnth and sixteent h centuries inlo a single period of music his lory we ca ll the Rcna issance. The distinction between ncw and older practice is sta rkly expressed in Liber de arte contrapuncti (A Book on the Art of Coun · terpoint, 1477) by Johannes Tinctoris (ca. 1435- 1511), one of the leading counterpoint treatises of the fifteenth century. Tinctoris deplored "d1e compos itions of older musi cians. in which there were more dissonances than consonances" and proclaimed that nolhing wriuen before the l 430s was wonh hearing (see Som·ce Reacling). His sympat.hy with human ism is shown by his references to numerous Greek and Roman writers. but

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i,, the Renaissance

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JOHANNES TINCTORIS ON THE MUSIC OF HIS TIME

A NEW HARMONIC CONCEPTION

Johannes Tinc1oris was a Flemish composer who seuled in Naples a1 the court of King Ferrante I ln the early 1470s. There he wrote a dozen !realises on musical top,cs. He was an enthuslastic supporter of the northern composers from his own generation and the prevlous one. and he observed a sharp break between their music and that of previous eras.

Pietro Aaron (ca. 1480- ca. 1550) was a pries1. composer. and LheorisL who wro1e sorne of Lhe first musical treatises in ltalian. His wr,tings are partlcularly reveal1ng ab-oul the practices of his tlme. Here he describes a change from the old linear approach 10 composition. ,n whlc:h the top l,ne and tenor formed the structural framewo,k, to a new harrnonic conception, in whlch each voice had a more equal role.

-~lt is a matter of great surprise that there is no composition written over forty years ago which is thought by the learned as worthy of perfo,. mance. At this very time. wherher it be dueto rhe virtue of some heavenly inAuence or to a zeal of constant application I do not know, there flourish. in addition to many singers who perform most beautifully. an infinite number of composers such as Johannes Okeghem. Johannes Regis, Anthoniu s Busnois. Firminus Caron. and Guillermus

Faugues. who glory that they had as teachers in this divine art Johannes 0unstable, Egidius Binchois. and Guillermus 0 ufay. recently passed from life. Almost all these men's works exhale such sweetness that, in my opinion, they should be considered most worthy, not only for people and heroes. but even for the immor1al gods. Certainly I never listen to them or study them without coming away more refreshed and wiser. Just as Virgil took Homer as his model in his divine work, the Aeneid, so by Hercules, do I use these as models for my own small productions; particularly have I plainly imitated their admirable style of composition insofar as the arranging of conco rds is concerned. Johannes Tinctorls. The Art o{ Count.,po,nt (Liberde ,me contr•punctQ. trans. and ed. Albert Seay (American lnslí· tutc of Musicology. 1961), 14-15.

lacking examp les of ancient mus ic. he claims only the co mpose rs of Lhe lasl lwo gene rat ions as mode ls worth imilat ing. Nothing could mo re viv id ly s how thc diffcrencc bctwccn mus ic on the o nc hand anel li tcratu rc , a rt, anel architecture on the othe r in thei r n;lation to tbe arts of antiqui ty. Drawing on t he practice of the co mpose rs he nam es, Tinctoris describes strict rul es for introducing di ssonances, lim it ing them 10 passi11g anel n eighbor tones on unstressed b eats and to syn copated passages (wbat we call suspensio ns) at caelcnccs. ParaJl el fifths and octavcs, co mm on evcn in fourtccnth - ccntury styles, were now forbidden. These rules were further refined in !ater treatises and syntbesized by Gioseffo Zarlino (15 17- 1590) in Le istit1itioni harmoniche (The Harmonic Foundations, l 558).

Equafüyrof voices

NEW COMPOSITIONAL METHODS AND TEXTURES Tbe r u.les for consonance anel clissonance treaLmem remained fa.irly consistem throughout the fifteenth and si.xteenth centuries and cüstinguish the music of this period from tbat of the preceding and following eras. Yet styles and textures changed from eachgeneration LO lhe nex1. as we will see in suhsequem chapters. 0ne aspect has alr eady been mentioned : an expansion of range, both in each voice and overall. The nwnb er of voices also grew. During lhe Mteenth century. the prevailing th ree· voice texture was r eplaced by a four·voice

Many composers contended that firs t the cantus should be devised. then the tenor. and after the tenor the contrabass. They practiced this method, because they lacked the arder and knowledge of what was required for creating the contralto. Thus they made many awkward passa9es in their compositions, and because oí them hacl to have unisons. res ts. and ascend · ing and descending skips difficult for the singer or performer. Such compositions were bereft

Numberof voices

of sweetness and harmony. because when you write the cantus or soprano firs t and then the tenor. once this tenor is dane, there is no place for the contrabass, and once the contrabass is done. there is often no note for the contralto. lf you consider only one part at a time, that is, when you write the tenor and take care only to make this tenor consonant (wíth the cantus], and similarly the contrabass. the consonance of every other part will suffer. Therefore the modems have considered this matter better. as is evident in their compositions for four. five, six. and more parts. Every one of the parts occupies a comfortable. easy. and acceptable place, because composers consider them all together and not according 10 what is described above. From Pietro Aaron. Toscane/lo in musica (Venice. 1524). Book li. Chapter 16.

lexl ure , with a bass l in e add ed below lhe teno r. Thi s became lhe new stan dard, s till familiar today. But co mpose rs in the six teen th century often adderl lo it. and lhe use of livc, six. or more vo ices bccamc co mmon . A s trikingchangc occurred during t he seco nd half of the li fteenth ce n tu ry, whe n co mposcrs m ovcel away from countcrpo in t structurcd around t he can · tus (to p l ine) and tenor and toward greater equal ity betwee n voices. Sin ce its o rigins, polyp hony hacl been conccivcd as t he addition of voices to an c:xisting m elocly: in o rganum , adding an organal voice below or above a cham; in th irteentb - century motets, adding one or more voices above a tenor; in fourtecnth · century chansons, composi ng a tenor to lit with th c ca ntus . then adding a tbird and sometimes a fourth voice around this two - voice fra mework. Through the mid-ftfteemh century, composers appar ently worked as their predecessors had. devising the essential counterpoint between tenor and camus anel Lhen adding the orher voices around tha Lframework. Most likely they proceeded phrase by phrase, at times even s011oriiy by sonority, but always attended lirst to the cantus and tenor and th en li.t the othervoices around Lhem. As a nsult. il was haJ'd LO avoid dissonances or frequenl awkward leaps in the other voices (see the contratenor s in Examples 8.1 and .8.6). As composers in Lhe !ater fifteentb cemury sough1 to make each part sm.ooth

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i,, the Renaissance

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and grarifying to sing. they increasiJ1gly worked out ali the pa11s at the sarne time in relacion co each other. The cannis- cenor framework was replaced hy a more equal relationship in which ali voices were essen tial to the counterpoint. This change in approach was described in lhe e arly sixteenth century by the cheorisc Piecro Aaron (see Source Reading).

Associated with this new approach was the emergeuce of two kinds of musical texlure that came to predominate during the sixteenlh century. ln imitntivtJ ,:m111te rpoi111,. vo ices imitnte or echo a motive or phrnse in anothervoice, usually ata different pitch levei, such as a fifth, fourth, oroccave away. ln /romoplw11 y. aJI lhe vo ices move logelhe r i.n essent ially the sarne rhych m, Lhe lower pa ris accompanying lhe can1.us wilh co nso nanl sonorit ies. 801 h tcx lu1·es allowcd co mposcl's more frcedom than I he oldc1· approach oi' layering voices.

rnean - tone and modiliecl temperarnents eominued to be used ou most keyhoard instruments through the la ie nineteenth century. The temperament best known today is cq,wl tc111pcrwnc11t, in which each semitone is exactly the sarne. AJthough it only carne into widespread use after the mid - nineteenth cemmy, equal temperamem was apparently invented in lhe sixteentl1. Firsc

I,nitation and

described by theorists in the late 1500s. il may have been approximated

hornophony

before then by performers 011 J'retted string instruments such as lutes and viois. for wborn any noneq ual tu ning is likely to result in out-of-cune octaves. Tn equal temperamenl, ali intervals are usab le, beeause ali approximale the ir mathematieally pure ratios. bul only lhe oetave is exactly in l11ne. show ing that no 1uningsys1e rn is ílawless. lndeed, equal temperam ent is ill-suiled 1.0 most voca l rnusieof lhe Rcnai ssa ncc era , bceausc the sound of pc rfcclly tuncd M1 hs anel lhirds is pari of ils glo ry. The new luning systems re fl ect music ians' re liance on what pleased the ca r rathcr than on rece ivcd th eory. This parallc ls thc focus of humani sts on human perception, rather than on dcference lo past authority.

TUN ING ANO TEMPERAMENT Thc ncw cmphasis on thirds and sixths posed a cha llengc to mus ic thcory and systems of nming, both of which had to yield to changing practice. Medieval theorists defrned only the octave, fifth, and fourth as co nsonant , beeause these were generated by the simp le ratios Pythagorns had cliseovered. respectively 2: 1, 3:2, and 4:3. In P ytlwgorea11 into1w1io11 , the tuning system used throughout the Middle Ages. all fourchs and nfths were perfectly tuned, but thirds anel sixths had complex ratios that made them dissonant by defrnüion anel ou Lof wne LO Lhe ear; for example, Lhe major Lhil'd had Lhe ratio 81 :61, soundi ng rough in comparison with the pure major third (5:1 or 80:64.). This tuningworks very well for medieval musie. in which only l'ourths, frflhs . and octaves need to sound consonam. Around 1300, the English theo ri st Walter Odington observed 1hat th e major lhird and minor Lhird could be considered co nsonanl if tuned using the sirnple ratios 5:4 and 6:5. But not 11ntil 1482 did Bartolomé Ramis de Pa reia, a Spanis h mathe malician and mus ic 1heo rist residing in lta ly, pro pose a t11n ing systern that produccd pc rfcctly tuncd thi rds a ncl sixths. Systcms li.kc Ramis's beca me kn own as just i11.tom1tio11 . Performers had probably been usingfo rm s of just in tonation fo r many yca rs. as Odington tcstilies to the use of justly tuned thi rds in England by 1300. There are at lcast two prob lems with just in to nJtion. First, in orde rto bring most thirds in thc diaconic scale into tune, one fourth , one ftfth , anel one thi rd must be 0\lt of tune, making some sonorities unusable unless the performers acljust the pitch. Seeoud, as musieians in creasingly usecl n otes outside th e diatonic scale, keeping the lifths anel thirds pure meaiu that notes such as G{i and A!, were different in pitch, eaus ing difnculties for keyboard players and for instruments with freis. such as lutes. Some musicians sougbt to preserve the pw'e imervals by developing organs and harpsichords with sepal'ate keys for such pa irs of tones. More common were compromise tuning systems ca ll ed te111pern111e11ts. in which pitcbes were adjusted to make most or ali intervals usahle without adding keys. MosL keyboard players in the sixteenth CMtury used what la ter was called 111ew1-to11e te111per<r111e11t, in wh ich I hc fifths we re tuned small so that lhe majo r thirds eould sound well. Various kinds of

WORDS AND MUSIC

P,rthagorean intonation

Just intonation

Temperaments Emotionand

expression

Influence of a.ncient wrítings

Parall e ling the interest among humanists anel artists in communication and cla rity, composers developed new ways to project tbe texts they set to music. The medieval idea of music as a decoration for the texc gradually gave way to a desire to convey the words clearly. Composers paicl increasing attentioo to accents and meter io setting poe tie Lexts. The formes ji.xes fell out of fashion during th e la te nfteenth century, and texts for both secuJar and sacred musie beeame highly varied. Composers respon ded by using che organization anel symax of a text 10 guide them in shaping the scructure of the musical setting and in marking punctuation wirh cadences rhat express different degrees of Íl nali ty. By the late nfteenth centu1y. following lhe rbyú1m of s peech anel lhe nalll!·al accenluation o f syllahl es became the norm. The new Lexcures of im ital ive co unt.e rp oi nt and homophony were uscful herc: in both cases ali thc voices in a polyphonic work co uld dcc laim lhe worels in lhe sarn e rhythm. \Vhere p revio usly s inge rs ofte n had leeway in mat ching syllables 10 the notated pitches and rhythms, by the ea rly si xlee n th ce11tury com pose rs took cha rge, see ing lhe pu rpose of the ir mus icas se rvi ng the wo rds. F'o r ali thc emotions cxp ressccl in medieval poct1y l'rom thc troubadours on, there are few signs thac com posers so ugh1 to convey those emotions through 1.hei r mus ic. The issue was lit1-le discussed , and il is diffi cuh to draw connections bctween particular emotions anel particular mus ical elemen ts. But by the late ftfteent b century and throughout the s ixteenth, composers so ught to dramatize the content and convey the feelings of the texts. often using specilie intervals. sonorities. melodie contours, contrapnntal motions. and other devices to doso. The new co ncern for text declamation and text e~1>ressio n was reinforced by Lhe rediscovery of anciem writings. Discussions of rhetoric by Quintil ian and Cicero supported tl1e goals of declaiming words naturalistically and wilh the appropriate feelings. in order to move and persuade the listeners. Descriptio ns by aneien! writers of the emotional effects of music were cited

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as authority for the new ways composers found 10 express through music the feelings suggested by the words they set.

tune. were told countless times. Theorists anel composers assumed that the Greek harmoniai and tonoi were identical to the similarly 11amed church modes (for the confusion, see chapter 2) and that the latter could have the same emotional effects. Composers sometimes chose to seta lext in a ceJ'tain moele baseei 011 rhe emotions that ancie11t wrilers associated with the harmo-

REAWAKENED INTEREST IN GREEK THEORY

Perhaps the most direct impact of humanism on music lay in thc recovcry of

nia or tonos of the sarne name. Througb this practice. the nolion that certain

ancient music treatises. Dtuing the liíteenth cenlury. Greeks emigrating from Byzantium and Italian manusc ript hunters brought the principal Greek writings on music 10 the West, including lhe treal.ises or Aris1 ides Quintilianus, Claudius Ptolemy. and Cleonides, 1:he eigblh book oí Arislotle's Politics, and passages on mus ic in Plato'sRepublic and Laws (ali discusseel in cbapter 1). By thc end of1he M1cc11th cenl-u ry, all 01' 1hcse we ,·c ll'anslatcd inlo Lal in. Franchino Caffurio (1451-1522) read the Greek theorists in Latin 1.ranslalions and incorporated much of lheir thi nking into his wril ings. Caffurio's treatises wcre the most influential of his time, reviving Greek ideas and stimulating new thought on matters such as the modes, consonance and disso llancc. tuni ng, the relations of music and words, an el thc harmony of music. of the huma11 body a11d minei, a11d of the cosmos. The Swiss theorist Heinricb Glareanus (1488- 1563) in h is bookDodekachordon (The Twelve-String Lyrc, 1547) added four ncw modesto the traeli tional eight, using names of ancient Greek tonoi: Aeolian anel Hypoaeolian with the fmal on A. and lonian and Hypoionian with the final 011 C. He also argued that polyphonic music could be understood as modal, analyzing the mode of any piece as that suggesteel by rhe superius (top voice) anel tenor. With these addjtions, he made tJ1e theory of tJ1e modes more consistem with the current practice of composers. who frequently employed tonal centers on Aa11d C. ln using terms borrowed from ancie11t cultme to modify his medieval heritage, Glareanus was typical ofh is age.

scales rellect certain moods carne 10 be widely accepted. a concept echoeel in u1e laier idea that Lhe major anel minar modes suggest different feelings, or 1hat certa in keys have specilic associaLions, such as E!, major with nob il iLy. Another new idea inspcred by ancienl Greek p ractice was clt.ro11wti<:ism., the use or two or more successive semitones moving in the sarne direction. Eui·opcan mus ic from Crcgo rian chanl 1h rough the early s ixl.cenlh ccn1u ry was essenl ially dial.onic. Allhough some accielentals we re nolated, and other alte ratio ns were called for by musica ftcta (see chapter 6), di rect chromatic motion, such as from B to B~, was never uscd. But the ch romatic genus of ancient Greek music offercd a model (see chapters I anel 11), and in the mid s ixtccnth ccmury composcrs hegan to use direct chromatic mot ion as an expressive device. These four ideas- music as servant of the worels anel convcyor of f'eelings, musicas a social accomphsbment every gentcel person should have. thc expressive power of modes, and tbe use of chromaticism- seem to have little in common. ranging from social custom to musical procedure. Yet each is a elistinctive new element in the late nfteenth or sixteenth century. anel each was rei:nforceel by or origi11a1ed u1 imitaúo11 of ancient practice as describeel in classical writings. While less direct than imitations of Greek anel Roman literature. architecture. or sculpture. ú1ese co11cepts show music's participatio11 in 1he Re11aissance movemenl.

C/1romaticism

Franchino Gaffurio

Heiririch GLU,rea,uis

NEW APPLICATIONS OF GREEK IDEAS We havc scen thal ancie11t ieleas aboul rhcto ric anel aboul music's powcr to affect 1.he emolions were take n up by write rs and musicians in Lhe Renaissancc anel applicd in new ways. So too we re othcr aspecrs of ancicnt p racticc. Ancient write rs írom Plalo to Quint il ian mainl.ained lhat mus ic should be pari of cvery cit izen's eelucalion, anel Rcnaissance wri ters echocd thei r ca ll. Centlcmcn anel !adies wcrc cxpcctcd 10 rcad mu.sic, to s ing from no ration al sight, anel lo play well enough to joio in music- making as a l'orm of entcrtainmcnt, as othcrs might play cards o r te l1 stories. Evcn thc p rc ference ancieut w-ritcrs expressed for tbe lyre over the au los as thc instrumeut for educated citizens was rellected in the expectation tha1 courtiers would play a plucked string instrument such as the lute. rather than the bowed stringorwind instruments. Both Plato and Aristotle insisted that each of the Greek harmo11iai , or scale types. conveyeel a different ethos anel that musicians could influence a lisiener's emotions by their choice of harmonia (see chapter 1). The stories that Pythagoras calmed a violent youth by having the pi per change from one harmonia to another. and that Alexander the Great suddenly rose from lhe banquel table and armeel himself for battle when he heard a Phrygian

New Currents in the Sixteenth Century The tre nds d iscussed above ali continucd through lhe sixtecnth century. and many only reached thcir fullest realization thcn. But thcre were a.lso new currents beginningaFte r 1500 thatse1 lhesix1eenth century apart from lhe F,fteenlh.

Mtisic as social accomplishrnent

MUSIC PRINTING

Powerofthe modes

Dissemination of wri.tten musíc

The most siguiticant of these was a tcch no logical breakthrough: the introduction of music printing from movable type (see lnnovations: Music P1·inting. pp. 162-63). Music pri11ting brought changes that were as revolutio 11ary for music in the sixteenth century as the development of notation had been for u1e Middle Ages. By making possihle much wider elissemination of written music, printing made notated music available to a broader public anel thus fostered the growth of musical literacy. lnstead of a few precious manuscrip1s copied by haud anel liab le to ali kinds of errors and variants, a plentiful supply of new music in copies of uniform accuracy was now available- not exactly ata low price, but much less cosiJy than equivalent. manuscripls. Throughoul Eu rope anel

New Curr•nts ln the Sixteenth C•ntury

the Ame ricas. printed music spread to a broa der audience the works of cornposers who ocherwise would have been known co only :a small circle. Printed music was marketed to amateurs as weU as to professional musi cians. lndeed. írom lhis poinl through the nineteenlh centuq. tbe fashion for amateurs making music to entertain themselves or friends and family became

NNOVATIONS Amuteur music-making

an increasingly signiftcant force driving the development of music. Printing also provided a new way for composers to make money. eilher direccly by sale of Lheir works to a publisher, or indirectly by making tbeir namesand composi Lions better known and potentially .attracting newpatrons. Moreover, the exislence of prinled co pies has preserved many works for perfo rmance and study by la Ler ge nera1ions.

New outlet for co,nposers

REFORMATION One final trend in the sixteentb century drew 011 humanism, printing, and the creation of new repertories alike. Applying humanist principies to study of the Bible led Martin Luther and others to chaJJenge chmch doctrines. The resulting Refonnation beginning in l S17 ended a centuryof church unity since the resolution of lhe Great Schism. \Vhen much of northern Europe split írom the Roman Church to become Lutheran. Calvinist. or Anglican.

Music Printing A great number of gentlemen and merchants of good account [were entertained) by the exercise of music daily used in my house, and by furnishing them with [pr imed] books of that klnd yearly sent me out of ltaly and other places.

NEW REPERTORIES AND GENRES Music printing also cncouraged the rise of new repertori es and ge m es of music 1hat remained of central irnportance in la ter centuries as we ll. After the synthesis of a new internati onal style in the early ftfteenth century, the sixteenth saw a proliferation of regional and national styles. This was true especiaUy in secular vocal music, with separate lraditions emerging in Spaiu. ltaly. France. Germany. Englancl , and elsewherc (see chapter J l). This development began in the late lifteenth century but was hastened by the new market for printed music for amateurs, many of whom preferred to sing in their own language. These new vocal repertories varied from simple bomopbonic songs to more elevatecl works and from secular lO sacred, each linding its own nicbe. Amoug the uew vocal genres were tbe Spauish villancico. the ltalian .fi-ottola and madriga!. and ú1e English !tite song. The rising interest in music in vernacular languages paralleled a growing imerest in vernacular literature. includiug classics like Niccolõ Machiavelli's political treatise ll príncipe (The Prince. 1532) . Ludovico Ariosto's epie poem Orlando furioso (1532). François Rahela is's novels Ga.rga.ntua et Pant-agmeL (l 532-62), a nd Lhe plays of Lope de Vega in Spain and of Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonso,n, anel William Shakespeare in England. The ma rkel fo r print.ed music also encou raged lhe ~rst widespread devel opmen t of notated instrumen1al music (see chapter l 2). With the exceplion of a few prizcd pieces copied inlo manuscripls, mos l ins1 rumen1al music had long been improvised or lea rned by ea r. Now wo rks in improvisatio na l style were writtcn down and publishcd, alongsidc dance music, arrangemcnts of vocal music, anel works for ensemble that servecl many functions, from enterta inm ent to use in chu rch services. The resu lt was a profusion of new instrumental genres, includingvari-<ltions, prelude, tocca,ta, ccinwna, and soncua.

161

Nationc1l styles

lnst rn mental

nutsic

o wrote Nicholas Yonge- a London clerk with enough means and social posi· tion to support an active amateur musical life-in the dedication to his 1588 madrigal collection Musica uansalpina (see chapter 11). His words tel1 us how the music printing and publishing business completely changed the way people used and enjoyed notated music during the sixteenth century. allowing it to be cultivated not only in churches and noble courts but also in ordinary households as recreation. Until that time. only the very wealthy could think of purchasing a book of music. because the music had to be copied laboriously by hand (see chapter 2). But the printing press made it possible to produce many copies relatively quickly with much less labor. making music available to many more people at a much lower price. Printing from movable type. known in China for centuries and perfected in Europe by Johann Gutenberg around 1450, was first used for music in the 1470s, in liturgical books with chant notation. Using movable type meant that notes could be assembled in any order. rearranged. and reused. ln 1501. Ottaviano Petrucci (14661539) in Venice brought out the first collection of polyphonic music printed entirely from movable type. the Harmonice musices odhecaton A (One Hun1 dred Polyphonic Pieces, though it actually contained ninety-six; ·-;:,:: indicated it was the first book in a series). Figure 7.7. a page from this collection. shows the elegance of his work. Petrucci used a triple-impression process, in which each sheet went through the press three times: once to print the staff lines. another time to print the words. ~ 'Af"ll!d and a third to print the notes and the ílorid FIGURE 7.7; l<>J'Sel Compêre ·s chansan Roync de ciel. frvm Harmon icc initlals. His method was time·consuming. labor-intensive. and costly. but his results musices odhecaton A. publislted byOtraviario Perrucci in 1501. The were models of clarity and accuracy. indpii of the te,tt appears under the can.tus pari. The mu.s1c uses 1he Petrucci was no less dever as a busi··white not.atian .. ofthe Rena.issance. The notes tlia.t loak likediamond· shaped wh-0le notes are semibreves: open notes with stems (akin to half nessman than he was as a craftsman. notes) are minims: blMk notes wilh stem.s (lik·e quaner n-01es) a,re semi· Before setting up shop. he had procured a minims: a.n dJlags are a.dd.ed la th.e sem imini,n to indica te shorter dura- patent on his process and a "privileg<>" that tions. The resemblance to common·pmctke notati-On i.s clear. except that effectively guaranteed him a monopolyon music printing in Venice for twenty years. no ba.rlines or iies are 11.sed.

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C H A P T E K 7 • Music and the Renaissanco

each branch of the church developed its owu music for services and foster ed new genres , including cltora!e, metrical psalm, and anthem (see chapter 1O). Church leaders sougbt to win adherents not only through the written word but witb arl and with music. ali made easier to distribule by tbe recent invenlion of pr inting. The Catholic response. known as the Cacholic Refor -

mation or Counter-Reformation. produced some of the most glorious music of the centu1y . and one of its composers. Palestr ina. became the model for six teenth-cemury counte rpoint for generations to come.

FIGURE 7.8: Ftrst port,on ofthe supenus part for the rnoret Laudate Dominum by Pierre de Manch1couri, as printed in PierreAt.laingnant's Libc:: r d~cimus qua11us XlX musicus cantiones (Pari$,

1539). Auaingnant prinied in a single impression. using tJpe in which each note. rest. clef or orher sign índudes lhe sta.JfUnes on. which iL sir.s. (õSTr.1u,21cn rsc11E NATIONALftl euor-utK. vtcN"NA) His first volume, intended for instrumental ensembles. volume for each solo voice, so that a complete set was was an anthology of instrumental pieces and songs needed to perform any piece. Partbooks were used by without their texts underlaid, including what he judged professionals in church and by amateurs at home or in to be among the best of his own and the preceding social gatherings. as depicted in Figure 7.9. generations. The pieces were small works for three or The economics of supply and demand for printed four parts that could be performed at home or in the music grew in ever widening circles. Printing stimulated company of friends. He followed up with two more col- the desire for music books and increased their affordlections. Canti B in 1502 and Canti C in 1504, allowing ability, which in turn spurred the development of music Petrucci to comer the market for the most up·to·date printing and competition among publishers. By the end and popular secular music of the day. By 1523. he had of the sixteenth century. Rome. Nuremberg. Lyons. published fifty-nine volumes (including reprints) of Louvain, Antwerp, and London had íoined Venice and Paris as centers of music publishing, and publishers and vocal and instrumental music. Printing from a single impression-using pieces printed music had become indispensable parts of musi· of type that printed staff, notes. and text together in cal life.- BRH & JPB one operation-was apparently first practiced by John Rastell in London about 1520 and first applied on a large scale in 1528 by Pierre Attaingnant (ca. 1494-1551/52) in Paris. Although more efficient and less costly than Petrucci's triple-impression method. the process produced much less elegant results because the staff lines were no longer continuous but part of each piece of type; inevitably, the lines were imper· fectly joined and therefore appeared broken or wavy on the page. as seen in Figure 7.8. Nevertheless. the practicality of the method ensured its commercial success. Attaingnant's process set the standard for ali printed music until FIGURE 7.9. Til/e page ofSylvestro Ganassi's instruction book on copper-plate engraving became popurecorder playing. Opera intitulata Fontcgara (153:i). A recorderconsort lar in the late seventeenth century. and two singers perfonn from printed partboob. ln the foreground are Most ensemble music published in lwo cometti, cmdon lhe woll we three vi-0ls crnd a for.e. <1t•L••• sc110<>L. the sixteenth century was printed in the lf.TH (a?NTU8Y/ CIVICO ).IUSLO BIBLIOéH.Al-'ICO MUSICALÉ, BOLOGNA, 11'A1.V/C LUISA JUCform of oblong partbooks- one small CIARINI/LftMACJ!/TIIIO BRJOGEMAN ART LIBIIAKY) 163

The Legacy of the Renaissance The Renaissance e ra had a profou nd and cnduring effect on mus ic. ln d irect and indi r cct ways , deve lopments in music parallclcd tbose i n scholarship and in lhe other arts. The growing Eur opean economy, palronage for rrausicia ns. a nd thc devclopmcnt of music pri n ting laid t hc economic fou n da tion for an incr ease in musical activity that continuccl into ]ater ccnturies. Humanism and lhe recliscovery of ancient texts foslered a reexamination of musica l aesthetics. encouraging a growing p refere nce for musica l styles that focusecl on consonance, clarity, direct appeal to t:he listener, natural decla mation of words. anel emotional expressivity. The musical language forged in this period lasted for generations and undergirds the treatment of dissonance. consonance, voice - leading, and text - serling in most !ater styles. The new tunings and temperaments created for music iu the ftfteenth and six teenth centuries were used through the mid - nineteentb century. when equal temperament began to predominale. Notions about music that developed du ring the Renaissance have become widely shared expectatiot1s, so tha t pieces that do not seek to convey emotion or appeal to a broad audience. as in some twen lieth- cenlU1')' styles. have slruck some listeners as violaling basic assumpt ions aboul what m usic is and what it should do . Throughout much of lhe scventcenthand cigbtccmh ccnturics. sixtee nth cenlu ry styles e ndu red, especia lly in Catholic chu rch mus ic, a longsid e the newe r, more d rama ti c styles. Training in sixteenth- cen tury counte rpo in t was an accepted pa rt of learning mus ic compos ition from lhe scven leenlh century t hrough much of t he twentieth. Many composers, in cludi ng Bac h and Beethove n , imi tatcd sixtccnth- cc ntury po lyphonic stylc i n thci r cho ra i m usic or in other works as a <levice to suggest austerity, solemnity, or Tel igiosity. l n the late ninetee nl h and early twentieth centu ri es, mus ic of t he lifteentb and sixtecuth centuries itself was r cvived, an d scbolars begau the long process of transcribing into modero notation, editing, and publishing the thousands of surv:iv:ing works. Now pieces by Ou Fay. Josq1tin, Palestrina, and otber composers of tbe era are scaples of thc vocal repertoire. and the music of hundreds of their contemporaries is performed and recorded.

~ Resources for study and review avallable at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

166

C H A P T E K 8 • England and Burgundy in th• Fift••nth C•ntury

THE CONTENANCE ANGLO/SE

ENGLAND AND BURGUNDY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY ln about 1440, Freucb poet Martin Le Frauc lauded two composers. Guillaume Du Fay and Binchois. whose beauliful melod ies and "new practice of making lively consonance" made theii· music be tter lhan that of all lhe ir predecessors in F'rance (see Source Read ing, p. 166). He attribu ted the "marvelous pleasingness" of thei r music to the ir adop tion of what he ca lled lhe co11t.e,u111cc w,gloise (English guise or qua lity) and their emulation of English composer John Dunstable. A generation !ater, ]oha nnes Tinctoris loo ked back to thcse sarne three composers as the founders of a new art (see Source Reading in chapter 7). The iniluence of English music on Continental composers in the early tifteenth century has become a central theme of music bistory of tbis era, alougside the synthesis o·f a new international style of po lyphony and the development of the polyphonic mass cycle. both indebted to English iniluence. ln tbis chapter, we will explore these three tbemes, focusingon tbe music of Du nstable, Ou Fay. and Binchois. who from lheir time to ours have been considered lhe grea1est composers of tJ1eLr general ion. Along 1he way. we will examine what English elcmcnts were takcn over into Continen tal music, what changes in va lues lhis adoplion refl ects, anel whal. made lhe mus ic of thcse i-hrcc co mposcrs so appca li ngto rheir age.

Martin Le Franc (ca. 1410 - 1461) was a poet. cleric. and secretary to Amadeus VIII. duke of Savoy. who also employed Gulllaume Ou Fay as master of the court chapei. At the weddlng of the duke's son Louis in 1434. both Ou Fay and Le Franc had occasion to meet Binchois, who was in the retinue oi the duke of Burgundy. ln his poem Le cl,amplon des dames (1440-42). Le Franc praised the music of Ou Fay and Binchois and linked 1hem to English composers. especially John Ounstable, ln terms 1hat have shaped our vlew of fifteenth-century music history eve r since. Dunstable may have spent t,me in France ,n the service of John of Bedford. regent of France and !ater duke of Normandy. bur í1is not known wherher he knew Ou Fay or Bmchois personally. Tapissier, Carmen, Cesaris Na pas longtemps si bien chanterrent Ouilz esbahirent tout paris Et tous ceulx qui les frequenterrent: Mais oncques jour ne deschanterrenl En melodie de reis chois Ce mont dit qui les hanterrent Oue G. Du Fay el Binchois. Car ilz ont nouvelle pratique De faire frisque concordance En haulte et en basse musique En fainte. en pause. et en muance Et ont prins de la contenance Angloise et ensuy Dunstable Pour quoy merveilleuse plaisance Rend leur chant joyeux et notable.

Tapissier, Carmen, Cesaris not long ago sang so well that they astonished all Paris and all who came to hear them. But never did they discant such finely wrought melodyso I was told by those who heard themas G. Du Fay and Binchois. For they have a new practice of making lively consonance in both loud and soft muslc. in feigning. in rests. and in mutations. They took on the guise of the English and follow Dunstable and thereby a marvelous pleasingness makes their music joyous and remarkable.

French poemquoted ln Charles Vanden Borren, Gu,1/aume Du Fay: son ,mportance dans f'évolut,on de la musique au XVe s,ecle (Brussels, 1926), 53-54.

English M usic The impact of Euglis h music on Continental composers in the nrst half of the tifteenth century had both political and artistic roots. Throughout the !ater MiddleAges. the kings of England held tenitories in non hern andsouthwestern France as dukes of Normandy and of Aquitaine. \Vhen King Charles IV of France died in 1328. bis most direct heirwas King Edward III ofEngland. the son of Charles's sister. hut a cous in of Charles's assumed the throne instead. 1n 1337, war broke ou1 be1ween France and England, and Edward la id claim to lhe French crown. The ensuing conílict lasted over a century and became know n as lhe Hundred Yea rs' Wa r. During the wa r. especially after English

English Music

167

king HenryV's victory at the famous battle ofAgincourt in 1415 . the English were intensely involved 011 the Conlineni. Henry ma rri ed Catherine of Valois. daughter of French king Charles VI, and persuaded Charles to name him heir to the Freneh thro ne. When botb kings died i.n l 422. Hem-y's infant son suceeeded him as Henry VI, while his brorher John, duke of Bedford ,

POLYPHONY ON LATIN TEXTS 1'he largesl su rviving re pe rlo ry of Englis h music fro m this period co ns is ts oi' sacrcd mus ic o n La tin texts, co mposed for religio11s serv ices. One co mmon stylc uscd a cha nl. 80 mclimcs lightly cmLcllishc<l , in IJ1c m itl<llc vo ice of a three - voicc text ure . 1'he chants werc most ol'tc n from lhe Sa rum rite, thc distinct ivc chant dialect uscd in England from thc late Midd lc Ages to thc Reformalion. Asshown in Example 8.1, a pa~sage frorn a Credo of aboul 1330

EXAMPLE 8.1:

.----,

Passa-gefrom. an cmonymous English Credo (ca. 1330) .--,

Con - fi - te-o r u- num

.----,

.--,

.----, ba -pris - m:i

Con · íi · te -o,· u.. num b:.l · ptis · ma ~

in re-mitti -o- nempec - ca - 10

,----,

.---,

in rc·mís-si· o· nem pcc - cu · 10

n 1m.

.----,

rurn.

•

England and Burgundy in th• Fi ft••nth C•ntury

* TI ME LI N E England a.nd Burgtmdy in. Lhe 15th Cen.tu ry

The eontcnanec angloise

baseei ou an English variam of the Credo melody iu NA\V\1 3f. the lower voice usually moves a thil'd be low the chant , opening to a nfth at cadences and at other points for variei)•. while the upper voice mostly parallels the midclle voice a fourth above it. The resulti ng sound consiscs primarily of ~ sonoricies ( that

is. a sixth anda third above the lowest note) moving in par-

aliei motion. interspersed with open fiflh- octave sonorities. es pec ially at lhe ends of phrases and words. Paralle l fi fths, MUSICAL H ISTORICAL common throughout medieval music, are now avoidcd. and eve ry ver tical sonority is consonant. • ca. 1400 English adopted as 1'he co ntrapunta l style show n in Examp le 8.1 evo lved i nl.o national language of England a practicc o f imp roviscd po lyphony kn ow11 as fobur<le.11. , • 1414- 18 Council of in wh ich a pla inchant in Lhe midcl le vo ice was joined by a n Constance meets to end uppcr voice a perfect fourth above it anda lower voice si ng papal schism ing mostly in parall el thirds below it, beginning each phrase • 1415 English under Henry V anel endi ng phrases and most words on a fifth below. Faburdefeat French at Agincourt den was nrst rcferred to by name in about 1430 but was in use earlier, and it co111inued to be practiced until the English Ref• 1419- 35 Burgundy allied with ormation over a century !ater. Although some examples were England in war against F,ance written down. it was primarily a rule - based system for pro• 1419- 67 Reign of Philip the ducing correct, sonorous polyphony that could b e used even Good . duke of Burgundy by monks and clerics who could not read po lyphonic n ota• 1423 Guillaume Du Fay at tion or com pose complex counterpoint. The term "faburden" Rimini. writes Resvellies vous may derive from the sol mization syllable Ja plus "bu.l't:ien," an English term for thc lowest voice (used in other co ntexts • 1420s John Dunstable posto mean "refrain"). since the system frequent ly required the sibly with English in France singers to use B~ (" 8 - fa") LO harmonize wi1:h F in the chant. • ca. 1427-1453 Binchois at BurFaburden inspired tbe somewhat differem Continen tal pracgundian court lice known asfauxbourdon. described below. The eharacte ristic co nso nan ces of faburden we re also found in more so phist ica ted genres of Englis h polyphony. Cantilena, motet, Ca11tile11w1, like their apparen t ancestor the co nrluctus, we re free ly co mand Mass Ordinary posed, mostly homorhylhmi c setti ngs of Latin t.exts, not. based on ex isti ng chant melodies. ln thcse pieces, parallel ~ chords are in terspersed with othe r consonanl sonorities in a texture as appealing as fabur<len bul mo re var ied (sec I\AWM 34 . discussed bclow). The most e lcvatcd ge m e was thc motet. with che isorhytbmic mo1et gradually replacing other types by 1400. By the end of the fourteenth century, settings of Mass Ordina1y texts became the most comm o11 t)•pe of English polyphony, in styles from simple cantilenas co isorhythmic scrucrures. The principal source of early - nfteemh - cemury English polyp hony is the Old HaJI Manuscript, s hown in Figure 8.1. which cons ists primarily of settings of sections from the Mass Ordinary. along with mo tets. hymns . and sequences. Amid lhe variery of sryles and genres. the English preference for thirds and sixtJ1s is always evident.

r--,

THE CAROL l'Utn.

I aci·nowledge one l>aptism for the re,níssion ofsi11s.

C H A PT E K 8

served as regent in France. The war fmally ended in 1453 with the defeat of lhe English and the ir expuls ion from France. Dul'ing IJ1eir long sojourn in France, the English n obility brought musicia ns with lhem, signitir,antly increasing the numbcrs of English pcrformcrs and composers on the Conlinent and of English pieces copied inlo Contine ntal ma.nuscripts. Moreove r, Lhe Englis h so ugh t all iances and trade with Burgundy and o t·her lands. Cit ics like Bruges and Antwe rp in mode rn - day Belgium were teemi.ng with Engl ish dipl omais and merchants, and thus Lhe Low Co untries as well as France became pathways for im porti ng Englis h mus ic to the Co ntincnt. The rnere presence of English musicians and cornpositions might not have bcc n cn ough to effcct a major changc i11 stylc, had Co ntinenta l composcrs not n oti ccd something distinctive about Englisb music. This was the co11t c11a11cc cmgloisc, or "English qualily,'· refen-ed to by Martin Le Franc. lt con sisted especially in th e frcquent use of harmonic thirds and sixths. often in parallel motio11, resulting in pervasive consonance with few dissonances. Other conunon features included a preference for relatively sim pie melodies. regularphrasing. primariJy syllabic text- setting. and homorhytlunic textures. We obser ved tbese Lendencies in thfrteemh - cemury English polyphony (see chapter 5), and they beeame even s tronge r in Engl ish rnusic of the fourteenth and early ófteentb centuries.

168

The English sound is also ev idenl in IJ1e polyphonic corol. a disli nctively English genre. Derived from the medieval carole. a monophonic dance-song

English Music

with alcernaring so lo and chorai sections (see chapier 4). the lifteen th -century English caro! was a two - or three - pan setting of a poem in English. Latin. ora mixture of the two. Mosl caro Is are on religious subjecls. particularly lhe Christmas season and th e Virgin Ma1y. A caro! consis ts oi' a num-

ber of stanzas. ali sung to the sarne music. anda bur<le11. or refrain. wilh its own musical phrase. sung at the beginning and then repeated after each s ranza. When, wbere, and by whom carols wcrc sung is not cc rt ain, but thcy may havc bccn used at re ligious íestivals or to accompany process ions. Many ca ro Is fea ture co nirasts of texturc between two - and th rce- part and unison wri ting. Ao example isAlleluict: A n.ewe work (NAWM :13 ~ ). wh ich includes two bu rdens, fo r two and three voices respcctively. The sccond burdcn, s hown in Examp le 8.2, shows a common English texture: the top voice is most rhythmically active, while the lower voices mostly para llel it in gsonoriti es. moving out to rhe octave andi fifth at cadences.

169

170

C H A P T E K 8 • England and Burgundy in th• Fift••nth C•ntury

•+ Du Fay alternately with papal chapei or Savoy court

• 1428-39

tlieO/d Hall Mant1script. 111emanuscript was originall)' prepared in the eartyfi[U!enth cenmr:rforthe chapeL o[ Thoma,s, dukeo[Clarence (d. 142 1) , brother~{flenryV. Thesepages show a /aieradditio,i. Dunstable 's mo1e1 Veni Saneie Spiritus et emitte/ Veni Saneie Spirit1ts et iníundeNeni CrealorSpLritus/SancLi SpLritus nss ir. The manuscript passed througlisei-·era! collwors before being dortored in the lote nine& eenth centurytoth e Collegeo[S1. Edmwid. ilt O/d Rali. near Ware. for which it is n.a,ned. (AJ.LaJCnTs •.ssuvLu. Tu• ••ms•

......

...,1.., .,,,.

,.t,• ... ···· 1,

•. -· .. JI,/.....

~ -

• ..., •

Du Fay at Cambrai in Burgundy

... - le

Í3,

,t - le

• 1439-52

Martin Le Franc, Le champion des dames

• 1440-42

Du Fay in Savoy, writes Missa Se la face ay pale

• 1452-58

.---,,

Turks conquer Constantinople. ending Byzantine Empire

..-...

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= ia.

• 1453

lc r--7

French defeat English at Bordeaux, ending Hundred Years'War

• 1458- 74

,-------, lu

ia.

JOHN DUNSTABLE

Du Fay at Cambrai

Charles the Bold dies in battle, France absorbs duchy of Burgundy

• 1477

i,,.,

Three -voice su..cred works

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.. ,...... , ..~ ',t' .,q., 11••·'··· ··' •1....... ,,1. t-: • . . . . ..... .... _.., _ '... . •t-'- 11 cf• ' ' 1•·, ·~ ,,--'·•·\! .,• H ,· .,-','•1'._ t, t:

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Du Fay's Nuper rosarum {/ores in Florence

• 1436

LIURAUY UOAUO, ADO, >.IS 51950 , PP. SSV- Sb)

,1•1,, ''•,•• ,,,,., ,•• ••

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• 1453 FIGURE 8.1: An openingjrom

...

EXAMPLE 8.2: Second burderi (refrain) frorn the caro! Alleluia: A new~ work

11~1•,,•1,,

.... :

Concisc :\\

Full ~

Preemine nt among English composers in the first ha lf of th e fifte,enth cenlury was John Ounstable (ca. 1390- 1453: see biography). Among Dunstable's sixty or so compos itions are examples of all 1.he principal types of polyphony 1.hat existed in his liferi me: isorhythmic mo te ts, Mass Ordi nary seclions. sel tings of chanl. free sellings of liturgical Lexts. and secular songs. His mos! celeb ral ed motel. sbown in Figu re 8.1, is a four- parl wo rk that co mbin es the hym n Veni cre(l.tor spiritus and the sequence Veni saneie spiritus. ll is both an imp ressivc examp lc o f iso rhylh mic st ruct urc anda splend id p iece of mus ic, e mbody ing the English prefe re nce for thirds togcthe r with lifths or sixths. Dunstable's mosl numerous and hi storically imp ortanl works are his th rec - voicc sacrcd picces. scttings of antip hons , hy mn s, Mass scctions, an d othc r liturgica l or bib lical texts. Some have a ca ntus ftrmus in the teno r, serving as lhe structuraJ foundation for tbe upper voices. ln olh ers, a chanl is elaborated in thc top vo ice using a tcc hnic{UC now ca lled paraphrasc , i11 which the melody is given a rhythm and ornamented by adding notes around those of th e chant. Example 8.3 shows such a passage from Ounstable's Regina cae!i. laet(l.re. lt is characteristic of Dunstable's style that no two measures in succession have the sarne rhytbrn and tbar tbe melodies move mosily by s rep or steps mixed with tbil·ds, sometimes outlining a triad . ln a work like tlüs, Ounstable transforms the chanl into a varied. fetching melody in up - to- date siyle. 1reating it like Lhe melody of a chanson ins1ead of as a foundation in tlie te nor. Still otlier works, li ke Dunstable's setting of lhe antiphon text Quam prilchru es (NAWM 31). are not based on an existing me lody. The lhree voices

171

English Music

172

C H A PT E K 8

•

England and Burgundy in th• Fi ft••nth C•ntury

REDEFINING THE MOTET As a free. mostly homorhythmic setting of a Latin text. Quam ptdchra es could be classified as a cantilena. but in the fifteenth century it could also be called a motel . This term, coined in the thirteenlh century for pieces that added

JOHN DUNSTABLE [DUNSTAPLE] (CA. 1390-1453)

Dunstable was the most highly regarded English

of England. and subsequently he served Hum-

text to the upper part of a discant clausula. gradually broadened in mean-

composer of the fifteenth century. He composed in ali polyphonic genres o f the time and exer· cised a g reat inAuence on his contemporaries and successors. Dunstable's birthplace and early training are unknown . He was a mathematician and astrono· mer as well as a musician, recalling the medieval grouping of music with the mathematical sciences of the quadrivium. Apparently nota priest. he served a number of royal and noble patrons. Heis listed as having been in the service of John. duke of Bedford, probably while the latter was regent of France beginning in 1422. ln about 1427-37, his patron was Joan. dowager queen

phrey, duke of Gloucester. Dunstable may have spent much ofhis career in France, where he inherited part of Bedford's lands in 1437. He is the English composer most often cite d as in Auencing Continental compose rs, and his compositions are preserved chiefly in manuscripts copied on the Continent. lndeed. characteristics typical of English composers in general were often credited to him by later generations.

ing to encompass any work with texted upper voices above a cantus firmus. wheLher sacred or secular. By Lhe early f1fteemh centw·y. Lhe iso rhylhrnic motel was an old form , used for only the most important ceremonial occas ions. and by 14S0 it disappea red. Meanwhile. t11e term motet was applied to sei eings o r l itu rgical Lexts in the newer mus ical i;tyles or 1.he I i me, whethe r or no l a c hant melody was used. The term came Lo designai.e almostt any polyphoo ic composition on a Latin text. includ ing settings of texLs írom lhe Mass Prc,per and lhe Olf1ce. lt was even used fo r se ttings o r Mass Ordi nary t.cx1s bcforc thc mass cyclc beca me clc fi ned as a ge nre around thc mid · fifteenth century (see below). Since the late sixteenth century, the lerm motet has also bee n used fo r some sacred works in Cenna n and, more re cco tly, in othcr languages. Thc changing mcanings of ··motct"" in diffcrent e ras , summarized in F'i!,rure 8.2. provide anothe r example of musicians using famil iar terms for new typcs of music.

MA JO R WO RKS: Up 10 3 polyphonic mass cydes. 2

Gloria·Credo pairs, IS other Mass Ordinary movements ,

12 isorhythmic motets. 6 plainchant seltings. 20 other La tln sacred works. 5 secular songs

THE ENGLISH INFLUENCE EXAMPLE 8.3,

English music of 1he eady lifteenth century shows a range of styles, from improvised faburden and carols in popular style through sophisticated isorhythmic motets. chaut paraphrases. and free composit ions. The carols and much of the functional music for religious observances were used only in England, but tbe sound they exemplilied, of three voices joined in a euphonious progression of sonorities dominated by thirds and sixths. perva ded other English music as well. As lhe wo rks of Dunstable and others and the pract ice of faburden became known on the Continent. this so und strongly inílucnccd othc r typcs of composit ion. Thc English sound stccrcd composcrs towa rd homo rhythmic textures and helped win acceptance fo r conspicuous third and sixth sonorities in the harmo ni c voca bulary. l t also led to the eme rgcncc on lhe Cont i ,,cnt of a ncw way of writ i ng fo·r th rcc parts: the uppcrvoice,

Caniusji-om Dun.stublú Regina cae li laetare compared wilh original plainchant,

•

; lc

•

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F I J r· ç I J J le -

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---- _

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FIGURE 8. 2: The

c/1anging meani.ngs

in this work are similar in character and nearly equal in imporrance. They move mostly in the same rhythm and usually pronounce the sarne syllables together. The form of the piece is not predetermined. nor structured by repeating rhyt1unic pauerns as in an isorhyt11mic motel. bul is inlluenced by the phrases and sections of the text. Dunstable uses natlll'alistic rhythmic declamation of the text to cal! attention to certain words and thus to their meanings. an approach tha Lremaioed characte ristic of music throughouL the Renaissance. The vertical sonori tics are conso nant, except for brief suspensions at cadences. yet show considerahle variety. The streams of Í sonorities found in faburden appea r on ly in a few phrases. lead ing in l.o a cadence.

of"moiet. ··

Polypho·nic piece derived f rom d isc3nL clausula, wi1h words added 10 the uppervoice

Polyphonic pieee witb one or more upper voices. eaeb wit h sacred or secular tcxt io La Ii n or Frer"1ch. ;,bove tenor rrom chanl or othcr sourcc lsorhythmic mo1e1: 1.e nors1ruc1ured by isorhyrhm

Used for polyphon ic seuingof a La1in text. usually sacred or ccrcmonial. othcr than a mass cyclc

;\ lso used for some polyphonic seuir,gs of sacrcd texts in Ccnnan and (much latcr) in other languagcs

173

Muslc ln the Burgundfan Lands

174

C ti A P T E li 8 • England and Burgundy in th• Fifteenth Century

wbich has the principal me lodie line as in fourteenth -century chansons. ís coupled with a tenor as if in a duet. and the two parts-and evennially the contratenor as well-are more uearly equal in importance. in melodie quality. and in rhythm. ln lhese ways. English in11uence was an essential lemell[ in the international style of the mid-to- late li.fteell[h centmy. As we

tbree siugers by l 445. surpassecl only by the king of England's chapei. At ftrst, musicians were recruited chiefly from northern Frauce. But because Philip the Good and bis successor, Charles the Bold (r. 1467- 77), resided

will see below. English composers also pioneered the polyphonic mass. the

in the north rather than in Dijon. most of

largest and most prestígious musical genre of the Renaissance.

Lheir musicians came from Flanders and lhe Low Colllltries (modern-day Belgium and Lhe Ne Lherlands). ln addition to his chapei, Pl1ilip Lhe Goocl mainta ined a band of minstrelsplayers of trumpets, drums. vielle, lute, harp, organ, bagp ipcs, anel shawms- which includcd musicians frorn France. Italy. Germany. and Portugal. The painting in Figu re 8.4 depicts singers and instrumenialists performing at one of Philip's lavish entertainmenls. Charles the Bolei was particularly kecn 011 music. being an amateur instrumentalist and composcr. His deatb in 1477 le ft Burgundywith no rnale heir. The cluchy itsclf was absorbed by the F'rcnch kiog, but Cbarles's daughter Mary of Burgundy anel her s011 Pbilip the F~ir continued to reign over the Burgundian territories in tbe Low Coumries and maintained lhe chapei.

Music in the Burgundian Lands On the Europeao mainland. musicians con nected with the courl of Burgundy o r traincd in Burgundian lands played a particularly important role in thc development of an international musical id iom in the iifteenth century.

THE D UCHY OF BURGUNDY

FI GURE 8.3, Ma.p The duke of Burgundy was a feudal vassal of the king of France, yet for a time sltowing 11tegrow1/t virrually cqua led lhe king in power. During the late fourteenth and lifteenth of Burgund,a.11 posses· centuries, successive dukes acquired large tersions. 1363- 1477. ritories. partly through political marriages and diplomacy that took aclvantage of tbeir kings' distress ÍJ:l the Hundred Yeass' War; indeed, for a time (1419- 35) Burgundy was allied with the English against lhe French king. Thus to Lheir original liefs, the duchy and county of Burgundy in east·central France, the dukes added most of modern -day Netherlands. Belgium . northeastern France. Luxembourg, and Lorraine, as shown in Figure 8.3. The dukes of Burgundy ruled over lhe wbo lc as visluaUy independent sove reigns until 1477. Though thci r nom ina l cap ital was Dijon , thc dukcs had no f1Xecl c ity of residence but 11ojourned al various places in thei r domin ions. The main orbit of the Burgundian court by the mid -lifteenth • .Me11, century was around Lille. Bruges, Ghenl, and espccially Brusscls, an arca compri sing modSrrMbO'!fg em Belgium and northeastern France. Most LORRAINE of the leading composers of the late lifteenth HAU'l' E century carne from the Burgundian territories, ,\IS,\.CL and rnany of them were con.nected with the OI CnYOf' l • , BURGIJi\ OY 1>•"\,l B•p• Burgundian court. \ o·· • . Bcs.anç_yrl ,,. The first duke of Burgundy. Phi lip the ' 'l: " COUN1Y OF / 8eo11ne BURGU/'IDW Bold (r. 1363- 1404) . establisbed a chapei (f!IANCIIÉ o iu 1384. and it soou beca me 011e of Europe's C h:u-0Ue• COMT"~ 'ºº 0 largesl and rnost resplendenl. Under Philip km the Good (r. 1419- 67). it reached twenty-

FIGURE 8.-4, An ou! · d,oore11tertairu11e11t at lhe co1u1 of Duke Philip lh e Good of Burgundy. Muswwns pla.y an d singfor the d1ik·e (ceruer) and his

companr , ·while in lhe backgroi,ncl hur11ers M e chasinggame. Detail Jrom a si.1:teentltcenlmy cop)" ofan anonymous fijieen ,h cen1t1ry pain t,i11g. (cHA· TCAUX DE VERSAlLLES ET DE

TBIANON, VCRSAI U.f.S. FIL\.NCE. PHOTO: BJUDCE.M.Ai.'i• Clll.AUDOS/

ART RESOUkCE. :,,'Y)

COSMOPOLITAN STYLE The cosmopolitan atmosphere of lifteenth -centu1y courts was constantly renewed by visits from foreign musicians. ln addition. members of the chapei lhemselves were continually changing. moviog from ooe cou1·l lo another ín response to better opportun ities. Thesc c ircumstances, along with increasing lradc across thc Contincnt. fostcrcd a comrnon musical style. Thc prcstigc of lhe Burgundian court was such lhat the music cu ltivated tbere influe:nced orher Eu ropean musical cente rs: the chapeis of the pope at Rome, of the empe ror in Ge rmany, or the French anel English kings , andor lhe various lta lian cou rls, as well as cathed ral choirs.

GENRES AND TEXTURE Composers in tbc 1ni.d - liftee1Jth century produced four principal rypes of polyphonic composition: secular chansons witb French texts; motets; Magnificats; and settings of the Mass Ordinary. Most pieces were for three voices. iu a combination rcsernbling the fourceentb -ccntury Frencb cl:ian s011 or ltalia11 baUata but with slightly l.u·ger ranges for each voice, the ~antus spanning about a tenth or twelftb (around a to e" ore") and tenor and contratcnor both in a range about a sixtb lower (usually e 10 e' or g') . As i11 fourteenth-ce11tury music, each liue has a distinct rol e, wirh the main melody in the cantus. contrapuntal support in the tenor. and harmoníc filler in the contra tenor.

175

Muslc ln the Burgundian Lands

176

C H A P T E K 8 • England and Burgundy in the Fiheen,h Ceniury

EXAMPLE 8.4,

BINCHOIS [GILLES DE BINS] (CA. 1400-1460)

Binchois. De plus en plus, openingphrase

7 = red no1a1ion

Cantus

Gilles de Bins. known as Binchois, was along with Dunstable and Du Fay one of the three most important composers of his generation. Ata time when the Burgundian court was a focus of musical activity, Binchois stood at the center of the court's musical life. His works were widely recopied and emulated by many other composers. Sinchois was probably born and trained in Mons. where he was a chorister and organist. He went ro live in Lille in 1423. and apparently spent some time in the service of William Pole. earl of Suffolk, who was with the English forces occupying France. He joined the chapei of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, by 1427. and served at court until retiring in 1453 on a generous pension.

plus c:n plm; _ _

Like other musicians of his generation, he was pa id principally to perform at the chapei services and court entertainments of his patron. and only secondarily to compose. His direct contact with English musicians and his three-decade career at the Burgundian court made him a central figure in the creation of a Burgundian style that incorporates English inAuences.

'-----'

Music and text

Melodyand counte,poi.nt

Cadences

Binchois's chansons

vel

More and more renews again . ...

l'ANJS, MS. Pk. 114 1(>. f'. 98ft)

ln the ft fteenth cc ntury, the tcrm cl1<inson cncompasscd any polyp honic setting of a French secular poem. Chansons most often set stylized love poems in the co urtly trad ition offi.,ie amour (see chapter 4), and most followed the form of tbe rondeau (ABaAabAB). Ballades were written for ceremonial occasions. but gradually went out of fashion. Binchois, the most important composer at the court of Philip the Good (see biography and Figure 8.5) . was particularly esteemed for bis chansons. His well- known rondeau De pltis en pltis (NAWM 3S). from arounel 1425. exemplifies his style and the Burgundia n chanson. Example 8.4 shows the opening phrase. Most composiúons Crom Lhis era are in lhe equivalenl of eilher ~o,·~ mete r: dup le meter was useel mai nly in su belivisions of longer works, to provi de conLrast. De plus en plus is in ~- wilh occasional cross- rhylhms of lhree quarter notes, an effeet called ltemioln (see measure 3). Li ke Dunstable. Binehois

nou

Tenor

S1 rondeaux. 7 ballades

BINCHOIS AND T HE BURGUNDIAN CHANSON

MAJO R WORKS: 28 mass movements (some ln GloriaCredo ar Sanctus-Agnus pairs), 6 Magnificats, 29 motets,

FIGURE 8.5: Binchois. holding a harp (on lhe right). and Gt1iUaume Du Fay. nexl l-0 a por1a1ive organ, m aminiaturefromMariin.LeFranc'spoem Lc champion des damcs (/440- 42). Binchois. Du Fay. and Le Francwere togetheral Savoyin 1434 when Binchois visited wir.h the duke of Burgundr's relinue, and lhe Lwo composers may hove met on oiher occa-sions as well. (arnuOTu íQu11 NATJONAJ.r..

se:: rt

varies the rhythm l'rom measure to measure, enlivening it witb dotted ligures and subtle syncopations. Yet the result is much Jess intricate than rhythms in chansons by Machaur or Ars Subtil ior composcrs. The cantus declaims the text clearly. As in most chansons of the time, the setting is mostly syllabic, especially at the beginning of each Jine of poetry. Groups of two to four notes provi de variety. and longer melismas appear only at the most impo11ant caelences, in contrast to the more frequent melismas in fourteenth-century songs. The main melody in the cantus moves as often by skip as by step. outlin ing an ascending triad (as il was ]ater called) and Lben descending Lhe scale to create a fluid, gent.ly arching line. The te nor is slower but traces a simi lar arch. alterna tingskips and steps. and the lwo voices fo rmgooel two -part counterpoint. mostly in sixths and thirds. The contra tenor, by compa rison. is full ofski ps anel leaps,ju mpingbetween notes chosen to ftll out 1.he harmony. Like lhe eontratenors of fourteenth- century cbansons. il sounels at times abov,e lhe tenor anel ai othe r Limes below it. The music is almost who lJy co nso nanl, wi th only a ícw di ssonanccs, all ca rcfully introdueccl as passi ng to nes, nc iglh bo r tones. or suspensions. Tbe upbeat opening, the full consonanl harmony. lhe ma ny melodi e third s, and lhe triad ie skips in can tus anel contratenor rellecl the infl ucncc of English music. The preferred cadence formtlla in the mid- f,fteen Lh cen tury was still a major sixth cxpanding to an octavc betwecn e,mtus and tenor, often clccorated i11 thc cantus with a l~1ncl ini cadence (see Examples 6.5 anel 6.6). Thc end of tbe pbrase in Example 8.4 illustrates a newer version of this cadence, in which the eontratenor sounds a ftfth bclow the pcnuJtimate tenor note, then lcaps up an octave 10 a ófth above me tenor's final note. Modem ears may hear the effect of the lowest note risi11g a fourth, as in the commo11-practice dominant- tonic cadence.

r::-::::-7 1

Concis, ~

Guillaume Du Fay Meter and rhythm Guil laume Du Fay (ca . 1397- 1474; see biograp hy anel Figure 86) was the mos t famous composer of bis time. He was associated with lhe Buq,<tindian courl.. allh ough his appoi nlment to 1.he ducal chapei was probab ly hono rary.

Guillaume Ou Fay

177

GUILLAUME DU FAY [DUFAY] (CA. 1397- 1474)

178

C H A P T E K 8 • England and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century

Traineel at the Catheelral of Cambr ai in northern Prance. he often trave led so uih, serving as a chapei musician in ltaly anel Savoy (now in soutbeastern France). but he frequently returned to Cambrai, where he spent his later career. His many traveis exposed him to a wiele variety or music. from his French anel Italian pr eelecessors to hi s English anel Bu rgundian contempo-

Du Fay was the leading com-

raries and younger composers such as Johannes Ockeghem (see chapter 9).

poser of his time and one of the most widely traveled . Patrons competed for his services. and the positions he held in ltaly, France, and the Lowlands acquainted him with a wide range of musicians and styles. He excelled in every genre. and his music was known and sung throughout Europe. The son of a priest and an unmarried woman, Du Fay was born in modern-day Belgium. probably in Beersel. near Brussels. He trained in music and grammar in the cathedral school of Cambra i in northeastern France, FIGURE 8 .6: Bas-relieffro,n Du Fafsfuncral monument. showing where he became a choirthe composer ~·neelingin prayer (!ower leji). (Muste ors se..ux-••-rs. ULLB, boy in 1409. He sojourned JlllOTO: RÍIDHON DtS MUSÊ:ES NATIONAO'XJA.81' ILBSOOl\CE. r,.-y') with a patron at the Council of Constance (1414-18) Cambrai, by then under Burgundian control. He in southern Germany, which ended the Great Schism between rival popes. then returned to served as an administrator at Cambrai Cathedral Cambrai as subdeacon at the cathedral. ln 1420, and enjoyed at least an honorary appointment to the chapei of Duke Philip the Good . After the he entered the service of Cario Malatesta at Rimini. on the Adriatic coast of northern ltaly. papal schism was resolved. Du Fay returned to He returned north in 1424. then worked during Savoy in 1452-58 as honorary chapei master for Duke Louis. He spent his last years at Cambrai as 1426- 28 for Cardinal Louis Aleman in Bologna, where he became a priest. canon of the cathedral. living in his own house and enjoying considerable wealth. Du Fay served two periods in the papal chaDu Fay's music survives in almost one hun pei. in 1428-33 at Rome and again in 1435-37 dred manuscripts copied between the 1420s and during the pope's exile in Florence and Bologna. Alternating with his service to the pope, he was the early sixteenth century in regions from Spain chapei mas ter in 1433-35 and 1437-39 at the court to Poland and from ltaly to Scotland. attesting to of Amadeus VIII, duke of Savoy, whose territories his popularity and fame as a composer. included parts ofsoutheastern France, northwestMAJOR WORKS: At least 6 masses. 35 other Mass ern ltaly, and western Switzerland. When in 1439 movements. 4 Magn,ficats. 60 hymns and other a church council deposed the pope and elected chant settongs, 24 motets (13 ,sorhythm,c, 11 freely Amadeus pope. Du Fay escaped the conflict composed), 34 plainchant melodies, 60 rondeaux. between his two major pacrons by returning to 8 ballades. 13 other secular songs

anel he ahsorbed many of their stylislic traits into his own music. sometimes comhining contrastiag styles i n a single piece. Ris music rep resen ts we11 Lhe international siyle of lhe mid - ftfteenlh cen l.u ry.

CHANSONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE Du Fay·s blendiag of aalional traits can be l raced in his cbansons . He wrote Resvellies vous (NAWM 36) in 1423 wh il e in l taly at t he cou r t of Rimini and Pesa ro, to celebrate h is patron's wedding. This chanson s hows an ea rly stage in Du Fay's synthesis of styles, drawing 011 four teenth- century French and lta lian elcmcnts but not yct on English !Taits. Prcnch char actcrist ics includc tbe balladc form (aabC), many long melismas, frcqucnt syncopation, and some free dissonances. Example 8.5 shows one phrase with cross - rhythms between thc parts anel severa) clissonant ornamental notes, more aki n to those in fourteentb - century po lyphony than to later flfteenth - century practice influenced by English music. Some passages recall the Ars Subtilior, with rapid notes in var ious elivisions of the beat. in cluding t ri plet like úguraiion. lcali an elements i ncluele relatively smooth vocal melodies, melismas 011 Lhe last accented syllab le of each line of text , anda meter change for the b section, paralleling the chauge of meter at the ritoruello in the ltaJian madrigaJ. Sela face aypaLe (NAWM 38a). a ballade Du Fay wro LeahoUl tenyears !ater 1 Conc1Se i\\ 1 1 Full i\\ 1 while at the court of Savoy, shows t he strong influ ence of English music, as seen in Example 8.6. Both tenor anel cantus are equally tuueful. an English t rait. while the contrateno r leaps around Lo f1II in lhe har mony, lying somet imes above and sometimes below the tenor, like those in ea rlier Fre n ch chansons. Thc cantus and tenor melodies are graccful. mostly stcpwisc. anel pr ima ri ly syllab ic wil.h brief meli s mas, drawing o n b!lth ltalian a nd English cha racteristics wh ile leaning towa rd t.he lauer with re lat ively b ri e f, clea r ly demarked phrases. Yet lhe rhythmic e nc rgy of the Prc nch AJ'S Nova is stil\

EXAMPLE 8.5:

Du FaJ, Resvelli es vous, mrn. 12- 15

• - d1ssonant note

.s. Cantus

Tout ª "mou

rcux qui gcn ti lcs

st: a

mcs ,$.

Contratcnor

.s. Teno1·

All lovers who lo<'e gentleness

Guillaume Ou Fay

EXAMPLE 8.6,

DtL Fay. Se la face ay pale. mm.. J- 10

fac;e

J>ª

face

,----------,

180

C ti A P T E li 8 • England and Burgundy in th• Fifteenth Century

FIGURE 8.7, 77te

Corhedrc,l ofSanta Mo rio dei Fiore in Florence. Du Faywrote 1/te i$orl,_rthmic motel Nuper n1urnm ílor~s for lhe co11secra1ion. i n 14360/the dome. designed b;r Fil1ppo Brunell~sch,. t1•uoro,

C.intus

Tetlor

179

L::i <:au - sc::

lc.

t::SI

,1 -

La cause ~i a

Se ln íace

SCA.WART llESOUlh~I!. NY)

- mer.

c ·cst

prin

J)(I

mer,

C-est

prin

,----------,

le.

lJ mrfa.ce is pole, the couse is /ove. tlwt is the principo-1 reason. Isorhythmic motets

present. in frequent syncopation and constantly va1ying rhythms. The harmony is consonanr throughou t, with prominent thirds, sixths, and full triads (as rhey were !ater called), an d very few dissonances, all carefully controll ed as suspens ions or ornamental tones . Finally. the chanson is no longer in the f1xed ío n n of the ballade (aabC). but is freely composed. alrhough rhe poem itselí is clea l'ly a ba ll ade with three verses anda refrain. The English contribution is essential, yet the music is no t merely Englisb in sound: rathe r. it rep resents a blending of cha racteristics írom ali lh ree naliona l tradi1ions to forma new intcrnat ional musica l lanbruage.

MOTETS AND CHANT SETTINGS Ou Faywrotesacred music ina variety of styles. Most wo rks werein lhree voices in a tcxturc rcsc mbling th c chanson, with the main mc lody in thc ca ntus supported by tenor and contracenor. The cantus mighc be newly composed, as in Ou Fay"s cantilena motets, hui in many cases it was an em.bellished paraphrase of chant, reworkecl into a melody in up - to- date cha nson style with the kinds of rhythmic variety and cademial óguration we have seen in chansons by Binchois (NAWM 35) and Ou Fay himself (NAWM 38a). Ou Fay and other continental composers of the second quarter of the ó fleentb cenrury became fascinated with successions of thirds and sixrhs through hearing mus ic imported írom England. Twenty-four pieces by Du Fay and over a bundred by other composers use a technique called f(IL1xbourdo11 , which was inspi red by English faburden aJt.hough t.he procedw·e is differeut. Only the can tus and tenor were written out, moving mostly in parallel sixths and ending eacb pru·ase ou an octave. A lhird voice. unwrit1:en. sang in exacl. pa ra ll el a fourt.h below lhe can l.us, producing a slream of ~ sonorities end ing on ano pen liflh and octave, as in fabu rden. The technique

Fa.u.xbo1irdon

was used chiefly for settings of rbe simpler Ofóce chants: hymns, antiphons, psalms, and canticles. Du fay's setting of the hymn Christe. redemptoromniU1n (NAWM 37) uses fauxbourdon. paraphrasing the chant in the eantus. Only tbe even - num.bered stanzas were sung polyphonically, alternating with tbe others in plainchant. ln addition to motets in the modem chanson style and pieces using fauxbourdon , Ou Fay and b is con tempo raries slill wrote occasional isorhyt hmic mote ts for solemn public ceremonies, following the convention thal an archaic musical style. like an a rchaic literary slyle, was especially s uitahle for ceremonial and state occasions. Ou Fay's Nuper rosarum flores performed in 1436 at the dedi cat ion of Fil ippo Brunelleschi's magnificent dome fo r lhe Cathedral o f Santa Maria dei Pio re in Flo rence, shown in Figu re 8 .7, was such a wo rk. Ou Fay's use of two iso rhythmic tenors, both baseei on lhe sarne chanl, may havc been an allus ion to Bruncllcschi's use oi" lwo vaults to suppo rt thc dome. Ou Fay wrolc lhe motct wh ilc scrv ing in thc chapei of Pope Eugene IV, who officiatcd at lhe dedicalion. Another o f his morets. Suprem.um esi morta.libus bonc,m (1433), writtcn to commemo rate lhe me eting of Pope Eugen e wilh King S.i gismund of Hunga,y, emp e rorclect of the Ho ly Roman Empirc, altcrnatcs scctions in isorhythm. fauxbourclon, anel free eounterpoint in a master ful comb inatio n of these strongly conlrasting styles.

The Polyphonic Mass Like their English colleagues, composers on the Coutinent wrote polyph onic settings of Mass Ordinary texts in increasing num.bers during the late fourteenth ant.l early f1 fteenth centw·ies. Until abou t 1420. Lhe v31'ious items of 1he Ordinary were usua lly composed as separate pieces (Machaut's mass and a few others excepted). though occasionally a comp iler would l,'l'Oup them toge1 her. ln lh e cou rse of the lifleenl.h century. ii. beca me sta ndard p ractice

The Polyphonic Mass

for composers to set the OrdinaJ)' as a coherem whole. Leading this develop ment were English composers, notably Dunstable and his compatriot Leonel Power(d.1445). At fust composers linked only two sections together. typically a Gloria and Credo- the two movements that framed the readings and responsorial chants,

181

182

C H A P T E K 8 • England and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century

wTote the earliest such masses. but the practice was quickly adopted ou the Continenc, and by the second hali of the fifteenth century it became rhe prin cipal type of mass. The tenor cantus lirmus was written in long notes and usually i.n an isorhythmic pattern, as i n the isorhythmic motel. \Vhen this melody was a

Paired movements

wbich were the high point of the first half of Mass- or a Sanctus and Agnus Dei.

chant. a rhythm was imposed on it. When the borrowed melody was a secu-

which framed the pre paralions for communion in the second half. Movements we re paired by having the sarne arrangement of voices (indicated by clefs), lhe sarne moda l centcr, sim ilar musica l material, or othcr common e lements. Gradually composers b roadened lhe µraclice to include ali f,ve ma in items of the Ordina ry- Kyri e, Glo ria , Credo, Sa nc1us, and Agnus Oei- in a wo rk ca llcd a polyphonic m.a.ss qcle. o,· s imp ly a 111<1ss. (.l n common usage, although 1.h e chu rch service-lhe Mass- is capitalized. the musical genre is not.) Excep l. fo r the Kyrie and Glor ia , wh ich we re sungback to back, the items in the Ordi nary were d ispcrscd throughout thc Mass liturgy, with a grcat dcal of chant between them. Linking th e Ordinary items through impressive polyphony gave a musica l s hape to t he wholc service. appropriate for thc most imponant occasions.

lar tune . as was frequenlly the case after 1150. the song's original rhythm was normally reta ined, but in successive appearances the pauern could be made faster or s lower in rclation to 1he other voices. Of1.en composers used lhe tenor of a po lyphonic chanson. and when they did so. they typically hor rowed some e lements from lhe other voices as well; such a mass is some1i mcs ca lled acout11s-fi,·11111sli111it.otio11 111<1ss becausc it im ilatcs mo re t hao one voice of lhe sou rce. The mass usually der ived its name from lhe horrowed me lody. One of the melodies used most frequen tly was /;homme a,rmé (The a l'med man), a wc l1- known popular song in t he ftfteenth centttry. Most major composers for more thao a centu ry. including Ou Fay, Ockegbem, Josqui n , and Palcstrina, wro tc at lcast onc Missa L'homme 0,mié, s howi ng that writing a mass on this cantus ftrmus had become a venerable tradition , perhaps serving as a test of younger composers· ability to create something new from fami liar material. Early cantus - &rmus masses were for three voices. Placing the borrowed melody in rhe tenor followed ihe motet tradition but created compositional problems. The sound - ideal of the fafteentb century needecl tbe lowest voice to function as a harmonic foundation, pa1·ticularly at cadences. Letting lhe lowest voice carry a melody th at could not be a!tered limited tJ1e composer's ahiJity to provide such a foundation. The solution was to add a fourth voice below the tenor. This innovation was apparently introduced by tJ1e anonymous English composer of Missa Ca1>ut, a mass from the l 440s. The cantus nrmus. chosen for theological reasons (see Music in Con text: N!asses and Oragons). lay in a high l'ange, making it appropl'iate to arld anothcl' vo ice below. Other composcrs soon adopted the sarne approacb fo r lhcir cantus - f1rmus masscs. rccognizing il as a way to achicvc greate r co nlrol of the ha r mony. The widesp read use of four- vo ice tex1.ure, wh ich sp rcad fl'om cantus - fi r mus masses to othc r ge nrcs by thc end of the cen l ury, cha rJgcd rnusic forcvc r. The vo ice below the te nor was called at first co11trntc11or b<tssus Oow contratenor) and later simply basms, the source of our English term bass for a low male voice. Ahove the tenor sounded a second contratenor called co11tra.tc11or alt11s (high contratenor), later altus, hcnce alto . The h ighest part, the cantus (melody), was also called discan11ts (discam) or superius (highest); from the latter (through Italian) comes our term SOJJ1'a110 . These four voice parts became standard by the latter !ifteenth century and remain so today. Ou Fay'sMissaSelafacea.y pale is one of the most celebrated cantus - ftrmus masses and the nrst complete mass to use a secular tune for a cantus nrmus. He used lhe tenor of his own ballade Se la. face ay pale (see Example 8.6) in the tenor of the mass. He apparently wro te the mass in the 1450s while aL Savoy and may have bol'l'owed the ballade, written two decades earlier for the sarne courl. to honor the Holy ShJ'Oud. acquired by the duke of Savoy in 1453. The Shroud. shown in Figure 8.9. was be lieved to be Jesus' bur ial shroud

Polyphonic mass

cycles

MUSICAL LINKS IN MAS$ CYCLES Grouping music for the Mass Ordinary inro cycles. with one setting for each text. goes back to the thirteenth centmy with cycles of p!ainchants for each Ordinary item except lhe Credo (see chapter 3). Scribe s occasionally grouped polyphonic settings into cycles in the fourteenth centmy. Bur such cycles were nol necessarily mus ically related . Composers in tbe lifteentb cenlury devised a var iety of means to link the separate sections of a mass to each other. ln the context of a liturgy that was mostly sung in p laincha111 , some sense of connection resuhed simply from compos ing all fwe parts of the Ordinary in the same general style, whetber íreely composed. based on paraphrased chants in 1he uppe r vo ice, o r using a can1us n rmus in the 1enor. \Vhcn the composer bascd cach movcmcnl on an existing chanl for tbat texl (l he Ky r ie on a Ky ri e chant, and s o on). l he mass gained cohe rence bccausc t hc borrowcd melodies wcrc all Jitu rgica lly appropriate, a lthough not related mus ically. A mass that uses chan1 in lh is way is called a ,,lai11so11g mass. Many plainsong masscs. including Machaufs, wer c writtcn to bc sung dttring a Lady Mass, a special service dedicated co 1he Virgin Mary. Composers cou!d create a more noticeable musica l connection by using thc samc thcmatic materia l in a li movements of thc mass. A frcqucnt stratcgy early in the üfteenth cennuy consisted of beginning each movement wilh the same melodie motive , in one or all voices. A mass that uses such a he,,<lmotivc as its primary linking <levice is called a motto m<1ss.

CANTUS-FIRMUS MAS$ The use of a head-mo tive was soon comb ined with (and sometimes superseded by) another way of linking movements: co nstmcting each one around the sarne cantus fa r mus. normally placed in lhe tenor. This type of mass became known as a cw1l11s-fir11111s m11ss or tenor ,ncu;s. English composers

Three -voice masses

Four-voice te:i:ture

Stylistic coherence

Plainsong mass

Mottorna.ss

D1tFay·s Missa Se la face ay pale

The Polyphonic Mass

MASSES AND DRAGO NS The choice oí a cantus firmus for a mass often conveyed meanings through the words associated with the borrowed melody. as was true for isorhythmic motets. Three íamous masses com posed between 14 40 and 1490 use as a cantus firmus a long melisma on the word caput (head). Anne Walters Robertson has linked these masses to the theological view of Jesus crushing the head of Satan, depicted as a dragon or serpent. T he image goes back to Genesis 3:15, in which God says to the serpent who tempted Eve, · t will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he [her seed] shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.'' Other biblical passages equate dragons to sin. Jesus was often depicted in medieval and íifteenth-century art as stepping on a dragon at his resurrection or at the Last J udgment. ln clties all over England. France, and the Lowlands. in the days leading up to Easter and to Ascension (celebrating Jesus' ascent into heaven), churches and outdoor processions displayed effigies or ban ners of a dragon . symbolizing the evil that J esus defeated. The first Missa Caput was composed by an unknown Englishman (possibly Dunstable), probably for use in a Mass for Ascension linked to just such a celebratlon. The melisma was drawn from an English chant for Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, that described Jesus' washing the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion. Using this chant as a source joined the idea of Jesus crushing the dragon's head (from the word caput) to the events that led up to his resurrection and to the symbolic washing away oí sin. Jean de Ockeghem and Jacob Obrecht (see chapter 9) wrote their Caput masses not only in emulation of the earlier mass (as has long been assumed) but no doubt for the sarne reason, to create a mass appropriate for this festival. T he connection to dragons is explicit in the manu -

script of Ockeghem's mass in Figure 8.8. which shows a warrior fíghting a dragon. As is often true with music, knowing the historical background for a piece helps us understand aspects rhat we would otherwise miss. ln O-ckeghem's Missa Caput, the cantus fírmus is notated in the tenor rang e but with instructions to push it down an octave, making it the lowes t voice; this symbolizes in musical terms Jesus pressing down the head of the dragon. Placing the cantus firmus ín the lowest voice for all five movements was unique among four-voice masses. and here it creates another musical symbol. The note B occurs oíten in the cantus íirmus. and Ockeghem misses few chances to emphasize the intervai of a tritone between B in the bassus and F in a higher voice. The tritone. normally avoided. was known as "diabolus in musica' (the Devi! in musíc). because it bedeviled singers and could be regarded as a corruption of a perfect íiíth or fourth. 1ts prominence in this mass embodies the devi! whose head is being trampled by Christ.

FIGURE 8.8 /!luminalion of uwanwrand d,ragon acC<Jmpanying Ockeghem 's Missa Caput in a monuscripi cop1ed ca. 1498. The ,~, follow1ng lhe mus,c i n~tmcts the si ngerto Lowerr.he ca pul canuu; fimws an. octcwe. (O 81BUOT! CA Al'OSTOLICA VATICANA IVAT(CAN J. MS CHIÇI C.Vlll 23 4 l CHJCI C()DP.X) , fOL MV)

183

184

C ti A P T E 11 8 • England and Burgundy in th• Fifteenth Century

FIGURE 8. 9, The Holy Shroud. now known as the Shrottd ofTiirin o.Jter 1he c,ty where ,t h.as been sLnce l5'18. Although ,1s lustory can only be traced wi1h. cer1ainP)' sincc

1390. il wus w idely

belicvcd to be the buria l shroud offesu.s on which somehow his image was preserved. sli owingwounds 10 l/1e h.ands.Jeet. forehead. a.nd side consistent wi1l1accoi.nts ofhis cnicif1.1;ion. Thefro,11 image is on lhe lower portion ofthe Shroud. tlle back abovc it amL upside down. reflec1i11g lhe war tlte clo1h was wrapped u,·owid 1hc bOdJ:

( HtBJt.EW WJ KJ PEDW

Wlltl >.(tDI.A C0},1,1,(0 SS)

and was one of t he most prized relics of lüs crucinx ion. As Anne Walte rs Robertson has r ecently ar gued . t he images in Ou Fay's ballade of a pale face an d suffering for the sake of lave can be understood to refer to Ch rist's death on th e cross for the loving redemptio n

of human souls. making the ballade a litti ng basi s for

a mass s ung ai a service to hon or the Shroud. Ou Fay's use of a secular chanson as a can tus ftrmus in this m ass launched a centu ry- long trad ili on of masses based on secular songs. and it see m s Jikely l ha! in mos! cl r ali cases t he re was a sim ila r sym bol ic m ean ing lo t he choice of song. ln Missa Se la face ay pa.le. Ou Fay appl ied the method of the isor h)11 hm ic m ote t o n a larger scale. The rhyth mic pattc rn of the tenor m elody from h is ba llade is p reserved in lh e teno r of lhe mass, hu i s ubjected to a11gme 11tatio11 . ln thc Kyrie, San ctus, anel Agnus De i, the duration of each note from the ballade is doubled . ln the Glo ria (l\AWM 38b ©,no••filITT) and Credo, the cautus lirmus is heard three tim es. ln Example 8.7b. lwe see the opening of the song's tenor in the tenor of th e Gloria at "Adoramus te."' sung at tripie the original dnrat io n ; that is . each bea t o f the erigi nal tenor part corresp onds to three bea ts here, or an eutire measure in the other parts. \Vhen the ballade melody r epeats, at "Qu i to llis" (8.7c). lhe or iginal no te values are doub led úwo b ea cs for each origi nal beat). 0 nly wh en the melody appear s a third time, at ·'Cu m san cto spi r itu" (8 .7d). is the melody easily recognized. b ecause il is h ear d a l its n o1·mal tempo . At lhe closing Amen. as lhe teno r si ngs lhe Ji nal melisma from the ba llade teno r. po rt ions of the ballade's ot he r vo ices ar e borrowed as well. rnaking lhe all usion cvcn mo re rccognizab le . Th is bor rnwing frorn mul tiplc vo ices ma kes l he wo rk a ca nt.us - F1rmu s/im il.at io n mass. l n addi t io n, the movc mc nts are linkcd t hr ough a s harcd hca d - mot ive, as is oftc n t ru c fo r ca nt us - fum us a nd caolus - f1rm us/ imita ti o11 masses. Th roughout. each vo ice has a d istinctive funct io n a nel cha racle r. The uppe r two vo ices, thc s upc r ius and contra tcn or altus, m ove mostly s tcpwisc w ilh sk ips i olerspersed., p roceed i o conslant ly varying rhythm, and o cca sio nally cxcha ngc m otives. The tenor is thc m ain s h<1ctu ral voice, whi le the more angular contratenor bassus p rnvides a ha r monic fouu datio n . Co ntrasts of sonority betwee n texrures of rwo, tluee, aud four voices provi de variety.

1,.

EXAMPLE 8.7.

Ou Fay. Missa Se la fa ce ay pa le, Glorio,

a. Origina,! tenor melody

J ir trtf ay

1r=r1H Jplr lc.

la cause es, a rncr.

185

The Polyphonic Mass

.----:-,

mus

Ad • ;';

te.

r:1

te,

rnus

-...

" 17.i -;~ V

te. Ad - o - ra

" -a >t-v ·

cio - l'i - r; • ca

te.

lllUS

mu.s

" --<>'

Cio

te.

mus

• r:1-mus

Ad - o

C io -

te.

We adore 1hee. Wc glorify 1hce.

e. Cantus firmus at twice original duration /1

.-------,

,J7

Qui

his.

101

lis

pec

mun

l'.:l

-. - -1-

bis.

Qui

" V

"' 101

Qu ,

pee

lis

ha1,e mer·cy on u.s. Tltott wh.o takest awar th.e sirts of 1he world

d. Ca,u us firmus at original duration

... tJ

Cum r

eco

spi

•Ô.-~ -

C H A P T E K 8 • England and Burgundy in the Fifteenth Century

Why the cantu.sftrnws mass?

b. Canms firmus at three times origina/, duratio,i li

186

bis.

Qui

\Vhy did the cantus- fmnus mass deveioµ anel become so widespr-ead? Since the nineteenth century, music historians have suggested that composers sought to unify the iive movements of the mass into an integrateel wbole. akiu to the cyclic symphonies of the nineteentb century. and found that using the sarne cantus fmnus in each movement was an ideal way to do

so. Such a view privileges composers' initiative and musical unity. both more highly valued in the nineteenth century lhan in the flfteenth. More recently. scholars have shown Lhat inslitulions and private patrons in Lhe úfteentJ1 century often commissioncd settings of the Mass Ordinary for spec iftc occasions or devotional se rvices.justas Macha ut's set l.ing served for a Mass ol'fered to t.he Virgin Mary. A par1icular chanl or secular so ng used as a cantus l'irmus cou ld rcfc1· 10 thc saint to whom thc mass was aeldrcssed, as in Powcr·s Misso. Alma redemploris Mater 011 a chan t to the Virgin Mary. or to an inslitulion. family, ind ividual, or event for whose benel'it the mass was composed , as in Du Pay's Missa, Se la face a:r pale, linked to his Savoy patrons and to the Holy Shrouel. The unusually bigh canlus f1rmus for Missa Capttt, menlioned above. was choscn for thc imagcry assoc iated with its tcxt. suiting the mass for thc feast oi' t.hc Asccnsion and its ,\ttcndant rituais (scc Music in Context: Masscs and Dragons, p . 183). Simü arly, the tradition of masses onL'homme arme may be connected to the Oreler of the Golclen Pleece. an association of knigbts at the Burgundia1~ court, to calls for a new crusade after the fali of Constantinople to the Turks. and to images of Christ (or in some cases a particular patron) as an armed warrior battling sin. Musical unity resulteel from using tJ.1e same cantus [umus througholll , but it may not have been the main impe tus for using a cantns iirmus. Moreover, the concern for diversity was at least as strong: writers such as Tinctoris praised composers for producingvariety between movements. even when each was based on the sarne melody. Th e cantns- ftrmus mass met mult iple n eeels: as service music; as a con veyer of meaning through musical allusions to its source tune and its text: and as a work lhalconnoissew·s such as Tinctoris could apprecia te. The cyclic mass began its ca reer as a p iece wriuen for a speciftc ()ccasio n o r patron, repl acing in many rcspccts lhe funclion of thc isorhythm.ic motel. and many s1ructul'al ele me nts from lhe !alter we re taken ove r in lhe cantus-fumus mass. As lhe motet rececled in impor tance, the mass became the most prestigious genre or the lim e. Thc lracl itions chal cleveloped, in which many cornposers usecl the sarne mc loely as a ca ntus li rm us. s uggest that the mass beca me a p roving grouncl for composcrs· ab ilitics. Wc, who typica lly hca r this music in conccrt or on recordLngs rathe r chan in its original li turgical env-ironment. are likely to approach a massas wc wou lel othcr music, aclmiring thc glorious sounels :mel composers' skill in reworking borroweel tnaterial _in manyvaried ways .

tu li

An Enduring Musical Language Cum

San

With 1he Holy Spirit

spÍ

The polyphonic mass cycle was lhe largesc, most complex. and most prestigious musical genre of the l'il'teen th cencury anel remain eel so throug hout lhe sixteenlh ce ntury. until the inven tion of opera arounel 1600. The caJllusf1 nnus mass created by English compose rs and adop1eel by Du F'ay and othe rs

A n Enduring Musical Language

187

on the Cominent would !ater be joined by other types. notably the paraphrase mass and imitation mass, as we will see in the nexr two ,chapters. The massas a genre has endured to the present day. including masses by Monteverdi, Bach, Haydu. Mozart. Beethoven. Bruckner. aud other major composers. gradually changing its primary role from service music to concer t music.

The new sound of the nfteenth centu1y represented an even more profound change. The music of Dunstable. Binchois. Du Fay. and their contemporaries was regarded by Tinctoris Í1l Lhe 1470s as Lhe oldest music worth listening to, and il still marks the earliest polyphonic music many Westerners may hear as familiar rather than alien. Ou Fay aod other compose rs working between the 1420sand 1he 1450s helped 1.0 l'o rge a cosmopo litan mus ical languagc 1ha1. blended French concern for s lrucrure and ,·hy1 hmic interesl. ltaliao emphasis on lyrical melodies. aod Engl ish p re ference for smooth counterpoi nt, avoidance of parallel lifths and octaves, pervas ive consonance, prominent thirds and sixths, and ea refully controllcd dissonance. Ali of thcse ingredients became fundamenta l to the musical language of the f,fteenlh and sixteenth ccntur ics. Thcy remain cd important elemcnts of music through thc oinctcentb ccnrury and beyond, and their prescnce in ftftcenrb - ccntury music .is what makes it souncl more familiar to modero ea1·s than most medieval musicdoes. The musical idiom contioued to evolve throughout Ou Fay's career, as four- voice textures and equality between the voices became increasingly common. After his death, Ou Fay was rememhered as the leaeling composer of bis era. Yet in Lhe late lifteenth cent11ry, styles and tastes changed relatively quickly, anel by the ea rly sixteenth century, performances of the music of Ou Fay or bis contemporaries were rare . Their music lay unperformed and untranscrib ed for centuries. until rising musicological interest in the late nineteenth century led to ed itions anel performances in the twentieth. Now works by Ou Fay and other composers of bis time are regiuarly performed and recordeei. so thal we can experience for ourselves 1.he "marvelous pleasÍ1lgness'' Ma rtin Le Franc hea rd in their music almost six ,centuries ago.

Resources for study and revíew available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

FRANCO-FLEM ISH COMPOSERS , 1450- 1520 Tbe latter õfteenth and early sixteenth centuries saw the continuing prominence of composers from northern France. Flanders. anel the Netherlands. who served courts and cities throughout France, the Low Countries, ltaly. Spain. Germany. Bohe mia. and Austria. The generation of composers born around 14 20 anel active until the l 490s iuJ1erited tbe new inleroational language anel characteristic ge nres of the Du Fay generalion-chanso n, motel, and cycl ic mass- aloog with some surviving medieval traits, such as tl1eformes

fixes, cantus- fll'mus structure, and stratified counterpoint baseei on a structural tenor. Their newer style was marked by wider ranges, greater equali ty between voices, and increased use of i mitation. The fo i lowing generation, boro around 1450 and active through about 1520, continued lhese trends and brought new ones: an end to the formes fixes, a growing interest in imitative anel homophonic tcxtures. and a new focus ou õtting music to words wirh appropriate declamation, imagery. anel eiq>ression.

Political Change and Consolidation Musicians iu tJ1e late lifteenth and early sixteen1 h cennuies depended as before on the support of patrons. Political anel economic changes iníluencecl Lhe market for music ians and the ilow of mus ic. Defeated in lhe HundredYears' \Varin 1453, Eugland wi thdrewfrom France anel entered a period of relative insularity marked by civil war (the Wars of the Roses). But other majo r powers we re ga ining grou nd

Politlcal Chang• and Consolidatlon

189

190

C H A P T E K 9 • Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

Muslims. Jews. anel Christia.ns in Spain: anel sponsored Columbus'svoyage west over tbe Atlamic Ocean. which led to the European encounter with anel coloni zation of the New World. The marriage of Ferdinand and lsabella's daughter to the son of Mary anel Maximilian (who was by then Holy Roman Emperor) ulti malely brought about the uniflcation of Austria, rhe Low Counlries. souc]1ern

Bound•ry of Jloly Roman Empire \4:1,orn1lia11's 1:rnds

Italy. Spain. and Spallish America under the Hapsburg emperor Charles V (r. 1S 19- 1556). the most powerful European ruler since Clm·lemagne. Santlwichecl in be tween lhese major powers were dozens of sm alJ s·rates and cilies in Ce rrnany anel Tta ly. Whcn lhe Fre nch invaded ltaly in 1494 , Lhe Ilalian states were unable to unite against them. The region remained divid ed ancl dorninated by fo reigners until the nine teenth century. Ye1 1he arcas rnost fragrnc ntcd pol il ically includccl sorne of' lhe weallh ics l. ltalian cente rs such as Venice, Florence, Milan. Genoa . anel Na ples continued lo p ros per from traele, as d id many cil ies in Gerrnany anel lhe Low Cou nl ries. ltalian courl s anel cities co ntinued to be among the most ge nc rous patro:ns oi' arl. and music and to com pete with each ot her for the b est musicians. Thus thc pattern cstab lis hcd ca rli er in thc iiftcenth century, of music ians tra in cd. iu th e north spend.ing a li or part oi' thei r careers in ltaly, end ureci wcll into the sixteenth cenlury.

ArlAN'/'IC O C i.A N

Ockeghem and Busnoys c;;;j,~ O BALEARIC /SlANDS

Westem Eu.rope around 1500. 8y th.i.s time. the Spariish rulers lso.be/1(1. an.d Ferdina11d ltad uniled Spain; lhe kings of Fran cc controlled sorne former quasi-i11depe11de111 fiefdoms wirliin tlieir borders. i,icluding Br,rgundr, Anjo1t. Brit111 ny. a11d Prove11ce: a11d Maxim ilion /, king of Gennanr 0,11d floly Roman Emperor. mled direclly o,,er Austria. Alsacc. and tlie low Cou,urws. FIGURE 9.1,

on the Continent, as s hown in the map in Figure 9.1. After the death in 1477 of Charles the Bold. the duchy of Burgundy carn e und er the control oftbe king of France, lhe lirs t of severa! acquisitions over rhe next ftfty years that consolidated France into a strong, centra.lized state. The Burgundian possessions in the Low Countries passed to Charles's daughter Mary of Burgundy. whose 1478 marriage 10 Maximilian of Hapsburg united her lands with his in Austria and Alsace. The marriage ofQueen lsabella ofCastile and Lé on (northern and cen tral Spain) to King Ferdinand of Aragon (eastern Spain. Sardinia. and Sicily) joined lhe two realms 10 create lhe rnodern kingdorn of Spain. ln 1.be evemful year of l 492, lsa bella and Ferd inand conquered the s-0uthern Spanis h kingdom of Granada. co nLrolled by Lhe lslamic Moors: forcibly expelled the Jews frorn Spain. end ing cen tu ries of coexistence and mutual inílue nce betwee n

The most renown ed musicians of the generation after Du Fay were Jea n de Ockeghem (or Johannes Okegbe m. ca. 1420- 1497) and Antoine Busnoys (or Busnois. ca. 1430-1192). Ockeghem servecl the kings of France for almost half a ce ntury (see biography and Fi!,'Ure 9.2). whil e Busnoys senred Charles the Bold. Mary oi' Burgundy. and Maximilian of Hapsburg. Ockeghem was esteemed especially for his masses. and Bus noys was Lhe mosl p roli Ftc and wid cly p raised chanson co mposer of hi s lime. Tincto ris laudcd them as "thc mosl outsla nd ing and most fam ous p rofessors o f lhe art of mus ic." Tbe ir chanson s. motets, a nd ma sses were wide ly cl istributed, performecl , anel imi t..itcd, anel thc new cle mcnts of' stylc thcy p racticcd laid thc foundat ion for later generations.

CHANSONS The chansons of Ockeghem and Busnoys blend traditional and new features. Like chansons of previous generations, most are for three voice and use the formes fixes. especially rondeau form . The smooth. arching melodies. lightly syn copated rhythms. pervasive consonance. careful dissonance treatment. and prominem lhirds and sixths of lhe Ou Fay generation are still evident. New fearu res include longer - breatheel melodies, increased use of imitation, greater equality between voices. and more frequent use of duple meter. These crails are evidem in Busnoys's vi.relai ]e ne puis vivre (NAWM 39). The refrain is in tripie meter, and the b section in duple. As s howu in Example 9. 1 (see p. 192). the refrain o pens wilh a long. a1·ching melody that combines smooth. rnostly scalar mo tion with interesting. constantly cha nging rhythms. Each lin e of poe1 ry hegins with syllab ic rexr -set1.ing. 1.hen llowers into a m ore

191

Ock•gh•m and Busnoys

192

C H A PT E K 9

EXAMPLE 91:

JEAN DE OCKEGHElvl [JOHANNES OKEGHElvl) (CA . 1420-1497)

•

Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

Busnoys. Je ne puis v ivre. opening

Ca.ntus

•

Jc nc pu.is

Ockeghem was celebrated as a singer (he is said

vi vr~in

lous - jours

Tenor

to have had a fine bass voice), as a composer. and as the teacher of many leading composers of the

~·

next generation.

He was bom and trained ln the province of Hainaut in northeastern France. served brieíly in Antwerp, and spent several years ln France with the chapei of Charles 1. duke of Bourbon. He is most closely identified with the French royal court. where he served three kings over a span of more than four decades. He was a member of the royal chapei from 1451 on, first chaplain from 1454. and mas ter of the chapei from 1465. He was also trea· surer at the royal church of St. Martin. Tours. from 1458, and became a priest around 1464. Both his career and his music are notably less cosmo· politan than those oí Du Fay. He returned to his native region on occasion. where he was in touch with Du Fay, Binchois, and Busnoys, and traveled to Spain on a diplomatic mission for King Lows XI around 1470. But he seems never to have gone to ltaly. and his music shows little ltalian inAuence. Ockeghem's known output was relatively small for a composer of his renown. Most of his works cannot be dated wlth any certainty. ln some respects his music continues elements from previous generations. in others it typifies his time, but in certain ways it is unique, perhaps because his long service in one place encouraged the development of an individual idiom.

ConLr~tenor

Au mains que j'ayc

Au mains que fayc

mcs

lours

nl:'.ÜL'IS

mcs

tlo

lours

1carinot live tltis wayforeverunless Tlta,•e. ,n nir grief, /sonie comfort. /

FIGURE 9.2, 77,i,s miniarure Jrom a French manu· scrip1 ofabout 1530 shows Oci,eghem (right fore ground) and eight musiáans ofr/,,t French royal chapei singingfrom a large manuscripl choirbook on a lectem, rhe cusiorn of the time. Ockeghem is wearingglasses, still unusuol in his day. (•••• 10Tu i:QUF. t.ATIOSALE, i'AlUS/BlllUGE).fAX ART LI 88Allr)

MAJOR WORKS: 13 masses.

Requlem Mass. at least

motets. 21 chansons

111elismatic style. Th e most str ik:i ng cont rast with earlier chansons is thc prevalence of imitation. The open ing phrase is imitated in che comratenor and again somewh at later in the tenor, with free counier point after the initial imitative entrances. lmi tation betwee n te nor an d cantus accompanied by íree counterpoint in the contra1enor continues lhTOugh out lhe chanson. varied wi t b br ief homoph ony to open the b section. T he contratenor moves p rimarily by steps and ú1irds with relatively few leaps . making it much more simil,u· in s tyle 10 Lhe othe!'Voices thanare the con tralenors in Du Fay's chansons. Yet the cantus and ten or sti ll form good two·par t counterpoint and would sound weli alone. The music of Busnoys an d 0ckeghem marks a tran sition between the older counterpoint.. in which cannus an d tenor ío r m the esse ntial structure fo r1h eot her voices, and Lheapproa ch 1hate merged by th e

Popularityand, reworkings

late üfteenth ce n tury. in which all voices play more s imil ar roles and ali are essential for the cou nterpoint. 0ne trait thal is typical ofBusnoys . but not oíôckeghem. is the cleartonal direction of the melody. The modal cen ter is C. a nel the canrus a rches up a ten th from C to E, cascades down an octave. begins again on th e upper C. a nd descends to E anel Lhen lo low C. confirmed by a cadence. The turning po in ls in Lhe melody e mph asize C, E. a nd G, which a re also lhe on ly notes a pproached by skip in th is most ly ste pwise me lody. The mode and melodie dircction are unrnislakablc and thc ncxl cadcnce casy lo ant icipa Le. As wc will see. 0ckeghem's melod ie style is more d ifíuse and meande r ing, its to nal di rect ion lcss clca r, and its cou rsc ha rdc r to predict. Many chansons by Busnoys anel 0 ckeghem we re q uite popular, appearing írcque ntly in man uscr ipts anel p ri nts írom ma ny d ifferent count ri es. Chanso ns at t his time were free ly al te red , rea rranged , and t ranscribed fo r instrume n ts. Some tunes were adap led in new seuings by numerous corn posc rs or wcr c used as t hc bas is for ca ntus - fmnus masses. Thc largc number of rewor kings of chansons by these composers testiJies to their po pularity.

MASSES Range

Most of 0ckeghem's th irteen masses and bo th of Busnoys's two su rviiving masses are for four voices. as are most of Du Fay's. Yet in the masses of Ock eghem and Busnoys. the voice pa ris cover wider ranges than in Du Fay's. The bassus, whicb before 1450 was r arely notated below e. now extends downward 10 C or F. and sometimes lower. Each voice now lypically ex tends a twelfth. th ir teen th. or more. rather than a ninth. ten th . or eleventh as i n ea rlier

Ock•ghem and Busnoys

EXAMPLE 9.2,

193

Comparison of ranges in ,nasses by Du Fay and, Ockeghen~

194

C H A PT E K 9

Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450 -1520

•

EXAMPLE 9.3, Ockeghe,n. openingofKyrie II from Missa prolationum a. Origina/,nota,tion

a. Du Fa1, Missa Se la face ay pale

Superius

E !'

= =~

-=l

Kyrie l=l

e , e

-u

l J,

! 1 li . · ~ - ----

b. Ockeghem. Missa prolat ionum

t]zn 'Aln::/~ t

Á.

Tenor

/ ,+.>

Bassu,;

li :,: .,. /

~·'

L._

! •

Kyrie

.o.

b. Transcription. ,-,

polyphony. Examplc 9.2 compares the vocal ranges of Du Fay's Missa Se la f'o-ce aypale (NAW\138b) with those ofOckeghcm'sMi,ssa,pr-0/.ationt1,m (NAWM 40), showing the expansion in the compass of individual voices, most ly into lower ranges. Through thcse changes Ockeghem creates a fui ler. darker texturc than we fmd in Ou Fay's works. But like Ou Fay, he varies the sonority in his masses by writing some passages or sections as trios or duets, often contrasting \tpper and lower voices in pairs. Seven of Ockeghem's masses and both of Busnoys's use a cantus Jirmus , often deployed in a highly individual manner. Por example. Ockeghenú Missa De pltis en plus tales as its cantus fmnus the tenor of Binchois's chanson De plus en pltis (NAWM 35). Ockeghem follows cuslom by placing the canrus firmus in the tenor but freely paraphrases it, changing the rhythm, adding notes, and giving lhe tenor a character much closer to lhe oú1er voices than we fmd in Du Fay's cantus-Ftrmus masses. Such use of paraphrase recalls lhe pla inchanl. paraphrases in Dunstable's Regina caeli laetal'e (see Example 8.3) and Du Fay's hymus in fauxbourdon (see NA\V11 37) . only now lhe paraph rased melody is in lbe teno r ra lhe r than the canlus. Mosl of Ockeghem's other masses a re mollo masses, un ilied by a common head - motive; one is a pla insong mass, as is h is Requicm (Mass for thc Dead). Two of Ockeghem's masses show exceplio nal composiLional virtuosity. Missa cuiusvis toni (Mass in any modc) can bc sung in mode 1, 3, 5, or 7 by reading lhe mus ic acco rding to one of four differenl clef combinalions and us ing musica ftcta to avo id tritones. His Mi.ssa prola,tionwn. a tech ni cal tou r de force, is notated in two voices but sung in four, usi ng the four prolations of mensural notation (see chapter 6). Example 9.3a shows the original notation and 9.3b the ITanscription for th e opening of the second Kyrie (the fuJI Kyrie is in NAWM 40). Each singer observes the pertinent clel' and mensuration sign at the beginning of one of the two written parts. A soprano sings the notes of the superius part in the soprano clef (C -c lef on the lowest staffline) in the mensuration C (imperfect time and minor p rolation. like modern duple meter), while an alto reads t11e same line usingthe mezzo-soprano clef (C -clef on lhe second-lo -lowest line) in the mensuration O (perfect time. minor prolal ion. like modem tripie meler). lo produce the lop two lines in Example 9.3b. The tenor and bass read the contra parn in a sim ilar fashion 1.0 produce lhe bollom two lines. Deri vi ng two or mo re voices from a single no ta led voice is known as

., o "

......,

lei

IC'il:

Íc

Gant1ts-firmus masses 1 Conc11e ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

son.

Canon

r--7

l~i

_ fl

!e,

son.

,....,

•J

Missa cuiusvis ton i u,nd Missa prolationum

son.

,---,,

lei

e _._._ r,

lei •

sonl

.-----, Ky

ri -

c!,e - l c, ·

cauon. (Latin for "ruJe"'), The instructio11 or rule bywhich these furtherparts were derived was aJso called a canon. The rui e might instrue! the second voice to sing the sa rn e me locly starting a certain number of bcats or measures .after the original ar 1he same ora different pirch, as in the kind oi' canon most familiar today; the second voice might be the i11versio11 of the nrst (moving by the sarne intervals but in the opposite direction): or it might be the original voice in retrograde (backward). The type of canon used in Missa prolatioruun. in which two vo ices simultaneously s iug from the sarne part but use differing durations because they are applying different mensuration signs, is known as a 111e11s111·a1ilm cu11011 . Each movement is a]so a double canon. with t.wo canons su ng or played simultaneously. Musicians vaJued canonic wo rks for the ingenuity and skill they displayed. But 1:he tech ni ques were often arlfu lly hidden, unl ike ly to be noticed by most

The Genera1lon of 1480-1520

195

196

C ti A PT E li 9 • Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

who heard the music. Missa prolaii.ortttm. has been prized for over ftve hundred years for addressing two audiences simultaneously and spectacularly well: the singers and other musical connoisseurs (i ncluding patrons who received presemation

manuscripts). who enjoy puzzling out the canons from the written music: and listeners. who may be largely unaware of Lhe canons but hear a beauLiful succession of sounds. The passage in Example 9.3 illust.rales acharacterist ic feature of Ockeghem's music: phrases are oftcn long, and cadcnccs are l'rccruently clidcd o r overlapped by other voices. crealing a more continuous ílow than is typical of Ou Fay's music. For instance, near thc cnd of'thc cxamp lc the superius and tenor forma cadence on A, but lhe altus elides it by moving to F'. By contrast, Ou Pay's Missa Se la face ll)' pale is frcqucntly articulated by cadcnccs. Ockeghem's melodies are also more diffuse than those of Du F'ay or Busnoys: in comparison with the clear melodie direction of the cantus in Busnoys·s ]e ,ie pui.s vivre in Example 9.1, Ockeghem·s superius in Example 9.3b gives no hint that its fmal cademial goal is F, and it is harder 10 predict what the next note will be, where the next phrase will end. or on what note. What he emphasizes instead is decoration and drive, es pecially th e rhythmic intensiftcation that moves his counterpoint forward toward the fmal cadence of a p iece or section.

INFLUENCE

(1457 or 1458- 1505). Henricus Isaac (or Heinrich lsaac. ca. 1450- 1517). and Josquin Desprez (ca. 1450- 1521). Ali were born and trained in the Low Countries. Ali traveled widely. working at courts and churches in different parts of Eul'Ope. including ltaly. Their careers ilhtstrate lhelively interchange hetween Franco-Flemish and Italian centers, and their music combines

IN MEMORY OF OCKEGHEM

northern and southern elements: the serious tone. focus on structure. intri -

lt was customary ln the fifteenth cenrury to compose laments on the dea1h of famous musicians. The best known is Jean Molinet's lament for Ockeghem, sei to music by Josquín Desprez, whích portrays Ockeghem as the •good father of the next genera1ion of composers, including Josquln, Pierre de la Rue, Antoine Brumel, and Loyset Compêre.

cate polyphony. rhythmic variety. and flowing. melismatic melodies of the nonh with the ligbter mood , homophonic textures. more dancelike rhythms, and more clearly articulatcd phrases typical of ltalian music in the decades arnund 1500. Characteristics of tbis gene ration can be illust.raled with works by Obrecht and Isaac before considering 1.he ca reer and music o f Josqu in at grea ter lcngth.

-$-

Compose rs aclive around 1480- 1520 sha red many elements of style. The slTucture of voca l works was now largcly dctermined by thc tcxt. Composcrs wrote polyphonic parts that were similar in melodie style and nearly equal in importance. Four- voice texhtre was now standard, and live or six voices were sometimes employed as wcll. lmitative counterpoint and homopbony were the most common textures. When imitation appeared, it typicaUy involved all voices. The preference for full harmonies, smootb melodies, and motivic rn la tionships between voices made it necessary LO com pose all che parts ph.rase by phrase, ratber than layering voices around the framework of a cantus-tenor duet. The foundalional role of lhe tenor was gradually replaced by tbe bass. as the lowest voice in the harmony. Full triadie sonorities predominated th roughout and began 10 replace open ófihs and octaves at cadences. Borrowed melodies were slill used frequeni.ly hul were often distrihuted among the vo ices, rather than conlined to the tenor or supe rius . Thc mass and motel cont inued to bc the prcdominant sacred ge nres. Breaking away from lhe formes fixes. compose rs cast chansons in new s hapes. Pieces wilhout tex1 anel appa rently conce ived íor i11strurnct1ts beca me more co mmo n (see chapte r 12). although still fa r out num bercd by vocal works. Hidd cn structu ra l dcviccs gavc way to immediately perceptiblc l'orms baseei on a succession of clea rly articulatcd phrascs, whcthcr imitativc or homo pbouic in texture . These trends gave composers greatcr llexihility and allowed rhem ro communicate with a wide audience.

Nymphs of the woods. goddesses of the fountains. Skilled singers of all nations, Change your voices so clear and proud To sharp cries and lamentations. For Death, terrible despot, Has ensnared your Ockeghem in his trap. True treasurer of music and masterpiece. Learned, elegant in appearance, and not stout; Great pity that the earth should cover him. Dress yourselves ín clothes of mourning, Josquin, Piersson, Brumel, Compere, And weep great tears from your eyes: For you have lost your good father. Requiescat in pace [rest in peace]. Amen.

Jean Molinet, Oéploratioro sur /e trépas de Jean Busnoys and espec ia lly Ockeghe m profound ly Ockeghem. influenced the nexl generat ion o r composers (see Sourcc Readi ng) . The new features in their mus ic, including grcatcr cquality of voices, more use of imitation, anel expansion of range, were extended by their s uccessors and becamc charactcristic of thc sixtccnth ccntury. Oldcr elemcnts. such as th eformesfixes and reliance ou a structu.ral tenor or cantus- tenor scaffolding, disappeared i11 the next generatíon. replaced by new methods that were them selves made possible by the changes Ockeghem and Busnoys had introduced.

GENERAL TRAITS

FIGURE 9. 3:

Jacob

Obrecltl in a porlra,1

fr'Om /496 byana,io,iJ"WUS Fiem is/t,pain ter. (KlM 8CLL ART M USEVM/ART

ncsnuner. XY)

JACOB OBRECHT

The Generation of 1480-1520 The thi·ee mosL eminent ftf,'tu:es in the generalion of Franco-Flemish composers bo m around lh e midd le of the f1fl eenth ce ntury were Jac;ob Obrechl.

Obrecht. shown in Figure 9.3. composed about thirty masses, twemy-eight motets, and numerous chansons, songs in Dutch. and instrumental pieces. Eacb mass is

The Genera1lon of 1480-1520

EXAMPLE 9.4 ,

197

198

C H A PT E K 9

Obrecht. openi.ngofGloriafrom Missa F'ortuna desperata

•

Franco-Flemish Composers. 1450-1520

RO LE OF IMITATION

•J

-~ , . . . - - - . . .

Comparing this passage from Obrecht to earlier pieces we have seen can highlight the development of imitation during the fifteenth century. Brief momems of imilation appear in Ou Fay's Resvellies voris and Missa Se la face

l~ r

aypale (see the commentary in NAWM 36 and 38b). bul they are shorl. sei-

" \'

p3x

ter .. ra

.:o -

t'l'II •

ôi

p:ix

b~s

[ju11_§]

P"" ho

! •J

1<!r .. r.l

il\

ui - bus

bo-

ne ~'º

,.-..

nevo

bus

nc vo

lun

·~

US, ''0

.... ~

lun

lu.n. - t(I

'ª ~

11$,

based on a cantus 1'1 rmus (sometimes two or more in combination). bu1: he treats the borrowed material in a grea t vari etyofways. Llke olher composers of his generation. Obrecht used imitation more frequently and ex tens ively lhan did earlier composers. Exarnpl e 9.4 shows lhe open ingo l' the Glo ri a of his Mi.$sa Fortun(idesperata, in which three vo ices enter at two - mcasurc intcrvals with lhe sarne mclody in Lh ree diffcrenl octavcs, lhcn continue wiLh free cou nterpoi nt. Such a series o f imi ta tive e ntrances is ca lled a t>oint of imiwtion. Throughout tbe mass. imitative passages are interspersed with aonimitalive ones. Thc music is rcmarkablc for its clarity and comprchcnsibility. Thc tonal center on F is clear at the outset and confmned by a series oi' cadences (mea sures 7, 9. and l 1). Themelodic ideasare relativelyshort and well-defmed. The rhythm is at ftrst regular, then quickens with smalJervalues and mild syncopation. The counterpoilll is smootb and consonam, enlivened by suspensions and passing and neighbor tones, and the last cadence is adorned by a brief nm in parallel sixths (measures 11- 12). Ali of these factors give the music immediate appeal and help to make its s cructure and shape easily apparent to tbe listener. i11 contrast to the conceaJed canons and overlapped cadences we noted in Ockeghem's music. We can draw a parallel between the clearly audible structure in music like this and Lhe tendency in Renaissance archicecnu·e to ma.ke lhe stJ·ucture of buildings apparent to an observer by highlighting their íloors, pillars, and arches (see Figure 7 .3).

lm1tation

dom involve all voices. and remain incidental to lhe fixed form of the ballade and to the cantus- firmus st ructu re of tbe rnass. ln the genera tion of Busnoys and Ockeghem, when imitation occurs it is often more extensive, sometnmes involving ali voices and longe r phrases as in lhe openingof Busnoys's vi relaiJe nepuisvivre ( NAWM 39 and Example 9.1), but it. is still no1.1he primary crea tor oi' t.hc fo,·m. F'o r Ob recht and h is conlcmporarics. points of im ital ion in all voices are frequent, and st ringing together a se ries of lhem interspersed wilh other textu res became a common way of o rganiz ing a piece and re mained so throughout the s ixtecnth century. Tmitation is related to canon, which we have seen since the thi rteenth ccntury rota Sr.uner is icumen ,:n (NAWM 24) anel the fourtccnl h- century caccia, and which Renaissance and later composers continued to use, often in ingenious ways. Yet imitation differs from canon in that the voices are simila r but not the same; they may be idemical for a fcw notes ora whole phrase. but at some point the melodies diverge , creating variety and allowing cadences or changes of texnire. as in Example 9.4. Canoas can be hard to follow by ear if the canonic rnelody is long. like that in Landin i's caccia Cos! pensoso (NAWM 31), or iJ the relationship between voices is complex, as in 1.he men sural canons in Ockeghem's Missa prolationurn. But imitation is immediately audible. a way of repeating a phrase in various voices, drnmming il into the head ol' lhe listener. and elaborating it into a larger unit of music. This is why it became one of rhe principal too ls for composers in Obrecht's ge11eratio11 and remained so throughout the Renaissance.

HENR ICUS ISAAC

Clarity

llomophonic

te:ttures

[saac worked as si nge r and co mposer al three institulions in Flore nce-the Ca1 hcd ral, the Babtistcry of San Giovan ni , anel th c Church of Santíssima Annunziata- from about 1484 Lo 1492 andas cou rl composer for Holy Roma n empe ro r Max im il ia n I at Vie nna a nd Innsb ruck beginning in 1497. later ret1.1rn ingto Florencc. His fomiliarity with lta lian and German musicas welJ as French, Flernish, and Netherlandish idioms made his outp ut more panEuropca n than lhat of his contempora ri cs. His sacred works in clude a bout thin;y-ftve masses, fifty motets, and the Choralis Constantintis, a monumental three- volume cycle of settings of the texts and melodies of the Proper for most of the church year, comparable in its scope to the Magnus tiber organi (see chapter 5). Alongside his sacred music. Isaac wrote a large number oi' songs with F'rench, ltalian, and German texts and many short, chansonlike pieces that appear without words in the sources and are presumably for instrumental ensemble. ln Florence, Isaac encountered songs in predomi11a11tly homophonicstyle, such as the canli carnascialeschi (carnival songs) used in the festive proces-

The Genera1lon of 1480-1520

EXAM PLE 9.5,

Anonyrnous canto camascialesco (carnival song).

car· ~

Si-guo

'·

Chi soe bol-le voJ _ _

- - - -

Or-su. or-su._

. ...

·•·

••• = Or•su. Or• SU. -

car

Si· gno

Cbl soe 1,ol· lc

ri.

-ri ~

vul

spc.~di

ln ns-bruck. lch muss

:(11\-:--9o

"'"=l,-= ]k.

. i·

gno

ri.

soe boi

bruck. ich muss

lnns

V 1

car

Isaac. Innsbruck. ich rnuss dich lassen. opening

_,,_._,,

" .,

spe-1:li - re.

Franco-Flemish Composers. 1450-1520

•

., Or-su. or-su.-

C H A PT E K 9

" :rm-_

200

EXAMPLE 9.6,

Orsu , orsu, car' Signori

199

lnns· bmck. i~h muss

dich

dícb las

dich

l~s

stn.

ich

scn.

ich

fahr da • h in

- scn.

ich

fahr

stn .

ich

fohr da - h , n

fahr

d• ·h in

• •*

-.:1

da·h in

l~I L__'

le vol spe-dir

lnns

br~1eL:. 1ch tnU!,S dich

las

• -v- -·

gno • n .

soe boi - le

vol spe - dt - re,

Come on. come on. dear sirs. whoeverwants his documents done quickly. [come to us. for

v sions and pageants that marked the holiday seasons. Florentine trade guilds promoted their products in tuncful verses sung from elaborate floats. ln an early example of the singing commercial, rhe scribes of Florence advertised their services in the anony1nous Orm. orsu,. car' Signori. As shown in Example 9.5. the voices mostly sing the words together. with occasional suggestions of irnitation as in lhe tenor aL measure 3. Isaac la ter adapted this simple ltalian sryle for some of his Cerman Liecle,· (songs) . four· part settings of popu.lar songs or newly composed melodies in similar style. ln his seu ing of Innsbruck. ich ,niiss di-eh lassen (NAWM 41) s hown in Example 9 .6, lhe melody is in the superius and lhe otherparts move in very similar rhythm. as in lhe Italian songs. Rests separa te lhe phrases. and cadences resolve 10 íull lriads rather than o pe n sono riLi es. The clea r si ru cture and swcct harmony of lsaac·s Li cd makc it immcdiatcly appca ling. Homophon ic tcxturc becarnc a11 imporlant part o [ sixteenth- ccolu ry po lyphonic mus ic, alongs ide and o ltcn allernaling wilh lhe imi talive tex turc secn in Obrcc ht's mass. lt is no pa radox that thc music of this and latcr gene rations is botl, more irnitative and more often h omophonic than lhal of Ockeghcm's gen cratio n; both imitation and hom op hony were focilitated by the greater freedom available to composers, as the traditional layering of voices around a cantus- tenor duet was replaced by compos ition of ali voices in rclation to on e anothcr.

TEXT SETTING The pieces by Obrecht and Isaac discussed here exem plify the great concern composers of their generation had for fitting music to the words. They carefully matched accents in the music to those in the text and wanted the words to be h eard and unde rstood. This meant lhat lhe task of aligning Lhe words with tbe music could no longer be left to singers duriug a performance, as in ea.rlier music. and thus that paris had to have the lext underlaid (positioned

mcin

we are scribes.)

Stras

,i ~ mein Str;1s

~- 1 1

mein Stras

Full ~

Stras

Ltnd

da - hin.

~ sen,

frem - de land da

sen.

1)cru - de

mcin

frtm - de

stn.

seo.

,;I

Land da ~

hin.

Jnn.

frcm - de land da

hin.

Jnnsbmcl·. Tmu~ileave you. f am goingon my way. inro a foreign land.. 1

under the music) clearly and com pletely. The Oorid lines o[ Ockeghem and his contempo rari es gave way lo more direcl syllabic settings. in which a phrase oftcxt cou ld bc gra sped as an un intcrruptcd thought.

Josquin Desprez Few musicians have e njoye d higher renown or exercised greater influ ence than Josquin Desprez (ca. 1450- 1521; see biography and Figure 9.4). Hc held a series of prestigious positions at courts anel churches in France and ltaly. His compositions appeared in a larger number of manusc1·ipts and printed collections than any other composer before 1550. Ottaviano Petrucci. the nrst printer of polyphonic music, published three books of Josq-uin masses and reprinted each 10 meet Lhe demand: no orher comp ose r received more than a single volume from Petrucci. Contemporaries hailecl Josq-uin as "the best of the composers of our time" and "the father of musicians." ln 1S38, Martin Luthe r proclaimed that "Josq-uin is the master of tbe notes. They must do as he wills: as for the other composers , they have to do as lhe notes wilJ.'º A generalion after his death. writers praised his music for

Josquln Oosprez

expressing emotions. and btunanist scbolars compareci him to Virgil anel Michelangelo as an artist without peer in his art (see Source Readings, p. 203). Such praise retlects not only on Josquin but on his time, for it shows tbe greatly increasecl interest during tbe Renaissance in tbe individual artist and in rhe power of music to express t'eelings and ideas. a topic to which we

will return below. Composers from his time through lhe late sixteenth century emulated and reworked Josquin's music. Some works were recop iecl. published, anel

201

202

CH A PT E K 9

• Franco-Flemish C omposers, 1450-1520

perfonned for almost a cenrury after his cleath. a rare honor ata time wheu most music more than a few clecades old was unavailable or cleemed unworthy of performance. His music was so esteemed anel popular that publishers anel copyists often attributed works of other composers to h im. prompting one wag to comment that "now that Josquin is dead, heis pulling out more works than when he was alive." Historians are still sorting out which pieces are truly his.

CHANSONS

JOSQUIN DESPREZ [JOSSEQUIN LEBLOITTE DIT DESPREZ] (CA . 1450-1521) Josquin (known by his given name rather than by his family name) is regarded as the greatest composer of his time. His motets. masses. and songs were widely sung, praised, and emulated in his lifetime and for decades after his death. Josquin's biography has been dariÍied by recent research. but there are still gaps. Historians recently discovered his family name. Lebloitte. from a will leaving him a house and land in Condésur-l'Escaut, now in Belgium. He was born near Ath in the county of Hainaut. where his father and grandfather were policemen. and was trained as a choirboy in Condé and Cambrai. He served in the chapei of René, duke of Anjou, at Aix-en· Provence in rhe late 1470s. After René's death in 1480. his singers transferred to the service of King Louis XI at Sainte Chapelle in Paris, and Josquin may have been among them. Josquin spent several years in ltaly, serving members of the Sforza family, rulers of Milan (1484-85 and 1489). and in the Sistine Chapei in Rome (1489-94 or later). Josquin may have been in Cambral in the later 1490s, in France at the court of King Louis XII in 1498-1500. and at the Burgundian court in 1501-3. although evidence is scant. He was appointed maestro di cappella to Duke Ercole Id'Este in Ferrara in 1503 at the highest salary in the history of that chapei. A recruiter for the duke had recommended Isaac instead, not· ing that although Josquin was a better composer, he demanded a higher salary and composed only when he wanted to and not when asked; the duke

IOSQ_VINVS PR.AT ENSIS. Josqu,n Desprez. ina woodcutfrom Pe1rus Opmcer. Opus chronographicum (Antwe,p. I 6 I J), Opmeerbased his parrrail on an oiLpainting rhotoncestoodin Ste. Cudulechurchin Bru-ssels b111 wa.s destroyed m rhe / S70s. ( BE'l'l'>1Ax•rcoaa,s)

FIGURE 9.4 ,

hired Josquin anyway, no doubt aware of the pres· tige to be gained by employing the best musician available. Josquin left after a year. apparently to escape the plague. From 1504 until his death in 1521. he resided at Condé-sur-l'Escaut. where he was provost at the church of Notre Dame. MAJOR WO RKS: At lea$t 18 ma$$es. over 50 mote[$, abou t 65 c hansons (abo ut 10 for instruments), and num erou, doub tfully attributed work$

Josquin's chansons sh()w Lhe charac1.e ris1.ics of Lhe la1e - f1fteen 1h- cerntury s1ylc sccn in Ob rcch1and Isaac. includingclari1y in phras ing, l'orm. and tona l organ ization: íluid and tune ful melodies; use of imitation and homoph ony; a nd careful eleclama tion of the text. Compose rs of his ge neration virrually abandoned theforniesfu;es, choosing instead strophic texts and simple fouror five -line poems. Rather than th ree voices, rnost chansons now have four, livc, or six voices, a li mca nt to bc sung. lnstcacl of a laycrcd countcrpoint with the canms- tenor pair providing the skeleton and the othervoices nlling in, as in chansons from Machaut through Ockeghem, ali the parts are now of equaJ Faulle d'argcnl melod ie interest anel essentfol to thc counterpoint. A look at rwo examples can only begin to suggesl the variety of Josquin's 1 Full :\\ 1 chansons. Faulted'argent (NAWM 42). from the late 1490s or early 1500s, is a tive -voice setting of an existing popuJar monophonic song. This may be one of Josquin's earliest songs to use nve voices, helping to seta trend for songs for nve or six voices that continueel tbroughout the sixteenth century. The text is brief anel bumorous. complaining that Jack of money brings sorrow wilhout equal. whereas having money will attracr even a sleeping woman. The source melody appears in a canon between the tenor and the quinta pa,,·s (lifdi voice). which fo llows it a ftfth below. A.rouncl these canonic voices weave the other three pa ris, which participate in po ints of imita1.ion on phrases of t:he bor rowed tune and accompany iLwilh new contrapunta l lines that a re ai times lhcmselves lrcatcd in imilation. Josquin varies thc numbcr anel grouping oí voices to create almost constanl changes of texture. The presence of the bo rrowcd mclody in all voices, whcthcr cxact or in paraph rasc, and thc almost constant use of imitation give th is song a ve1-y differenl sound anel style from earlier settings that use a bo rrowed tune as a ca ntus linnus. Th roughout. Josquin freely repeats phrases of text, a practice that bccamc customary in the sixteenth century, anel for thc most parl seis the text syllabically, with some Mille regre lz mclismas at thc encls of phrascs. Mille regretz (NAWM 43) is a four- voice chanson a11ributed to Josquin 1 Full :\\ 1 that has become one of his most frequently performed works, although !tis authorship has been questioned by some scholars. He apparently composed it for emperor Charles V arounel 1520 and presented il personally. Tbe texture alrernates between homophony and imiration and features everchanging combinations of two. three. or four voices. Each pbrase of text receives ics own particular treaunent. as illustra1ed in Example 9.7: fourvoice homophony for "Jay si grand elueil"; a pair of voices answered by anodier pair for the next phrase: anel four-voice imitation for "Quon me verra.''

Josquln Oesprez

203

204

C H A P T E K 9 • Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

EXAMPLE 9 7, Josqtlin. Mille regreti

·:,. ..,

J•y

PRAISE FOR JOSQUIN

Josquin had a remarkably lofty reputation throughout the sixteenth century. Decades aher his death, German publisher Hans Ott pra,sed Josquln's abillry to move the íeelings oi rhe llstener, music theorist Hein· rich Glareanus compared him to the Larin epic poet Virgil. and humanist scholar Cos,mo Bartoli compared him to Michelangelo, saying boih were without peer.

Ali will easily recognize Josquin as the most celebrated hero of the art oi music, for he possesses something that is truly inimitable and d ivine. Nor will a grateful and honest posterity begrudge him this praise. ln the earlier of the books we put forth Psalm 51 (Josquin's motet Miserere mei, Deus]. 1 beg whether anyone can listen so carelessly as not to be moved in his whole spirit and whole intellec t towards contemplating the message oi the Propher more carefully, since the melodies conform to the Íeelings o i one who is burdened by the magnitude o i his sin. and (since] the very deliberate repetition by which (the sinner] begs for mercy does not permit the soul e ither to reffect idly or to fail to be moved toward hope of assurance. Hans Ott, introduct,ons to Novum et msigne opus musicum (1537) and Secundus tomus novi operis musici (1538). Translations from Srephanle Schlagel. "The

L,ber selectarum cantionum and the 'German Josqu,n Renaissance.'" Journal o{ Musicology 19 (Fali 2002): 590-91,

No one has more effectively expressed the passions of the soul in music than this symphonist, no one has more felicitously begun, no one has been able to compete in grace and facility on an equal footing with him, just as there is no Latin poet

superior in the epic to Maro (Virgil). For just as Maro, with his natural facility, was accustomed to a&apt his poem to his subject soas to set weighty matters before the eyes o i his readers with closepacked spondees, fleeting ones with unmixed dactyls. to use words suited to his every subject, in short, to undertake nothing inappropriately, as Flaccus says of Homer, so our Josquin, where his matter requires it, now advances with impetuous an d precipitate notes, now intones his subject in long-drawn tones, and, to sum up. has brought forth nothing that was not delightful to the ear an d approved as ingenious by the learned, nothing. in short. that was not acceptable and pleasing. even when it seemed less erudite, to those who listened to it with judgment.... His talent is beyond description. more easily admired than properly explained.

'17

" \'

gl'ond

dutil

pai

tlt

dou-lou- reu

pai

dou-lou-reu

•

?:t

se.

Jay

gra nd dueil

se.

Jay

grand ducil

pai

se.

Jay

t-i

b""'ºd dueil

p:li

h '·

Quon

bricf mes jours dcf

me ve1· - ra

Quon me__

ver · rn

brieí mes jours

" ,?

d'ou•lou---reu - se.- - 1

Jou-luu-rtu -

i,i:.

ver

Quoo

nu:: ,·tr - r3

1feel so mu{:/i sadness ar1dsuch painful dislress, tha.t it seems to me ,nydays will soon. dwindle aw<•r·

From Heinnch Glareanus, Dodecacho,don (Basle. 1547), Book 3, Chapter 24 Trans. Oliver S tflmk, in SR 70 (3:35),

p.430.

MOTETS 1 know well that Ockeghem was, so to speak, the first who in these times rediscovered music. which had almost entirely died out-not unlike Donatello. who in his times rediscovered sculpture-and that Josquin. Ockeghem's pupil, may be said to have been, in music, a prodigy of na ture, as our M ichelangelo Buonarotti has been in architecture, painting. and sculpture; for.jus! as there has not yet been anyone who in his compositions approaches Josquin, so Michelangelo, among ali those who have been active in these arts, is still alone and without peer. Both of them have opened the eyes of ali those who delight in these arts or will delight in them in the future. Cosimo Bartoli, Ragionamenri accademici (Venice, 1567). Trans. adapted írom Gustave Reese. Music in 1he Renais· sance, rev. ed. (Ne"' York: Norton, 1959), 259-60.

Ave Maria ...

virgo serena

~l-c-on_c_i,o-:~I ,\ I Full !\\ 1

Likc his chansons, Josqu in's more 1han lifty motcts cxemp lify thc dive rs ity of bis style. Wh ilc masses always set lhe samc wo rds, Lexls for moLcls we rc qu ile va ri ed, drawn from lhe Mass Prope r o r ol her sou rces. and invited a varicty of treatment. Like chansons and masses, motets cou ld be base d on borrowed material or newly composed, and many of the same lechniques appca r in a li thrce gcnres. from im itat ion a nd homophony to cantus li rm us :md paraphrase. \Ve can see Josquin's approach in Ave Maria . , . virgo serena (NA\VM 44) from alJout 1485, one of his earliest and most popular motets. Th e words are drawn from three different cexts, ali addressed to the Vi.rgin Mary: the op en ing lines of a sequence, a hymn in nve stanzas h aili11g the nve major feasts for Mary observed each year. and a prayer asking for her aid. The rnus ic is perfectJy cral'ted lo ftt the words. Josquin delineates the form of the text by giving each segment a uni que musical treatment anda concluding cadence on the tonal center C. The 1exture is constan tly changing. as illusirated in Example 9.8. The motet opens with severa! overlapp ing points of imita tion in which ali fou r voices paraphrase each phrase of lhe chanl sequence rnelody in turn. \Ve have seen paraphrase hefore. in sel.tings of chant by Dunstable (Exarnple 8.3) and

205

Josquln Oesprez

EXAMPLE 9.8,

206

C ti A P T E li 9 • Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

Excerpt from]osqiân.. Ave maria . .. virgo serena

Du Fay (NA\VM 37) and in Ockeghe m's treatmenl of the ca nlu s li rmus in his

Misso, De pLus en plvs. What is ncw hcrc is thc prcscncc oi' paraphrascs o f thc

a. Seq11en.ce melody

A - ve

Ma - ri

grt1 -

ll -

pie -

na.

Do - nti - nus

te - cum.

ViJ' - go

sou rce melody in ali voices, suf f using lhe tcxture. Whcn thc hym n text begins. the mus ic is no lo nger bascd o n borrowed mate ri al, and th e texture s hifts to two, thrcc, and ali four voices i n rc latively hom ophoni c phrascs. As sccn in

se - re - na.

Example 9.8c, rhere is diversi~ even in the sryles ofhomoph ony: "Ave, cuius co nceptio.. is set with parall el -~sonorities that recall faux.bourdon, a style that by the 1480s sounded old - fashioned. yet the following phrase is ü1 an ltp 10- date homophonic style typical of Josq-uin's own time. Later passages are equally varied. The closing prayer is particularly striking, set in the plai nest chordal homopbony in long notes. as if to capture tlle Lrnmility anel s implicity of sincere prayer. Throughout, the words are declaimed naturally, giving the most accented syllabl es longer and highe r notes in most cases (as at "p!e- na gaudfo'') and sometimes emphasizing them witll short melismas (as at "gra t.ia p!e-na") or syncopa1ion (as at "con-cep-tio"). This motet is excell ent in many ways at once, with clear projection of the tonal center. clearly delineated phrases and sections . eleganl and beauti ful counte rpoinl. variety in tex 1.ure and s1.yle . anel se ns it ive declamation and projeclion of the 1.ex1. lt is no wonde r thal such music established Josqui n as a composer worlhy of performance and e mulation in his own ti me and !ater ge ne ralions.

b. Openirig of motet note fro1n scquc"cc

J.: •

.....

A vc

gra

a pie

-Ô

A · ve

M;i .

1 -v--

A-

\'C

gra

Ma . ri

,,.

17'-'

~ . /\

- d

·•

mi-nus

r __

na ,

CUJ'n. _ _

pie

m i -nrn;

MASSES ,e

Josquin's eighteen masses are as va ricd as his motets and chanson s anel abound in technical ingenui ty. Nine use a secular tu ne (either mouophonic or d rawn from a polyphonic chan so n) as a cantus firmus. ln Missa L'homnie anné super voces musicales, Josquin transposed lhe familiar tune L'homm.e anné to successive degrees of the hexachord- C for the Kyrie. D for the Gloria, and so on - and includ ecl a mensuration canon in the Agnus Dei. He also composed masses baseei 011 chant, ou freely composed double - canons, and on subjects derived from solmization syllables. He wr ote Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae to honor Ercole ( Hercules) 1. duke of Ferrara. probably while serving l he ducal courLin 1503- 4. He usecl as a camus ünnus a soggeiio cavato dalLe vocali. a "subject drawn from the vowels" of a phrase by letting each vowel indicate a corresponding syllable of the bexachord. thus:

rui.

gra

~t.

' '

•J

plc

1 /\

•

gra

ª·

A - vc

:1 na.

pie

na.

Ha.il Mory.full ofgroce, 1he Lord i.s withJ ou

e. Measures 18- 22 •8

f,)

n:l

gau

....

fltl

gau-di - o.

lem - ni

pie

gau

lem - ni

pie

gau

]cm

sol

lem - ni

con - ~e

ius con-cc · pti

A - vc.

A - ve,

cu - ius con ..ce

pti

Hc,il !O her wh.ose conceplion . full uf solem.ri jubilci1io11.

sol

pie

sol

ple

l Missa Pangc lingua

<li . o.

di .

º·

Con<1$0 :\\

J I

Full =-\

,. "" o

. cu .

1...

••D

dux Ut

e li

. ..,.. -

PlT

o o

ri mi

. , re

'tttttl

Missa Pange lingua (excerpted in NAWM ·15) was one of lhe last Josqui n co mp osed. He baseei it on the plai nchant hy mn Pange lingu.a gloriosi. But instead of using tbe bymn rne lody as a cautus ftnnus in ú1e tenor. Jos,quin paraphrased iL ia aJI four voices. i n whole o r in part. in each movemem. We have seen how he used pa raph rase in points of imitation at the opening of b is motetAve Maria . .. gratia plena. and here h e applies lhe same idea to lhe mass. Ph rases fro m l he hymn me lody are adapted as motives 1.hat are l: rea ted

Josquln Oesprez

in points oi' im itat ion, as in the Kyrie (NAWM 45a) and at the beginning of each movement of the mass. Occasionally, phrases of the hymn are also paraph rased in homophonic declamation, as in the setting of "Et incarnatus est'' in the Credo (NAWM 45b) . Each movement resembles a motet of Josquin's time , featuring a series oi' independent pbuses in im itative or

207

C H A P T E K 9 • Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

1 Concise ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

TIMELINE Fmnco -Fleniish Composers, ,4-50 - 15:io

homophonic textures withoUl a cantus fmuus. A mass like this. based on a monophonic melody tha t is paraphrased and appears in all voices of the mass ralhe r Lhan just in the teno r or supe rius. has come to be known as a

1u 11·op/11·ase 111(1SS.

MUSICAS EXPRESSIVE OF FEELINGS ANO IDEAS Writers a generation aJter Josqu in praised him for c reating melod ies that "co nform to the feelings" exp ressed by the tcxt and for "express ing thc passions oi' the soul in music" (see Source Readings, p. 203). This idea of the expressive powers of music is familia r to us now and was central to music's development from th e sixteenth ce ntury on. but it was hardly mentioncd in the centuries before Josquin. lt is worth pausing to consider what musical expression entails and how h is music exemplilied it. Tbere are two principal ways thal music can reflect the meaning of the words, both of which became common in tbe sixteen th century: througb t e,:t dcpictio11 . using musical gest\ll'es to reinforce visual images in the text. and tbrough text expression. conveying through music the emotions or overall mood s uggested by Lhe text. ln l11e nex l two chapters, we will see cases of each that are unmistakable and clearly intentional. Can we lind them in Josquin? And bow will we know we ase 1101 reading into musico f lhe pasl ideas tbal are fo reign to it? For a musica l gestu l'e or cha ra cteristic to be unde1-:stood as meaningful, it must be marked as somehow differenl from its surro undings or from oLher pi eces of music in a way that ca lls for interp retat ion. The points of imila tion on paraphrasccl me lod ies that open Josquin's Ave Mo,ri(I. . . . virgo sereno and suJfusc lhe Kyric from Missa Ponge lingU(I. are bcauliful lo lhe ea r, and may inspire reverence by dwe lling on a chant melody, bu t they do not seem markedly more expressive of cmoti ons or suggestive of an image than oth cr rnusic we have seen; rather, they appear to be ap pl ications of composit ional tcc hnic1u cs that were common at thc time and uscd in many contexts. But there are passagcs that stand out. At the end of fo1tlte d'argent, there is a s urprisingturn of harmony to close on D instead of the expected G, and it seems to parallel the suq>rising iron ic rnrn in the text at the sarne point (see commentary in NAWM 42). ln Mille regret,z. the desce11ding lines in ali voices at "paine douloureuse" (painful distress) in Example 9.7 and at severa! other points in the chanson reflect the sadness expressed in lhe poem through a musical gesrure wbose declining energy and darken ing timbres evoke the depths of grief. ln tbe prayer at the end ofAve Maria ... virgo serena. and in the '"Et incarnatus" inMiss(I. Pange ling1ia. 1be slow. simple. chordal bomophony is starkly differem from Lhe surroundi ng fast imitative counterpoin t, and seems to signal the focused, quiel feeling of deep prayer. Some passages suggesl vis ual images as well. ln Mille regretz. lhe poetic

208

Text depictio1i and expression

line that ends with "babandonner" (to abandon you or des · ert you) is left dangling withou t a proper cadence, as if it had been ahandoned. ln Ave Maria . .. virgo serena. the n rst time ali four voices sing togetber in rbythmic unison is at the words "solemni pleni gaudio'' (full of solemn jubilation) ,

and the suddenly full chordal texture evokes fullness (see

Example 9.8c). ln the Credo of Miss(I. Pange lingua. tbe re is a new burs Lof ene rgy coming 10 lüe ai " Et resurrexit" (and MUSICA L H ISTOR ICAL was resurrec ted), with imitative e ntra nces of a triadie figu re afle r a phrase in calm homopbony. and "Et ascendil in cae• 1451 - 97 J ean de Ockeghem lum '' (a nd ascen<led into Heaven) is sei with a poinL oi' imita at French royal chapei 1.io11 on an asccnd i og me lodie linc. • 1453 England defea ted in We have 10 be caseful 11ol lo read i nto music of lhe past Hundred Years' War our own expectations, fo rmed by ou r expe rience o f much la ter • 1466 Antoine Busnoys enters music. But it does seem th3t in these passages, and throug hout service of Charles. future duke his music, Josqu in uses texl expression and lext depiction. of Burg undy \Ve will scc in forthcom ing chaptcrs how both bccome ce11ln1 l tb emcs of the l1CXtscvcraJ ce nturi es. • 1477 Death o f Charles the Exactly how new were text depiction and text expression Bold, France absorbs duchy of in Josquin's time is hard to determine. ln some earlicr pieces, Burgundy the music seems to illustrate an image in the text, but so few • 1478 Mary of Burgundy marexamples of this survive lhat we risk hearing something in the ries Maximilian o f Hapsburg. music that the composer did not intend, based 011 our famil · joining Low Countries to iarity with later music thal does depict the words. Likewise, Austria and Alsace the idea that music is expressive of emotions is today a com• 1479 Union of Castile and monplace and was well known to the ancient Greeks. But it is Aragon under lsabella and hard to prove thal composers before Josquin meant to evoke Ferdinand emotio ns through musical rather than poetic means. We have seen tbat some composers created meanings by singling out • ca. 1484- 94 J osquin Desprez certain words foremphasis. as in Dunstable's Quampulch,·a es. in Milan and Rome or by us ing a borrowed me lody in a ce rta in way. as in Ockeg• ca. 1484-92 Henricus Isaac in hcm's Missa Caput (scc chaptcr 8). and ccrtainly much sacrcd Florence polypho ny was calculated to ins pi re awe. Yet befo re the late F1ftecnth ce ntury there was no co ns isten t method (a1 least, na ne we know aboul) fo r suggesl ing happiness , g rief, or olhe r e motio ns through mus ic. The link we now take for granted bctwccn music and f'ce lings may havc becn a co nrribution by Josquin and hi s generation, cod if1ed in lhe sixteenth century by musicians and writers inllucnccd by humanis t idea is anel by ancicnt idcas of music's cmotional effects.

Masses on Borrowed Materia l We saw in the previous chapler that composers often based masses 011 borrowed mate ri al. including chant. monopbonic songs s uch as L"homme am1é. and po lyphonic works. Before Josquin's generation, the typical practice was to place the borrowed tune in lhe teno r of the massas a canlus fu·mus. resuJting in a ca ntus- firmus rnass. When that lune was drawn frorn a polyphonic work,

Masses on Borrowed Material

the composer bad rhe option of borrowing from other voices as well, as Du Pay did in his Missa Se la face ar pale, a type known as a cantus-nrmus/imitation mass. With the change in musical structure near the end of tbe fifteenth cen tury, from music organized around a s tructuraJ

tenor or cantus-tenor framework to a texture in which all

209

210

C H A P T E K 9 • Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

EXAMPLE 9.9 , Anioinede Févin,

Missa Ave Maria

a. Opening ofA gnus Dei Spain conquers Moorish Granada. expels Jews

• 1492

Columbus encounters NewWorld

• 1492

voices were essential to lhe counterpoint an d similar in s tyle. new options opened up for reworkingborrowed material with• 1493-1519 Reign of Maximiloul relyi ng on a ca nt us-li rmus s tructure. Jos<1u in's paraphrase ian I as Holy Roman Emperor mass Missa Pange Lirigua illuslrates a way lo rewo rk a mollOph oni c melody i n the con tex t of the new style, pa raph ras i ng it • 1-494 French invade ltaly, in ali vo ices in a se ri es of poinls of imil ali on altcrnal i ng wi1h beginning ltalian Wars homophonic passages. • 1496 Isaac appointed court At the sa rne time that Josqui n co mposed h is Missa Pange composer for Maximilian 1 lingua, some of his younge r contemporaries developed a new • 1498- 1515 Reign of Louis XII approach to basing a mass on a polyphonic work. lnstead as king of France of using one voice as a cantus li rmus , thc co mpose r bor rows extcnsivcly f'rom all voices of thc modc l, rcwo rkfog thc • 1501 Petrucci publishes model's characteristic motives, points of imitation, and genOdhecaton era l structure in cach movement of th e mass. This approach • 1502 Petrucci publishes is especially apt when basing a mass on a meter or chanson Josquin masses in the new. predomi11antly imitative or homophonic styles of • 1503- 4 Josquin at Ferrara Josquin's generation. because in such works the teno r is not the main scrucru_raJ voice, and no one voice wouJd fun ctio n well • 1504- 5 Jacob Obrecht at as a cantus nrmus. Typically, the resemblan ce to the ruodel is Ferrara strongest at the beginning and end of each movement. and the • 150-4-21 Josquin at Condécomposer's craft is demonstrated by che new combinations and sur-l'Escaut variations he can achi eve with the borrowed material. A mass • 1509 Henry VIII becomes composed in this manner is termed an i111i1<1lio11 11wss (o r king of England parody mass). beca use it imitales another polyp honic work. Among thc lirst cxa mples of this n cw approac h is Miss<i • 1519 Charles V becomes Holy Ave Maria by Antoine de Pévin (ca. 1470- 1511/12), bascd on Roman Emperor Josqu i n's motctAve Maria ... virgo serena. Prom an aristoc rati c • ca. 1520 Josquin, Mille regretz fomi ly, Pévin was a priest, singcr, and composcr at the F'rench royal courl o f Louis XII, where Josquin had also servecl, and wa s dcscribed by Cl,ircanus as an c mu lato r of Josquin. At the s tartof each movementof MissaAveMaria, he reworkstheinitial points ofimitation from Josquin's motel in a different way. so that e ach offers a new variation on the motct's opening p hrases, sometimes at great length. Comparing the beginningofhisAgnus Dei in Example 9.9a to the openingof the motet in Example 9.8b, we see th at here Fêvin directly borrows the notes of Josq,.tili's hrst point of imitation in each voice (marked with x's). transposing the bassus upa fourth and moving it earlier. bm then more distantly parapbrases the secoud point of imitatiou (marked with o's). Example 9.9b shows a passage in Fêvilú Gloria that reworks the homophonic material from Josquin's motet in Example 9.8c into a short imitalive dueL between Lhe two lower voices-a creative transformation of fauxbourclon style into imitation-foll owed by fully homophonic declamation. lf he was indeed a studenl or follower of Josquin, F'évin learned h is Jessons well.

_,.

s A -gnus

_,-..,

pee

Jis

e:1

l:'J

U)Ull

A-gnus

.._,

tol

qui

A·gous

qu,

De o

A • gnus

qui

'º'

·~

lis

101

- '·

!is

wmb of Coá. who takcs awa,- thesins of theworlá

b. &cerpt from Gloria x • no1e íirom Jos<1uin's mo1e1

" tJ - am

m - am.

..---. -.,.. -! -

~ - ;1,n

,.,

;un.

·•

.. "

1 mi - ne De

• •

us.___ Rex eac·lc

us .--

Rex

cae

·-

t.J

StiS,

Dc · ua Pa •

stis.

De ·

·mi• nc Fi • li

.,,..

ni ·gt · ni - tc

1i'

~ r oI @r p r -~

-us P:..1 - ter

mni

,._

tens.

'Í Do

mi-ne Fi- li Xi_

u - ni - ge-ni Xi_

~-~

mru

pó - rens.

º"

r'IH -ne F1- l 1

Lord Cod. Kingof f/eaven. Cod the Fath~r almighty. Lord. the 0111,- begotten Son

u - n1-ge-n1

Old and N• w

Tenor plus paris

Cbaat melody

or o lher voices

211

Ali voíces f rom polyphonic work

from polyphon ic work

1n long notes. as

Tenor i n tenor of m:iss. 01hers ín oLher voiceti

All voices of mass

AJ l voices of mass

Tenor used as

Pa raph rased and wi1 h

Motives. poinrs of

slructura l canh1s fi.rmus. oLllers

notes addcd

inütatio.n , or othcr clements reworked

reworked

FIGURE 9,5:

S1r:ni í1ed. with ccnor

lmitative. with some

lmitntive. with some

as structura l voice

homophonic passagcs

homopbon íc passagcs

Approc,ches to cumposing musses buscá o,i borrowed material.

Both paraphrase masses and imitation masses feature a series of independent phrases in imitative or homopho11ic textures without a structural cantus firmus, but they differ in their source material. Figure 9.5 provides a comparison of Lhese two approaches lo Lhe mass wiLh each oLher and with cantus-nrmus and cantus-firmus/ imitation masses. Cantus-firmus, paraphrase. and imitalio n of a polyphonic model are ali compositional techniques 1.hat were used in motets and chansons as well as in masses. but they can be particularly interesting in masses, where composers have five movements in which to rework lheir borrowed material in dif'ferent ways . AJL11ough composers con tinued lo write cantus-fu·mus masses in lhe sixteen th ccntu ry, they turned increas ingly to imitation and pa raph rasc masses bccause thcy prefcrrcd imitalivc textures to lhe ~tructural ~caffoldingof cantusf1rrnus technique. which came to be seen as archa ic. ll is likely lhal lhe source material for any mass was choscn for reasons pa rallcl tto thosc fo r thc cantusftrmus mass: to s uü a particular religious observance, inst itul ion, or saint; lo honor a patron; to convey meanings by alluding to th e origina l wo rds of the cha.nson or motet in the context ofthe mass: or perhaps, in the case of an imitation mass, lo pay homage to another composer through emula1ion.

212

C H A PT E K 9

•

Franco-Flemish Composers, 1450-1520

imitation. and freer creatment of borrowecl material exemplify new traits that become typical of the next century. Building on these achievements, Josquin and his gen eration worked with new freedom in a polyphonic id iom based on equal. vocally conceived lines. moving now in points of iinitation. now in homophony, responding lo the shape, accentuation, and meaning of the texl.

At the same time. they continued to draw on tradition. furtber developing the established genres oi' mass. motel. and chanson and linding new applications for inherited techniqu es frorn caoon LOcan Lus lirmus. paraphrase, aod other methods for reworking exist ing music. Ockeghem, Busnoys. Obrecht, Isaac. and Josqu in were aJI acclaimed in life and after death. Yet only a few of Ockeghem's works we re known ia rhe sixtccn th ccntu ry, chiefly vfrtuoso caMnic wo rks likc Missa prolo.t.io,ium. citcd in theorelica] lreatises. Josquin's music continued in circu.lalion far longer. in pari because the stylistic cha nges he helped to in troduce made ea rlie r music souncl old - foshioned. Josquin's works were performed anel emulated through lhe end of lhe sixteenth centu1y, aided by the new technology of music pt'inlingtha t emcrgcd whcn he wasat Lhe peakofhis ca recr. Hc was lcss well lmown in the ncxt two ccnturies but was ncvcr entirely forgottcn, perhaps thc first composer for whom that was lnte. Even when his music was no longer performcd. it continucd to bc cited by theorists, anel hc ftgured promincntly in histories of music written in the late eighteenth anel nineteenth centuries.. His complete works were transcribed and published beginning in 1921, stimulating a growing munber of performances anda constant stream of scholarsh ip. His music is now frequently performed and recorded, and heis viewed as Lhe central composer of his time. The music of his contemporaries. from Ockeghem and Busnoys through Obrecht and Isaac. has also appeared in modern editions. p erformances. and recordings. ln some respects the musical language of Josqu in an d his generation is still with us, present in the attentive text-setting, imitalive and homophonic lextu.res. and rules of counterpoinl and voice-leading practiced by composers ove r the next seve ra! centu ries. The emotional exp ressivity and vivid imagery of their music sct Lhe standard for succccding gcncrations. so much so lhat lhe history of mus ic from their I irne to 1.he early twen1ieih ce ntury is more ll1an any1hing else a history of mus ical exp ress ivity. li is also, at least in part, the history of exemplary composers and thc ir mus ic. Tn 1hi s too we are heirs of the Renaissance, whose intercst in lhe indi vidual artist is s hown in the way Josquin's music was singlcd out for praisc. ~ Resources fo r study and review available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

Old and New The music of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries interweaves old and new elements. ln some ways. Ockeghem and Busnoys represent tbe last climax of medi eva] Lhinking in theiruse of theforrnesfixes. in their long. windingp hrases. and in suc h feats as the mensurar.ion canons in Misso prolatio1uun. Yet ll1eir music's expanded range . grea ter equality of voices. increased use of

C ti A PT E li I O · Sacr•d Music in 1he Era of ,he Reformation

214

The Reformati on The Re formation began as a theologica l disp L1te anel mus hroome d into a rebellion agains t the authority of the Catholic Church. It s tarted in Ger -

many with Martin Luther. then spread to mosl of northern Europe. as sllown

SACRED MUSIC IN THE ERA OF THE REFORMATION

in Figure l 0.1 . There were three ma in branches: the Lutheran movemen t in northe rn Germany and Scandinavia. the Calvinist move ment led by Jean Calvin thal s pread írom Switze rland and thc Low Countries lo Francc and Britain, and Lhe Chu1·cb of England. organized by King Henry VIIT for polit ical reas ons but ultimaiely inCluenced by Re fo rmation ideai s. The th eology anel circum slanccs of cach bran ch detc rmi ncd its valucs and eh o ices concc rning rnus ic, so knowing the relig ious and political issues behind each move ment will help us und c rs tand why the i r mu s ic takes the forms it does.

10 FIGURE 10.1:

ReligiOU$ divi$ions in Europe around 1560.

When the sixteenth century began, Cbristians from Poland to Spain and from ltaJy to Scotland sbared allegiance to a single clmrcb centered in Rome and supported by politicaJ leaders. By midcentury, this unity of belief and practice. inherited from the early Middle Ages. was sbatternd. So was the peace. European societywas disrupted by the Protestant Reformation. as central and western Eurnpe

C] Rom•n Co,holic

D l.ull,er:in C] CalV'lmst 3nd rtrcas of -

(

Wlvüm11mOuencea Church oí t:ngl:111d Easrcrn Onhodox

eme red a ce111.ury of religious wars. Sacred music was profoundly al'fected. Leaders of the Reformation sought to involve wors hipers more directly. lhrough congregational singing and services presented in the vernacular rather than in

UTrl OANIA A1'r,11ri c

Oct an

Latin. Th ese changes led to new lypes of religious mus ic in each branch of Protestantism. including thc chorale and chora lc scttings in thc Lutheran Church, the m ctric<ff 1>sc1f111 in Calvinisl churches, and the

cmthem and Service in thc Anglican Church. Thc Catholic Church :uso undertook reforms, but continueel to use Gregorian cbant and polyphonic masses and motets in styles that extended the tradition of Josquin's generation. Jewish service music remained elistinctive. yet absorbed some outside influences. ln each tradition , the genres and styles of sacred music were determined by people's religious beliefs and aims as much as by theu- musical tastes.

i1----~,-~~,--~sro~lllet .150

.soo K,l<t lll1:1Uh

·~·'

Music 1, th• Luthera, Church

215

216

C H A P T E K I O • Sacr•d Music ;, th• Era of 1he Reforma tio,

Music assumed a central position in the Lutheran Church hecause of Lurher's own appreciation for it. He was a singer. performer on flute and lute. anel composer. and he greatly admtired Franco- Flemish polyphony, especially the music

MARTIN LUTHER The iustigator of the Reformation was Martin Luther (1483- 1546). shown in Figure 10.2. a professor of biblical theology at the University of Winenberg. His

approach to theology was inl1uenced by bis humanis-

MARTIN LUTHER ON

of Josquin. Like Plato and Aristotle. he believed

tic educat ion, whieh taught him to rely on reasou . on direcLexperience. and 011 bis owa readiag- of Sc ripture rather than on reeeived authority. Study of the Bible, aotably St. Paul's view Lhal "the just shall live by fa itl1'º (Roman$ l : 17), led Lu1her 10 coaeluele that Cod's jus! ice eonsisls not in reward ingpeop le forgood deeds orpunishiag Lhem for sias. hui ia olfering salvalion Lhrough foith alo ne. His views conl rad ieted Catholie doctrine, wh ie h he lel 1hat re ligious ritua is. penanee, and good wo rks were necessary for the absolution of sin. Lulhcr also insislcd lhat religious au1 horiLy was de ri ved from Seripturc alonc, so that if a belicf or praeticc had no bn.sis in the Biblc it coulel not be true. This notion challengeel the authority of lhe Church, which had developed a rieh tapestry of teachings and p raetices i hat rested on h·adition rather thnn Scriptttre. One such practice was the sale of Lndulgences, cred its for good deeds done by others, which one eould purchase to reduce the punislunent for sin. This praerice raised money for lhe Catholie ChuTch, but it had no Seriprnral basis and violated Luther·s principie that salvation was granted through faith alone, notworks. So on Oetobedl. 1517. he posted on a ehurch door in Wittenberg a lisl of ninety-fwe theses (points or arguments) opposing indulgences and Lhe doctTine that lay behinel them and ehallenging the pope·s role in granting them. He senl a eopy lo his bishop. intending to start a dialogue that eould lead to refo rro wilhin 1.he Cburch. bul received no reply. His lheses were soon printed and d issern ina ted widely, rnak ing Lu1her famous. When p ressed to recanL, he instead aJfu·mcd the primaey of Scriplurc ovcr lhe Catholic hicrarchy. ln response. lhe pope charg-ed him with he resy ia 1519 aad excommunicated him in 1520. By then, Luther had nume rous foll owers in Cerman univcrsi lies anel among lhe populace. He organizecl a new Evaogelical Church, known in English as lhe Lutheran Chu reh. Many Ce rman prin ces supported hi m a nd made Lu1he ranism the state religion , freeing thcm from contro l by Romc.

CONGREGATIO NAL SINGING

strongly in the educalional and ethical power of music. Through s inging together. wo rshi pers cou l<l unite in proclaiming Lheir failh anel praising Gou. Fo r these reasons . he waaled lhe entire congregation to siag in the se rvices, not just 1he cclebranLs and ehoi,·, as Cal holic cus tom dic1a1cd (see Sot1rce Read ing). Luther neve r intended any fo rmula to pre va il unifo rmly in Lutheran churches, and vari ous compromises belween Roman usage and new practiees eou ld be found throughou t s ixtecm hcentu1y Ccrmany. Largc chu rches with traincd choirs generally kept much of the Latin liturgy anel its polyphonie musie. Smallcr churebes adopted the Deu.dsche Messe (German Mass) puhlished by Luther in 1526, which followed the main outl ines ofthe Roman Mass but d ilferecl from it i_n many de1ails and replacecl most elements of Lhe Proper and Ordinary with German hymns.

Music in the Lutheran Church ln creating his chutch. Luther soughLto give the people a latger role. He ma ele the services easier to uuderstancl hy increasiug drn use of the vernacular. Yet he retained some Latiu. whieh he considered valuable for educaling the young. He kep t much of Lhe Catholic lirurgy, some in u·anslation and some in Latin. Similarly, Lutheran churches continued to employ a good dea l of Catholic music, both chanl and polyphony. whether wilh Lhe original Latin l.exts. Ce rma n 1.ranslat ions. or new Cerrnan words.

ln early Christian services. ali those present had sung hymns and psalms (see chapter 2). but by the late Middle Ages music in Catholic services was assigned to the celebrants and choir alone. When he established his new church. Luther sought to restore the congregations role.

- ~FIGURE 10.2: Manili Luihcr. in a ponrait by lucas Cranach thc Eldcr. <uFPm. , wnt Nc t. 11'AI,\', l'HOTO: t RI CII U:SSJKG/ART R.tSOURCL. NY)

1 also wish that we had as many songs as possible in the vernacular which the people could sing during Mass. immediately after the Gradual and also after the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. For who doubts that originally all the people sang these which now only the choir sings or responds to while the bishop is consecrating the Host? The bishops may have these congregational

hymns sung either aíter the Latin chants, or use the Latin on one Sunday and the vernacular on the next. until the time comes that the whole Mass is sung in the vernacular.

THE LUTHERAN CHORALE

The most important form of music in the Martin Luther. ºOrder of Mass and Communio, Lulheran Ch urch was the congregaliona l hymn, for the Church at Wittenberg· (1523). traos. Paul known sinee 1he late six teenlh eentury as 1he Zeller Strodach. in Luthers Works. vol. 53 (Philadelclwrnle (frorn Chora!. lhe Gc rman for "chant'"). phia: The Fortress Press. 1965). 36. During each service, the congregalion sang severa! cho ra les, fu ltill ing Luther·s aim of increasing worshipers· part icipation through music. Chora les a re known today p rima rily in fou r - pa rt hann on izcd settings. but they o rigina lly consistcd of only a mctri e, rhymcd, st roph ic pocm and a melody in simple rhythm sung in un ison, without harmonizalion or aecompanimcnt. ln Luther's time, the congregation was led in its singing by a monophonic ehoir. Of eourse, chorales, like plninchnnts, coulcl be enriched through harmony and counterpoim anel reworked into large musical forms. Just as most medieva l and Renaissanee Catholic ehureh music was based on chant. so Luthetan ehurcb musie of the sixteenth thrnugh eighteenth centuries largely grew out of the chorale. Luther and his eolleagues worked quiekly to provide ehorales suitable for eve1y SW1clay of lhe church year. Luther wroLe many of the poems and melodies himself. Fourcollections of chorales were puhlished in 1524, anel over two hundred followed in the next ftfty years. The printing press played as large a role in clisseminating chorales as it had in Lhe spread of Luther's message.

Music ln the Lutheran Church

There were four main sources for chorales: (1) adaptations oi' Gregorian chant; (2) existing German devotional songs; (3) secular songs given new words. a practice called co11tf'C1f act11m; and (4) new compositions. Recycling familiar melodies saved time and reduced the amounl of new music congregat ions had to learn. Bul it also served other purposes. Using Gregorian

217

21 8

C H A P T E K l O • Sacred Music in the Era of ,he Reformation

Sourcesfor

EXAMPLE 10.2,

'~ Adaptations of Full ~

·f

f9-1

[

•

m1 re .. tur om

nc s.ac •<:u • tum.

-:_! •

lis de ee1 par • 1us de · um.

COr1ie. Saviorof11cuio11s. disploy1he offspri11gofrl, e Vlrgiri. Letal/ ages rnarvel rhat Cod granted. such a birth.

b. luther·s chorale Nun kom m, der Heiden Hei la nd

Nun komm der Hci- dcn

Hci ·land.

Wf=rr=F; r a] Da&s sich wun - dcr

al • lc

Wch .

r r

is1

uns

frei

3US

Wehr h•t

F F Waf

und 1,e

ser ler

Cot1. Not.

ren.

fcn.

u·of

r r r . r r ,j r r Fl r KT r r r=r r r r el

aJt

Maeh1

F auf

Erd

bõ

1u 1d

viel

is,

r'liclu

se FciJld. mit

Lis-1

F SciJ)S

sein

Ernst crs

jctzt mcint:

~:1111 Ro ~ s1 ung i~t;

J J

Glei

cht:1\.

New melodies

[iu11AJ

Religious songs in German had circulated since lhe nin th cen tury. and Luther and bis colleagues used many as chorales. One adapted by Luther is the Easter hymn Chri.st isterstanden (Cluist is risen). a twelfth -cen tury song based on the Latin seq uence Victimae paschali Laudes ( NAW~I 5). Luther and his colleagues usecl many well -known secular tunes for chorales. substiluling religious words. The texts ,vere mosi often wholly new, but sometimes included clever reworkings of lhe exisling poem. The most fam ous con trafa ctum (though not by Luther) is O IIVelt, ich nwss clich !assen (O world, 1 rnust lcave you) . bascd on lhe Licd Innsbruck. ich muss dich lassen (NAWM 41). Finally, Luther and other composcrs wrotc many ncw tuncs for chorales. Thebestk.nown is Luther·s EinfesteBurg(N A\V~1 46c::), sh own in Example 10.2, which beca me the songmost identified with the Reformation. Lutherwas very concerned with propersettingoftext, and rhis chorale shows his attention to lhe exp ression and declarnation 0[1he words. The clynamic repeated opening notes anel clescending seale vividly convcy the images of power in thc poem, which Luther adapced from Psalm 46. The original rhythm features alternating long and short 11otes 10 suit the stresses of the 1ext. Since the eigh1eenth centu1y, an altered. more even rhythm has become more common.

Der Jung- ír3u • cn Kind cr· bnnt.

J JJ;

4 4a1

Co11 solch' Cc - hun ihm

bc- s,clh,

Now carne, peoples · Sa11i-0r. known as Child ofthe Virgin. ai 1vhich ai! the world maniels

tlwi Co<L such a /Jinh for him ordains.

Burg

thal have notu befalle11 us. The old. e11il e11emy 11ow means to deal with us seriously; great

• • • • • • • *----• • • - • ·- =--Ve · n, r ~ <left'l·JHOr g~n ·li· um. o·8ten·de pár • tum vir· gi nis:

~ -:: . -x: -~xxx. txx xx -~ . . --·._: : >

,e jcm

b"ll uns

stc

powerand rnu.ch currn ingare li is cruel amwrnents: 011 Eanh is llOI hi.s equal.

ltJf,

A siurdy forrress is our Cod. n good <kfe,ise and we(lpon. Hehelps us free from ui/ afflictiollS

Contra/acta X

dic

r=r

r r

r v ein

gross

l.uther's ada.ptation ofa. choralefrom a clu;mL hym.n

songs a.. Hym.n. Veni redemptor gentium

E,·

chant 1

Ein

Cemian devotional EXAMPLE 10.1,

melodies and German religious songs asserted a sense of continuity wilh past Christian traditions. At the sarne time. converting Catholic songs into Lu1heran ones was an act of appropriation Lhat proclaimed Lhe superiority and vibrancy of lhe ncw church and cha llcnged the old order. Likewise. remaking secula r songs in to religious ones symbolized the su premacy of rel igion in daily life even while appeal ing to the broadesl popular taste. Example 10.1 shows the chanl hymn Verti redemptor gen.tiu.m. (NAWM ~6d ) and Luther's aclaplalion of il as a chorale. Nuri komm. d.er Heid.en Heiland ('IIAWM 4Gb). Luthe r's poem is a rhymecl, metrical t:rans lat ion of the Latin tex t. The notes that are sha red are marked with an x, s howing that Luther took over rnost of lhe rnelody yet made severa ) signif,canl allerations. Changing th c ii rst and last note in thc middl e phrascs gives lhe me lody a ncw contour with a singlc high point for cach phrase. Although thc iirst and last phrascs in lhe chant hymn cliffer from each other, in the chorale they are the sarne. heightening the scnsc of closure. Most impo1iant, thc chorale has a distinct rhythmic proftle of long and short notes. The changes recas1 the melody in an appealing, up - to -dare style that was easier for lay worshipers to sing.

Luther. Ein foste Burg

chorales

POLYPHON IC CHORA LE SETTINGS Lutheran composers soon began to write polyphonic senings for chorales. These served two purposes: group s inging in homes anel schools, and performance in church by choirs. Early published collections of chorale settings were aimed at providing music for young peo ple to sing that was "whole-

Music ln the Lutheran Church

219

220

C H A PT E K t O • Sacred Music in the Era of ,he Reformation

some" and could "rid them of tbeir love clitties and wanton songs." as Luther wrote in che foreword to one such collection. These sarne chorale settings could also be sung in church by the choir, sometimes doubled by instrnments. alternating stanzas with the congregation singing in uuisou without accompaniment. Such ways of performing chorales added variery and

block chords wi.th litde contrapuntal figuration. This is callecl ccmtio11.al style, after its use in chorale collections called Cantion.a/e (Luin for ªsongbook"). Although such settings were often sung in parts. after 1600 it beca me customary to have ali the parts played on the organ while the co11gregatio11 sang the melody in unison for ali the verses of the tune. This style of harmo-

interest to the music of the services.

nization and performance has continued to the presem and is embodied in

Composers used a variety of approaches borrowed from existing genres. Many seuings adopted lhe Lrad iLional Lied technique. placing lhe unaltereel chorale lune in Lhe tenor anel su rrounding it with lhree or more free- llowing parts, as in the setting by Luther's collaborator Johann \Valter (14-96- 1570) in Examp le 10.3a (NA\VM 46d). More elaborate seu.ings, known as c/r.ornfo m o t e l ;;, bo rrowccl techniques from the Franco-Flcmis h motct. Some o·cated 1.he cho rale as a t:antus f1rmus in relatively long notes surrounded by free or imitative po lyphony. Others developed each ph rase of thc chorale imitat ively in ali voices. An cxample ofthe latter is Example 10.3b, in which each voice paraphrases the chorale, some more closely than othe,·s. By thc last thi rd of thc ccntury. infl ucnced by Calvinist psalm- tune harmonizations in chordal homophony (see below), Lutheran composers most often arranged chorales with the lune ln the highest voice, accompanied by

hymnbooks for almost all branches of Protestantism.

EXAMPLE 10.3,

T HE LUT HERAN TRAD IT ION

By 1600. Lur.he rans had a ri ch funcl of over seven hundred choral e melod ies and a great variety of pieccs based upon them. from simple settings to complex chorale motets. Chorales were also elahorateel i.n organ works of various types (discussed in chapte r 12). The Lutheran Church had quickly gai ned musica l indcpendcnce anel cstablished a s trong hcritagc on which la ter com posers like Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach wo Ltld build.

Music in Calvinist Churches

Twoset.tin.gsofEin feste Bu rg

<•. Joh.0-,m Wo,her.Jroni Ceisr.lichcs Ccsa ngbüch lc in I\

Ein

Burg is,

fe - SIC

AJms

,.,

Ein

llurg _ _

fc - stc

,.,

Ein - fc - ste

Burg

ist

Tenor

ser Cott.

,....._

ser

ist Ull A

Bassus

Gc>11. ei1\ gu - le

ser

rc .

Burg

SIC

ein

Calvin and nwsic

...,.

- lt·I:

Gott.

ser

1st un

Cou. cin gu · ~e

b. litpus He/linck. from George Rhaw·s collection Newe deudsche geistJi.che

Gesenge (1541) I\

Ein

fc - stc Burg

1st

METRICAL PSALMS

ser Gott.

- - - - : - . . .Ei11

Ein

rc - SIC Burg

Outside Germany and Scandinavia. Protestantism took different forms. The largest branch was led by Jean Calvin (1509- 1564). Like Luther. he rejected papal aucbority anel embraceel juslificalion lhrough fair.h alone. Bm Calvin believed that some people are predestined forsalvation, otliers fordamnat ion. He also held that ali aspects of life should fall under God's law as g:iven i.n the Bible. requiringof his followers lives of constant piety. uprightness. anel work. From hi s cenler at Ceneva, m issionaries spread Calvinism across Swit.zerland and to otber lands. establishing the Dutch Reformed Church in the Ne~herlands, lhe Presbylerian Church in Scotland, lhe Puri tans in England, and the Hui,rucnots in F'rance. Sccking to focus worship on Coei alonc, Calvin strippcd churchcs anel se rvices of everythi ng that might. distTact worshipers with world ly pleasures, including dccorations, paint ings, stain cd-glass windows. vcstmcnts, colorful ce remony, incenlõe, organs and other musical instruments, anel elabo ratc polyphony. Figure 10.3 s hows how spare Calvinist churches wcre. Like Luther, however, Calvin valucd congregational singing for its ability to unite worshipers in expressing their faith and praising God.

is1 un

re SIC Burg sei·

Cou . .,-:;:

i:!:I.:

77ie French psalter Ein

ste Ourg

is1 un

Calvin insisted that only biblical texts. especially psalms. should be sung in church (see Source Reading. p. 222). Bur. psalms had verses of varying lengr.hs. making them difficult for congregations to sing. The solution was to recast them as metrical psa/ms- metric. rhymed. strophic translations of psalms in the vernacular lhat were set 1.0 newly composed melodies or tu.nes adapted from chan t. Metrical psalms were puhlished in collections called p scrlters . Calvin issued severa! in f'rench. beginning in 1539. A complete French psalter was

Music in Calvinlst Churches

221

222

C H A P T E K I O • Sacr•d Music in th• Era of 1he Reformation

FIGURE 10.3: TheCal-

vinist Temple ai Lyon, in a, 1564 painli11gthat shows 1heaus1erityof Calvin,is1 churclies. The preacher weo.rs no e/a boro te vestments. 1here is no choir. 1hef ows is on th e pulpit ratlier than the (1/t(lr. and rhe on!y decorot.ions are coais ofarmsi11 thewindows and cibove tlie pulpil. (81 SLIOTH tQUt f'UBLIQOE ET UNl\tERSAJRE, CENEVA, J'IIOT01 [JUCll Lt$S1NC/A.RT

J\E.SOURC&. NY)

published iu 1562. in tens of thousands of copies prin!ed in several cilies simuüaneously. a sign of t:he grow ing importance of printing as a means for dissem inat ing musi c. This psalter contained 150 psalms 1hat were sung in church in unaccompanied unison. The melod ies move mostly by step. giving them an ausle re simplicity. The best known is Lhe tune fo r Psalm 134 (NAWM 17a), by Loys Bourgcois (ca . 15 10- ca. 156 l). shown in Examplc 10.4. Tbis !une was used in Englisb psalte rs fo r Psalm 100, becoming known as "Old Mund redth'' (see NAWM ·171J). F'rom Switzerland and France, metrical psaJms spread widely. Translntions of lhe French psalter appeared in Germany, Holland, England, and Scot land, and the Rcformed churches io those countries took over many of the French tunes. ln Germ:my, many psalm melodies were adapted as chorales, EXAMPLE 10.4, Loys Bou.rgeois, Pscilm 134, Or sus, servileu rs du Seigncur

JJJ J J J j

JJJUr J L:

Vous qui de nuh en son hon · neur

J J

Lou · e,. Je, t:I son

r'lórn

J ..3 es

te ..

\'e?..

Alise. ,-011 servanls oft.he Lord. ro11 who b,- nigh1 inhis honor serve hini in his liousc. praise him. and lift 1tp his name.

Full M

Dutch, English,

and Scottish psalters

JEAN CALVIN ON SINGING PSALMS ln his preface to the psalter published at Geneva ln views for how muslc should be used in services, and why only psalms sung by the entire congregation were appropriate. 1542, Calvin detailed his

We know by experience that song has great force and vigor to move and inAame people's hearts to invoke and praise God with a more vehement and ardent zeal. Care must always be taken that the song be not ligh t and frivolous but have weight and majesty, as Saint Augustíne says, and there is likewise a great difference between the music one makes to entertain people at table and in their homes. and the psalms that are sung in the Church in the presence of God and the angels. . . . lt is true that. as Saint Paul says. every evil word corrupts good manners, but when it has the melody with it. it plerces the heart much more strongly and enters within: as wine is poured into

the cask with a funnel. so venom and corruption are distilled to the very depths of the heart by melody. Now what is there to do? The solution is to have songs not merely honest but also holy. which will be like spurs to incite us to pray and praise God, and to meditate on God's works in order to love, fear, honor. and glorify God. Now what Saint Augustine says is true-that we cannot sing songs worthy of God save what we have received from God. Wherefore, although we look far and wide and search in every land, we will not find better songs nor songs better suited to that end than the Psalms of David. which the Holy Spirit made and uttered through him. And for this reason, when we sing them we may be certain that God puts the words in our mouths as if God sang in us to exalt God's glory. Jean Calvin. "Epistle to the Reade,." ,n the Geneva Psalter (1542). Adapted from the translation by Oliver Strunk. ín SR 57 (3:22), pp. 365-67.

and Lutherans anel Catholics pub lishcel mctrica l psa ltcrs to compete with thc Calvinisls. Thc Frcnch model inílucnccd the mosl important English psalte r of lhe sixteenth century. that of Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins (1562). ln 1620, dissenters from the Church of England called Separatists emigrated lo New England, establishing lhe Plymouth Colony (the lerm "Pilgrim" is a modern eonstruetion). They brought with them F'reneh an el Dutch tradi tions of psalm singing acquired during a thirteen -year sojourn in Holland and embodied in lhe psalter issued by Meory A.insworth in Amsterdam in 1612. The iirst book published in North Ameriea was a psalter, the Bay Psa!1n Book of 1640. Some ttmes from sixteeuth- cennuy psalters are still used today, appearing in hymnals ali over the world.

POLYPHON IC PSALM SETTINGS AJthough singingin Calvinist churches was at iirst imaceompanied and monophonic. psaLn tunes were set polyphonically for devo1ional use at home or in gatherings of amateur singers. Se1tings were typically in f'ou r or tive parts, with the tune in either the tenor or lhe superius. a~1d ranged from simple chordal slyle t.o motetlike seltii1gs in cantus-firmus style or imital.ion. French

Chu,ch Music ln England

223

224

C H A P T E K I O • Sacrod Music in th• Era of 1he Reformation

composers of psalm settings included Loys Bourgeois. Claude Goudimel (ca. 1520- 1572), and Claude Le Jeune (ca. 1528- 1600), and Flemish or Dutch composers included Jacobus Clemens (ca. 1510-ca. l 555) and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (] 562-1621). There were also settings of psalm tunes for voice and \me. for organ. and for other cornhinations. Ali cold, tl1e repertory of Calvin-

but Latiu motets and masses were composed duringthe reigns of Henry. Mary. and eve n Elizabeth. Although most services during her reign were in English, Elizabeth provided for the use of Latin in some churches and of Latin hymns, responds. anel motets in her own royal chapei. where they served political needs for international diplomacy in a Europe dominated by hostile Catholic

ist polyphonic psalm settings numbers in the 1housands. about as large as

powers. Some Pro1estants valued the tradition of Latin sacred polyphony in

that of Lutheran chorale sellings or of Italian madrigals (see chapler 11). as compose rs and priniers responded LOa demand for rel igious music that ama teu rs coulcl perform fo r their own enjoyme nt and edinca ti on. If monophonic metricaJ psaJrns were church music. lhese polyphonic sellings resembled popu lar music with a religious message. like modern Christ ian popular music.

itself. for its links lo Lhe past anel its musical splendors. And Calholics c ontinued LO bolei services in private households, often in secret. for which new Latin works were composed. The leading English compose r of sacred music in lhe ea rly sixtee nth centu ry was John Taverner (ca. 1490- 1545). His masses and motets exe mpl ify the Englis h prcfc rencc fo r long mclismas, ful l tcx tures. anel can tus - firmus slructurei;. The most imporlanl rnidcentu ,y English compose r was Thomas Tal lis (ca . 1505- 1585), who served in the Chapei Royal for ove r fo rty years undcr every sovere ign from Henry VII I to Eli wbeth 1. Whi le Ta llis apparcntly remained Catholic, his works encompass Latin masses and hymns, English service mu sic, anel other sacred works that refl cct the rcligious anel poli tica l upheavaJ s in England duringhis lifetime. After the Church of Englancl adopted English as the primary liturgicaJ lan guage. two principal forms of Angli can music clevelopecl: the Sc,·vicc and the a11the111 (from the Latin ..antiphon"). A Service consists of the music for certain portious of Matins (correspondiug to Catholic Matins aud Lauds). Holy Communion (Mass). anel Evensong (\/espers anel Compline). A contrapuntaJ and melisma ti c seuing of these ponions is called a Greai Service. AShort Service sets the same texts, hut in a sylJabic, chordal style. An antbem correspon<ls to a Latin motet. It is a polyphonic work in English. usually sung by Úle choir near the end of Matins or Evensong. Many anthems set. tex ts from the Bible or Book ofComnion Prayer. Beginning early in the reign of Elizaheth l, there we re two main types. Afull mrthem is for unaccompanied choir in contrapuntal style. A verse <111t./um1 e mpl oys one or more solo voices with organ o rvio l accormpanimcn t. altc rna ting wi th passagcs for full choir doublcd by instrumcnts. Tallis·s f! ),e love me (NA\VM 48) exem plif,cs lhe ea rly anthcm. Among thc li rsl pieces of mu sic composed for lhe new litu rgy i n English arou nd 1547. it balances the d emaneis of thc Anglican Church for clca r, compre hens ible sctti ng of the words with musical qualities of beauty anel variety. The four- part me n's choir begins with si mple homop hony followcd by fou r bricf points of imitation, each different in construction. The text-setti ngis syllahi c and perfectly matched to the s poken rhythm of the words, anel the light texture and repetitio ns keep the words intel ligib le cve n in the imitativc scctions. At the sarne rime, eve1y phrase in eve1}' part is an attractive melody. Tallis's music strikes the listener as an interplay not of abstract musical lines but of voicesso closely is the melodie curve wedded to the natural inflection of speech, and so narurally does ic lie for the s inger.

Tavemerand Tallis

Church Music in England The third major bran ch of Protestant ism in the sixreen th century was the Church of England, whose origins lay more in politics than in doctrine. King Henry VIII (r. 1509-47). shown in Figure 10.4, was ma rried to Catherine of Aragon. daughter of Ferdinand and lsabelJa of Spain. Henry desired a male heir, but their onJy surviving clüld was a daughter, Mary. With Catherine past childbearingage. in 1527 Henry sought an annulment so he could marry Anne Boleyn. The pape could not grant this without offendi11g Catherine's neph ew. Emperor Cha1·les V, so in 1534 Heruy pers uaded ParliamenLto separate from R.ome and name Hemy head of the Church of Engla nd. The Church of England remained Calholic in doctrine under Heruy. But during the brief reign of Edward Vl ( r. 1517-53). He niy's so n by his third wife, Ja1,e Seymour, thc Church adopted Protestam cloctrin es, rcílecting Edward's Protestant upbringing and the views of Lhe regents who governed in his name. English replaced Lalin in lh e service, and in 1549 lhe Book of Common Prayer was adopted as the only prayerb ook pc nnittcd for public use. Edward·s eaxly death at lhe age of liftee n brought lo the throne his half- sister Mary (r. 1553- 58). Loyal to hc r mothcr, Cathe rine, a nd to the pape, she restored Catholicism, but mel conside rabl e resista nce. She was s uccecded by Elizabcth 1 ( r. 15581603), Henry·s daughter by Anne Boleyn, who again broke from the papacy and brought back the liturgical rcfo rm s instituted undcr Edward , yct tolcratcd Catholicism so longas its adherems conducted tbeir services in private and remained loyal to her as queen. She sought to steer a middle course. compromising enough 011 doctrine to make the Chm·cb of England hospitable to some Catbolics as well as Protestants. The presentday Anglicau Church (including the Episcopal Church in the United States) continues to blend Catholic andl Protestam elements in theology, ritual, and music. Ali these events had reperc uss ions for church music. New íorms were crea ted for se rvices in English.

Se1'llice and aritheni

FIGURE 10 .4, Henry

VIII. in a, porrrc,it by Hans Flolbe,n ,he Younger. (cAu1:11u NA1..IONAI E D'ARTP.ANTU" . A. ROM t , PIIOTO: SCAl.A/ AAT H&SOUJIC>~. NY)

WILLIAM BYRD The leading English composer in the late sixteent h anel early seventeenth centuries was William Byrd (ca. 1540- 1623: see biography and Figure 10.5). Although a Cal.holic. By rd served lhe Cburch of England and was a member

Chu,chMusic ln England

225

of the royal chapei. ln addition to secular vocal and insmunentaJ music (discussed iu chapters 11 a11d 12), he wrote bothAnglican service music and Latiu masses and motets. Byrd composed in aU the l'orms of Anglican chm·ch mus ic. including a Anglican mttsic Greac Service, chree Short Services, psalms, fuU anthems, and verse amhems.

Concise ~

1 1

Full ~

IO •

Sacrod Music in th• Era of 1he Reformation

TIMELINE Sacred Music iri thc Reforrnation

He was the nrst English composer to absorb Continental imitative techniques so lhoroughly that he could apply them imaginatively and without conslraint. ln hisSingjor.fiilty u,nioGod (NAWM •19). an energeticand vivid fuJJ anthemfor six voices, points ofimitation succced one anocher, occasionally interspcrsed with more homopbonic declarnatioo. Tbe imitaLion is bandJed freely. often wiLh changes of interval and rhythm. Byrdºs Latin masses and motecs are his best- known voca l compositions. He prohahly iotended his earlier motets for the royaJ chapei or for private dcvot ional gathcrings. But in thc 1590s he began to write music fo r liturgical use by Catholics who cclebrated Mass in sccret. His masses, one each

CH A

226

MUSICAL

H ISTORICAL

Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses, beginning the Reformation

• 1517

Latin masses and motets

Reign of Holy Roman emperor Charles V

• 1519- 56

Hernán Cortés conquers Aztecs

• 1519-21

for tbree. four. and five voices (ca. 1593- 95). stand om as the fmest by an English Renaissance composer. His two hooks titled Gradualia (1605 and 1607) contain complete polyphonic Mass Propers for lhe major clays of the church year. a cycle as amhitious and impressive as the Mag,ws liber organi

and Isaac's Ghoralis Gonstantinu.s. WHh these motets and bis masses, Byrd provided almost ali the polyphonic music his Catholic counuymen would need. Byrd was a Catholic in an Anglican state, a loya l su bject of and se rvant to Queen Elizaheth, protected hy ber from prosecu 1ion for h is religious practices and yet committed to providing music fo,· h is fricnds a nd pai ,·ons to use in t hc ir clandesline services. His prolif,c output of holh Anglican and Catholic service mus ic, and thc way he sought to make space for the latter in the focc of a sometimes hosti le environment, embody on a personal leve) the religious divisions throughoul Europc.

Luther and Johann Walter write first chorales

• 1523- 24

WILLIAM BYRD (CA . 1540-1623) Byrd. the most important English composer between Dunstable and Purcell, was a master of almost all major genres of his time, from music for Anglican and Catholic services to secular vocal and instrumental music. He was probably a student of Thomas Tallis and a choirboy with the Chapei Royal in London under both the Protestant Edward VI and the Catholic Oueen Mary. He was a Catholic, yet he served the Church of England as organist and choirmaster at Lincoln Cathedral (1563-72) and enjoyed the patronage of Oueen Elizabeth, returning to the Chapei Royal for over five decades (1572-1623). ln 1575, he and Tallis were granted a twenty-one-year monopoly for the printing of music in England. and Byrd continued publishing musíc after Tallis's death in 1585. ln trouble from time to time for his Catholic practices, Byrd nonetheless composed Latin masses and motets for Catholic use alongside his less controversial music, winning admiration among Catholics as a self-sacrificing advocate for their faith. That he avoided a worse fate is a sign of how valuable his other music was to the Anglican Church and to the state. lndeed, Elizabeth understood that he was the chief adornment

Lutherºs Deudsche Messe published

• 1526

Catholic Church Music

Francisco Pizarro defeats Incas in Peru

• 1533

•

FIGURE 10.5:

!Villt11m Byrd. <•110TQ<12.co>i)

of her Chapei Royal and used his reputation as a co mposer to raise hers as a monarch and that of England as a cultured nation. MA JOR WO RKS:

Overl80motcts.3mosses.4Services.

dozens of anthems. secular partsongs. consort songs.

fantasias and other works for vlol consort. ond voriations. fantasias. dances, and other works for keyboard

Music in the Catholic Church was cha11ged relatively little by Lhe religions tw·bulence of the sixteemh century. Although the Cburch unde11ook some reforms, descrihed below, the pri1534 Church of England sepamary response to the Reformation was to stiffen lhe Church's rates From Rome resolve and reafârm its doctrines. trad itions. and practices. 1534 Society of Jesus Church leaders did not translate services into the vemacular (Jesuits) founded or invite worshipers to panicipate ia the liturgy through sing1539 First French psalter ing. lnsleacl. we fand continui ty in lhe roles played hy music published and in the genres and fo rms tha t wcre used, from chanl to polyphonic rnasscs and motcts. Tradition, splcnclor, and a projection Lh rough music of the power and leadership of lhe church wcre valucd overcongrcgational participation. \Vhat changcs appcarcd wcre prima ri ly matters of style rather than genre or liturgical practicc.

THE GENERATION OF 1520-1 550 Flcmish composcrs rc maincd promincnt in the generation activc bctwccn 1520 and 1550, working in positions ali over Europe. Among the best known were Adrian Willaert (ca. 1490- 1562), Nicolas Gombert (ca. 1495- ca. 1560), and Jacobus Clemens. Ali were born in Flanders but took posts elsewhere. extending a century-old trad ition. Clemens served churches in the Netherlancls. Gomhert spent most of his career in the chapel of Emperor Charles V, working in Madrid. Vienna. and Brussels. Wil laert had positions in Rome. Ferrara, Milan. and Venice. where he was director of music ac che principal church, St. Mark's. for thirty-tive years. There he trained many eminent musicians. includingtheorist Gioseffo Zarlino (see chapter 7) and composers Cipriano de Rore. Nicola Vicenlino. and Andrea Gahrieli (see chapters 11 and 12).

Ca,holic Church Music

Catho lic composers in this period shared severa! characteristics. They preserved the careful dissonance treatment and equa lity of voices of the preceding generation. They expanded the typical number of voices from four to tive or six. which allowed a greater variety of contrasting combinacions.

They defmed the mode or polyphonic works clearly through

227

228

C ti A P T E li I O • Sacrod Music in 1he Era of ,he Reforma1ion

CATHOLIC RESPONSE TO THE REFORMATION As the Protestant Reformation spread, the Catholic Cburch responded with a series of iuitiatives. cal led the Counter- Reformation or Catholic Reforma lion. The loss or threatened loss of England, the Netherlands. Germany, Aus-

Georg Rhau publishes Newe deudsche geisrliche Gesenge

• 1544

frequent cadences and melodie proliles in che superius and • 1545-63 Council of Trent tenor voices lhat En Lhe range of tbe mode. whetber a11thentic • 1549 Book o{ Common Prayer or plaga l. Most works were in duple meter, sometimes with brief. conlrast ing passages in tripie mete r. The prevailing • 1551-94 Palestrina in Rome 1.exture cominued to be im ilat ive polyphony. but now voices • 1553- 58 Reign of Mary I of oft.en va1·icd motives as rhey imi1a1cd th cm. Phrascs tendcd England. restores Catholicism to overlap. wilb one or more voices beginning a new idea • 1556-94 Orlande de Lassus in while others cade nced , producing an almosl continuous flow service of duke of Bavaria articulatcd on ly by strong cadences at the ends of sections. The imilation rnass bccame thc mosl comrnon type of mass, • 1558 Gioseffo Zarlino. Le followed by thc parap hrasc mass, although cantus- lirmus istitutioni armoniche masses continucd to bc written. Chant melodies, usually • 1558- 1603 Reign of Elizabeth treated freely through paraphrase in all voices, served as sub 1of England. restores Church jects for motcts as well as masses. Canons and other intricate England of strucmral <levices appeared much less often than they had in • 1562 First complete French previous generations. psalter published We cau see severa! of these traits in Gomhert's fi.ve- voice mote1Ave regina caelorum (NAWM 50 ~ ). based on a chan1 • 1567 Giovanni Palestrina's with die sarne words. Each phrase of text is treated in a sepaPope Marcellus Mass published ra te point of imitalion. usinga melodie idea paraphrased from • 1572 William Byrd appointed 1.he chant. As each poinl of imitation cadences on 1:he modal to Chapei Royal final, th e ncxt has already beE,'Un. Thc success ion of inte rlock• 1579 Lassus. Cum essem ing poinls of imitation continues úu-oughout lhe work. creatpa1vulus ing a seamless flow without lhe clea r breaks and strong contrasts typical of Josquin, with whom Gombcrt was saicl to have studicd. Al each ncw phrasc. thc vo ices cnter in a diffe rcnl orde r an el after a different interva l of lime, prov id ingcncl less va riety within a unilied structure. The music reflects the vaJue Gombert placed on combining conlinuity with conslanl variat ion, and lhe lesser value h e placcd on thc rhctori ca l effects Josquin ach icvcd through contrasts of charactcr, lextu re, and figuration anel th rough wordpainting. As we shall see, the pendulum swung back from sheer beauty to rhetorical expressivity in motets composecl in the later sixteenth cen tury. Although they shared many characteristics, comp osers at this time also Willaert and developed individual styles. Willaert. wirh his long career in ltaly, was most luimanism affected by the human ist movement. He carefully suited bis music to the accentuation. rhetoric. and punctuation of the texL He never allowed a rest to interrupt a word orthought within a vocal line, and he placed a strongcadence in alJ voices only at siguilicant breaks in the text. Willaert was one of the lirst composers to insist that syllables be prinred precisely under lheir notes and that scrupulous attentiou be paid to the stresses of Latin pronuJlc iation. ln addition to his church music. Willaert also played a signiácant parl in the histo1y of the halian madrigal (see chapter 11).

tria. Bohemia. Poland. and Hungary made this campaign urgem. Pope Paul III (r. 1534-49) and his successors brought austerity and asceticism to a church hierarchy formerly known for prolligacy and excess. Simulianeously, Sain t lgnatius Loyola (l 491- 1556) organized the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuils. in 1534. Swearing slrict obedience to lhe pope. the Jesuits founded s choo ls and proselyt ized among Protestants in Europe and non - Christians in Asia and the Americas. The ir work li elped t.o restorc Poland anel large arcas of France a11d Ge n nany to Catbolicism.

T HE COUNCIL OF TRENT From 1545 to 1563. with numcrous inlcrruptions, a church Counc il met at Trent in nortbcrn ltaly to considcr how to respond to the Reformation. Figure 10.6 shows the nal session. Afte r discussing possible compromises, lhe Council reaflirmcd thc doctrines and practiccs that Luther and Ca lvin had attackecl. However, cbe Council did pass measures aimed at purging the Church of abuses and laxities. Church music took up on ly a srnall part of tbe Counci l's time. As part of a move to suppress va1-iatiou in local practices in favor ora 11uiform liturgy, tropes and most sequences were eliminated, leaving only four of the most widely used sequences. including Victimac paschali lau.dcs (NAWM 5). Some reformers soughl to restrict polyphonic music. complaining lhat basing a mass on a secular chanson profaned the liturgy or tJ1at complicated polyphony such as that of Gomberfs generation made it impossible to understand the words. Some sought lo eliminate polyphonic music from convenls entirely.

Effects on music

FIGURE 10.6 Thc Counci/ ofTrenl. shown

ai itsJiria! session. in

1563. led b)' Pape Pws IV. Pain1in.g all,ribwcd lo Titian. (THt LouvB.E. PAJtIS. l'HOTO: HÉtJNIO:>ê O[S

Mustts ~ATI ONAIJXIA.R'r ILI.SOUflCE. ~"l·)

Giovanni Pierluigl da Pal,rnina

229

Others argued strongly for retailting music without restrictions. notingthat it had been part of Christian worship from the beginning. ln th e end. the Council said little about music. The only policy adopted regarding music was lhis statement of 1562: .. Let them keep away J'rom the churches compositions in which ther e is an intermingling of the lascivious

230

C ti A P T E li I O • Sacr,d Music in 1he Era of ,he Reformaiion

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (1525/1526-1594)

or impure. whether by instrument or by voice." It was left to local bishops to

Palestrina was renowned especially for his masses

regulate music in the services. Some bisho ps . n otably iin Rome and Milan. did restrict music in convents or insisL Lhat in polyphonic works the text mus L always be intelligible . Th e prom inence of thcir efforts led to Lhe belief among some contempo raries and some laler histo rians thal the Council of Trent indeed had declared that polyphony was aJlowed only if Lhe wo rds remai ned co mprchcnsible to a ll.

and motets. His music became a model for later centuries of church music and of counterpoint in strict style. Palestrina was named afte r his presumed birthplace, a small town near Rome. He served as a choirboy and received his musical education at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. After seven years as organist and choirmas ter in Palestrina (1544-51), he returned to Rome under the patronage of Pope Julius Ili. He spent most of his career as choirmaster at the Julian Chapei at St. Peter's (1551-55 and 1571-94) and at two other important churches in Rome. St. John Lateran (1555-60) and Santa Maria Maggiore (156166). He brieffy sang in the papal chapei (1555) but had to relinquish the honor because he was married. He also taught music at the new Jesuit semirrary. He declined two offers that would have taken him away from Rome: one from Emperor Maximilian ll in 1568 and another in 1583 from the duke of Mantua. Most of Palestrina's music was sacred, and he wrote more masses than any other composer. His main secular works are madrigals. La te in life. he wrote that he "blushed and grieved· to have written music for love poems. A fter the Council of Trent ordered changes in the liturgy, Palestrina and a colleague were commissioned to revise the official chant books to conform to the new liturgy and purge the chants of ·barbarisms, obscurities, contrarieties. and super fluities." The revised edition. completed by others after Palestrina's death. was published in 1614 and remained in use until the early twentieth century. Palestrina marríed Lucrezia Gori in 1547, and

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina The controversy around the intell igibility of words in polyphonic music became linked to Giovanni Pie rluigi da Palestrina (1525/1526-1594; see biography and Figure 10.7). t he leading l ta lian co mposer of cburch music in the sixteenih century. According to a legend already circulaiing soon after b is death, Palestrina saved polyphony from condemnatiou by the Council ofTrent by composing a six-voice mass that was reverent in spir it and clicl not obscure Lhe worcls. The work in question was Lhe Pope Marcellus Mass (Credo and~nus Dei I in NA\VM SI), puhlished in Palestrina'sSecond Book of Masses in 1567. While the legend is probably false. Palestrina noted in his dedication to this coll ect ion that the masses il concained were wri l.len " in a new manner." 110 doubt responding to the desire of some for grea ter cla ri ty in setting the texl.

THE PALESTRINA STY LE Palcstrina has bcen callcd "thc Prince of Music" anel his works the "absolutc perfection·· of chw·ch style. His sober. e lega nl mus ic ca ptured t.he esse nce of th c Cathol ic rcsponsc to the Rcfo rmati on in a polyp hony of uttcr pur ity. Yet his rnusic is also remarkahly varied in its melodies, rhythms, lextures, anel sono rities and acutely sensitive to the text, maldng it p rofoundly satisfyi ng to hca r. Palestrinú style is exe mplilied in his l 04 masses. Fifty - one are imita tion masses baseei on polyphonic rnodels. Thirty- four are paraphrase masses, almost ali on chant. with thc borrowed mclody paraphrased in ai! voices. Eight masses use the old - fashioned canrus- ftrmus method, inclucling the ftrst of rwo he wrote on L'homme armé. Also reminiscent of tlte old er Flemish cradition are a small number of canonic masses. Six masses. including the Pope Marcellt1s Mass, are free. using neither canons nor borrowed material. Palestrina's me lodies have a quality a lmost like plaincbant, no doubt influenced by tbe chants he often paraphrased in his masses anel motets. The melodie lines in Lhe fust ~nus Dei from Lhe Pope Marcellus Mass (I\A\VM Slb) . s hown in Example 10.5, are typical: long-breathed, rhythmically var ied. easily singable lines that trace a natural. eleganL curve. The voices move mostly by step. with few r epealed notes. Mos! leaps grea ler t.han a Lh ird are srnoo thed <)ver by stepw ise moL ion in the opposi te d irec1 io n 10 f1ll in 1.he gap.

Masses

.~ ! .

'·:

..,.

·.\.r

~r·

~..

..-·',.

.~,, -

,-1,;~

.:_ .

FIGURE 10.7, Cio11a.1111i Pierfaigi da.Paleslrina.. i11 a. oontemporary pm11t1ng.

(ISTtTUTo DEI rAD•t

OELL'OflATOIUO, ROME. PHOTO: SCALVAllT RESOIJBCE, NY)

they had three sons. After he lost two of them in the 1570s to the plague, followed by Lucrezia in 1580, Palestrina considered becoming a priest. lnstead, in 1581 he married Virgínia Dormoli, an afffuent widow whose financial resources allowed him to publish his own music. H is reputation as a composer. already high in his lifetime. grew after his death until he became an almost legendary figure. MAJOR WORl<S: 104 masses,over300moiets,35 Magnificats, abovl 70 hymns, many other liturgical composi·

tions. about 50 spiritual madrigals with ltalian texts. and 94 secular madrigals

Melody I

Concose :\\ 1 1 Fui! :\\ 1

CounterpoinL

and dissonance treatme,it

PaJestrina's co unte rpoi m confo rms in mos !. details with the teachings of \Villaert as transmi tted by Zarlino in his l.e istitutione harmoniche. The music is almosl entirely iu duple meter. The independent l ines meet in a consonant so nority on each heat (each half note in Exa mpl e l 0.5), except when t here is a suspe nsio n, shown by S in 1.hc cxample, which occu rs at almos1 eve ry

231

Giovanni Pierluigl da Pal,rnina

EXAMPLE 10. 5·

C H A P T E K I O • Sacr,d Music in th• Era of 1he Reformaiion

Openi.ngofAgmis Dei Ifrorn Pa.lestrinas Pope Marcellus Mass

S = suspensio1l

N = oeighbor tone

e D C:tmbi:113

p:155ingtOllC

232

- .

gnus

De I'

EXAMPLE 10.7,

Fronithe Credoof Polestrina's Pope Ma rcellus Mass

r 1 gnus _ _

Varied spacings in Palestrina'sAg,ms Dei

Canrns

EXAMPLE 10.6,

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A l'

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cadence. Dissonances between beats may occu r i f ente red and left by s tep, as in the passing (P) and neighbor (N) tones marked in the example. ln addition, Palestrina often used the cambiata (hal ian for "changed"). as il was ]ater call ed. ln this figure, marked C in Example 10.5, a voice skips down a third fro m a dissonance to a consonance instead of resolving by step. Where one migh l expect two pass ing tones between co nso nanl notes, as between D and A in th e ca ntus ai measure 6, t he seco nd passing tone- here, B- is omitted, o nly Lo becomc the nexL note in Lhe mclody. This elegant gcsturc delays. cncircles. and thus e mphas izes lhe note. Thc smooth diatonic lincs and discrcct handling oi' dissonancc g ive Palcstrina's music lrans parency and seren ity. AI thesame time, desp ite what rn igh t see rn a limi ted harmoni c vocabulary. he achievcs an astoni shing va ri cty in sonority through clifferent arrangements oi' the sarne f:ew notes. Por instance, in the passage in Example 10.5, each time the notes G-0 or G-B- 0 are comb inccl vcrti ca lly th eir spaci ng is uniquc. Thcsc combinations, s hown in Example 10.6, illustrate Pales trina's ability to produce many subtly different shadings and sonorities from the same sim pie hannonies, s uscaining the listener's interest. Palestrina s crove to accentuate the words correctly and make them imelligible, iu accordance with tbe goals of reformers. ln Example 10.5, each voice declaims ..Ag:nus Dei" clearly. with one note on each syllable except for the accented "De- ." which is emphasized by an upward leap and long melisma. ln the movements with longer texts , the Gloria and the Credo, Palestrina se t ma11y passages in homo phony so that the words could be easily understood. Example 10.7 shows one such passage. from the Credo of t.he Pope Marcell,11.S Mass (NAWM Sla). As a result . the re is a co ntras, in s tyle between 1hese

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large ly homophonic move men ts and those with shorter texts-the Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei- which use imilative polyphony throughout. To achieve variety. Paleslrina typically gave each new phrase t.o a d iJferent co mbinalion of voices, rcse rving 1he Full s ix voices for cli maxes, maj or

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C H A P T E K I O • Sacr,d Music in th• Er.i of 1he Reform.ition

cadences. or partictdarly signiftcant words. ln Example 10.7, "Genitum. noll factum'' (Begotten, ll0t made) and "consubstantialem" (being of one substance) are sung by two different groups of four voices, ·'PatrC (with the Father) by three voices. and "per quem omnia facta sunt" (by whom ali things were made) by ali six. Subtle lext-paincing abounds: the phrase on ··consubslantialem" is a

Moors in Granada in l492. Ferdinaod and lsabella forced Jews (and later Muslims) to accept baptism as Christians or leave Spain. La ter Spanish kings Charles 1 (r. 1516-56, and 1519-56 as Holy Roman emperor Charles V) and his son Philip li (r. 1556- 98) werc equaUy fervenl Catholics. and logether with Jesuil missionarics they made sure that the Church and its music pros -

variation of the previous one and thus is "of one substance" with it; "tbe Father"

pered in Spain and its possessions in the Americas.

is sung by lh:ree voices. symbolizing lhe Trinity: and "all" in lhe last phrase is emphasized as ali six voices sing Logelher for lhe ürsL Lime in lhe Credo. The rhythm of sixteenlh- century polyphony comprises both the rhythms ofthe individual voices anda colleclive rhylhrn resulting from the harmonies on the bea1s. Wi1h in each voice, Lhe re is a greal varie1:y in du rations. and no 1.wo succcssivc measu rcs fcalurc lhe sarne rhy1hm. ln imi tativc passagcs. such as the opening of lhe Agnus Dei in Example 10.5. lhe individual lines are rhy1hmically quite in depe ndent, each emphasiz ing cliffercnt beats through tong notes and h igh notes. But when the passage is peTformed, we perce ive a fairly regular succession of measures in duple meter, projected by changes in harmony a nd suspcnsions on strong beats. P,1lcstrina oftcn uses syncopation to sustain momentum and link pbrascs. ln Examplc 10.7, cach pbrase bcgins with a syncopated sonority that enters half a beat earlier than expected, just after the p revious phrase cadences. and thus mai.ntains forward motion until the end of the sentence in the text. ln ali of these respects, Palestrina·s music combines elegance. clarity. pleasingness. variety. and close attention to the words. aU features that were highly valued in the sixteenth century. Accorelingly, bis works earned praise as t.he pinnacle of church music.

PALESTRINA AS A MODEL Palestrina's style was the fust in the bisto1y ofWestern music to be consciously preserved anel imilated as a model in la ter ages. Seventeenth-century tbeorists and composers looked to h im as 1.he idea l ofthestileantico (o ld style). Counterpoint books from Jobann Joseph Fux"s Gradiis ad Parnassum (Stcps to Parnassus, 1725) l.o recent texl.s have aimed at guiding young composers lo recreate this style. Du ring 1·he eighteenth and n ineteenth centuries, through his role as a pedagogical model and the legcnel 1ha1 his Pope Marceltus Mae&s saved church polyphony, Pa lestri na's reputation eclipsed almost ali othersixtee nth · centu1y composcrs. Only since thc late n inctecnth ccntury, wh en h is music and that of his conlemporarics has been studied, edited, and more widely perforrned, h ave wc bcgun to sec Palestrina in contcxt and to undcrstand how his style represen ts just one important straod in a vast aod colorful tapestry.

Spain and the New World ln Spain, the Catholic Church was closely idenLineel with the monarchy. Quecn lsabel la and King Ferelinand. joint rulers from 1479. we re called the "Calholic monarchs." and lhey strongly promoled Catb.olicism in their realm. ln 1480, Ferdinand launched the Spanish [nqu is il.ion, wh ich soughl to roo l. out hc rcsy a nd c n force bcl icf in Catho lic doctrinc. Aftc r conqucring thc

Rhythm

CATHOLIC MUSIC IN SPAIN Royal family ties lo the Low Countries brought Flemisb musicians sucb as Gombe r110 Spain. and 1.he Franco - Flem ish traelit ion dceply iníluenced Spanish polyphony. Thcrc werc a lso close li nks to lta ly, 1hrough Spainºs posscssians in southern ltaly, and d irec1Jy to fü)me . particularly after the election of a Spania rd as Pope Alexandcr Vl (1492- 1503). The most eminent Span ish compose r of 1he fi rst ha lf' of the sixtecnth century, Cristóbal de Mora tes (ca. 1500- 1553), bad links to both Flemish and ltal ian traditions. Mora les acqui rcd fome in lta ly as a mcmbc r of the papa l chapei betwecn 1535 anel 1545, anel his masses drew 011 works by Josquin, Gombert, and other Francoflemish composers as well as 011 Spanish songs. Among the most widely performcd Spanish composers was Morales's student Francisco Guerrero (1528- 1599), chapei mas ter at the Seville Cathedral, whose eliatonic, singable melodies made his music popuJar throughout Spain and Spanish America. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548- 1611) was the most famous Spanish comTomás Lttis de Victoria poser of Lhe sixteemh ccnrury. Ali of bis music is sacred anel imcnded for Catho lic services. Hc spcnt two decades in Rome, wbere he almost certainly knew Palestrina and may have studied wilh him. Victoria was lhe ftrst Spanish composer to master Palestrina's srylc. yel b is music departs from it in severa! respects. Victoria's works t.end to be sh orter, wit.h less llorid melodies. more frequent cadences. more cbromatic alterations. and more contrasting passages in homophony or tri pie meter. Ali of tbese characteristics are evident in 1 Conci,c ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1 h is best- known wo rk, O magn.um mysterium. (NAWM 52a) . ln t.his motel, Vic toria uses a varicty of motives anel tcxlurcs lo cxprcss succcssivcly thc mys lery. wonder, and joy of t he Christmas season . lmitation, mass Most of Victo ria"s masses a re imitat ion masses based on his own motels, includ ing Missa, O magn.um. m.ysterium, (Ky ri e iri NAWM 521,) , baseei on lh is 1 Concl,e ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1 motel. Writing a n imitat io n mass lets the composer show how ex isting mate ria l can bc uscd in ncw ways. At. the opcn ing of the Kyric, Victoria preserves lhe paireel entrances of tbe motel but changes them from almosl exact im itation into a dialogue bctwee n two subjects, cach a distinctivc variant of the original subject of the motet. ln comparison with the generous le1Jgtb of Palcstrina"s Agnus Dei discussed above, Victoria·s Kyrie is rcmarkably brief. ln each movement of the mass. Victoria reworks material from his motet in a new way. exemplifying the high vaJue placeel on variety tbat was a consistem featurc of polyphonic mass cyclcs.

MUSIC IN THE SPANISH NEW WORLD Soon after Columbus landed in the New World. Spanish conquistadores claimed much of its lerritory for Spain. Leaeling small banels of adventuxers.

Sp.iln .ind the N, w World

235

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C ti A P T E li I O • Sacr,d Music in the Er.i of ,he Reform.ition

H"nac· pachap cussicuin i n. ji·orn RiLüal fo,·mula rio. e instil ución de curas. a 111ant1al FIGURE 10.8:

A SPAN IARD'S DESCRIPTION OF AZTEC FES,TIVALS Fray Tonb,o de Benavente (ca. 1495-ca. 1565) was ane oí twelve Franciscan rnissionaries who went to

Mex,co ln 1524 to convert the 1ndi9enous people to Christianlty. Called Motolinia Che suffers") by rhe Aztecs. he admired their sklll ln music and described their rituais in dera,I. lronlcally, the Church he served sought to end those rituais and to replace the Aztec mus1c with its own,

Songs and dances were very important in all this land , both to celebrate the solemn festivais of rhe demons they honored as gods. whom they thought well served by such things. and for their own enjoyment and recreation. . . . And because in each town they put much stock in these things. each chieftain had a chapei in his house with his singers who composed the dances and songs; and these leaders sought out those who knew best how to compose song s in the meter and verses they practiced....

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The singers decided some days before the festivais whar they would sing. ln rhe larger towns there were many singers, and if there were to be new songs and dances they gathered in advance so there would be no imperfections on the festival day. On the morning of that day they put a large mat in rhe middle of rhe plaza where they ser up their drums. Then they gathered and dressed at the house of the chieftain; from there they carne singing and dancing. Sometimes they began their dances in the morning, sometimes at the hour when we celebrate High Mass. At night they returned singing to the palace. there to end their so ng early in the night. or when the night was well ad1vanced, or even at midnight.

parishes. p 1Lblished by Juan Perez de Bocanegra in 1631 in Lima. Pem. The treble a11d rnnor are 011 ,he left . the alt"s and bas· ws on the right. These pages show 1/1e music Md firs, si.anza. Jollowed by 11ine1een more sta,uas 011 tlie 11e:tt 1hrce pages. <cou•nsv.

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Catholic music

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Aztec and foca music

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TH f; 1.11.l.Y LI J.iRAI\Y, I NOI.ANi\

1565). Memo,iales de F,ay To,ibio de Morolinia, ed. Luis García Pimentel (Mexico: Casa dei Editor, 1903). 339-40. Trans. Gary Toml,nson, in SR 77 (3:42), pp. 496-97.

He rnán Co rtês ove rthrew the Aztec em pire in prese nt - day Mexico (1519- 21 ), and Fran cisco Pizzarro co nqu ered lhe Incas in Pe ru ( 1527- 33). The Spanish brought with them Catholic missionaries, who sought to convert t he narivc peoples to Christianity. Th e Aztccs and Incas had rich musical traditions . with songs in a variety of sryles anda wide array of instruments , from dmms to !lutes . Much of their music was associated with dancing, whether for recreation oras part of r eligious rituals and festiva ls. Accounts by Spanish witnesses speak of p articularly elaborate music and dances, som etimes Jast ing all day and i mo the 1úght, to mark special occas ions (see Source Reading). Catholic missionaries exploited t he nat ive peoples· interest in music to spread the message of the new r eligion. They brought over the music used in Spanisb churches and taught na tive musicians to sing p olyphonic masses and motets and to play European instrume nts . The masses of Morales. Victoria. and Palestrina were sung often in New \Vorld calhedrals . and the works of Guerrer o were especi ally popu lar, r emaining in use for centuri es. Span is li musicians moved to the Americas to serve as cathedral musicians. and many co mposed music for se rvices. cr eating the lirst wri ltlen music in the New

DIP-F.RSAS.

ó RACIONES

World. Some of this sacred music was in local languages, including the hrst polyphonic vocal work published in the Americas. Han.acpachap cussicuinin. a processional in the Quecbua language of Pe ru printed in Lima in 1631 by Juan Pérez de Bocanegra (? 1598- 163 1). who may have composed it. FigLu·e 10.8 shows the music and open ing stanza of this four-voice work. The power of music to win converts. well known to Luther and Calvin. was used h ere to s pread Catholicis m on lhe other side of the globe. The use of music to propaga te the va rious branches of Christiani ty is 011e of lhe ce ntral lhem es of music history in Lhe si:xtee nth centu ry. and it lay behind lhe s pread of European music ali over theAmericas. Fr om ú1is time forward , what was the Eu ropean musica l trad ition beca m e a transatlanl ic l radit ion . As we will sce, influences soou bcgan flow ing in bolh diJ"ections. rnaking what was goi ng on i n lhe Ame ricas as mu ch a pari. of our story as rl eve lopments in Europc wcrc.

Germany and Eastern Europe Much of central and eastern Europe remained Catholic after the Reformation, including southern Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Poland. Mus ic in these arcas reflected developments in Flanders. France. and Italy. lnfluences carne from Franco - Flemish and Itahan m us icia ns serving at cousts in the region and from local musicians trained in Italy or France. The leadu1g eastern European composers of Caú1o lic churcb music were Waclaw of Szamotul (ca . 1521-ca. 1560) in Poland and Jacob Handl (1550- 1591) in Bohemia. Szamotufs ca reer reflects l he re ligious tu mult of lhe lime in much lhe s ame way as Tallis"s or Byrd"s. For lhe Cath olic chapei ofKing Sigismund II Aui,rust of

Germany and Easi•rn Europe

Poland. he composed Latin motels in imitative counterpoint like those of his Flemish contemporaries. But after 1550 he becanie involved with the Protestant movement in Polaud and wrote pieces in Polish foT Protestant services in a simpler. more homophonic style. The music of Josquin and olher Franco-Flemish composers circula1ed in

237

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C ti A P T E li I O • Sacr•d Music in 1he Era of ,he Reformation

ORLANDE DE LASSUS [ORLANDO DI LASSO] (CA . 1532-1594) Germany

Gennany beginning early in the sixteenth century. and German composers

ln both his career and his compositions. Lassus

ian patrons in Mantua. Sicily. Milan. Naples..

adopted 1heir style or blended il wilh local lraditions. The lead iug Gennan composer of the late Renaissance was Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), who s tudied wilh Andrea Cabricli in Ven ice and thcn held various posit ions at Augsbu rg. Nuremherg, Ulm . and Dresden. The rang·e of bis wo rks lyp iftes 1.he eclecticism of Ce rman compose rs al tbe time, from sellings of Lu theran cho,·alcs 10 Latin masscs and mateis for Catholic services, secula r pa,·t-so ngs io German and Ilalian. and pieces for instrumental ensemhle and keyboard.

was one of the most cosmopolitan fi gures of his time. He was prolific in ali genres and was a particularly imaginative composer of motets and chansons. Lassus was born in Mons in Hainaut. the region where Du Fay. Binchois. Ockeghem. and J osquin were also born and trained. Little is known of Lassus's family or early education. Beginning ata young age, he served ltal-

and Rome. allowing him to become thoroughly familiar with ltalian styles. By the age of twentyfour he had already published books of madri gals. chansons. and motets. ln 1556, he entered the service of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria. He became maestro di cappella for the ducal chapei in Munich and remained in that post until his death in 1594. He was good friends with his patron and especially with Albrecht's son, who became Duke Wilhelm V in 1579: the letters from the composer to Wilhelm reveal a witty personality capable of making jokes in four languages. Although Lassus served almost four decades in one post. he traveled frequently and kept abreast of developments in Flanders, France. and ltaly. His total production eventual ly amounted to more than two thousand works. and his music was well known ali over Europe. The principal collection of his motets. the Magnum opus musicum (Great Work of Music), was published by his sons in 1604, ren years after his dearh.

ORLANDE DE LASSUS Chicf among thc Pranco- Plcmis h composcrs in Cc1·many was Orlandc de Lassus (ca. 1532- 1594) , also known as Orlando di Lasso (the ltalian version of his originally french name), who served the duke of Bavaria for almost four clecades (see biography and F'igure 10.9. p. 238). Lassus ranks wüh Palestrina among the great composers of sacred music in the sixteenth century, although unlike Palestrina. he also wrote many secular works (see chapter 11 ). \Vhereas Palestrina beca me a model of the restrained chUl'cb style and of strict counterpoim, Lassus was equally in11uential as an advocate of emotional expression and the depiction of text through music. Lassus wrote nfly- seven masses. but his chief glory lies in bis o ver seven hundred mo tets. ln each motel. Lassus's rhetorical. pictorial. and dramatic interpretation of the text determines both the overal1 form and the de tails. Especially vivid is the six- voice motel Cu.m essem. parvu.lu.s (NAWM 53). composed io 1579 to words from St. Paul's fu·st epis tle lo lhe Cori nlhians (1 Corinthians 13:11 - 13) . Lassus sei the opening words, "\Vhen l was a child." as a ducl bctwecn thc two highcsl vo ice paris. rcprcscnting thc child through lhe lhin text.ure anel t.he high vocal range sung by lhe boys in the cho ir, alternat ing with phrases in the four lower voices, rep resenting Paul speaking as an adull. Lassus sets the lex t "Now we see as if through a rn i rror in ridd les" with enigrnati c. non im ilative cou nterpoi nt full of susp ensio ns anda bricf mir ror figure bctwecn the bassus anel other vo ices. Thc following promise that eventually we will see "face to face" is a momenl of revelation that Lassus porrrays with thc only fully homop honic passage in the motet. as ali six voices declaiiu cbe words togetber in rhytbmic unison. Tluoughout, the words prompt every gesture in the music, from changes of texture and the placement of cadences to the rhythm. accents. and contours of the musical motives. More than any other sixteenth-century composer, Lassus synthesized the achievements of an era. He was so versatile that we cannot speak of a "Lassus scyle." He was master of Flemisb. French. ltalian. and German styles. and every geme from high church nrnsic to the bawdy secular song. His motets were especially iníluential. particularly on German Protestant composers.

Motets 1 Concis• ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

masses. over 700 motets, 1OI Magnlflcats. hundreds of other liturg,cal composicions. about 150 French chansons. 200 ltalian madrigals.

MA JOR WORKS: S7

and 90 German Lieder FIGURE 10.9, Orlandede Lassus at 1/ie keyboard (a 11irginal) lcad-

ing his ensernble of abou1 tweno/-Jwe singers andfif1een instnunen· talisis at lhe Mun.ich court of DukeA/brech1 Vof Bcivaria. Miniature by Ha,1.S Muelich in a m an uscrípr of Lassus ·s Pen ilential Psalm$. (MU:..'IC-H, tv.vt&JSCJU: STMTSBIBLI01 HE.K)

n,. legacy of Sixte•nth·Century Sac,ed Music Lassus's creative use of musical devices to express the emotions and depict the images in l1is texts led to a strong tradition or such expressive and pictorial figures among German composers. as we will see with Heinrich Schütz (chapter 15) and Jobann Sebastian Bach (chapter 19).

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C H A P T E K I O • Sacr•d Music in th• Era of the Reformation

So too. the Reformation and the Catholic response utterly changed eh urch music. The Lutheran Church developed chorales that have been sung anel adapted in myr iad ways for almost Jive huudred years. Their use as the basis for organ and chora! works by Bach anel other German composers has given chorales a signif1cance for Baroque and !ater music equal 10 lhat oi' Gregorian

chant. Many of the psalm tunes written for tJ1e Calvinist Reformed churches

Jewish Music The small but vibrant Jewish community in Europe had its owo musical ITadi1ions, p ri marily oral raü1er than wriuen. Synagogue se rvices included thc singing ofpsalms Lo traditiona l formu las, usually perform ed rcsponso,·ially by a leader and the congregation. Readings frorn Hebrew Scripture we re chanted by a soloist using a system of ca nti llation. Me lodies were not written down , but beginn ing in thc ninth ccntury a notation called te'amim was developed to indicate accents, divisions in the text, anel appropriate melodie patterns. Singcrs wcre cxpccted to improvise a mclody from thc notation, drawing on melodie formulas and practices handed down through oral tradition , anel freely adding embellishments. Duriugthe sixteenth century. Je\vish communities began to appoint a specilic person to perform the chants. This person, called the synagogue cantor, or hazzan, became ao integral pare of the community as well as 1he synagogue structure. Altbough the position of hazzan was essentiaUy that of a prof'essiooal musician, cantors did noc receive formal musical craining until the nineteenth century. Over lhe centuries. the Ashkenazi Jews of Germany and eastern Europe anel the Sephardic Jews oi' Spain absorbed elements from other music in their regions, and t.he sou nd and style of their rnusic gradually diverged. Ashkenazi chants. for example. show melodie elements from Gregorian chant and German Minnelieder, while Sephardic music drew on Arab sot1rces. Thus the threads of borrowing continued lo weave through lhe tapestry of Eu ro pean music: justas carly Christian cbant borrowcd from Jcwish sourccs. and Lutherans baseei chorale tunes on Cregorian chanls and Cerrnan secular songs, European Jews blcncled styles of mclody from thc surrounding society wit.h elernents rrom lh ei r ancesl ral I radition.

The Legacy of Sixteenth-Century Sacred Music The religious divisions oi' ilie early six1eenili cenllll)' cloangecl Europe forever. Their echoes are still present in ongoing confücts hetween Protestants and Catliolics in Northern Irelanel and elsewhere. lronically. in October 1999. on 1he 4-82nel an.niversa1y of Lucher's nioety-&ve theses. Lhe Lutheran and Catholic churches signed a declaration ending their dispute. But the genie is long out of lhe bottle. and there is no going back to lhe relative t1rufornúty or doctrine anel practice of f1íteenth-cenl.u ry wesrern Eu~ope.

are still in use. anel several. sucb as Old Hu ndredth . are sung in a wide range of Protestam churches. The Church of England anel its offspring. inchLding lhe Episcopal Church, con ti nue lo use lhe Service and anthem; chose of 13yrd and olher s ixteeoth -cei, Lury composers are still sung. and new music is wril1en each year in 1.he sarne forms. The reformed liturgy and chant 1hat resul1ed from Lhe Council ofT,·cnl 1·cmaincd in use in lhe Ca1ho lic Chu rch until latcr reforms in the twentieth century. Palestrina establ ished a style for ch'U rch music that has been emu lated in ail later centuries, although hi s music f.aded from regular use in thc seventcenth ccntury until its reviva! and publication in the nineteent h and twenlieth centuries. The Palestrina reviva] was fo llowcd by rcdiscovcrics of Lassus, Victoria, and othcrs who rcprcsent differcnt musicaJ tlavors of tbe sixteenth cenrury. Only reccntly havc we begun to hcar music of this time from lhe Spanish New World. ln the various musical responses to theological anel political disputes as described in this chapter, tbe political and religious content of particular musical styles is especially clear. To sing Ein. feste Burg ora Palestrina mass is still an act potent with meaning. even after half a millennium. This shouJd remind us thac ocber pieces, which we now hear simply as music, once canied equally srrong associations-associations that we can learn only by stuclying the historicaJ ci.rcumstances from wbich they emergeel. ~ Resources for study and review available ar wwnorton.com/studyspace.

242

C ti A P T E li 1 1 • Madrlgal and Secula r Song ln ih• Sixteenth C•n1ury

The First Market for Music The development of music printing in 1501 (described in chapter 7) was a 1echnological breakthrough thal reduced the labor. and therefore the cost,

of producing notated music in multiple copies. This made possible a much

MADRIGAL AND SECULAR SONG IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

Amateur nuisic-

rnaking and

musicol litero.cy

lf ófteenth-century composers forged an internationaJ idiom. sixteenth- century musicians cultivared a new t1owering of national styles. especially in secular vocal rnusic. Poets and composers in different linguistic regions natu.-ally develo ped dist inctive genres and forms. Mus ic p ri nting fosLe red Lhe creation and disseminalion of mus ic for amateurs to s ing for t:heir own plcasure. 1'his music was usually in the vernacular, further encou raging the growth of national styles. Among the signincant national genres of the sixteentb century were the Spanish villw,cico, the ltalian frouola , anda new kind of French cbanson. ali s imp le. strophic. mostly syllabic and homopbonic. easily singable, and thus ideally suited for amateur performers. 1'he genre that proved most signili.cant in the long ruo was tbe ltal ian 11uulrigal. in which Renaissance composers brought LO a peak their intense interest in realizing in music the accents, images, and emotions of the text. Besides influencing later French chansons and German Lieder. madrigals became fashionable in England. joined around the end of the century by rhe lute so11g . 1'hrough the mad rigal. llaly and ltal ian composers became lhe leading forces in Eu ropea n mus ic for th e first tim e, a role they would maintain for the ncxl two ccn turies.

FIGURE 11.1. 77iis anonym-01LS sixtee111hce11tury pai11tir1g, shows o. ,,ocol quone, singingfroni pnrlbooks.

111erich costwnes

suggest tho.t th.ese are anstocratic amateurs peifonningfor lheir own pleasure in lhe privaC)' of a,n tdytli.c islarid. (MUSÊEDE l.'IIOTtL LAI.L.tMAN1'.

8-0URCtS, f' AA.NCE, l'H01'0: ClflAUDON/ART ll[SOURCE. NY)

wider disseminalion of music. bul il also changed lhe economics of music. Prior to Lhjs, mus ic was preerninemly a service prov ided by musicians. Now for the firsl lime music, in printed form , could be soldas a co mmodity. Tbe new s upply of printed music doveia iled with a growing dema 11d fo r notat.ed music that amateurs could pe rform fo r tbeir ow.n e ajoymen t. Pcoplc havc a lways rnad e music to cnte rtain thcn,se lves and thc i,· fri cnds, but for mosl of human histo ry Lhey d id so without using nolal ion. \Vhen notat ion was invented, it was used for church musi c and secula r mu sic of the aristocracy, as we have secn , leaving fcw written traces of the music making of the general populace. ln lhe sixteenlh century, f1rst among lhe uppcr classes, thcn among thc litcratc urban midd le classes, thc ab il ity to read notation and to pcrform from printcd music bccamc an cxpectcd social grace. lo Baldassarre Castiglione·s influen tial Book of the Co1irtier (l 528). severa! speakers praise those who coulcl sing and play from notation (see Source Reading). Many paintings from tbe time, such as tbe one in Figure 11 .1. show s ingers or instrumentalists reading from published music, usually in the form of partbooks (described in chapter 7). ln .such settings, music served as a kincl of social glue , an activil)• friends anel family couJd join in together. The combination of music printing with the demand for music that ama1eurs could sing and play crea ted the ôrsi market for music. which ranged from relatively e lite to more popular gemes, styles, and forms . Publi:s hed

Spaln

music was of course bought by professional musiciaus for their owu use, but music suited to amateur performance sold particularly we ll, and composers worked to meet that demand. ln vocal music, amateurs were most interested in sing-

ing in their own language. reinforcing an already evidem treud toward dive rse national gen res and s tyles.

Spain THE

VILLANCICO

243

244

C ti A PT E li 11 · Madrlgal and Secula r Song ln ih• Sixteenth C•n1ury

rustic ftgures in benign at1d beautiful rural landscapes. His

eclogues, one- act pastoral plays rhat mark the begiuning of

ON READING AND PERFORMING MUSIC Baldassarre Castiglione (1478- 1529) was a courtier, arnbassador, and poet. Hls rnost lnAuent,al work was The Book o{ the Courtier (1528), a rnanual on proper behavior at court in the guise of corwersations at the ducal palace in Urbino. The abillty to s,ng and play frorn notatlon was expected.

- $ ln the late fifteenth century, during Ferdinand anel lsabelfo's campa ign to unify and in vigorate T he Count began again: · Gentlemen, you Spain, Ferdinancl and others at Spanish court s must know that I am not satisfied with our encouraged the developmen t of a uniquely SpanCourtier unless he be also a musician. and ish rnusic. They especially cultivated the vill,111unless. besides understanding and being cico, which became the mosr important form of able to read music. h e can play various secular polyphonic song in Rena issance Spain. instrumen ts . For. if we rightly consider, The name is a climinutive of vill.ano (peasan t). the no rest from toil and no medicine for ailLexts were usually on mstic or popular subj ects, ing spirits can be found more decorous or and the form and sryle of the poetry had antecedpraiseworthy in time of leisure than this; ents in popular songs. yet villancicos were comand especially in courts where, besides the posed forthearistocracy. Shorl. srrophic. syllabic. release from vexations which music gives and mostly homophoni c, they reflect a growing to a li, many things are done to please the prefere nce for simplicity and for what were con!adies. whose tender a nd delicate spirits a re siderecl mo re aulhent ic re presentations of Spanreadily penetrated with harmony and fi lled ish cu!tu rc. with sweetness. Hence, it is no wonder that Thc form of lhe villancico va ries in its dctails in both ancient a nd modem times they buta lways includes a re fra in (estribillo) and o ne or have always b een particularly fond of musimore stanzas (copla,s). Th c stanzas typically bcgin cians. fi nding music a most welcome food with a new section (rnu.da.n.za.. "change.. ) wilh Lwo for the spirit." stale me nts of a conlrasting idea a nd co nclude Baldesar Cast,glione. The Book o{ the Courtier. with a rcturn to the music of the refrain (vuelta,), trans. Charles S. Singleton (Garden City, NY: Doufollowing lhe AAB stanza st ructure thal we have bleday. 1959), 74 see n in so many typcs of so ng s in cc thc Micldlc Ages. Most often, only th e last line of the refrain texr recurs at the end of each stanza. The principal melody is always in the top voice; the others may have been su ng or performed on instruments. Duringthe sixteenth century. publis he rs issued many co llections of villancicos in arrangements for solo voice with lute. ln !ater ceuturies, tbe form was often used for sacred compositious (see chapter 16). Juan dei Encina ( 1468- 1529). the f:tm Spanisb playwrigbt, was a leading ]tta.n del Encina com poser of villancicos. Like other poets and dramatists of his time, Encina was interested in postoraf themes borrowed from ancienL Greek and Roman lile ralure. de picling an idealized world of shepherds and o the r

TI MEL INE Ma.drigal and Seettlar Song i n t h e 16th Cent 1iry MUSICAL

H ISTORICAL

• 1504- 14 Petrucci publishes

thirreen frotrola collections

Spanish secular drama, each include villaucicos at the midpoinl anel at tbe encl. His Oy comamos y bebamos (NA\VM 54 ~ ) concl udes a play performed on F'at Tu esday, lhe day

before Lent begins. in which shepherds prepare and eat their Fat Tuesday feast. ln this frnal villancico. they exhorl each other anel lhe ir lis teners lO cai, d rink , anel sing beca use tomorrow begins a season of fasting. The music is si mp le in melody and ha rmony, wiih dancel ike rhythms marked by frequeot hem io las.

• 1515- 47 Reign of Francis I of

France • 1528 Baldassarre C astiglione,

ltaly

The Book of the Courtier • 1528 Pierre Attaingnant

publishes his first chanson collection • 1539 J acques Arcadelt,

First

Book o{ Madrigals • 1555 Nícola Vicentino,

L'antica musica ridotta afia moderna prattica • 1558 Gioseffo Za rlino.

istitutioni armoniche

THEFROTTOLA An ltalian counterpart to the villancico was the frottol« (pi.

frottole). a four- parl strophic song set syUabically and homopbonically, with the melody in the upper voice, marked rhythmic patterns. and simple diatonic harmonies. The music of the frottola was essentia lly a tune for singing t he po etry. marking Lhe end of each line with a cadence, wilh Lhe lower parts providing a harmonic foundation. The genre includ ed severa! subtypes. of which some bad ftxed forms while olhers were free. Like villancicos, fro11ole featured simple mus ic and earthy and satirical texls. but were neilher folk nor popular songs. Ralh er. 1.hey were mock-popu lar so ngs wrili.en fo r lhe amuscment of the co urtly e lite. F'ashionable in Lhe late r,rtccolh and early sixleeoth centuries al ltalian cot.Lrh, s uch as Mantua, Fe rrara. and Urbino, whose ru le rs e ncouraged co mpos ition of settings of lta lian poctry, frotto le wcrc comp-oscd almost excl us ively by lta lian co mp ose rs. lsabella c1·Es1e, wife of the ma rqu is of Mantua, was an especially important patron: s he cncouraged the development of the frotto le, corresponded with ltalian poets, and sp urred musicians at hcr cou rt to set their pocms to music. Figu re 11 .2 s hows a drawing of lsabella preparecl by Leonardo ela Vinci for an intended portrait. Petrucci published thirteen collections of frottole between 1504 and 1514. testifyingto the vogue for the geure among his well - 10-do cus LO mers. UsuaJly rhe top voice was sung, while the other parts were

FIGURE 11.2, ls<lbello, a·Este u-s clepicted br Leonardo da Vinci. (CóHEL 1'R0t'ESSIONAL l'UOTOS CU- 110).t/WI KU,t EDIA COJ.IMO:-IS)

Th• ltalian Madrigal

either sung or played on instruments. Beginning io 1509. Francisco Bossinensis published collections of froctole by various composers in arrangements for voice and lute. With the lute carrying tbe lower parts. the solo singer could impro vise melismatic ílourishes at principal cadences.

Among tbe most proliflc and best-known composers of frottole was Marchet!o Cara (ca. 11-65- 1525). who worked at Man11.1a . His Mal un mutaperejfecLo (NAW~1 55 !F_..1aj). a wi1 ty complaint of a disappointcd lovcr, appca red in Pc t rucci"s sevenl.h book of frottole an d Bossinensis's fi rst book of a rra ngeme nts. The rhythm alterna tes between du pie and trip ie groupings. p roducing a cha racte ristic hem io la p attern 1.hat remained popular fo r over a cent.ury. The harmon iza tion consists almost entirely of what wc wou ld cal I rootposition triads, a style that in fl uenced later music by both ltalians and foreigners.

• 1558-1603

Reign of Elizabeth

1of England

Cipriano de Rore, Fifch Book o/ Madrigals

• 1566

• 1568 Maddalena Casulana,

First Book o/ Madrigals Experiments with musique mesvrée

• 1570s

Concerto dei/e donne established at Ferrara

• 1580

Nicholas Yonge. Musica transalpina

• 1588

• 1594

The ltalian Madriga l

245

Shakespeare, Romeo and

Juliet

• 1595 Thomas Morley, The First Booke of Balletts More enduriug than the frottola was the 111a<l,-ig<1l, the most • 1597 Morley, A P/aine and important secular genre of sixteenth- century ltaly and arguEasie lntroduction to Practica/1 ably of Lhe em ire Renaissance. Wha t made the maddgal so Musicke appealing in its time and so influential on ]ater genera tions was the emphasis composers placed on enriching the mean • 1597 John Dowland. First ing and impact of Lhe texc through rhe musical sett ing. ln the Booke of Songes or Ayres madrigal, composers explored new effects of declarnation , • 1599 Luca Marenzio's last imagery. exp ressivity. characterization. and drama l ization book of madrigals thal paved the way fo r future d ramatic forms such as opera . • 1601 The Trivmphes of Oriana Through the madrigal, 1taly beca me the leader in European mus ic fo r lhe f1rst Hmc in h istory. • 1611 Cario Gesualdo's last The te rm madrigal was used from about 1530 on for musibook of madrigals ca l scttings of lta li an poctry ofva rious types. from sonncts to free forms. Most mad rigal texts consisl of a single staaza with a moderale number of seve n- or elcven-syllable lines and either a standa rd or free rhyme schcmc. There are no refrains or repeated lincs, distinguishing the sixteenth- century madrigal from the frottola, from the old fomies fixes , and from the fou,tccn th- ccntury madrigal (elescribcel in chapter 6). which it resembles in name only. The typical sixteenth- century maclrigal is 1lt,-011ghcomposed . tJ1at is. with new music for every line of poetry. Composers frequent ly chose texts by major poets. including Fraucesco Poel.ry Petrarca (1304-1374) , Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533). Torquato Tasso (1544-1595), Battista Cuarini (1538-1612), and Giovan Battista Ma ri no (1569- 1625). The subject matter was sentimental or erotic. with scenes and allusions bo rrowed from pastoral poetry. Madrigals were a forrr1 of social play, and the best poems interwove vivid imagery and descri ption with themes oflove, sex. anel wit that coulel charm, surprise. amuse. anel entertain.

246

C ti A P T E li 1 1 · Madrlgal and Secular Song ln ih• Sixteenth C•n1ury

Poems often ended witb an epigram in tbe last liue or two that served to briug bome the point oftbe poem. Composers elealt freely with the poetry. using a variety ofhomophonic and contrapun-

tal textures in a series of overlapping sections. each based ou a single phrase of text. ,vilh ali voices playing essemially equal roles. ln Lhese respects. mad rigals rescmble motcts of the same era. Mos t important. mael rigal com pos e rs aj med t.o matd1 t.he artfulness of the poet ry and lo convey it.s idcas. imagcs. anel cmotioos to lhe performers and listeners. Text expression was of para mount importance, and text FIGURE 11.3: Míchelangelo Merisida Caravaggw (1571elepiction reacheel new heights , ranging from 1610). The Lut e Playe r, pcunted 159S- 96j'or Vincenzo witty t.o profound anel from obvious to subtle. CiustinianL a Roman nobleman whowrole an important Most early rnael rigaJs, from about 1520 to Diseourse on 1he Musie of His Times (1628). Tl1<1yo"ng l540, were for four voices. By mielcennuy livc mcrn appears to be singingwhile accompanyinghimselfon voices became the rule, and six or more we re thelute. Tlie ba.ss partbook ts open to Voi sapete,fro,nArcnot unusual. \Vhen voices were acleleel to the aclell 's fi.rst book oj' madrigals (1538). <11 ••MrTACt, sT. rtn••· traelitional canrus, al tus , cenor, and bassus, HUKG, IIU.SSlJt,. l'HQT(): SC.:AI.A/AKT 10:sOUIICf, NY) they were usually labeled by number in Latiu: quillttts for the Eifth voice. sextr,s for the sixth. The word ··voices" should be taken literally: a madrigal was a piece of vocal chamber music incended for performance with one singer to a part . As always in the sixteenth century, however. music could be adapted to the forces available. anel instruments often eloubled the voices or took their place. Toe painting by Caravaggio in Figure 11.3 s hows wha t must have been a common manner of performing maelriga.ls: a young man sings one line while improvising a lute accompaniment from what he remembe rs of lhe otber parts, using lhe bass parlas a gu ide. Madriga ls were writte n ch ielly to be sung fo r 1.he enjtlyment of the singers Social roles Lhemsclvcs. typically in mixed groups of women anel mcn ai social gathcrings, after rnea.ls , and al meetings of academjes (societ ies organized t.o stuely and discuss literary, scienti li c, or artist ic matters) . Thc demanel for mad ri ga ls was greal: count ing reprinls and new edit ions, some two thousanel collections were published betwcen 1530 and 1600, and t heir popu la rity co nt in ued we l1 ir110 thc scvcntccnth century. ln aeldit ion to amatcur performances, by 1570 some palrons had bei,•trn lo employ profcssional singers to perform madrigals for auelienccs at court. Madrigals also appcared in plays and other theatrica l productions.

EARLY MADRIGAL COMPOSERS The most important early madrigalist was Philippe Verdelot (ca. 1480/85? l 530). a French composer active in Rome and Florence. where the maelriga.1 originateel in the !520s. Verdelot's four- voice madrigals are mosLly homo phonic, witb line endings marked by leisurely cadences, as in Lhe frottola. His madrigals for five and sLxvoices are more motetlike. with frequent imitation. varying voice-groupings. and overla pping paris at cadences.

247

Th• ltalian Madrigal

JacquesArcadelt

A style mixing homophony with occasional im itation is evident in the madrigals of Jacques Arcadelt (ca. 1507-1568), a Franco- Flemish composer who worked in Florence and Rome for almost three decades before returniug to France iu 1551. Arcadelt's I! bianco e dolce cigno (:-IAW~I 56). published in bis flrsl book of madrigals in 1538, is among the most famous

24 8

C H A P T E K 1 1 • Madrigal and Secular Song ln 1he Sixtoenth C• niury

THE PETRARCHAN MOVEMENT

1 Concise :\\ 1 1 Full :\\ 1

The development of the madrigal was linked to currents in Italian poetry. As we have seen, in Florence. madriga l poetry reflected local themes anel con cerns, such as Neoplatonie philosophy. Another currem was the Petrarchan

of the early madrigals. The rext contrasts a swan's mournful death with the

movemenl. whicb was especially influential in Venice. where many of the

speaker's "dealh thal in dying falis me fully with joy and desire:· Referring to such deaths. 1.he poem closes with the line. "with a thousand dea ths a day I would be conten t." This image suggests two possible meanings. ft may refe r to lhe Neop laton ic idea . promoted by writers and poets in Florence. 1.bat faJ li ng in love feels like dy ing and- if the love is recip ro cated-be ing ,·e born in Lhe bc loved. Altcrnativcly. it may bc a witty allusion to sexual clí max. kn own in the s ixleenth century as "the little dealh." \Vhicheve r way we rea d the poem, Arcadelt's setting is simple and ingen ious. Tbe swan's saci death is depicted with a plaintive rising anel folling half-step. At the cnd of the poem, shown i11 Example 1l. l , a lilting descending line suggcsts content ment, whi lc thc ·'thousand dcat hs a day" C'millc mort' il di") are evo kcd through multiplc imitativc ent rances, espccfolly noticeable aftcr the largcly homophonic setting of the rest of the poem.

leading madrigal composers were centered in the mid -sixteenth century.

EXAMPLE 11.2,

Willaert. Aspro co re e selvaggio

a. First line

spro co

rec sel - vag

gio. e ena - da

,·o

- gli:1

' EXAMPLE 11.1· .lo

'li

Arcadelt, li bianco e dolce ciguo

..,

t'ffl'. -·

:Í -

nel mo - nr

nel mo-rir'

--· 1

tro

lo -

lor non sen

spro

gio. e cru

spro

A -F

-· · -1-

ai - n·o

do - lor non

''º

to,

sen - to.

di mil

r le mon il

1·e e sei - ,•3g · gio. e

cru-da vo -

lfarsh l,eart an d sava.ge. and (1 cmel wtll

di, di

b. Second line

's'

nel mo- rir'

_,.

lor non sen

ai -

lor non sen

to,

to.

rnil - Íc mon·

.. f\

__,. se

.16

~I - iro do

nel mo - rir'

..,

r~il

morf il

ITO

mil

V ( -glia)

' -

dol-cc.hu-mi

- lc.an - ge

li - ca

f1 - f,'\l

to,

rei con tcn

( ,•o-)

g1ia

mil

morf il

dl.

mil

re mo11'

dl.

ln dol . ce. hu-mi - le.an -ge - li - ca

glia

di.

mori·

mi l - le m~n ·

U dl.

il di

s.1 - J'ei

rei

c~n - ten - to. di

1nil - fe mort'

con tcn

t~.

lf when. I die no other pain. Ifeel. wtth a. thousand deaths a. day I would be con.tent.

mil

li-ca -

dol

ce, hu- mi • lc. in

Tn a.s,~eet-, humble. a.ngelicfC1ce

r, -

ra.

íi-gu

dol-

rà.

dol-ee. hu -mi· le. an - ge

li - ca

Th• ltalian Madrigal

249

250

C ti A P T E li 1 1 · Madrlgal and Secula r Song ln ih• Sixteenth C•n1ury

Led by poet and scholar CardinaJ Pietro Bembo (1470- 1547). poets. readers. and musicians returned to che sonnets and canzoni of Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) and the ideais embodied in his works. ln editing Petrarch's Canzo niere in 1501. Bembo noted that Petrarchoften revised thesound ofthe words wichout changi ng rhe imagery or meaning. Bembo idenlif1ed two opposing

qualities that Petrarch sought in his verses: pia.cevole:.za (pleasingness) and gravità (severity). ln lhe pleasing category Bembo included grace. sweetness. cha rm , smoo1.hness. playfulness. and wit. while in 1he severe he grouped modcsty. dignity, majesty, magnificence, and grandeur. Rhyt.hm, d istance of rhyme. numlier of i;yllables pe r line. patterns of accents. length s of syllables, a.nd Lhe so und qua liti es of lhe vowe ls and consonams ali com ributed to making a verse e il hc r p leasing or scverc. Composers bec:ame scnsit ive to thesc sonic values. Many of the early madrigalists sei Pelrarclú poetry. Late r composcrs preferred his imitators and o1hcr mode m poets, a lm ost all of whom worked in Pctrarch·s shadow. How com posers translated Bembo"s theory into musical terms can be seen in sctt ings of Pctrarch by Adrian Wi llacrt (see chaptcr l O) and in the wri1ings of Willacrt"s studcnt Gioscffo Zarlino (scc Sourcc Rcading, p. 250). ln thc sonnet Aspro core e selvaggi.o, Petrarch expressed his heloved Laura·s "ha rsh anel savage heart'. in a severe linc. lilled with eloub le consonants anel clipped. harsh sounds; be then described her ··sweet, bumble, angelic face·· in a contrasting pleasing li ne made up of liquid, resonant, and sweet sounds. for the lirst line of bis remarkable setting from the rnid- 1540s. shown in Example 11.2a, Willaen emphasized melodie motion in whole steps anel major thirds along with harmonies featuring major thirds and sixths above the bass. These major intervals were considered harsher and more severe than semitones and m inor thirds or sixths. in part hecause their greater size rendered melodies less smooth and harmonies brighter or sharper. For th e second line. in Example 11.2b. he used more semi tones and minor thirds in bis melodies and chose minor thirds and minor sixths for the harmony. These intervals gave smoorhe r and thus more charming melodies, and minor thirds and sixths wcrc rcgardcd as swcct harmonic intcrvals. Whal. may be s u rpris i ng for mode rn readers, accustomed lo a la ter co nvcmion that li nks major keys and tri ads to happiness and minor oncs with sad ness, is that Willa e rt and Zarlino associated majo r 1h irds and s ixths with harshn ess and bittcrness, and minar inte rva ls with sweetness as well as with grief. Tbis may reminei us that the emotional qualities of music are a result of association , convention , and tradition, not of acouslics alone, and that in trying to undcrstand musi c of an ca rli er time or anothcr cu ltu re we must seek to know how those who made the music unclerstood it, not to impose our owu codes of meaning.

SU ITING THE MUSIC TO THE WORDS Le /stitutioni armoniche (The Harmonic Founda-

tlons) by G ioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590) was the most respected treat,se of the mid-sixteenth century. Hís advice to composers on how to express emotions corresponds almost exactly to the practlce of his teacher. Adrian Willaert,

Adrian Willaert

When a composer wishes to express harshness. bitterness, and similar things. he will do best to arrange the parts of the composition so that they proceed with movements that are without the semitone. such as those of the whole tone and ditone (major third]. He should allow the major sixth and major thirteenth. which by nature are somewhat harsh, to be heard above the lowest note o f the concentus. and should use the suspension o f the íourth or the eleventh above the lowest part, along with somewhat slow movements, among which the suspension of the seventh may also be used. But when a composer wishes to express effects of grief and sorrow. he should (observing the rules given) use movements which proceed through the semitone. the semiditone (minor third]. and similar intervals. often using

MIDCENTURY MADRIGALI STS By the mid· sixteenth century. most madrigaJs were for tive voices. with fre quem changes of texture. Composers freely alternated homophony and iJni tative or free polypho ny. The leading madrigal composer at midcentury was Cipriano de Rore (1516- 1565). shown in Fii,,ure 11.4. Flemish by birth. Rore worked in Italy.

Cipriano de Rore. in a portrait by Hans M11ehch.

FIGURE 11 .4:

Cipriano de Rore

(BA\'EIUSCII E STAA'fSBJ 8LIOTII EK. MUNICII)

minar sixths or minar thirteenths above the lowest note of the composirion, these being by nature sweet and soft, especially when combined in the right way and with discretion and judgment. lt should be noted, however. that the cause of the various effects is attributed not only to the consonances named, used in the ways described above, but also the movements which the parts make in singing. These are two sorts. namely, natural and accidental. Natural movements are those made between the natural notes of a c.omposition. where no sign or accidental note intervenes. Accidental movements are those made by means oí the accidental notes. which are indicated by the signs ~ and 1. The natural movements have more virility than the accídental movements. which are somewhat languid .... For this reason the former movements can serve to express effects of harsh · ness and bitterness. and the latter movements can serve for effects of grief and sorrow. Gioseffo Zarlino, Le istitutioni harmoniche (1558). Book Ili. Chapter 31. trans. Vered Cohen in Zarlino, On the Modes, ed. Claude V. Palisca (New Haven: Yale University Press. 1983). 95.

chiefly ia Ferrara and Parma, and succeeded lús teacher Willaerl as music dircctor at St. Mark's in Ven ice. Rore's madrigals show his prof'ound interest in capturing tbe sounds , emo tions , and images oi' his texts. Da /e be/!e contrade d'oriente ( NAWM S't jc.,..... ;:,j ~ ) was published posthumously in 1566, in Rore's last madrigal collection. Rore imbued every detail of the music witl1 tlie rhythm, sense, and feeling of the poem. a sonnet modeled on Petrarch. Throughout. accented syllables receive longer notes than do unaccemed syllables, someiimes creating syncoparion, as at ·'cJolce'" and "lasci" in Example 11.3. l n lhe passage shown here. a woman expresses sorrow that her lover is about 10 depart. The combination of voices changes every wo rd or two, suggesting th e breathlessness of grief through frequent rests. The composer chose intervals associated with saduess anel reflected natural speech inflec1 ion th rough the melodie co ntours: ris ing semi -

Th• ltalian Madrigal

EXAMPLE 11.3,

251

252

C H A P T E K 1 1 • Madrigal and Secular Song ln 1he Sixtoenth C•niury

Rore, Da le bell e contrade d'orien te

EXAMPLE 11.4,

,,1

r,1

" •J

dol

Tc"n

....

cc de - s i

..,

'· vru.

o. Te'n vai.

hai

-·

COI'.

dot

de · si

..,

•

~ ~ mo - ve

so - a -

•

Tc'n

1· 1 te so -

me n

vc - mcn

men - te

·<·

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... •,..

•

hai - me. le'n

Nicola Vicentino. L'aura che 'I verde Jauro. mm. 15-19

lso a

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" Te'n

cor.

va.1.

cor.

dol

de - ~i

,. 1

·"'· hai

sola mi

me.

'(C'n

bai - me.

Vo.t.

.•.

Il i

.,.

-1,-. -

-~~

mcn - te

6pi · ran - do

<.../1 1

sei. .,._

,"• --· ~

di - o.

Che sa - ril

a - di - o.

--·

spi :·ran - do mo

..,

Chc s a -

.,.,

rau

me.

baJ - me.

"(ffl"

a - di - u.

a - dJ - o.

V Ch~

sa-ril

V hai

me.

le ]

mc n

do mo

spi - rnn

" 1

mcn

a - di - o.

sweet desire. yougo. alas! A/onerou leave me! Farewell! What will [óecome of me?]

[The breeze. which rimgreen laureL and her golden /10-irl gen tly sighing moves .

to nes for "T"en va i'" (You go); fa ll ing minor th irds, sem itones, and minor sevc nlh fo r ""hai mc·· (a las!); and (i n two oi' the voices) fa lli ng minor thi rcl s o n ·'addio'" (farewe ll). Th e p hrase "sola mi lasci '" (alone you leave me) is sung by a single bigh voice, symboliúng '"alone·· while evoking the woman·s plaintive cry. Th is phrasc a lso uses two succcssivc se mitones, A- Bl,- Bq. to co nvcy grief. Dircct ch romat ic morion- from Bl, to B\, or any semitone between notes with the same letter namc but d ifíerent s igns- was not possible in the Guidonian system of so lmization. in which successive notes had to be p;irt of the sarne hexachord (see chapter 2). Indeed , we have noL seen direc1 chroma1ic mot ion since ancient Greek music, where ir was part of the chromatic tetra chord (see cbapter l and NAWM 2) . lt was forbidden-perhaps scarcely imagiued- in polyph ony before Rore's generation. and its transgression agains1 expected norms made it a powerful means for expressing grief. Za rli no approved of chromatic mot ion. along with other uses of accidentals to move Lempourily beyoncl lhe notes of lhe diatonic mode. as ways to express so rrow (see Source Reacl ing). Rore freque ntly introduces no tes outs icle the mode, so much so thal lhe passage in Example 11.3 in cludes all twelve notes of the chromat ic scale in a very brief co mpass.

Nicolu. Vicentino Chromaticisni

Rore may have regarded ch romaricism primarily as an expressive device, b ut for others it provided a link back to the ancie nt Greeks. Composc r and theorist Nico la Vicentino ( 151 1- ca. 1576) proposed revivi ng thc chrom atic and enharmonic genera of Greek music in his treatise, L'antica musica ridotta. alia moderna. prattica. (Ancient Mus ic Adapted to Modem Practice, 1555). Ma ny of his contcmporaries scoffed at his ideas anel h is music. Yet a nu m ber of his madrigals reach a high levei of artisuy, among them L'aura che ·1 verde lauro, 011 a Petrarch sonn et (published 1572). Atone point. sh own in Example 11.4. he incorporated the Greek chromatic tetrachord . descending a minor third and two semitones. as a motive for imi tatioo ou the word "soavemente" (gentJy). Here, cb rect chromatic motion is not a sign of grief bu t an evocatio n of classical antiquity and thus of an idyllic pastoral scene. ln the madrigals of Rore and Vicemino. chroma1icism was a s pecial effecl. startli ng (an d therefore cffective) because of its unfamiliarity. But by the e nd of the centu1y. as otber composers adopted it with a wider range of meanings. ch romaticism gradually became part of lhe common musical lan{,'1.tage.

Th• ltalian Madrigal

253

254

C H A P T E K 1 1 • Madrigal and Secular Song ln 1he Sixtoenth C• niury

WOMEN AS COMPOSERS ANO PERFORMERS Madrigals were written for mixed groups of men and women to sing insocial gatheriugs. Yet the poets and composers were mostly male, and most mad rigal 1exts were written from the male perspective. Prnl'essional oppormni-

ties were closed to most women. who were expected to be proper. obedient

WOMEN'S VOCAL ENSEMBLES

wives. servants. or nuns. Despite these limitations. severa! women. includiug Vi ttoria Colonna. Veron ica Franco. and Gaspara Stampa. achieved fame as poets in the sixteenth century. Female composers were comparatively rare. The úrsl wornan whose music was publ ished, and Lhe lirst to regard herse lf as a profess ional composer, was Maddalena Casulana (ca. 1544-ca. 1590s). ln the dedication to her First Book of Madrigals (1568), Casula na wrole thal she was puhlishing them not on ly to honor he r dedicatee, the duchess of Bracciano, but also "to cxposc to thc world, insof'ar as ir is given me to doso in the profess ion of music, the vain error of men who esteem themselves such masters of high intellecrual gifts that they thin k women cannor. share them too." Her maelrigals show inventivc use of ali the typical dcviccs of mielcentury mad rigals, ioclucling text depiction, ch romaticism, surprising barmonies, and dramatic contrasts of tcxture. \Vomen could more easily win renown as singers, and many did. Some were daughters and wives of the nobility, who sang i n private concerts for invited audiences of thei r social peers, while others pu rsued professional careers. For example, ar Fenarn in 1he 1570s, sisters Lucrezia and Jsahell a Bendidio, noblewomen by birth and marriage, won pLaudits for their singing in mus ical evenings at court. ln 1580. Duke Alfonso d'Este establisbed lhe concerto delle donne (women's ensemhle). a group of trained singers (Laura Peverai-a, Anna Guarini, and Livia d'Arco). Tbeir performances at court, alone or with male singers. attracted so much attention and praise that tbe Gonzagas of Mantua antl the Mediei of Florence formed ensemhles to rival Lhat of Ferra ra. Descriptions oi' performances by these groups (see Source Rcading. p. 254) makc clcar that thc profcssional singcrs oftcn iutroduccd vocal o rnaments and d rarnatizeel Lhe words wil.h appropriate gestures. These singers were praised both fo r thei r virtuoso technica l abilities anel fo r thei r exp ressivity in conveyi ng th e words and íeel ings. Here the madrigal has bee n transformed, fro rn social mus ic fo r the enjoyment of the singers themselves to conccrt mus ic for the plcasurc of an aud icncc.

Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564-1637) was a well -to -do musical amateur who described conremporary musical life in Oiscorso sopra la musica de·suoi tempi (Oiscourse on the Music of His Times, 1628). Hls descdption of the women's vocal ensembles at Ferrara and Mantua in the 1570s reveals their manner of performance and some of the reasons they were so greatly esteemed.

Maddalena Casnlana

-*-

Women·s vocal

ensembles

These dukes [of Ferrara and Mantua] took the greatest delight in such music, especially in gathering many important gentlewomen and gentlemen to play and sing excellently. So great was their delight that they lingered some times forwhole days in some little chambers they had ornately outfitted with pictures and tapestries for this sole purpose. There was a great rivalry between the women of Mantua and Ferrara, a competition not only in the timbre and disposition oí their voices but also in ornamentation wlth exquisite runs joined opportunely and not excessively.... There was competltion even more in moderating or enlarging the voice, loud ar soft, attenuating it or fattening it as was called for, now drawing it out. now breaking it off with the accompaniment of a sweet interrupted

Luca, Ma,.renzio LATER MADRIGALISTS Importam compose rs of maelrigals iu the !ater sixteenth century include severa! northerners. Orlande de Lassus anel Philippe de Monte (1521 - 1603) both began writing maelrigals while in ltaly early in their careers and continued doing so during their long tenures at northern courts, Lassus in Bavaria and Monte under the Hapsburg emperors in Vienna anel Prague. Lassus's madrigal colleccions were published Ln Antwerp. Nuremberg. and Munieh aswe ll as in Rome and Venice, testifyingto a fashion for ltalia11 madrigals even in the north. Giaches de Wert 0535- 1596). born near Antwerp. spenl. most oi' his lil'e in !taly. Building on Rore's approach. Wert developed

sigh. now giving out long runs. distinct and well followed, now turns, now leaps, now long trills, now short ones, now sweet runs sung quietly. to which sometimes one suddenly heard an echo respond, and more srill in the participation of the face, ando f the looks and gestures that accompanied appropriately the music and conceits of the poetry; and above all, without any indecorous motions of body. mouth, or hands that might have diminished the effect of their songs, in enunciating the words so well that each one could be heard down to the last syllable and was not interrupted or overwhelmed by the runs and other ornaments. And many other particular artífices could be observed in these singers and recorded by one more expert than 1. And in such noble situations these excellent singers strove with ali their might to win grace from their masters, the princes, and also fame for themwherein lay their usefulness. Vincenzo G iustiniani, Discorso sopra la musica de' svoi rempi (Discourse on the Music of His Times. 1628), ed. in Angelo Solerti, Le 01/gini dei melodramma (Turin: Fratelli Bocca, 1903), 107- 8. Trans. Gaty Tomlinson, in SR 5-4

(3:19), pp. 353-54.

a dramatic style full of bold lcaps, recitativc - likc eleclamat.ion, anel extravagant contrasts. But the leading madrigalists were native ltalians. Chief among them was Luca Mare nzio ( 1553- 1599), who depicted contrasting feeli ngs anel visual details wirh the ucmost artisny. One of his most celebrated madrigals is Solo e pensoso (NAWM 58), based 011 a Petrarch sonnet and pitblished in 1599 in Marenzio's last book of madrigals. The opening image. of the pensive poet walking alone wi.th deliherate and slow steps. is unforgettably portrayed in the top voice by a slow cbromatic ascent of over an octave, moving one halfstep per measure. Later "flee" anel "escape" are depicted with quickly moving ligu1·es in close imitation. Such striking musical images, evoking t.he text almost literally, wer e so typica l of madrigals that they !ater became known as uwdrigalisms. Although

255

Th• ltalian Madrigal

disparaged by those who preferred a naruraJistic ex-pression of feelings to the depiction of individual words, such wordpainting at its best can be both clever and deeply meaningful. and it has reappeared in many kinds of vocal music over the pasl four centuries. One of the most colorful figures in music hislory was Cario Gesualdo, prince of Venosa (ca. 1561- 1613). He is unusual among composers because he was an aristocral. and il was rare for nobility to com pose or to seek publication for their music. He was aJso a rnurderer: when he discovered his wife in bed with hcr lover, he killed them both. Gesualdo survivcel the scandal to ma rry Leooora d' Este, oiece ofDukeAJfonso li of Fel'!'ara. in 1593. ln his madrigals, Gesualdo preferred modern poems full ()Í strong images that provided opportunil.ics for ampli lical ion through mus ic. Hc dramalized anel i11lensif1ed tbe poet1·y th rough sha rp contrasts between diatonic and chromatic passages, disso nance and consonance, cho rela l and imitative textures, and slow- moving and active rhythms, often brcaking up poetic lines to isolate striking words that he captured in brilliant musical images. Example 11.5 shows a passagc from "lo parto·· e non piu dissi ( NAWM 59) , pub lis hcd in 1611 in bis last book of mad rigals, that exhihits ali tbesc types of co ntrast. Slow, chromatic, mostly cho rdal music touched with d issonance portTays the laments of the woman whose lover is about lo depart. When her plaintivc cries arouse him again , his return to life ("vivo son") after bis "little death'' is sh own by a rurn to faster, diatonic, imitative figures.

256

C H A P T E K 1 1 • Madrigal and Secular Song ln 1he Sixtoenth C• niury

EXAMPLE 11 ,5, Gesuatdo, "lo parto" e non piu elissi ,6

AJongside the relatively serious madrigal. ltalian composers also cultivated lighter kinds of song. The villa11elfo . a lively st rophic piece in homophonic style. usually for t.hree voices, nrst appea reel in th e I540s and ílourish ed especially iu Naples. Composers often delib erately Ltsed parallel flflhs and ot her harm onic crud ities to suggest a rustic cha racter anel some times mocked the correct, more sophistica1ed madrigals. Toward thc cnd of the sixteenth ccntu ry. two othc r light genrcs ga incel promine nce: thc CflllZ(mett" (l ittl e song) and lwlletto (little dance). They were written in a vivacious, homophonic style. with simple harmonies and evenly ph rased seclions that were often repeated. Balletti, as the name suggcsts, wcrc intc ndcd for dancing as wcll as s inging or play ing. Thcy are identifiable by their dancelike rhythms and "fo- la - la·· refra.ins. The lead ing composer of canzonette and balletti was Giacomo Gastoldi (ca. 1544-1609). Both ge m es were imitateel by German and English com poscrs.

THE LEGACY OF THE MADRIGAL These lighter genres continued the tradition of socirul singing for the pleasure of the singers themselves. \Vhile the madrigal a.Isa served this role, its purposes widened over the century to include madrigals for performance in priva1e concens or theatrical productions. Such venues encouraged increasingvirtuosity anel dramatization. Yet a continuous thread was lhe ideal oi' conveyiug the texl well: shap ing

rn do-lo- ,·o

.,.

~-,.

ro - si la

i.'"

do-lo - ro - s i

Ili

1 Conciso ~

1 1 Full ~

vi - vo '

., ..~...__..-

lo - ro

., • =...._ ....-v G"'

<:',.•

fui.

íui.

fui.

fu1.

~1or

vi -

Mor - 10

Mor

i.-

- to

Mor

1 oJ son.

vo son.

vi - \'O

" ,·o

son.

.. vi

*. vo

son.

,·o

f.)

VILLANELLA, CANZONETTA, AND BALLETTO

in do-lo-~o

Carlo Gesualdo

vo son.

sou. vi

" vi

son.

''º

son.

VI -

ison.

vo son.

l "Ah. may J ne,·ercea.se to pine away} in,sad laments. " Dead 1was. now Tamalii·e. [for my spent spirits retumed to lifeot the s01md ofsuch pitioble occe,11s.]

melocly and rbythm to follow the inflections and rhythms of natural spcech, re ílecting lhe poetic imagcry through striking musical figures, and su-iting al i musical elcmcnts to the cmotions iJ1 thc tcxt. Thc tcchniques dcvclopcd by madriga.1 composers led directly to opera a.nd other seventeenth-century forms of dramatic music. We saw in chapters 9 and 10 that sixteenth-centu1y motets often express the e motions and illustrate the images of theirte~'ts. but 1he madrigal was the preeminent laboratory for such procedures. Most of our assumptions about what mttsic should do when setting poetry were established in and for the sixteenth- centu1y madrigal. This emphasis on matching every aspect of the text profoundly elU'ferentiates tbe madrigaJ from earlier secular sougs, sucb as the chansons of r.be fourteenth and Mteentb centuries. and it retlects the deepening impact of humanism on mus ical cuhure over the cow·se of 1he Reuaissance. That we still fmd madrigals so e ngaging today suggests the continuing importance of that humanist iníluence for our own cultw·e and music.

257

France

France During the long reign of Francis I (r. 1515- 47). composers in France developed a new type of chanson 1hat was a light, fas1. strongly rhythmic song

11ie new French chanson

258

C ti A P T E li 1 1 · Madrlgal and Secula r Song ln ih• Sixteenth C•n1ury

Severa! of Sermisy's cbansons were so popular that they were reprinted for decades ancl adapted into many new forms. from dance melodies to psalm tunes. Some even showed up in paintings. as in Figure 11.5.

for four voices. Favored subjects were pleasant. amorous situations. though

Janequin wrote many k:inds of chanson. includ-

more serious texts were occasionally chosen. The text is set syllabically with many repeated notes. usually in duple meter. The principal melody is in lhe highest voice and Lhe musical lexture largely homophonic, with occasional sbort poinls of imital.ion. Verse forms va ,y. but mos! pieces are divided into s horl seci ions tha1 repeat in an easily grasped panem. such as aabc or abca. The st rophi c, repclitivc ro.-ms elid nol all ow wo rd - painting, anel composci-s focusecl on tuneful melodies and pleasing rhythms rathe r lhan profound expression of the text. Such pieces were satisfying to sing and idcally su itcd for amateurs. Between 1528 and 1552, PierreAttaingnant (ca. l494-ca. 1552), lhe f,rst French musi c prinlcr, brought out more than lifty co ll ections of such chanso ns. about 1,500 picces, and othcr publishcrs soon followed. Thc grcat nurnber of chansons of this type printed in the sixteenth century, including hundreds of arrangcmcnts for voice and lute or for lute alone. testincs to their popu larity. The two principal composers in Attaingnant"s early chanson collections were Clauclin de Sermisy (ca. 1490- 1562) and Clémem Janequin (ca. 1485ca. 1560). Sermisy's Tant que vivray (i\AWM 60). shown in Example 11.6, is typical. The text is a lighthearted and optimistic )ove poem, far alield from the old tradition of courtly )ove. As in a frotto la or viJJancico. tl1e melody is in lhe top voice. and the harmony consists of thirds and fúths with only an occasional sixth above the bass. The voices mostly declaim the texc together. One result is that accented dissonances appear where earlier chansons would have featured a syncopated suspens ion before a cadence. as on the third quarter note of measure 3 in lhe lop voice. The opening long-shorl-shorl rhythm is common. The end of each line of text is marked by a relat ive ly long note or rcpcatcd notes. cmphasizing thc form of lhe poctry.

ing lyrical !ove songs. narrative songs. and bawdy songs. He was parlicularly celeb rated for bis descriptive chansons, which reature imilations of bi.-cl calls, hunting calls. slreet c ries. and sounds of war. His rnost famous chansoa was La gu,erre (Wa r), supposed ly about th e batt lc o f Ma,·igna n (1515). Le chant des oiseau.,x (The Song of the Birds) is filled with vocal warb les and chirp ing.

EXAMPLE 116,

1 Condse :-\ 1 1 Full :-\ 1

.s T3nt que

'·

V\ •

vray

33 gc Oo - ris .. san.t.

_.,. t)

Claudin de Sermisy

Sermisy. Tant que vivray

THE LATER FRANCO-FLEMISH CHANSON

Tant que vi • vray

..,.

33 -

ge ílo ris - san1.

SCJ" Vl

ray

d'3 - mours 1c roy puís- sant

...

ser

ray

-·

ct·a- mours 1c roy puis - sam

Vl -

T3o1 que vi -

VJ'3Y

aa • ge ílo - r-is - saoi.

ser- vi · ray

Tant que vi

vray

ao · gc no -ris s:,nt.

ser vi

As longas l am able ·bodied. l shall sen>e thepolenl kingoflo1>e

ray

- -

•· •

d'a - mou-1''$ le roy puis - sa.t1i

d"a· mours lc roy puis · san,

AJongside the new style of homophonic chauson, northero composers such as Gombeti, Clemens, and Sweelinck ( mentioned in chapter 1O) maintained the old er Franco- Flemish tradition of tbe contraptmtal chanson. FIGURE 11 .5: Three Musicians (or The Con Traditions mix in the chansons of Orlande de Lascerl), brllie Maslerof Female Half- ú;ngths. sus, reflecling his cosmopoli1an background. \Vh.ile illus1ra1es 1he varietyofways in which sixteenrh· some are in tbe new homophonic style, others show centwysongs could be performed. The mw;i.c i-s the inJ1uence of the Italian madrigal or grow from the Sennisy"s chanson Joyssancc vous donneray. The Franco- Flemish tradition. using a tight polyphonic flutist reads from lhe superius partbook. the singer texture with close imitations anel sudden changes of sings tl1e tenor pa,n. and the lurenis1 adds the pace. His range of subject matter was equally wide; other voice$ from memo,:,· or perhaps improvises cm no one was more accomplished al wriling hwnorous a,cco,npcanimen.L. (11ER~IITACE, !ti. l'.tTfRSKUKG, I\USSIA, and even bawdy chanso ns, but he also wroie songs of l'IIOT(h SCAI.A/AllT fttSOU IICE. NY) imprcssivc scriousncss. As with his motcts. Lassus was always acul.e ly all.uned to lhe texl and made s ure that the mus ic li1 its rhythm, rcllected its imagery, and conveyed th e appropri at e feel ings. ln his sei ting of La nuicL froide et sombre (NAW\4 6 ]), he captured the ove ra li mood- co ntrasti ngsombernightand sweel s leep to the shiningday that brings activity and varied co lors- and depictcd vivid images in th e poem. from the contrast of earth anel sky to the weaving of a tapestry of light.

MUSIQUE MESURÉE Another distinctive style of chanson emerged from the desire among some French poets and composers to imitale the rhythm of Greek poetry. resulting in 11ms ique me.iltrée (measm·ed music). Mernbers of the Académie de Poésie et de Musique (Academy of Poelly and Music), formed in 1570. sought to unite poetry and music as in anciem Limes and revive the ethical e ffects of anci en t Greek music. By imposing their musicou the genera l pub li c, th ey hop ed to improve society, an effort reminiscent of Pia to.

Germany

259

260

C H A P T E K 1 1 • Madrigal and Secular Song ln 1he Sixttemh Ceniury

The poet Jeau-A.utoine de Ba'if. co- fouuderof theAc:adémie. wrote slrophic Freuch verses in ancieut Greek and Latiu meters, whicb he called vers mesur~ à Lantique (measured verse in ancient style). Allcient Greek and Latiu poetry had accents of quautity (leugth of vowel or syllable) rather tbau s tress accents as in modem languages. Since French lacked the long and short vowels of ancient

England bad its own native traditiou of secular music in the sixteenth ce11tu1y. Bolh Hemy VIII and his second wife, A.une Boleyn, were musicians and com-

languages. Barf assigned French vowels durations. roughly equating stress

posers. Manuscripts from his reign 0509-17) contain a variety of songs and

accent with lenglh. ln setling this poet,y. compose rs s uch as Claude Le Jeune. Lhe leading exponent of lh is geme. gave each long syUable a long note and each s hort syllable a note half as long. The variety ofve rse patterns produces a corresponding variely of musical rhylhrns i o wh ich duple and tripie groupings alLernate freely. as in Lejeune's Revecyvenirduprintans {NAWM 62). Musique mcsu,·éc was to o a rtific ial lo becomc popular. But thc expcrimeot introduced irregular rhythms inlo lhe nir de C()tu- (courl air), a ge nre of song for voice and accompanimen t wh ich becamc th e d ominant type of Frcnch vocal music after about 1580. Though the chanson in th e nftecnth century had been a central genre of the intemationaJ style, the homophonic chanson of Scrmisy and thc mu-siqite m.esurée of Lc Jcune werc tru ly na tiona l. as Frcnch as lhe frottola was ltalian or the villancico was Spanish.

England

Cansort song

[ju11 ~

instnunemal pieces in three aud fourparts lhal reílect many facets of courtlife. From this envirnnment. around mídcen twy. eme rged Lhe crmso,-t sm,g. a distinctively English genre for voice accompanieel by a consort of viols (a string ensemble; see chapter 12). The master of the consorl song was William 13yrd (see cha pter I O). who raised 1.be 1.echnical levei of 1.he med ium witb s kiJlful imi tatíve coun terpoint in his coll eclion Psolm.e$, SonetsandSongs (1588). Thi s collectioo was so s uccessful tl1al iL was reprinted four times. and Byrd 's coosort so ng '·Lulla lullabye" from this collect ion remaineel his most famous piece fo r ovc r a ccntury. Composcrs wrotc co nsort songs wcll into thc scvcn tcc nth ccntury, and although today the English madrígal and lute song are bette r known, the consort so ng re mained an important ge nre until the vio l consort itse lf was supcrscdcd by otber cnscmbles in the early cightccnth ccntury.

ENGLISH MADRIGALS

Germany German secular song in the s ixteen1h cenlury exhibits a fascina1ing mixture of styles. Th e Me iste ,·siuger (master singers) preserved a tradition of unaccompanied solo song. derived from lhe Minnesinger (see chapler 4), 1.hac con tinued even as s ryles changed a rou nd 1hem. The Meistersioge r were u rban merchants a,,d artisans who pu rsued musicas a,1 avocation and formed bruilds for composing songs according to slricl rules and singing them in public concerts and compeliti ons. The movemenl began in the fou rieenth century. pcaked in thc sixtcc nth, ,rnd cndurcd until thc last gu ild dissolved in thc oinetccntb centu,y. Mos l pocms wc rc wrilleo Lo Cit ao. cx is ting Ton ( pi. 'fone), a metric and rhyme sche me wilh its owi1 melody. Ali Tone use bar form, and many were taken from Minne lieder. Thc best- known Meistersinger was Hans Sachs (J 494-1576), a shoemaker in Nure mb erg who composcd thousands of poems and thirtcen ncw Tone. Composcrs in Germany continued to cu ltivate the Ge rman po lyp honi c Lied, with a popular song or leading melody in the tenor or cantus and free counterpoint in the ot her voices. as in lsaac's Innsbruck. ich muss dich !nsse,i (NAWM 41 ; see chapter 9). Many collections of Germau Lieder were pub lished in the nrst half of the century, chielly at Nuremberg. a leading cemer of German culture at this time. After 1550. German taste veered toward ltalian mad rigals aud villanelle. and the Lied cleclined in importance or 10ok on ltalian.ate characteristics. Once again a leading figure was Lassus, who composed seven co llections of German Lieder. Most are madrigals in style il' not in la nguage. with close auention 10 lhe accentualion and express ion of the text, alterna ting homophonic and im itative passages, and all parts equa lly important in the interplay of motives.

Thomas Murley 1 Conclse M 1 1 Full ~ 1

The late sixteenth century brought a fashion for ltalian culture. art. and music to England. The products of tbis influence most familiar today are Shakespeare's plays set in haly, includiug TI1e Taming of the Shrew (1593), Tite Two Ge,ulemen o/Verona (]594). Romeo and],iliet (]594), nie Mercharlt of Venice (1596) . and Othello ( 1604). But eve1ything fro m manners to clotbing was affected. and music was in the va nguard. ltalian madrigals began to circula te in Eugland in the 1560s and were sung in the homes of arislocrats anel the middle class alike. l n 1588. Nicholas Yonge published Music<i Lra11sa!pi11a. a collection of Ilalian mad riga ls translated ínto Englis h. Acco rd ing to Yonge's preface, the anthology cncompassed lhe rcpcrtoirc s ung by gcntlcmcn and merchants wbo mel daily ai. his bome. This and s imilar col!eclions c reated a vogue fo r singing maelri gal s, which spu rred native co mpose rs to cas h in on th e tre nd byw ri tingtheir own. Leading Engl ish madrigal ists includ e Thomas Morley (1557/8- 1602), Tho ma s Wee lkes (ca. 1575-1623), and John Wilbye (1574- 1638) . Morley was thc carliest anel most prolili.e of thc threc. Alongsid e hi s mad rigals, he wrotc c<m zo nel.$ and ln,lletts. borrowíng the lta lian gemes of ca nzonetta and balletto. He modcled his ba lle tt My bonny lo-ss she sm,ileth {NAWM 63) on a Gastoldi balletto, borrowing aspects of its text, rhytbm, melody, and harmony. Like most balletts, it is strop hic, anel each verse is in two repeated sections (MBB) . Each section begins with a homophonic set1ing oi' cwo Unes of verse. wüb lhe main melody in lhe canrus. and concludes witb a ·'fa-la-la'" refrain that is more contrapuntal, with some imitation between the voices. The dance like rhythms. varied textures. and occasional con trapuntal challe nges made such works paslicularly satisfying to sing. Morley elescribed the madrigal, canzonet. ballett, anel other vocal and instrumental gemes iu A Plaine and Easie fotroduction 10 Practical! Musicke (1597). Unlike mosl earlier 11·eal.íses. lhis manual was aimed at the broad puh -

England

261

lic interested iu music. its titl e iuviting even the most unlearned ama teur to pick it up and learn abour music. The title page. show:n i:n Figure 11 .6. lists tl1e topics to be covered: singing from notation. adding a descant lo a given voice. and composing in lhree or more voices.

ln 1601. Morley published a collection of twentyúve madrigals by twenty- three com posers. modele d afte r a s imilar Italian anlhology cal.led Jl trionfo di Dori (1592) He called his coll ect ion The Trium.phes of Oriana,, and each madrigal in it e nd6 wilh the words ··Long live fairOriana."" Ahh ough it was longassumed tbat "Oriana·· rc ferrcd to Quecn Eli za bet h , rece nl rcscarch suggcs1s Lha t Morley intended the colleclion to h ono r Anua of Denmark, wife of King James VI of Sco tland (who later succeeded Eliza bcth in 1603 as Jam es I of Englancl), and alterecl it 10 suil Elizab eth only when lhe political situation mad e it nccessary. Ooe ofthe most famous madrigals io tbc collectioo is Weelkes"sAs Vesta was (NAWM 64 lco ~I ~). on his own poem. Since word- paintingwas a stro ngtradition in the madrigal, Weelkes as poet provided oumerous opportu1úties for musical depiction, and Weelkes the composer capitalizecl on alJ of them: rising scaJes for ··ascending:· FtGUREll.6 , TillepageofThomasMorlefs falling scales for "clescending" and "running down," a book A Plaine and Easic lntroduction co melodie peak for "hill ,'" anel one, two, three, or ali vo ices Prac1icall Musickc (1597). M11sic. in tlielower for '"alone." "two by two." ··t1u-ee by tlu-ee:· and ··togetheir" righl comer. is linked 101he 01/ier members of the respeclively. Most striking. aod less conven tional. is rnediev(l/.qu,a,dri,,iuni: Mtroncmy(abo,•e music). Weelkes"s trea tme nt of the frnal phrase. "Long live fair geomet,y, ond orilhmetic (see chopier 2). As Oriana" is set to a motive lhat enters almost ftfty times. in announced in the cenierofthe page. rhe treatise aU voices and in aU transpos itions possible in lhe mode, is inthreepMs. covenngthreeskills:singing s uggesting the acclamation ora vas t people. The treat- from nolotion. improvisingorcomposin.go. desmeot is both clcve r anel meaningfu.l. exemplifying tb.e carit1oagivenvoice. an,Lcomposingin th.reeor mixture of wit, wordplay, sentime nt, conlrapunta l skill, more,,uices. 1r,us,sr.rw,sntnnecun,us,cHnrs mclodiousncss. and s hcer pleasu rc fo r thc singcrs tha t ,11oro11•11Au) characte rizes the best madrigals, English or ltal ian. Like their ltal ian counlc rparts, English madriga ls, balletts. and ca m o nets Pe,forrnimce were written prim arily for unaccompa ni cd so lo voices, though maoy pri nted coll ections indicate that the mus ic is "apt for voices anel viols;· presumably in any avai lablc co mbination. Th is flexibility made thcsc publica tions idea l for informal gatherings, and che music was perfectly suitecl for amateurs. Ahility to read a voca l or instrumemal part in such pieces was expecred of educated persons in Elizabethan England. as it was ou the Conti nent. 00. .

LUTE SONGS ln 1he early 1600s. lhe solo song wi1h accompaniment b ecame more promin e nt, especia lly the lute so11g (or cdr). The lead in g co mposers of lute soogs were John Dowland (pronounced " Doe- le nd:· 1563- 1626) aod Tho mas Ca mpio n (1567- 1620). The lu te so ng wa s a mo re pe rso nal genre

262

C ti A PT E li 11 · Madrlgal and Secular Song ln ih• Sixteenth C•n1ury

John Dowland"s song\Vha, i í 1never speedc, M printed in h is Thi,·d and L.1s1 Book or Songs or Aires (London. 1603). Thesong ma.y be perforrned a.s a solo wilh lute acco111FIGU RE 11.7:

pa1ument. readingfroni

lhe lefi-hand page. or a,s 11four-part arrangenieni. wilh orwithoui l11w accompan imen t. The allus. tenor. and ba.ssu.s are.so arrangecl 1hat singers around a 1able can read from a single book . (e ••ms H LlBJlA.lll/lHttDGUIAN ART LlBHAll\')

than the maclrigal, wilh more serious and literary texts anel with no ne of the maclriga r s au ra of socia.l play. The music generally reflects the overall mood. with much less worcl- painting than is typ ica l of madrigals. The lute accompa11ime n ts. always s uborclinate 10 the vocal melody. have some rhythmic anel melodie ind epende nce. Altematefomiats Lule songs appear ed in books rather lhan in partbooks. as madrigals did. The voice and lul e paris are ve rtically aligned , allowing s ingers lo accompany 1hemselves. ln some collecti ons the songs a re also printed in an alternative vcrsioo. shown in Figu re 11 .7, with lhe lute accompan irnen l writtcn out fo r lhree voices so arranged o n the page that performe rs s itl.ing arou nd a tabl e could ali rcad their parts from th c sarne book. The lute partis in wblature , a notational system tl1at tells lhe playe rwhich st rings to pluckancl wh ere to place thc frngc rs ou th e stTings. ra ther than indicatingwhat pitches wi ll rcsu lt. Flow, my tears Tbe Dowland lute soog best known ro his contemporaries, FI-Ow, my tears (NA\VM 65) from hisSecond BookeofAyres (1600), was adapted from a lut e piece 1 Concose !\\. 1 1 Foll ~ 1 by Oowland that spawned a whoJe series of vaTiations and anangements. lt is in the form of a pavane, a sixteemb-cenrury Italian processional dance, witb three repeated strains. The performer sings tlle nrst rwo stanzas of the poem to the frrst strain. lhe next two to the second. and the ftnal stanza t\vice to lhe third sn·ain. resu.lting in tbe musical pattern aabbCC. The repea ts minimize 1be opportunity for depiction or eicpression of individual words anel phrases, but Dowland 's music matches the dark moo d of the poetry. The fashion in England for madrigals anel lute songs was iotense bm J'Clatively brief, lastingonly into the 1620s. The lute song's focus on a single si nger with accompaniment links it to the growing inte resl insolo song in the early seventeenth century. which we will explore in chaple rs 11 and 15.

The Madrigal a nd lts lmpact

263

The Madrigal and lts lmpact The llalian madrigal and its offshoots. including !ater French chansons. German Lieder, and English madrigals, were Jaboratories for exploring the dec-

lamation. expression. and depiction of words. ln this sespect they rellect the growfog inl1uence of humanism on music over the course of the Renaissance. The importance of the text and irs dramatic expression through music. especially in Italian madrigals, led direct ly into opera around 1600. More broad ly, madrigals introduced the idea of musicas a dramatic an. and ove r lhe nexl. 1.wo cen turies th is co ncept broadened to in clu de i nst rumenral as well as vocal mus ic. Thcsc dcvc lopments led to thc dominancc of lt.il ian rnus ic throughou l Lhe Ba roque e ra. so Lhat lhe madrigal lruly made Italy lhe Jeader in European music for the ftrst time. The codc of expression worked out by Willacrt's generat ion is different in many respects from !ater codes bul is the main taproot for them. More important than the s pcciftc co rrespondencc of ccrtain in terva ls to ceriain moods o r characte rs thatZarlino outlincs is the broader notion that me lody, harmony, rhythm, and pacing ali directly communicate feelings, and that the emotio ns thcy suggest must correspond to those of the text being set. The devices that composers of operas, ballets, t0ne poems, and ftlm scores have used to suggest a character's mood or manipulate the f.eelings of the audience have long histori es, reaching back in concept and often in specióc detail to the procedures tha t sixteenlb-cemury composers used in theü· madrigals. Madrigals themse lves have varied in popularity, along with otber sixteenth- century secular songs. The vogue for social singing declined after 1600 but was maintained to some extem in England. Visiting London in the 1790s, Joseph Haydn heard English madriga ls and wrote some of his own. The growth of amateur chorai societies in the nineteenth century helped inaugural.e a reviva! of mad rigal singi.ng. and new editions popula rize<l Engl ish mad rigals in the twent iet h century, espec ially in schools. For the millions who havc sung in school choirs or mad rigal grou ps in Britain or North Amcrica. mad rigals are ofte n t.he oldesl music they have pe rform ed. Prom the English repe rtory, the rev iva) sp read to cnco mpass ltalian mad rigals and French chaosons. German aod Spanish so ngs are hcard less oftcn but in recent years have begun to be performed and reco rded more frequently than bcfo rc, as havc some othcr rcpcrto ri cs such as frottolas and consort songs. Of the thousands of secular songs published in sixteenth-century part.books. many havc not been issuecl in mod em cclitions and most have nevcr bcen recorded. Madrigals and other sixtecnth-century songs still serve thei r function admirably when amateurs sing through music together for their own pleasure, but such gatherings are rarer than they once were, and singers today have numerous more recent repertories to draw on. Like the popular songs of la ter times, the secular songs of lhe sixteenth century are known today chiei1y through a few dozen hits. which are s\mg and reprinted repeatedly. for the avid fan, there are thousands more to e,cplore.

Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/st udyspace.

THE RISE OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC Our story so far has focused on vocal music, since the great majority of pieces that survive from before the sixteenth century are for voices. alone or witl1 instruments. Dances, fanfares, and other instrumental pieces were of course played throughout the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Bm since performers played from memory or improvised, little oi' this music survived in nolalion. Instrumental music was functional: people welcomed it to accompany dancing o r dining. but seldom listcned to or played it for its own sakc. and thus it was va lued less highly than vocal music. This li mitation began to lift after 1450 and especially duri ng the s ixteenth century. when churches, patrons. and musi cal amateu rs increasingly cuJtivatcd instrumental mus ic. Th e growth in music for instn1ments is partly an illusion: it simply means more was being wi:itten clown. But that change in itself s hows that music without voices was now more often deemed worthy of preservation and dissemination in writing. lt also suggests that instrumental performers were more ol'ten musically literate rhan in ea.rlier eras. The rise of instrumental music cluringthe Renaissance is evident in the cultivalion of new instruments. new roles for instrumental music. new ge lll'es, anel new styles, as we ll as in lhe growing supply of wduen music for ü1st ruments alone, including many pub lished collections. As in earlier limes. music ians performed . improvised. a11d com posed da nce music, inst rumental versions oi' vocal wo rks, and seui ngs oi' cx isting melodies. Yet thcy also developed import.anl ncw ge nrcs that we re not dependent on dancing or s inging, including vnl'inti.011s .

265

lnstruments

266

C H A P T E K 1 2 • The Rise of lnrnumen1al Music

prelude. fcmtas ia. toccau,. ricerccire. ccmzo,w ,, aud s011atc1.. For the ftrst time. composers were writing instrumental music that was as interesting aud challengiug as vocal music. This development set the stage for later periods. when instrumental music beca me i ncreasingly important.

EMBELLISHING SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC

nstruments

'I'he a ppearance of books thal describe instrumenls and give instruclions for playing them testií1es to tbe gr owing regard fo r instrume ntal music in thc s ixtccnth centu,·y. Writcrs add r cssccl thc practicing music ian, whc1·her professio nal or amateu r. so th ey wrote in lhe ve rnacular instead of in Latin. Fr om t hese books we lea rn about pitch, tun ing, and the art of embellishing a me lodie line, as well as about instniments themselves (sec ln Performan ce: EmbellishingSixteenth - Cenhtry Music. p. 266). Thc lirst such book was Scbastian Virdung's Mu.sica geru.ischt (Music Explained. 151 1). 0thers followed in increasing numbers. One of the r ichest. the second vo lume of Syntagma musicum (Systematic Treatise of Music. 1618- 20) by Michael Praetorius. contains descriptions of instruments then in use, illustrated by woodcuts li.ke the one in Figure 12. l . Renaissance musicians played an aston ishing variety of instruments. some ofwbich are pictured in Figures 12.l and 12.2. Un like modem perfonners, who typically speciaLize iu a single instrument or two or three closely related ones, professionaJ musicians were expected t o be adept at severa!. Renaissance musicians maintained lhe distinction between haut (hjgh) and bas (low) instruments. or relatively loud and soft instruments. that began in the Middl eAges (seechapter6).

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FIGURE 12.l, lnstn1 me,11s illu~ll'(11ed in Michael Praetorius, Syntagroa musicum, vo/. 2 (lfolfenbüuel. 1618-20): (I) harp sichotd. (2) sackbttl ortrornbonc. (3) bass sha1u1n. (4) bass viola

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Modem períormers of classical music are accustomed to playing or singing the music as written. But sixteenth-century performers were expected to embell ish the music, decorating a given melody with passing tones, neighbor tones, runs, and other figurations. Because these decorative figures divided up relatively long notes into severa! shorter ones. they were called • diminutions· or • divisions." T hrough tasteful use of diminutions, performers could shape and direc t the ílow of the music, impel the melody forward to the next note. make the rhythm more lively, and keep listeners intrigued. Typically these embellishments were applied to the top line of a piece for vocal or instrumen tal ensemble, but performers of the lower parts could use them as well if they were careful to coordinate with each other. making sure not to conflict with other lines or to break the rules of counterpoint by introducing parallel fifths or other forbidden motions. Diminu tions were also part of the improvisatory stock-in-trade of performers on polyphonic instruments such as the lute and harpsichord. We assume such embellishments have a performing tradition that extends at least as far back as the fourteenth century. The earliest surviving manu:script of keyboard music, the Robertsbridge Codex of about 1360. contains intabulations (see p. 273) of vocal music from the time, highly decorated with diminutions.

EXAMPLE 12.1,

Oimtmitwns of a rising second,from Canassi's Fontega ra

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The methods for ornamenting melod ies were passed down orally for generations, no doubt changing over time. ln the sixteenth century, several musicians published books tha t included guides for how to add diminurions for a given melody. The earliest book was Sylvestro Ganassi's Opera intitulata Fontegara, a manual for playing recorder (see Figure 7.9 on p. 163 for the title page). Modern performers rely on Ganassi and on later books such as Heinrich Finck's Practica musica (1556) and Lucovico Zacconi's Prattica di musica (1596) to learn how to apply such embellishments in instrumental and vocal music of the time. Following a pedagogical tradition extending back to the Middle Ages. Ganassi offers hundreds of examples of how one might ornament specific motions of the melody. Playing through these examples. and memorizing many of them. gives the performer a repertoire of figures to use and models to follow in creating new embellishments. Example 12.1 shows seven of his examples for decorating a rising second. ln ali of these. the diminutions of the first note B begin and end with 8, which helps to ensure that the motion of this voice in relation to the others is preserved, and no contrapuntal errors such as parallel fifths or octaves are introduced. ln other examples, he allows the performer to move more freely. as long as each new note of the original melody is reached by step.

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267

C ti A P T E li 1 2 • The Rise of lnsirumental Music

Maxim ilian

1Surrounded by His Court Musicians anel l 11s1 ruments, woodcul fo,· rhe emperor's memoirs Weisskunig (1514- 16). Clockw,sefrom top lcf1. rlt-e instrwnen Is include a comeu beingplayed: on rl,e 1able. viol. clavicltord (orvirgin.al). 1ro.1tsveNe Jlute, crumhom (11,e cun,ed wind insl1111nen1). 1/,ree recorders. andano1hercornet1 (e,:1endingoff'1h.e 1.able); i,,1helowerrigl11.1romba marina. (a. bowed string i11s1111me111). sack,but. k·eulcdmm. mi./itary drum withdrumsticks. and lute (in il.s ca.se): harp: and posi1t11e organ. beingplayed while an assis1an1 works lhe bellows. ( t'Ol'O MAtl.JSURG/ A.lff 11..r.SOUKCE. ~\')

\Vind and string ins trum ents were often built in sets or i11s1r11111e11Utl lnstnunental fmnilies. so that oue uniform timbre was available throughout the euti re families and range from soprano to bass. An instrumental ensemble. consisting oi' four consorts Lo seven instruments. became known in England as a cousort. Sixteenthcentu ry musicians and listeners enjoyed the sound of a homogeneous ensernble. in whicb all lhe instrumenls were from the sarne family. but mixed ensembles were also commo n . Tbe eh o ice was up to lhe players; un til lhe very end of the sixteen Lh century, composers did noL specify inst ruments. Mos! of lhe principal Rcnaissance wind instru.menls were alseady in use by the Middle Ages (see chapte rs 4 and 6): recorde rs, trnnsverse ílute, shawms, cornctts, and trumpets. Newly promincnt in thc Rcnaissancc were rhe sac/.:b11t , the early form of the trombone, and the cmmlwm , whose double reed is enclosed in a cap so thc player's lips do not touch it., producing a sound likc a sof't bagpipe (see Figu res 12.1 and 12.2). Percussion instruments also continued from the Middle Ages, often with new refmements, including the tabor. si cle clrum. kettleclrums. cymbals. trianglcs, and bells. Parts were never writren for percussion, but performers improvised or played rhythmic patterns from memory. The most popular household instnnnent in the sixteenth century was the luLe (from the Arabic al-oud, ''Lhe oud"). shown in F'ifu'l.ll'e 12.3 (see also Figures 11.2 and 11.4). Lutes had been knowu in Europe for more than li.ve hundred years. introduced by the Arabs into Spain. (The oud. the ancestor of the !Ule. is still the primary instrumem in Arab counu·íes.) Tbe standa rd lute was pear-shaped, with a rounded back, flat fmgerboard, and pegbox (where the s trings altached to luning pegs) turned back ata right angle. It had one single and fwe doub le st rings, usually tuned G-c-f-a- d'-g', which we re plucked

268

Windand

percussion

w:ith the ftngers. Frets, made of strings of leather OJ' gut wound around the neck, marked where the player s topped the string with the fmgers of the left hand to raise the pitch one or more semitones. A skilled player could pro duce a great variety of effects, from melodies. runs. and

ornaments of ali kinds to chords and counterpoint. Lutenists performed solos . accompanied singing, and played in ensembles. Closely related to the lu te was the Spl\'nish vil111ela, which had a llat back anel gui1ar- s haped body. The·violor violu du gumbu Oegviol) was developed in Spain ín 1he mid- tifteenih century, was taken up by lta lian musicians a general ion !ater, and quickly bccame lhe lcad ing bowed Sl ring instrument of lhe sixleenth ce ntury. Figu re 12.4, from the title page of a manual on playing the viol, s hows a consort of three viols in rhe three most com mon sizes, a bass in the middle. a lenor to our ríght, anda t.-eble to thc lcft. As sccn in the illustration, thc p layer hcld the instrumcnt on or between the legs and bowed underhand. FIGURE 12.3, Mary Magda lene Playing Lu1e The tone, played without vibrato, was more delicate aud (ca. 1550). byan unknown Flemish artisr. less penetrating tban a modern violin or ceUo. Likc lutes. 171e music is wri11en in rablature. a. ,101a1i.o,i víols had frets. and the six strings were t:tmed a fourth apan that shows which sinngs IO play and where to with a majorthird il1 the midd.le: for instance. the tenorwas put rheftngers on. rhe freis 10 prod1ice 1he right hmed G- c--f - a-d'-g'. the standard lute t:tming. pitch.es. ( Pll.J'VAT[ COLLECTlON'/JOUNNY IlAEFTEN LTD .. A distalll cousin to the viol was the violi11 , a bowed, LQNUONf rllE 8RJOO&>.CAS A.RT UBR.AR\') fretless instrument runed in ôfths rather than fourtJ1s and apparently descended from the medieval fiddle. The violin lirst appeared i n the early six teenth century as a three-string instru mentused primarily 10 accompa11y clancing. During the seve nteenth century, lhe violin and i ts relatives lhe viola and violoncello gradually displaced the viols, ín pari because of thei r b righter tone. FIGURE 12.4, Conso,·1 of viols as sliown on lhe tille page of Sy!vestro G,a11o.ssi's manual 011 viol pla)'lng. Regola ruberl ina

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Types oi Instrumental Music

The organ hadalready been widelyused in the MiddleAgesbutchanged over time as organ- builders added stops (ranks ofpipes) with distinctive timhres, many resemblingwind instruments. By about 1500, the large church organ was essentially like the instnunent we know today. although the pedal keyboard was employed only in Germany and the Low Countries and was adopted much

269

270

C H A P T E K 1 2 • The Rise oi lnrnum•ntal Music

Keyboa rd

DANCE MUSIC

instruments

Social dancing was widespread and highly valued in the Renaissance. and people of breeding were eiqJected to be expert dancers. ln adclition to providing healthy exercise. dancingwas a way 10 meet peo ple, interact wiLh 1J1em in a for -

!ater in other countries. The medieval portative organ bad gone out of fashion.

mal setting. judge their fttness and social skills, and show off one's own abili -

hui small positive organs like lhe one in Figure 12.2 were common. There were two main types of keyboarcl string instrwnent. Lhe daviclronl and t.hc lutrJMichord. Thc clavichord (see Figure 12.2) was a solo instnimcnL suitable fo r sma ll rooms . while lhe har psichord (see Figure 12.1) served botJ1 solo and e nsemble play ing in spaces of mode rate s ize. 1n a clavicho rd. pressing a kcy ra iscs a brass biade that strikcs a st ring, maki ng il vi brate. anel remai11s in contact with il. sustaining the tone until the player releases Lhe key. The position of the biade on the string de te rmines the sou nding length of the stri ng anel thus its pitch. The tone is very soft, but within limits thc performc r can control the volume :md even effect a vibrato by changing pressure on tbe key. ln instrumcnts of lhe ha111sichord fomily, thc kcy moves a quill that plucks th c string. Harpsichords came in different shapes and sizes and had various names, inclucling virginnl in England. clnvecin in France. and cla,vicembalo in ltaly. The tone was more robust than a clavichord's but could notbe shaded byvarying the pressure on the key. A builder could achieve different timbres and degrees of loudness by adding a second keyboard or a stop mechanism tbat allowed coupli ngwith another string. usual ly tunecl an octave highel'. Eacb of Lhe insu·uments describecl here has its ow·n qualities parücularly Renaissance suited to the music performed on it. Renaissance ins truments are not imperfect instmmcnts versions of modem ones but are ideal vehicles for the music of that time. This and music does not mean we should not play lute music on 1,'Uitar or Renaissance ensemble mus ic on modern brass instrum enls, forthat would deprivc performers of much glorious music-and even ai lhe time. musicians freely substituted one instrumenl fo r another. Bul knowingsometh ingof lhe sound, p laying techniques, and other prope rties oi' the i nstru menls fo r which a piece of music was in tended can shcd Light on Lhe s pccial qualitics of thc mus ic itself and bow t.o perfon n il.

ties (see Music in Conlexl: Social Dance). \Y/ith dancing a central part of social life, it is no surprise Lhal music ians played and composed a great deal of dance mus ic. ln writing da nce pieces, which owed li ttle 10 vocal models, sixtecnthcentury com posers began lo develop a distinctive instrumental style. Perfo rmers frequently improvised dance music cJr played dance tunes from memo ry. as in carlicr times. Scvc,·al f, f1een lh- ccn1.u,-y manusctr ipls conta in dances, typically in lhe forma r bass li nes ove r which treble ins lru mcn ts would imp rov ise. But in the sixtee nth ce ntury, many dance pieces wcre printed in collections issucd by Pctrucci, Attaingnant , and other pu.blishers, for ensemble, lute, or keyboard. These written works tel1 us much a bout improvisatory practice. s howing that s ixtccn th- century pcrformcrs often improvised by omamenting a given melodie line or by ndding one or more conlrapuntal parts to a given melody or bass line. Published dances also show that dance music served two ve1)' different purposes in the Renaissance. Most dances for ensemble were functional music. suitable for accompanying dancers, although they were also marketed to amateur perforrners. ln these pieces. tbe principal melody is typically in 1he upp ermost pari, sometin1es highly ornarnemed, bu t often leftplain for tbe perfonner to add embellishmeuts. The other parts are mostly homophonic, with little orno contrapuntal interplay. Most dance pieces for solo lute or keyboard. on the other hand. are s1ylized or abstracted. intended for the enjoyment of the player o r listeners rath er than for dancing, anel these often include more elaborate counterpoint or written-out decoration. Tbe use of a vei-y social kind of music fo r solita1-y music-making is interesting; perhaps lhe plcasurc of solo performance was e nhanced by inco rporat ing 1he familia r rhythms of dance. which ca rricd associations with social inlcraction o r with lhe physical motions of dancing. \Y/hateve r the reaso n, from t.he Renaissa nce to now, many instrumental works havc bccn s tylizcd dances. Each dance follows a parlicular me te r, tempo, rhy1 h mic patte rn, and form, ali ofwhich a re reílectcd in pieces co mposed for it. This pa rticu laricy of rhythm anel form distingu ishcs cach typc of dance from thc othcrs a nd givcs a li dance musica cbaracle r unlike other kinds of music. Dance pieces feature distinct scctions, usually rcpcatcd. with two, th rec, or more scctions dcpcnd ing on tbe dance. UsualJy the phrase structure is clear and predictable, oftcn in four- measure groups, so that dancers can follow it easily. The combination of regular sh·ucture with contrasting ph rases and sections provided aura! cues fortbe dancers. helpingthem to remember and recognize dance patterns and to lmow when to change steps. The favorite courtly dance of the ftfteenth and early sixteenth centuries was Lhe lwsse t.lw,se (low dance), a staiely couple dance marked by gracefully raising and lowering tl1e body. The dance featured five different kinds of steps in various combinations. The music can be in tripleorduple mete r and is usu ally in s ix- or fo ur- meas ure phrases to sui t the pat.terns of steps in the dance.

Types of Instrumental Music Instrumental music served many roles in the Renaissance: as accompaniment to dancing. as part of a pu.blic ceremony or religious ritual. as background to other activities, oras music for the entertaiumelll of a small group of listeners or of the players themselves. Justas music printing created a market for music for amateur singers. it a lso fostered the composition and dissemination of instrnmental music for ama1eurs to perform, Professionals also used printed music in rheir work. from playing for dances to playing in chu rch. \Y/e can divide Renaissance instrumental music into óve broad categories: • dance music

• variations

• arrangcmcnts of vocal music

• absrract únstrumcn t.al works.

• sei rings of ex isting melodies

lmprovisation and composition

Functional and stylized dance nmsic

Rhythn 1, ar1d form

Basse danse

Types of Instrumental Muslc

271

272

C H A P T E K 1 2 • The Rise of lnrnumental Music

EXAMPLE 12.2,

Gervaise. Pavane d 'Angleterre and Galliard

SOCIAL DANCE Oancíng is essential ln a well-ordered soclety, because it allows males and females to m,ngle and observe one another. How else does a lady decide whom to marry? Through dancing , she can tell whether someone is shapely and fit or unattractive and lame. whether heis in good health or has unpleasant breath. and whether he is graceful and attentive or dumsy and awkward.

see in the illumations, it is no wonder the women needed help getting off the ground!) As the dancing master went on to suggest to his new pupil, dancing is also a kind of mute rhetoric by which persons, through movement, can make themselves understood and persuade onlookers that they are gallant or comely and worthy to be acclaimed, admired, and loved. Such attitudes help to explain the importance of social dance in the Renaissance. And although the steps may be different, the place of dance in society today remains remarkably unchanged.-BRH

So writes the Renaissance dancing master Thoinot Arbeau (pen name for the astronomer Jehan Tabourot) in his Orchésographie (1589). the best-known dance treatise of the Renaissance. He offers these views to a young man who has just returned home from a big city where he devoted many years to studying law but where. as he confesses with some regrei, he did not make time to learn how to dance. Belatedly, the young man has realized that. far from being a Írivolous pastime, dancing is a pleasant and profitable activity, one that confers and preserves health provided it is practiced in moderation at suitable times and in appropriate places. lt is especially recommended for those who lead sedentary lives. such as students intent upon their books and young women who spend long hours at knitting and needlework. Most dances of the Renaissance were performed by couples who arranged themselves in rows or circles. Some, like the pavane. were elegant and dignified. involving a series of gliding steps as in a stately procession. O thers, like the various branles. were executed with sideways or swaying motions. Still others, like the galliard, shown in Figure 12.5, required such nimble steps and leaps that sometimes the man had to FIGURE 12.5, A coupl.e dancingagalliard, accompan,ied hoist his partner into the air. (With rhe !adies br pipc and drom, fiddle, and whlll appears to be a viol dressed in the elaborate costumes that we or lute. Woodcut by ffo,ns Rofer. ca. 1S40.

Gaillan:l e

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Severa! published co llections of dances for ensemble begin with numerous basse danses, includingTielman Susato's Dcmse,ye (cxcerpt in NA\VM 6ú), pub lished in Antwerp in 1551. La morisque (The Moor, NA\VM 6úa), from Susato's collection, is a basse danse in duple meter with two repeated sections, each a four- measure phrase stated twice with different endings. The regular, repeti tive form is balanced hy a spritely rhythmic character created by short notes ou the downbeat in the fu·st section anda rest 011 the downbeat in the second. Renaissance musicians often grouped dances in pairs or threes. A favorite combinalion was a slow dance in duple meter followed by a fasLone in tripie meter ou the sarne tune. the music of the second dance being a variation of the [ust. One such pair. the pavww (or pavan) and galliard. was a favorite in six1.eenth-cemury ltaly (where both dances originated). France. Germany. and England. Example 12.2 p resents th e melody of a pavane and galliard pa i r by Claude Gerva ise, published iu 1555. The pavane was a state ly dance in three re peated s trains (AABBCC), and the more l ively ga llia rd follnws the sarne form with a var iant of the sarne me lody. Susato's Danser:re contains two such pa irs, including Pavane and Gallia rd ú,,dona (NAWM 66b ande·) . Figure 12.6 s hows three couples danc ing a pavane, clearly more reserved and less vigorous than the galliard sbown in Figure 12.5. A similar pai r ing oi' dances in slow duple and fast tripie meter was the passam.ezzo and salt.c,rello, popular in lta ly, an d Ce rman and Pol ish sou rces also featu rc such pa irs. Thcsc da nces offer another instance of the Renaissance fondness for reworking existing music in new ways , as in the cantus - firmus or im itation mass, By the late sixteenth century, dances were a core part of the instrumen tal repertoire for soloists and ensembles a like. Anthony Holborne's The Ni.ghr Watch and The foirie-roun.d exemplify the abstract dances composed around the end of the century for amateurs to play for their own enjoyment. The Fairie-rotuicl is a galliard. and The Nighr Waich is an almain. the English word for allemwule (French for "German dance'') , a stately couple dance in meter that begins with an upbeat. Both of Holhorne's dances exist in versions for solo lute. but he also arranged them for a conson of five instmme nts (NAWM 67a and h) and pub lis hed t.hem in 1599 in Pavans. Gal!iards, Alnwins and OtherShortAeirs. lhe largesl surviving collection of English consort music from lhat time. They are ideal consorl music. playahle on viols or recorde rs or

273

Types of Instrumental Muslc

274

FIGURE 12.6: Three couples donce a stcuelr pCtvane (li (1 porty in the cour-i of Duke Albrccht IV in Munich. 77,e dancers are occompan ied by a. jlute and dru.m visible in the left bolcony. ,vliile the rigli t ba lcon,-holds a ke1tledr11m pl.ayer a.nd two trumpeters. whase

voice texture of the original (NA\VM 45) but imroduces r uns. turns, and other n.gures, called ·'divisions·· or "diminutions" in the terminology of the time. that enliven the rhythm and sustain lhe listener's interest.

TI M ELINE The Rise of lnsin,m,erital Music

SETTINGS OF EXISTING MELODIES

Instrumental music. like vocal music, somet imes incorpo rated exist ing melodies. Composers in the late ftftee11th and early sixteentb cenlu.ries wrote many se l.tings for inslruuten • 1501 O ttaviano Petrucci ral ensembles of chanson me lod ies; 1hese p ieces, among the publislhes Odhecaton fti·s1 ,.,ritten chamber music. could be p laycd as background • 1504 Michelangelo. David music fo r other acliv ilies or by amateurs for their own plea• 1507 First lute tablature issued sure. Chu rch organists often improv ised or composed sctby Petrucci tings of Grcgoria.n chant orother li turgical me lodies for use in services, replacing por tions that. were normally sung. • 1511 Sebastian Virdung. ln Catholic churchcs, chants trad itionally peiformed by Musica getutscht two half- choi rs altcrnati ngscgments orvcrscs, such as Kyrics • 1517 Reformation begins and hymns, could instead alterna te between tl1e cboir singing • 1519-21 Hernán Cortés chant anel the organ playing a cantus- firmus setting o r parabegins conquest of Mexico phrase. Such settings of short segme nts of chant were called o,gan verses or verseis. Example 12.3 shows the beginning of • 1529 Pierre Attaingnant's first a Kyri e by organist- composer Girolamo Cavazzou i with the instrumental publication. for cham melody (from NA\VM 3b) paraphrased in Lhe upper lute voice; !ater other voices carry phrases of the chant as well. • 1535 Sylvestro Ganassi, This Kyrie is par t of an orga11 mass. a comp ilalion of ali the Fontegara sections oi' the mass for which Lhe cirgan would play. • 1536 Luis Milán , EI Maestro l n Lu1he1·an churches, verses of chorales could alternate between the congregation singi11g in unison anda polyphonic sell i ng for choi r or o rgan. Organ isls typica lly improvised settings for thcir verses, buL from thc 1570s on, collcctions of chora lc scttings for organ appea red . These p ieces vari ed in style, from ha r monizations t.o more elabora te ca ntus- lirmu s settings or e mbellis hed paraphrases. ln Nom ines Thc way musical genrcs dcvelop through composers imitating each other is exempl if1ed by the ln Nomine. Sixteen th - and seventeenth- ccntuiy English composcrs wrotc over two hun drcd picccs for consort or kcyboard titlcd l n Nomin.e, all but a few settingthe sarne cantus firmus. The source for the tradition was the section on ·'in nomine Domini" from the Sanctus of John Taverner·s MUSICAL

1Mtruments are hung

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by Manhàu-s Za-singer. ca. 1500. (ON<SUl' N. KUl·l't'Jl~IICH K,;\1\1N t17)

other comhinations. with constantly varying rhythms and melodies. motives tha t are wssed back and fort.h beLween the players, syncopaLions and other metric effects, and briJliant counterpoint, making them entertaining for the players and engaging for lisieners.

ARRANGEMENTS OF VOCAL MUSIC Anoiher major source for instrumental music was . paradox ically, vocal music. lnstnimcnts Frcqucntly doublcd or rcplaced voices in polyphon ic compositions. l ns t.mmental ensembles oftcn played voca l works, reading írom 1hc vocal parts and adding the ir own embellishments. We have seen that the lirsl book of music puhlished from movable type. Petrucci's Odhecaton, was primarily a collection of vocal wo rks without their texts, presumably intend ed fo r instru mental perfor mance. lndced , voca l music. printcd in great qua ntities and often labeled "forsingi.nga.r.,d playing;· represented tbebulkofwhat instrumentalists played when they were not improvising or accompanying singers or dancers. Lutenists and keyboard playcrs made arrangements ofvocal pieces. eitber improvised or written down . These arrangements were often wrinen in tablature (see chapter 11), so they beca me known as i11wb11foti,011s. Great numbers of intabulations were puh lished during the sixteenth century. testifyi ng to their popularily. Si nce plucked insu·umems Jack the sustaining power of voices, arraugers had to recast the original wor k in a manner idiomatic to the inslrumenl. The inlabulations by Spanisb composer Luys de Narvãez (11. 1526-'19) demonst raLe Lhat such works are much closec· to invenlive variations than to simp le transcriptions. making intabulations yet ano1he r instance of Lhe Renaissance tendency to rework existing mus ic. ln his version of Josquin"s Mille regretz (NAWM 68a), published in 1538, Narváez preserves lhe four-

C H A P T E K 1 2 • The Rise of lnrnumental Music

H ISTORICAL

fotabulations EXAMPLE 12.3,

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Types oi Instrumental Music

Mi$sa, Gloria tibi 1,ri11itas. which Taverner transcribed for instru ments and ti tled InN0111ine. He was apparently seeking a secular use for the musicata time when England was no longer Catl1olic and masses were not performed. Others then wrote settings of the same melody (the chant Gloria tibi Lrinitas), and eventually

ln Nomines became one of the most popular genres of English music for viol consor t. lasting through Henry Purcell's selling at Lhe end of the seventeenth centUJy. By then Lhe origias of the 1.u ne and lhe name were long forgouen.

• 1538

Luys de Narváez. Los

seys libros dei Delphín • 1545-63 • 1551

Council of Trent

Tielman Susato.

Danserye • 1558-1603

VARIATIONS

275

Reign of Elizabeth

1of England

• 1585- 1612 Giovanni Gabrieli lrnprovisingon a l.une toaccompanydanc inghas ancienl roots, at St. Mark's bu1 the form known as vc11·ialious or vuriot.iou ftJmt is a six • 1589 Thoinot Arbeau, teenth - century invention, used for indcpendent in stn1menOrchésographie ta l pieces ralher than as dance accompaniment. Vaciations combine changc with repctition. tak-ing a givcn the m e - an • 1597 Gabrieli, Symphonrae existing or newly composed nme , bass line, hannonic plan, sacrae melody with accompan iment, or other musical sttbject- and • 1601 Shakespeare. Hamlet presenting an uninterrupted series ofvariants on that theme. • 1604 Claudio Merulo. The goal was to showcase the variety that could be achieved in Toccatas. book 2 emhellishing a basic idea. Variations served both to entertain the listener or amateur performer with fresh anel interesting • 1607 First English settlement ideas and to elemonstrate the skill of the performer anel comin North America at Jamesposer. ln aH these ways, playingvariations paralleled an orator town, Virgínia elaboraling on a theme. suggesting a link to the Renaissance • 1613 Parchenia, collection of interesl i n the anciem art of r heloric. or oratorical persuasion works for virginal published (see chapter 7). • 1618 Michael Praetorius. Written variations on pavane tunes árst appeared in 1508 Syntagma musicum in the lute tahlalures of Joan Amhrosio Dalza. published by Petrucci. featuring either a varicd repelition oi' each st rain (M'BB'CC') or severa! varianls of a singlc strain. Composcrs and performers wrote and improvised variations on osti11atos, sho1t bass lincs repeated over and ovcr. SeveraJ basses were used for dancing, such as tbe passa rnezzo anti,co andpassarneno moderno, both derived From the pavane. Composers also creatcd scts of variations on standard airs for singing verses, such as thc Spanisb Guárda,melasvacas and the ltalian romanescaa nd ruggiero, which fcature a spare melodie outline over a standard bass progression. Example 12.4 s hows the main melocly and bass for Cuárdame las vacas and lhe opening of each variation from a set of four variations (calleddiferencia,s in Spanish) by Narvãez (NAWM 68b). His 1538 collection of works forvihuela. 1 Conc,se :\\ 1 1 Full :\\ 1 Los seys libros dei Delphín (The Six Books of the Oauphin). contains the lirst published sets of va:riatio ns. including 1his one. [n these flrst examples of the genre, ideas tlrnt would characterize variation form forthe nex t nve centuTies are already in place: each variation preserves the phrase structure. harmonic plan, anel cadences of the theme. while recas ti ng lhe melody with a new figuration that d istinguishes it from the other variations. Ülher major Spanish composers of variations a re lhe organist Antonio de Cahez611 (ca 1510-1566) and the lul.enisl Enríquez de Valderrábano

Types oi Instrumental Muslc

277

time as themes for variation. Tbeir imerest in varying melodies distin guisbes the English from earlier Spanish and ltalian composers, who focused more on bass patterns and bare melodie outlines. The songs used were generally short. simple. and regular in phrasing. The melody may be presented intact throughout an entire set of variations, passing at times from one voice to another: more often. it is broken up by decorative flguration . so that its original proli.le is only suggested. Each variation typica lly uses one type of f1i:,"l.1rat ion. and in mosLvariation sets the rhythmic an.ima ti on increases as the wol'k progresscs, 1hough wilh inlerm illenl quieter interludes and of1en a slower final va riation. An example of Englis h variation techn ique is Byrd's varia1ions on John come kiss ,ne now ( NAWM 6')), a popular song or thc I ime . Thc song me lody is 1 Cone,~ :\\ 1 1 Full :\\ 1 present in every varialion. most often in the lrehle bul sometimes in a middle voice or the bass. The tune is occasiona lly embell ished, but usua lly whal varies is the setting. Each variation introduces a new motivic idea or rhythmic figure in the olher voices. sometimes derivcd from Lhe source tune, and mosl variations changc liguration midway. Therc is a gradua l quickening of thc pace from quarter to eightb to sixteentb notes, climaxing with three variations ln ITiplets and sex or tuplets. Thc iinaJ two variations refax the pacc, creating Tl-U: . M AYOENHEAD a satisfying conclusion, while imroducing unexpected of tl1c flrJ musicke that changes in the bass line and harmony.

PAR 'T' H E;N IA

ABSTRACT INSTRUMENTAL WORKS The instrumental genres we have seen so far are ali hased on dance patterns or derived from song. the two traditiona l wellsprings of music. But beginning in the late l'if-teenth and early sixteenth centuries. for the nrst lime in h isto ry. compose rs wrote down severa! types of instrumental music that were tru ly inclcpendent or dance rhythms or bonowcd luncs. Most of thcse dcvclope<l from hab its of im p rovisatio n on po lyphonic instru ments such as lute or keyboard, wh il e o th ers drew on imitative lexturcs derivcd from vocal music. Al though some such pieces we rc used as interluclcs in church or as ba ckground music for clining or convcrsation, rhey could also be played or l istened to for their own sake, and improviscrs anel compose rs frcqucntly emp loyed unusual or bigbly exprcssive effects ro attract listeners' attention (see Source Reacl ing, p. 278). Alongside instrumental ensemble settings of chanson melodies. composers in the fi.fteemh and early six teenth centuries wrote pieces in a similar style with no k:nown source in vocal music. Typically based on imitation mixed with free counterpo int. as in chansons of the lime (see Examp le 9.1), these pieces represent the á rst body of instrumental music lo be written down that was truly indep endent of dances and of song melodies. One of the

FIGURE 12.7, Title page of Panhenia. or

The Maydenhead, a collection of r1,usicfor

virginalbyWUliam8ynl.JohnBiill. a.nd Orlando Gibbon$ presen ted 10 Princess Eliza.beth and Prince Frederick on 1heir weddiag in 1613. Parthcnia were Cr-eek maidens · chorai dances. so both til!e and subtitle allude whimsicatl)'tO the virgin bride. the instrumenr's name. and Lhefacl that this was the

first such collection ever pri111ed. (LtB••cuT MUSIC&AI\T}

278

C H A P T E K 12 •

The Rise of lnrnumental Music

Types of Instrumental Music

EXAMPLE 12 .5,

Johannes Martini. La Martine lJ a. excerpts

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THE POWER OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC Writers in the sixteenth century amibuted great emotional powers to music. echoing the ideas of the ancient Greek wrlters whose worh were belng redlscovered and more wldely read (see the excerpt from Aristotle in chapter 1). This reminiscence by a French travelerof a banque! ln Milan testifies both to the abllities of F,ancesco da Milano (1497-1543) as an imp,o· viser and to the emotional impact of his playing. That the d,ners stopped convers,ng and listened intently demonstrates the growíng esteem for purely instrumental music. Among other pleasures and rare things assembled for the satisfaction of these select people was Francesco da Milano. a man considered to have attained the goal (if it is possible) of perfection in playing the lute. The tables having been cleared. he took up a lute and as though testing the tuning of his strings. sitting near one end of the table, began to search out a fantasia. He had only moved the air with three plucked sounds when his music interrupted the conversations that had begun between the guests. And having compelled them to turn their faces to him, in whole or part. he continued with such ravishing zeal. making the strings faint under his fingers through

lntroductory and improvisatory pieces

his divine manner of playing. that little by little he transported all those who listened in such a gra cious melancholy that-one resting his head in his hand supported by his elbow: another stretched out relaxed with his limbs in a careless arrangement; another, with mouth open and eyes more than half closed. fixing his gaze (one judged) on those strings; and another, with his chin fallen on his chest, concealing his face that revealed the saddes t reticence one had ever seen-his listeners remained deprived of all sensations but that of hearing. as if the soul. having abandoned all the seats o f the other senses, had retired to the ears in arder to enjoy more at her ease such a ravishing symphony. And I believe (said Monsieur de Ven· temil le) that we would be there still. had not he himselF. 1know not how. revived the strings. and little by little invigorating his playing with a gentle force. returned our souls and our senses to the place from which he had stolen them- no! with· out leaving as much astonishment ln each of us, as if we had been picked up by an ecstatic transport of some divine frenzy. From an account by Jacques Descartes de Ventemille as

reported by Pontus de Tyard. Solitaire second ou Prose de la musique (Lyons: Jan de Tournes, 155S), 114-1S.

most wide ly distributed such works was La, Martinella by Johannes Martini (ca. 1440- 1497), ao older contempora1y of Isaacand Josquin who worked in Mila n and Ferrara. The piece unfolds in a series of phrases, most featuring imitation berween rwo voices (usually superius and tenor) while rhe third voice rests or adds a free counterpoiut. The opening ftg,.ire returns in various guises throughout the piece. including in varied inverted form at the mid point. as shown in Exam ple l 2.5. Performers on keyboarcl and lute often had reasou to improvise: to introduce a song. to nll time during a church service. to establish the mode of a subseque nt cham or hymn. Lo test the Luning of a lute. or to ente rtain themselves or an aud ience. Compositions that resemble such improvisations appeared early in the sixteenth ce ntury. es pecially in Spain and ltaly. and became mainslays of lhe repertoi re for solo players. Such pieces were

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giveo a variery of 11ames, including prelmle, fw,wsi<i , or ricercc,,re. No t based ou any preexisting melody, they unfold freely, with varying textures and musical ideas. They served the sarne function as an introduction to a speech. prepa ri ng the listener and es tablish ing the tona lity for what followed. The fantasias of Spanish composer Luis Milán (ca. 1500- ca . 1561) in bis collection for vihuela entiúed E! Maestro (VaJencia. 1536). for example. a re each ia 1.he sarne mode as the following voca l piece, using rapid scale passages or ot hcr fq,'Urat.ion to ad d tension a nd suspense before a st rong cadencc on Lhe frnal of lhe modc. T he 1.occat<1 was the chief fo rm of keyboard rnusic in irnprovisatory style du ri ng thc sccond half of' thc s ixtccnth century. Thc name. f'rom the ltalian ioccare ("to louch'"), refers to touching th e keys, re minding us of the playe,..s body and actions rathc r than a di semboclicd play of sou nd. Thc toccatas by thc organist Cl:tudio Merulo ( 1533- 1604) exemplify the genre. His Toccata IV in the 6th Mode from his second book of toccatas (1604), excerpted in Example 12.6, shows a variet)• of texturcs a nel liguration. ln the opening successio11 of slowly changing harmonies, Mernlo takes advantage of the organ's power to sustaiin tones. The numerous suspensions and pro longed and repeated dissonances are idiomatic to the organ. Embellishrnents on the most active tones and scale passages in freely va ried rhyi.hms animate the 1exntre. A contrasting ntiddle section develops four short suhjects in turn through imitation; the f'lrst of these is shown in Example 12.6b. The last third of the piece is again free. like the opening. bu1 with more spacious hasmonies and even more fantastic play of bri ll iant runniug passages. The majestic slowing down of lhe chordal changes coupled with the increased liveliness and ever wider sweep of the mns makes an impressive clímax. The closing measures

Toccata

279

280

C H A P T E K 1 2 • The Rise of lnrnumen1al Music

EXAMPLE 12.6,

Music ln Venlce

Merulo. Toccata IV in the 6th Mode. excerpts

imitation. By 1540. tbe ricercare consisted of successive themes. each devel oped in imitation and overlapping with the next at 1.he cadence- in effect, a textless imitative motel. but with embellishments that were typically instrumental. Such ricercari were written for ensemb le as well as keyboarel or lute. By che early seventeenth century, the ricercare was an extended fugaJ piece 011

a. Openúig

a single subject (see chapter 15).

b. Central imita tive section

e. Closing

; c.Jf:tltlr g rrrJ.1

gttr=ffli®:

~ [ r f''Pr R r J J J

= •

JIJJmiJ

The Italian c<111zo11a or ca11zo11. became one of the leading genres of conurapun1al insu·umen taJ music in ll1e late sixteenth cemury. alongs ide lhe fantasia and ricercare. but had a differen t origin. The earl icst pieces calleel caozona were intabuJations of Frencb chansons. after which lhe canzona was named. By midcen tury, compose rs s uch as Cirolamo Cavazzon i we re wril ing canzonas tha1 lhoroughly ,·ewo rkecl chansons. as in an imitalion mass movcment, ral:her 1.han s irnply e rnbellish ing th em. Newly com posed canzo nas in the style o f an irnitative French chanson appea red by 1580. f1rst for ensc mbl e Jnd then for orgJn. Can1.0nas were light, fost- moving, and strongly rhyth mic, with a fairly sirnple contrapunlal textu re. From the chanson. composers adoptccl lhe typica l opening rhythmic figure that occurs in most ca nzonas: a single note followed hy two notes of half che value, such as a half note followeel by two quarternotes. Like chansons, canzonas often feature a series of themes thJt d iffer from one another in me lodie outline anel rhythm. Each is workcd out i~, turn, resulting in a series of contrasting sections.

Canzona

Music in Venice Ou r discussion of instrumental music would be incomplete without considering Venice, where instrumental performers and composition reacheel a paeticularly high levei in the sixteenth and ea rly sevemeenth centuries. Mus ie in Venice exemplif1es traits of lhe late Renaissance and also of lhe ea rly Ba ruqu e pe riod (see chapters 14 and IS), so it may serve as a po int of transi tion bcl.wccn lhe two eras.

VENICE

Ricercare

appear in Example 12.6c. Pieces of this son did not always contain fugal sections, nor were they uniformly labeled coccaras; they were also called fantasia., prelude. and i.ntona,úone (intonation). One type of prelude. the ricera,re or 1·i,;ercar. evolved inco a motellike successiou of imitative sections. Tbe term ricercare is an ItaJian verb meaning botb "to seek out" and "to attempt." and its application to music probably comes from ltuenists' jargon for pic:kingoutnotes on the instrumem and resting the tuning. The earliest ricercari, for lute, were brief and improvisat.ory. Wben lsansferred to the keyboard. ll1e genre acqui red occasional passages of

Vcnicc, the seconcl most important lta lian city after Romc, was an indcpcndent state with its own em pire. Nominally a repub lic, it was actuallyan oliga rchy ron by severa( important families. with an elected leader called the doge (Venetia n !for "du kc.. ). Bccause Ven icc was a city of traders anel thc ch icf port for European traele with the East, it had accumulated enormous wealth, power, and splendor by the nfteenth centttry. Wars and other misfortunes reduced its position in the sixteenth centu1y. but it still controlled extensive territories 011 the ltalian peninst1la anel along the Adriatic coast from Croatia to Greece. The government had ple11ty of money and spent lavishly 011 public spectacle, music. and art. This was cultural propaganda on a grand scale: although lhe empire had shmnk. che arts could still projecc Venice's lingering glo1y. and sumptuous puhlic displays of wealth and conôdence could rally th e public behind Lhe state and inlimidate potencial enemies at home or abroad.

Patronage ofthe arts

281

282

C ti A P T E li 1 2 • The Rise of lnsirumental Music

Music ln Venlce

283

GIOVANNI GABRIELI (CA. 1555-1612)

FIGURE 12.8, Pro -

cession in Piazza San Marco (1496) by Gentilc Bellin.i. show· ing a reliJ,tious or civic procession, with singe11 and ins1rumen1alist.s. with S1. Mark ·s Church in tlte background. (ACCAlJl:MlA. VÉNIC&, ITALV,

l'UO'l'O: J!llléll U.SSlNG/AllT ttf.SôUftCt: • .SY)

CHURCH O F ST. MARK The center ofVenetian musical culture was the great eleventh-century Church ofSt. Mark, or BasiJicaSan Marco, whose Byiautine domes. spacious interior. b r ight gold mosa ics. and ostentalious PaJa d'0 r o, an aharpiece of so\id gold and precious jewels, proclaimed the city's wea.lth and close links to the East. Like Venice itself, St. Mark's was iudependent: it was tbe priva te chapei of the doge. essentially the srate church of lhe rep ublic, and thus was nol conlrolled by rhe church hierarchy. Many civic and r eligious ceremon ies took place each month in lhe church and in lhe vast piazza in front of it. like Lhe p rocession depicled in Figure 12.8. 0n each occasion. Mass and Vespers were celebrated wit h great pomp and e labor ate m us .ic. Mus ic in St. Mask's was supcrvised by ofncia)s of thc sta le. spa ring no ex pe nse. The pos ition of choi rma ste r, the mos t coveled musica l posl in a li lwly, was he ld by Wi llacrt , Rorc, and Zarlino in thc sixtcent h century a nd by Monteverdi in the early seventeen t h. Renowned a rtisll! , chosen after st ria gent exami natio n , scrvcd as orga ni sts, i nclud ing Claud io Mendo. And rea Gabri eli (ca. 1532- 1585), ao d his neph ew Giovan ni Gabrie li (ca. 155516 12). Beginning in 1568, a permanent ensemble of ft rst- rate instrumental ists was asscm blcd. ceotcringon cornetts and sackbu ts but in clud ingvio lin and bassoon. AdditionaJ players were hired on major feast days , when as many as two dozen instrumentalis1s performed, alone or together witb the choir of t\venty to thirty voices.

GIOVANNI GABRIEL! The rich musical environmem of Veuice shaped t he music of Giovanni Gahr iel i. He served St. Mark's for almost t hree decades as orgartist, composer. and supervisorof Lhe instrumentalists (seebiography and Figu re 12.9). His compositions used a li lhe resources available al the church. resulting

Gabrieli was one of the leading composers oí the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. known today primarily for his instrumental works but equally accomplished in sacred music. Little is known about Gabrieli's early life and training. ln his teens and early twenties. he was in the service of Duke Albrecht V in Munich. where he studied with Orlande de Lassus. ln 1585. he won appointment as second organist at St. Mark's, serving alongside his uncle Andrea Gabrieli until the latter's death that August. That sarne year. the younger Gabrieli also was elected organist to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. one of the most prominent of the scuole (schools). or charitable confraternities. of Venice. The scuole sponsored religious observances and performances. participated ln civic celebrations. and strove to outdo each other in pageantry and music, giving Gabrieli ample opportunity to compose lavish music for large forces. At St. Mark·s. he was the main composer of ceremonial music, producing about a hundred motets. most for multiple choirs. As second organist, Gabrieli supervised the instrumentalists, and his ensemble canzonas and sonatas were no doubt written for them. He served both St. Mark's and San Rocco until his death in 1612.

FIGURE 12.9, Portrait o/Giovanni Cabrieli by Annibale Carrocei (1560- 1609). whose work focused 011 natural portraits and rejecied t/1e mannered style oft.he da,~ (GEMAJ! LDtGAllJUEAI.TE MIISTJ.H, 0111:SDEN, OT..JUJANY/CSTAATLIC II E KUNSTSAMMLUNGEN DRP.SDEK/ TIi r KIU l)ófMAN AH1' LI flft." RY)

MAJOR WORKS: About 100 motets, over 30 madrigals.

37 ensemble canzonas. 7 sonatas, and about 35 organ works. 1nduding ncercares, canzonas. toccatas. and

intonaz.ioni

in works for muJtiple choirs and t he earliest substantia l collections of pieces

for large instrumental eusemble. The glory of Venetian church music is manifes1 in ils polychornl mote ts. works for two or more choirs. From before the time of Willaert. composers in the Venetian region had often written for divided choirs. or

cori spezzati. Willaer t published a coll eclion of psal ms for double choir in 1550 that sparked a fashio n for polychora l works across Europe over the next severa! decades , PaJestriua. Victoria. and Lassus wrote polychoraJ motets for use on es peciaJJy ceremoniaJ occasions. The vogue reached a peak in lhe l 560s when Alessa ndro St riggio (ca. l 536- 1592) composed a mass for l'o rty voices divided into eight choirs for perfo rmance in Flor ence during a vis it of th e Holy Rornan e mperor Maximil ian 11 in 1567, anda perfo rmance in

Polychoral motets

284

C H A P T E K 1 2 • The Rise of lnrnumen1al Music

Ensemble canzonas 1 Full ~

Sonatas

Instrumental Music Gains lndependence

Englancl of his motet for the sarne forces. Ecce beatam lucem. inspirecl Thomas Tallis to wri te another motet for e ight ftve- voice ch oirs, Spem in aliuni. But in Venice, polychoral mus ic was a regular diet rather than a specia l treat. Anclrea Gabrieli wrote nurnerous polychoral works for importaut stale anel church ceremouies, anel che medium reached n ew h eights in Lhe poly -

wouJd ultimarely have the most signilicance. leacling to the sonatas aucl syrn phonies of !ater cenruries, but links to vocal music and dance have continueel in !ater instrumental nrnsic. Some forms of sixteenth - century instrumental music continuecl to be cultiva tecl in the Baroque era anel beyond. including s tylized dances, organ settings of sacred tunes, variations , anel prelu des. The

choral music of his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli. ln the latter's music. two.

traditions of improvising and embellishing instrumental music also con-

three. four. even fwe ch oruses. each with a different combina tion of high anel low voices, mingled with instru ments or diverse timbres , answerecl one another antiphonally, and joined toge1 hc r in mass ivc sonorous climaxes. Sorne times the choirs were se pa.ra ted spal iaJly. wilh groups in the lwo orga n lofts. one o n each s ide of lhe alta r, and anor her on the fl oo r. Gabrieli's use of co nt rast ing fo rces was a major inílucncc on Baroquc church musi c, espccially in Ge rmany. We will exam in e one of his later polycho ral motets it1 chapter 15. Gabrieli anel otber Venctian co mposers appliecl the idea of cliviclecl choirs to inslruments. The Canwn septimi toni a 8 (Canzona in Mod e 7 in Eight Parts, NAWM 70) from Gabrie li's Sacrae symphoniac (Saered Symphon ies, l597) rese ni blcs a clouble- chorus motct for two groups of fou r ins trumcnts, with organ accompaniment. Like other canzo nas, it presents a series of contrasting seetio ns , some im itativc. others more homophonic. The two instrumental groups alternate long passages, engage in more rapicl dialogue, and sometimes play together, especially at the end . The form is defm ed by a refra.in that appears three times. The Venetian s011at<t (Italian for "sounded") was a close relative of rhe camona, consisting of a series of sections each baseei on a differeut subject or on variants of a single subjec1. Both canzonas and sonatas were used al Mass or Vespers as introcluctions o r postlucles or to accompany signil'tcanr rituals. The Sonata pianº e forte from Gabrieli's Sacrae syniphoniae has earned a prominent place in music histmy b ecause iL is among the f1rst instrumental ense mbl e pieces to des ignatespecilftc inst ruments in the printecl pa rts: in the lirsl choir, cornell and three saekbuts, and in the seco nd , a violin and 1hree sackLuts . Anorhe r innovation in thc printed music wa~ indicating passagcs as pinn (piano, meaning "soff') o r fo rte ("loud ''), onc of the ea rli est instances of clynam ic markings in music. Through contrasts of onc instrumental cho ir against lhe ot he r, single choi r with both togcther, loud ve rsus so ft, and slow homophon ic passages with íaster motion and points of im itatio n. Gabrie li created a purely instrumenta l work with as mueh interest, variety, and depth of contentas a madrigal or motel. Such pieces were the foundation from which independcnt instru me nta l music dcve loped over the ncxt two ccnturies.

tinue d to develop. anel the tigurations players used increasingly iníluenced written music as composers began to specify tbe f1gui·es and ornamentatiou they desi recl. Instrumen1al mu sic continued Lo gain indepcndencc, unLil by the nineteenlh century it reached a levei or prestige higher tha.n mosl vocal mus ic. Moreover, Lhe Lrad itio a of playing ins trumental mus ic for one's own p lcasu re, alonc or with fric nd s, was well cstabli shcd by Lhe c nd o f th c s ixLeenth century anel h as e ndured to tJ1is day. Inst rum en tal works werc pub li s hed in great numbers in the s ixtec nth century, and some were playcd for a generation or more until tastes ehangecl and the old books were shelved. replaced by music in newer styles. The olelesl instrumental works most lis tcners lrn ow today are Cabrieli's camo nas and sonatas, which wcrc rcd iscovcrcd in thc early ninctcenth century anel bavc bccome part of the standard repe rloi re for moclcro brass inslntments. The revival of most other Renaissance instrumenta l music had to wait until the twentieth century, when artisans began to reconstruct Renaissance instru.ments from pictures and surviving examples and to p roduce them in increasing nurnbers. Scholars have transcribecl a good deal of Renaissance instrumental music, but it is still íar less often studiecl or performecl rhan vocal music. in part because relatively few can reacl the complex ta biatures developecl for keyboard anel plueked strings. which varied from each instrnment to the next and from one region to anorher. Only in recent decades have Renaissance dances anel lute pieces begun to appear on record ings and classical radio stations, as performers and listeners have rediscovereel the instruments. sounds. anel appea.l of lhis once ve ry popuJar music.

Instrumental Music Gains lndependence The sixreen th centu ry saw the rise of instrumen tal music that was cu ltiva tecl for its own sake. whether derived from dance music. related to vocal music, or conceived as abst.ract music inclependent of dance or song. The abslract types

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Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

285

3 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY i Part Outline 13 NEW STYLES IN THE SEVENTEENTH

estern culture for the last four hundred '\ years has lived off the intellectual capital 'created in the seventeenth century. From discoveries about the solar system to the invention of calculus. from notions of political equality to the economic system of capitalism, Europeans in the 1600s laid the groundwork for scientific and social developments for generations to come. The same is true in music, Familiar musical gemes invented in the seventeenth century indude opera, oratorio, cantata, overture, concerto, solo sonata, trio sonata, keyboard sonata. suite, fugue, chaconne, and passacaglia, During that century, ltalian composers created the first recitatives. musicians in Paris and Rome organized the first orchestras. Venetian singers became the first divas, an entrepreneur in London originated the idea of public concerts. anda French gi~ became the first celebrated child prodigy in music. Composers in the seventeenth century responded to their contemporaries' interest in spectade. theater. and drama by creating music that was more dramatic and spectacular than any before. Highly expressive styles developed for the stage found their way into music for religious services. forever changing the character of church music. and into instrumental music, which began for the first time to rival vocal music in importance and emotional content. Tonality, the system of major and minor keys oriented around a central pitch. emerged as the fundamental musical language of Europe, remaining so for over two centuries. These and other aspects of music first introduced in the seventeenth century are among those we encounter most often and take most for granted. making the history of that era especially interesting.

CENTURY 288 14 THE INVENTION OF

OPERA 307

15 MUSIC FOR CHAMBER AND CHURCH IN THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 328 16 FRANCE. ENGLAND, SPAIN. AND THE NEWWORLD IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 351 17 ITALY AND GERMANY IN THE LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 379

289

Eu,op • ln 1h• S•ven,eenih C•ntury

Europe in the Seventeenth Century The interest in innovation among musicians para.lleled new ideas in sc ience. politics. anel economics. The effec1s of war, varying political strucrures, anel

relative wealth made circumstances for musicians differenl iu eacb part of C H APT E R

NEW STYLES IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

western Europe. inl1uencing the music cultivated in Lhe different regions. Europe, shown in Figure 13.1 , was ln Lhe miclsLof a seie nLific revolution. led by a new breed of investiga1ors who relied on mathemat ics, observation, and p ractical experlrnenls, nol on received opinion. Johannes Kepler sbowed in 1609 1hat tJ1e planeis, including tlie earth. move around lhe s uo in e1Ji p1.ical ol'IJits at spccds t hal va1·y with thc ir dislance F,·om the suo. Du ring th c followiogdecade. Galileo Galilei demonstrated lhe laws tha Lcootrol motion anel used

The scientific revolution

FIGURE 13.1:

Map of

Europe arotmd 1610.

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.,.

ltalian musicians Living around 1600 knew they were inventing new ways of making music. They devised new idioms. such as basso co11tiJmo. monody, and reciu,tive; new styles, marked by unprepared dis.sonance. greater focus on the solo voice or insmunem. and icliomatic playing: and new genres. including ope m . This generati on saw the most deliberate cul!ivation of the new in music since lhe

A 'flANTIC

AJ·s Nova in rbe ea rly 1300s.

O C t:: A N

In rclrospecl. we havc come to sec this outpouring of innovalion as Lhe beginning of a new periocl often called the Btll"Q(Jttti. The term was employed by art historians in the ninetccnth century, but on ly in thc later twe ntieth century dicl music historians app ly it to lhe pe riocl fro m a.bout 1600 to a.bout 1750. There are ccrtain ly clcmcnts that composcrs of lhe early seventcenlh centu1y such as Peri ancl Monteverdi share wilh early- eighteenth- centurycomposers li kc Vivaldi and Bach, notab ly thcir f'ocus on moving the affections (emotions). But the seventeenth cen tury was also a period of its own, marked by continuous invention of new genres. styles. anel methods. tbe gradual diffusion of ltalian icleas. anel. in response to them. the devclopment of independem national idioms. Whichever view we take. the innovations around 1600 launched a new era in music. in which opera anel Lhea1rical styles played Jeaclingroles. Tbis chapterwill conlrast the Baroque period with its predecessor. the Renaissance. Chapter 11 traces the invention and ea.rly spread oí opera in ltaly. Chapte r 15 takes up cburch, chamber, ancl ins1 rum en tal music in lhe f1rsl half of lhe scvcnleenth century. and later chaplers cha rt developments afier mi dcentury.

1\us1r üm

Sp:mi&h HabsLurg land~ 0 1her Germ:m s,.;11es

D D

D -

lli bsburglands

$wçd1• h londs by 1648 Ottom.an Empire :md Tri.buuuy Suites 8011ndnry oí Iloly Rom:m F.mpire

290

C H A P T E K 13

TIMELINE New Styles in t.he 17th Century

•

New Styles in th• S,venteenth C,n,ury

Europ• in the Seventeenth C,ntury

the newly invemeel lelescope to eliscover suuspots anel moans orbiting jupiter. Sir Francis Bacon argued for an empirical approach to science. relying on direct observation rather than on ancient authorities. Balauciug Bacon's inductive methoel. René Descartes put forlh a deduclive approach Lhat explained

music and villancicos to the Spanish colonies anel metric psalmody to British North America. Britain, the Netherlands, anel northern Italy prospered from capitalism. a system in wbich individuais investeel their own money (capital) in businesses designed to return a pront.

tbe world through mathematics. logic. and reasoniug from nrst

An importam innovation was the joint stock company. which

principies. These two s trands joined in lhe work of Sir Isaac Newton, whose law of gravi1a1ion. developed in Lhe l 660s, MUSICAL H ISTORICAL combined acute observation with ma1hematical elega nce anel set Lhe pattero for sc ientiJ,c met.hods for centw·ies to come. The • 1598 Henri IV issues Edict of sarne inte rest in wha1 is useful and effective. rathe r than what Nantes is hallowcd by lrad ition, is appa,·ent in scvcnl.ce nt.h - ce nlury • 1600 Giovanni Maria Artusi. music of all kinds . Perce ption a.nd perceived e ffect lay al lhe L'Artusi hea rt of the new styles in art and music around 1600, includ ing • 1602 Giulio Caccini, Le nuove the secon,d,practice (d escribed below) anel opera. musiche The century also saw new thinking aboul politics , ranging from lhe English Lcve llcrs, who advocated democracywith • 1602 Dutch East lndia cqual political rights for al i mcn , to Thomas Hobbes, whosc Company chartered leviathan, (1651) aq;ued for an all - powerfuJ sovereign state. • 1605 Claudío Monteverdi Such de bates were s timulated in part by st ruggles over rcli publishes Fí{th Book o{ Madrígion that sometimes broke out into war. Some long-standing gals. with C,uda Amarilli conflicts were reso.lved around the mm of the seventeenth • 1607 First English colony in centuI)'· ln France. Henri [V issued the Edict of Nantes iu Virgínia at Jamestown 1598 guaranteeing some freedom to Protestauts while con li.rming Catholicism as 1he state religion. Protestant England • 1609 Johannes Kepler sets and Catholic Spain ended decades of war in 1604. and the Cal forth his astronomical laws vinist Netherlands gained independence from Spain in 1609 • 161 O Galileo publishes The and became a republic. Bul religious con lli ct within the Holy Starry Messenger, with obserRoman Empi:re precipitated the Thirty Years' War (l 618- 48). vations of Jupiter's moons which devastated Germany. reducing lhe population in some • 1611 Cario Gesualdo's last areas by more lhan half. The English Civi[War(l 64 2-49), pribook of niadrigals marily a battlc for powcr bclwccn lhe kingand Parliamcnl. also had rei igious aspects. The defeat of the king led 1.0 the replaceme nt of the Church of England by a s tate Pres byterian church, a changc thal was reversed when lhe mona rchy was reslored in '1 660. ltaly remain ed entire ly Catho lic and thu s was spa red religious wars, alth ough southern lta li ans stagcd an unsuccessfu l rcvo lution against Spanish domination in 1647. Almost everywhere, lhe authority or the state grcw. whcthcr allied with a statc rcligion or relatively indepcndent from it. All these religious and po titical conflicts diTectly affccted music, chiefly because rulers and church authorities remained important patrons (see below). Col1mies Meanwhile. Europeans were expanding overseas. During the seventeenth century the British. French, and Dmch esta blished colonies in No1th America, the Caribbean, Africa , a.nd Asia. in compe tition with Spain and Port\tgal. Es pecially lucrative imports were sugar and tobacco, new luxury items for Eurnpe. grown 011 planlations in the Americas. These crops required intensive labor provided by the cruel trade iu human life tha1 brought Africans to the New World as slaves. Europeans who set tled in the Western hemis phere brought their traditions with them. including Catholic service

291

• 1616 Death of Shakespeare • 1618-48 Thirty Years' War

• 1620 May{lower brings first pooled the wealth of many individuals while limiting tbeir risk. English colonists to New Stockcompanies were forrned to f-tnance opera houses in HamEngland burg, London, and othcr ci ties. Capiralism put money in the hands of individuais, who would invest or s pend it locally and • 1620 Sir Francis Bacon, New 1hus boos1 the economy. The capitalist system proveda he1 1e r lnstruments eco nomi c cngi ne t:han concc11tntio11 oi' mon cy in lhe hands • ca. 1620 Gian Lorenzo of the slate or lhe privileged few. as was lhe pra.elice in Spain. Bernini, David F'r ance, and many s maller principa lities. Among tJ1e e ffects on • 1632 Galileo charged with music werc the rise of pub li.c opera and pu bli c concerts, as well heresy for claiming the Earth as an increased demand from the upper and midd le classes for revolves around the sun publ ishcel music, musica l instrumcnts, and music lesso ns. Musicians continucd to dcpcnd on patronagc frorn court, • 1637 René Descartes, church , or city, and the types of music that won s upporl varDíscourse on Mechod ied from rcbrion to region. Musicians were best off in ltaly. • 1642- 49 English Civil War which was weallhy from trade yet stiUdivided between Span• 1643- 1715 Reign of Louis XIV ish control in the south , the papal states around Rome, and in France severa! indepenelent states in th e north (see map in Pigure 13.1). Rulers, cicies, and leaeling families suppo rted music • 1645- 46 Descartes, The and the arts as a way of competing for prestige. Aristocrats in Passions o{ che Sou/ Plorence sponsored a brilliant series of musical and theatrical • 1645-52 Bernini. Ecstasy o{ innovations around 1600. spawning sim ilar elforts by che St. Teresa dukes of Mantua, churchmen in Rome, and lhe govemment • 1651 Thomas Hobbes. and cit izens ofVenice. Their support continued haly's reign as Leviathan the dominant iniluence in Eu1·opean music lhrough lhe mide igh Lee nlh century. • 1687 Isaac Newton, Principia ln Francc. power and weallh bccamc more conccntralcd in mathematica 1J,e king. Louis XfV (r. 1643- 1715) controlled lhe arts. including mus ic, and used them to assert hisglory. Duringthe seventeenih centu,y, F'rancc replaced Spain as Lhe predom inant powe r 011 the Continenl; part.ly as a result. Prench mus ic was im itated widely, while the music ofSpain had littlc inílucnccbcyo nd its bordcrs. Civil wa r and pa rliamcntary prcrogative limited lhe wealih o [ lhe English royalty, bul lheir patronage slrongly inílucnceel national tastcs. Thc ca lami ty of thc Thirty Years· \V..,r sappcd trcasuries tbroughout the Holy Roman Empire, but after midcentu1y , German courts and free city-stares built up their musical estahlishments, drawingon inlluences from both ltaly and France. The church continued to support music. although its role was less important lhan it had been in previous centu.ries. Along with aristocratic, civic, anel ecclesiasticaJ pa1ronage, many cities had ··academies," private associations that, among other functions, sponsored musical activüies. Public opera houses were estahlish ed in many cicies. beginning in Venice in 1637 . Public conce11s to which one subscribed or paid adm.ission ftrst occurred iu England in 1672. but the practice did not become widespread in Europe un til the !ater l 700s.

292

F,om Renaissanc, to Ba,oque

C ti A P T E li 13 • N,w Stylos in 1h, S,ven1een1h Cu1ury

From Renaissance to Baroque THE BAROQUE AS TERM AND PERIOD

How the term baroque. meauing abnormal. bizarre. exaggerated. or in bad taste. carne to be applied to lhe an and music of several generat ion.s is a stoiy of changi.ng 1as1es and val ues. The word is French, from lhe Portugucse barroco, a misshapen pea1·l. lt was firsl applied pejoratively to music and art i.n lhe mid -eigbteen th century by critics wbo preferrecl a newer, s impl er s ty le. The older. "barocque" music was deemed by one c ritic to be d issonanl and unmelodious. witb cap ricious anel extravagant changes of key and meter, and by another as aiming "to su rprisc by thc bolelness of its sounels.'· The travei writcr Charles de Brosses applieel the term lo archilecture, com pia i nFIGURE 13.2: Det.a,il oftl,e Pamphili ing th at lhe Pamph il i Pa lacc in Rome. s hown in Figure 13.2. Palace (110w Doria-Pamphili) in Rome. was elecor:neel with filigree better suitcel to tablcwarc than ro campl,ned ca. 1739. Writing around buildings. 1755. Char/.es de Brasses crilicizcd os When ninetce nth - eentury art critics began to apprcci "baroqu e·· tlte delicate. detailed d,ecoraate the ornate, dramatic, and expressive tendencies of' sevtion of the sonhe considerect more suit· enteenth-century painting anel architecture, baroqtie took ableJor silverware rhan for a building. on a positive meaning. Music historians since the 1920s saw His is though1 lo be lhefir~I t.seofthe mauy of Lhe sarne qualities of ex1ravagance, decorntion, and word in re!o1iort to une of the visuol orrs. focus on expression in much music of the rimes, and by the l 950s Baroque was well established as a name for the period oi' about 1600 to aro und 1750. Recognizing thal these 150 years encompassed a cl iversity of styles too great to be embraced by one word, we will speakoí a Baroque period. bul nota Baroque style. The boundary dates must be laken as rougb approximations for a time when composers and listen ers sharecl ideais fo r music and accepted common conventions for h()W it should bchavc. Most important. thcy prizcd music for its dramatic powcr anel its ca pacity lo move lhe affections (sce below).

THE DRAMATIC BAROQUE

Baroque art

The most st ri king aspcct of seventecnth-century li terature, art, anel music is ils focus on the dramatic. Nol since ancient Greece were therc so many playwrights among thc leading authors. ineluding William Shakespeare ( 156416 16) and Ben Jonson (ca. 1572- 1637) in England and Pierre Corneille (1604-1684), Jean Racine (1639- 1699), and Jean Baptiste Moliére (16221673) in France. Poetry of the time often had theatrical qualities (see Source Reaeling. p. 294). anel vivid images :anel dramatic scenes in the poems of John Donne (1572- 1631), Lhe epic Paradise Ú>st of John Milton (1608-1674), and the novel D011 Quixote by the Spaniard Miguel de Cervantes 0547- 16 16) at times suggest the incensity of staged performance. ln art anel a1·chirecture, as iu music. rhe Baroque begau in ltaly. The dieatricality of Baroque art is seen in the sculptures of Gian Lorenzo Bernin.i (15981680). who worked for the church and otber patrons in seventeenth-cen.tmy

FIGURE 13.4 :

Gia11 Lore11zo Bemir1i's David (ca.

1620). embodJ~ng 1/ie 8oroqu.e vir11,es uf dmmu. dynamism. and emotiona l expression. (cALLrRtA BORC:Htst. flO.\lI. J)HQTO: ERJCH LESSl~C/ART RISOURCI, NY)

Miclielangelo Buonarotii"s David (1501-4). which evokesanciml Grcek stoiuoryand is endowedwi1h 1he ideal 1rai1s of Renoissonce humanism, including inte/Ugence. nobiUty. balance. andcalm. ( 1M,uo1si s,uco•ars> FIGURE 13.3:

Rome . Co ntrasting Miche langelo's famous David (l 50 1- 4), in Figure 13.3, with Bernini's David (1623) in Figu re 13.4 s hows lhe change from Renaissa11ce to Baroque goa ls. Miche langelo evokes ancient Greek statuary with his s tanding nude, celebrates lhe nobility anel beauty of the human figure thsough ba lance anel p roport ion. anel port rays his bero as co ntcmplative anel still. with only a furroweel brow to suggest the com.ing battle with Goliath. Bernini shows David winding up to sling the stone, bis body dynamic. his muscles taut, his lips a nel face tense with exerti on. lnsteael of eontemplation and bal· ance, Bernini emphasizes motion and change. The elfect is dramatic, making the viewer respond emotionally rather than with detached admiration. Eveu more stunning is Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa (l 645- 52). shown in Figu1:e 13.5. Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth-cemury Spanish mm. myslic, and leader in the Cadiollc Reformatiou, had a vision of an angel's arrow piercing her hea1t. overwhehn.ing her wilh both pain and joy. Berni.n i captures lhat moment of transformation. wilh the saim in rapture. her robes moving wildly aboUL her, borne upwarel on a cloud towarel a light from Heaven. The use of material is virtuosic: the heavy ma1·ble statue. fastened to the wall. seems to íloat in mida ir. lit from a h ielden window above. with golden rays behind i l. These

293

294

F,om Renaissanc, to Ba,oque

C ti A P T E li 13 • N,w Stylos in 1h, S,ven1een1h Cu1ury

295

square in front of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. shown in Figure 13.7, features two semicircular colonnades. four columns deep. that seem to enfold the observer. symbolizing lhe Church's claim to embrace the world. While the columns, capitals. lintels, por-

THE DRAMATIZATION OF POETRY

tals. aud otber components are traditional and based

Baroque theatricality infused poe1ry as well as art and muslc. The poem below uses the lmage of the poel as a fortlfied city attacked by the enemy, Love. Wnt· ten by Giulio Strozzi (1583-1652) and set by Claudio Mon1everdl ln his Eighth Book o{ Madrigals (1638). the poem ,s w1tty ,n its theatricality: As the cnsis grows more incense. the protagonist shou1s (at the end of each verse) to his ,magined companions.

~ -

His weapons are no fakes. he draws nearer With his whole army. Hurry up, for heis not far from here. Everyo ne to his post! He intends to attack the stronghold of my eyes With a vigorous assault. Hurry up, for heis here without any doubt. Everyo ne to his horse! There's no more time, alas, for ali of a sudden he Has made himself the master of my heart. Take to your heels, save yourselves if you can. Run!

The insidious enemy, love, circles The fortress of my heart. Hurry up. for he is not far away. Arm yourselvesl We must not let him approach, so he can scale Our weak walls, But ler us make a brave sally out to meet him. Throw on the saddles!

My heart. you Aee in vain, you are dead. And I hear the arrogant tyrant, The victor, who is already inside the fortress, Crying "Fire. slaughter!" Giullo S trozzl. Gira li nemlco insidioso.

were theal rical erfects, c.lesigned to astonish viewe rs and aro use strong feclings. As shown in Figure 13.6, Bernini hc ightcncd thc theatricality by placing on lhe sidc walls of the chapei sculptu res thal dep icL members of the Cornaro fami ly, who commissioncd thc chapei, looking at St. Teresa and discussing lhe scene as ií lhey were i11 a box at thc tbcatcr watc hing the cnactmcnt of hcr ccstasy on stage. The Catholic Cburch saw such artas a persuasive insh1.1ment in its campaign to keep its 11ock faith.ful anel to co1mteract the Rcformation. Baroque architecture could be equally theatrical, using ancient and Renaissance elements in new and astounding ways. Bernini's dramatic design for the

on ancient classical models. the lenE,rth anel curve are unprecedented, and lhe height. widtb. an<l open space add to Lhe spectacular effect. Justas l.be central impulse of Baroque arl is drama 1iza1 ion. the q uintessential mus ic of rhe Ba roque era is di·,nnat ic, centc,·cd in opera bul extcnding to songs, church music. and instrumental music. Ali ki nds of motio n and change in music- l'rom rhythmi c motions and melodie rise and fali to contrasts oi' harmony, texture, and style-were used with a new intensity lo convcy emotions and suggest drama li e aclion. Drama requi res an audicnce, and it is in the scvcnteenth century that lhe concepl of "the public"' in the modem sense began to emerge. Until then, even when music's sole purpose was to entertajn, performers and listeners were near to each other. and the performer could quicklyturn into a listenerand vice versa, as in the convivia[ music-making ai COUJ'i and in private homes that fostered the vogue for the madrigal and other secular songs. But during the seventeenth century. performers became professionals (see Innovalions: Tbe

FIGURE 13.6· Pari ofthe riglu woll ofBemwi"s Cornaro Clwpel, with life·size swlpt11res of me,n.bers of thc Cornaro fami!yobservingand com· men ting on. the ecstasy ofSt. Teresa. (!H~ALAIAln J:U:SOUflCt.

10')

FIGURE 13.7: S1, Peter'sSquoreand FIGURE 13.5:

Bemini'sThc EcstnsyofSt. Tcrcsn(/645- 52). in lhe Cornoro Chapei, ehu rch ofSanla Mario dello, Vittorio. Rome. (C.'ORNAJt(), CIIAl'EL, CIIURCII OFSANTA MARIA OELI..A VJTrOlllA, I\OME.

Bos,líca.01 the Va!ican in. Rome. wilh colonnades desi.gned by Gian Lorenzo Bemini in 1657, v,1moc&Nno

l' II OTO: Sf:AlA/AllT RfSOUllC:F., NY)

\tAl'IF.SI NO Slll. ITA I.Y)

296

F,om Renaissant;! ,o Ba,oqut

C ti A P T E li 13 • N,w Stylos in 1h, S,ven1een1h C u1ury

Operaric Diva. pp. 324-25). and the listenerwas no longer a co- participant but became a passive recipient whose feelings performers sought to move. This century saw the nrst puhlic opera houses. the nrst pi1blic concerts. and other new venues foi· music in which lhe audience was more distant physically iha11 had been cypical in earlier eras.

297

ing those in Figure 13.8. to serve as examples for anists. Writers about music made similar attempts to isolate and catalogue the affections and to describe how to arouse them. ln so doing, they reflected the practice of composers and performers. who developed new methods for representil1g emotions in music. many oi' which became enduring conventions.

lt was widely believed that experiencing a range of affections through THE AFFECTIONS Composers of the Baroque period sought musical means 10 express or arouse lhe af]ectiuns, t11al is, emolions such assadness. joy. anger. love, fea r, excitement, o r wonder. The affections were thought of as rela1 ively stable stalcs of lhe sou l, cach causcd by a ccr1ain combinal ion of spirils, or '· humors," in Lhe body. Acco rding to René Desca~tes, once Lhese spirits were set in motion by externa i stimuli th rough the se11ses. they conveycd their molions to the sou!, thus bringing about speci nc emotions. His treatise The Po-ssions of the Soiil (l645- 46). an attempt to analyze and catalogue lhe affections, posited a sim pie mechanical thcory to cxplain thcir cause: for cvery motion sti mulating the senses there is a specifi.c emotion evoked in the soul. All the arts in this period sought to move the emotions and conjure the passioDs, or affections. in the soul. ln an essay o n expression in painting. F'rench paimer and des igner Charles Le Bmu (1619- 1690) portrayed a11d labeled au entire gallery of emotions and their corresponding facial gestures. includ-

music could bring the humors inlo better balance. promotiug physical and psychologicaJ heaJth. so Lhat holh vocal and insLrumemal works typ icaUy ol'fered a succession of contras1 i11g moods. Composers d id not try 10 expi-ess their pe rsonal feel ings; ralher. in instrumental music. they sought to po rlray 1.he a.ffecL ions in a gene ri e sense, using speci fie conven lionaJ techniques, and in vocal music 1hey sough1 to co,wcy the crnotions of thc text, cha ract.c,·, or dramatic s ituation. Thus composers of opera d is played a mus ical gallery of e motions in writ ing a series of arias in every act, each for a pa1i icu lar cha racter and situation on stage, seeking to rende r a psycho logical portrait of that character aroused by a cerlain emotion. By irnilating the emolion in musi ca l gesturcs- such as melodie anel rhythmic motives, harmonic motion, bass lines, meter, and nguration- the composcr expcctcd to cause tbe listencr to expe1·ience the corresponding affection. Such t beories were reinforced by thc scientinc discoverics of the era. Galileo's observations through the telescope a11d experiments with the laws of motion had shown that the senses as well as reason were instrume11ts of learn ing. Placed in the service of human knowleclge. the eyes and ears could be conduils 1.hrough which to iulluence emotions and behavior. lt was in the very nature of Baroque expression to place the arts on an equal footing as vaJid interpreters of human experience and to foster their asso ciation with each other. Their combined powers enhanced their individual effect, as exemplified by the comhined impact of the sculpture, architecture, and lighting brought together il1 Bernini's chapei (Figures 13.5 and 13.6). or the music. poetry, lheater. stage design. and costumes synthesized il1 an opera (see ehapter 14). Ali Lhe arts in the seventeenth century sought to move 1he arfect ions. and that goal liccnsed painters. sculplors. poets. aud musicians to trnnscend p reviously estahlished limits in o rder to imilate a nd penetrate lhe invisible realm of t11e sou!.

THE SECOND PRACTICE

FIGURE 13.8, ChC1rks Le Brun (/619- 1690). who d-0m.inated seventeenth· centmy French pa iming as head of the Royal Acad emy of Pai rui ng a11 d Seu Ip1ure. drew these facial expression-s 10 illustrate vanous emotions rangtn,gfrom a/arm. Jear. and anger 10 hope. sorrow. andjoy. Theywerepu.bli.shed in 1698 a-s ..Meihodfor Leaming llow to Draw the Passions .. in his Confércncc . .. sur J'cxpressio11généralc ct paniculici-e. {"""'"" voo• scuox• RUN STt:~·. Gll!NT. Utl..OIUM.

ruoro: sr..AU/Al\T IIF..SOUltCF.. NY}

One too! for expression was to break 1.he rnles of music deliberately i n order to convcy thc poctic text. A classic cxa mplc is thc madrigal CrodaAmorifü (NAWM 7 l ) byCiaudioMomeverdi(J567- 1643;seebiogi:aphyonp.3 l6). Its ope11i11gis shown in Examp le 13. l , on p. 298. Numerous dissonances (marked by x in the example) violate the rules of counterpoint, which require suspensions to be resolved before the bass moves again (see canrus. measures 2 and 6), forbid passing tones from faJling on strong beats (see measures 2 and 6), and requ ire dissonances to be entered and left by step (see cantus. measure 13). Here the rnle-breaking and s1riki11g dissonances serve as a rbetorical device, highlightingthe words "Gruda" (cn,el) and "ahi lasso" (alas) and forcing the listener of Monteverdi's time Lo interpret the rule - breaking music il1 light of t:he text. Precisely because the music does not foUow its expected path.

I Conciso :\\ 1 1 Full :\\ 1

298

C H A P T E K 1 3 • New Styles in th• S,venteenth C,n,ury

EXAMPLE 131,

Monieverdi. Gruda Amarilli. mrn. 1- 14

x -= unprcpa rcd or iucôrrC"ctly rcsolvcd d issonancn

C•mo

-,"

...,.,,--..._ . . . . - - . ~

M US ICAS THE SE RVANT OF THE W O RDS

Cru

da A ~a X

ril

da A ma ril

Cnt -

Alto oJ

Cru

daA-ma - rH

Tenore

Quinto

Cru

ril

<l•Am•

Cru d•A ma

" \'

da A ma - ril

Cru

Cn,

ril

da A ma -ril

-,.,..

Basso Cru - daA~n• t, ?

ril

Cru

. X

chc col no mcan co

o·a

mar _ __

ohi

" oJ

che tol

1\0--nle:tJ\· t:O •

o·a- rn:ir

ahi

cbe eol no-me an eo

....

~ cbc col no me an co

daA· m•

ri! X

las

--0

l:ts

~---

ra D'a mar ahi 6-.,..-......

chc col no-mc an co - ra O'a mar ah,

las -

..,

ahi _ _ _ _ _ _, las

ra D'a - mar

,. las

Change to new styles often creates conflicts. One of the most famous disputes is Giovanni Maria Artusi's attack in 1600 on Claudio Monteverdi's Cruda Ama,;//; for needless violations of the rules of counterpo,nt. ln response. Monteverdi placed the madrigal first in his Fifcl, Book of Madrigals (1605) and included a bnef preface suggesting that there Is a ·second Pract1ce· beyond the tradltional rules He promised a full explanation that never appeared. but h is brother Giulio Cesare Monteverdi elaborated in the preface to Claudio's Sch~rzi musicali (1607), saying 1hat ln the Second Practice the music serves the rneaning of 1he words. rather than following lts own rules as ,n the First Practice codified by Zarlino.

Crue!Amarylli.s. who wilhyourverynanw [leach biUer!y] of /ove. alas! we are wrencbed in a way that dramatizes tbe emotions expressed in the text , and we recognize and empathize with those feelings. Mon teverd i's m ad rigal wascriticizecl in G iovan ni Maria Artusi'sDlrtusiovero Delle impe,fettioni della moderna 11wsica (The .Armsi, or Of the Imperfections of Modem Music, 1600), n ot for its dissonances but for needlessly break:ing the rules. Artusi points out. fo r example. that the dissonances in measure 13 would be allowed if Lhe canws moved by step (G-.A-G-F- E) and asks why Lhe rules a r e delibe r at ely llaunted. Mo nteven·di w rote a brief response in 1605, tüled out witb more detail by hjs brotber Giulio Cesare Monteverdi two years !ater (see S ource Readings). They distillf,'Uished b etween a prima [Jratica . o r fi,·.H practice, th e sixtee nth - century s tyle oi' vocal po lyphony cod i li ecl by Zarlino , anda secomla prntica. or secoml prnctice. used by modero Italians. They expla ined that in the first practice lhe mus ic had to foll ow its own mies and thus dominate d lhe verbal t.ex t, while in t he seco nd practice 1·h e rnusic se rves to

(These passages) are contrary to what is well and good in the institution of harmony. They are harsh to the ear, rather offending than delighting it; and to the good rules left by those who have established the order and the bounds o f this science. th ey bring confusion and imperfection of no little consequence.. .. 1do not deny that discovering new things is not merely good but necessary. But te ll me first w hy you wish to employ these d issonances as they employ them' . .. lf the purpose can be attained b y observing the precepts and good rules handed d own by the theorists and followed by ali the experts. what reason is there to go beyond the b ounds to seek out new extravagances' From Giovanni Maria Artusi, L'Arrus, overo Dei/e imper{ettioni dei/a moderna musica (Vcnicc, 1600), trans. Oliver Strunk. rev. Margaret Murata, on SR 82 (4:2). p. 532.

Studious Readers, Be not surprised that I am giving these madrigals to the press without first replying to the objections that Artusi made against some very minute p ortions o f them. Being in lhe service o fhis Serene Highness of Mantua, 1am not master of the time 1 would require. Nevertheless I wrote a reply to let it be known that I do not do things by chance, and as soon as it is rewritten it will see the light under the title, Second Practice, ar the Per{ectian o{Mod-

em Music. Some will wonder at this. not believing that there is any other practice than that taught by Zarlino. But let them be assured concerning consonances and d issonances that there is a d ifferent way of considering ihem from that ai ready determined , which defends the modem manner of composition with the assent of reason and of the senses. 1wanted to say this both so that the expression ·second practice" would not be appropriated byothers and so that men of intellect might meanwhile consider o ther second thoughts conceming harmony. And have faith that the modem composer builds on foundations of truth. Claudio Monteverdi, preface to li quinto libra de madngali a cinque vod (Venice. 1605), trans. Claude V, i>alísca. · rhe Artusi-Monteverdi Controversy; in The New Mon· teverdi Comp;,nion, ed. Denis Arnold and Nigel Fortune (London and Bos1on: Faber & Faber. 1985). 151-52. in SR 83 (4:3), p, 543,

My b rothe r says that he does not compose his works by chance because, in this kind of music, it has been his intention to make the words the m istress (i.e .. the ruler) of the harmony and not the servant . ... But in this case. Artusi takes certain portions. ar, he calls them. "passages." from my b ro thers madrigal "Cruda Amarilli : paying no attention to the words (i.e., the meaning and impact o f the text). but neglecting them as though they had nothing to do with the music .... By passingjudgment on these "passages" withou t the words, his opponent implies that ali excellence and beauty consist in the exact observance of the aforesaid rules of the First Prac tice, which make the harmony mistress o f the words. This my brothe r will make apparent, knowing for certain that in a kind of composition such as this one of his . ... the harmony, from being the mistress becomes the servant o f the words. and the words the mistress of the harmony. This is the way of thinking to which the Second Practice. or modem usage, tends. Giulio Cesa,e Monteverdi, "Dichiaratione: in Claudio Monteverdi, Sche,,, mus,cali (Venice. 1607), trans, O liver Strunk, in SR 83 ( 4:3), p. 538.

300

C ti A P T E li 13 • N,w Stylos in 1h, S,ven1een1h Cu1ury

heighten the effect and rbetorical power oi' tbe words. and voice· leading mies may be broken and dissonances may be used more freely to express tbe feelings evoked in the text. ln Monteverdi's music, the music and the words are equal partners in conveying the emotion that prompted the words: here. the unpre pared dissonances suggest the cruelty of Amaryllis, whose very name entwines

Style classifications

G,neral Charac1eris1ics of Baroqu• Music

ries anel in homophonic partsongs in the sixteenth. What was new arouncl 1600 was a polarity betweenbass anel treble as the two essential lines. Related to this polarity was the system of uotation called basso co11ti111w Otalian for "continuous hass") or thoroughbass. ln tbis system. the composer wro1e out the melody or melodies anel lhe bass line bm lef'L iL lo

love (amare) with bitterness (amaro).The second practice did notdisplace the

the performers to nll in the appropriate chords or inner parts. The bass and

lirst. bul eacb was used where appropriate. The distinclion between f11·s1 a nd second practices was only 1he farst of many Lo he madeduring Lhe 1600s. Tt was a cenLury of classif1ca1 ions, of nam ing and ordering everythlng from lhe affections (as in lhe lreatises by Descartes and Le Bru n menLioned abllve) 10 lhe various musical s1yles reguired for differen t pu rposes. Monteverdi himsel r cnumerated a wide array or opt ions available to lhe compose r beyond lhe firsl and second practices. including styles fo r differe nt types of affections- relaxed, mode rate, or exc ited- and distinct mus ical languagcs appropriatc to music's diffc ri ng functions- chu rch, chamber, thealer, anel dance. ln each case, composers sough1 to malch the style to the music's functio n an el to thc appropriate affcction.

chords were played on one or more co11ti11uo i11strumeu.ts. typically harp· sichord. organ. lute. ar the()rbo (also ca lled chitarrone), a large lute with ext ra bass strings as shown in Figure 13.9. By Lhe !ater seventeenLh ccntury, the bass line was somelimes reinfo rced by a rnelody instrument such as viola da gamba, ce ll o, or bassoon, although th is may nol have bee n as common a p,·ac ti cc as histor ians be lievcd a gc ncra1ion ago. When thc choreis to bc played were othe r than common lri ad s i n root posit ion. or if noncho rd tones (such as suspe nsions) or accidcntals wcrc ncedcd, thc co mposcr usually addc d figures- numbers or flat or sharp signs- above or below the bass notes to indica te the precise notes reguired, as shown in Figure 13. 1O. Such a bass linc is ca ll cd a figu.rccl boss. The re<tli.::<ttio11- the acrual playing- of' such a bass varied according to the type of piece and the skill and taste of the player, who had considerable roam for improvisation. The perl'ormer might play only cbords. ar add pass· ing tones or melodie motives that imitated the treble or bass. Example 13.2 shows two possible realizatious of the nrst phrase of Figure 13.10-one in mostly chordal style. the otber with movingparts and an emhellished suspen· sion. ln choosing how to realize Lhe bass, the continuo player was free 10 aid the interpretations and diff'ering emphases ofvarious solo ists. Modem edi· tions of wo rks with continuo may prinlan ed itor's realization in smaJJer noLes (compa re Figu re 13.10 with its realization in NA\VM 72). Nol ali pieces used basso continuo; because its purposc was accompani ment, it was u trnecessa ry insolo lute and keyboa rd music. Then again . oldstyle unaccompanied motets anel mad rigals were somelimes published with a continuo pari, to co nform with lhe ncw practicc. Scventccnth· ccntu ry com poscrs frequcntly comh ined voices with inslruments that played d ifferent parts. The result was called lhe concertai() 111.edi,w, ar corrce rwto style (s1i.!e con.certa.10, f'rom ltalian concertare, '·to reach agreemen t'"). ln a musical çorrçerto , contrasting forces are brought togcther in a harmonious enscmblc. Today we think of concertos as pieccs for soloists and orchestra, bm the meaning was broader in the seventeenth centi.rry, embracing such genres as the conçerted maclrigcrl for one or more voices (sometimes with melody instruments) and continuo and the s<tcrccl concerto , a sacred vocal work wilh instruments. The use of diverse 1imhres in combination became characteristic of the Baroque era, in contras! to the sixteenth · century preference for homogeneous ensembles. Joining vo ices anel s tring instruments wiLh keyboards and lutes created problems of tuning. As uoted in chapter 7, sbrteeuth-century musicians used a varietyoftuningsystems. Just inlonation was preferred by singers anel violinists beca use it allowed the adjusunen1s needed 10 keep har monic in te rvals perfectly in nrne. Keyboard players could not adjust pitch wh ile performing, so they used mean· tone tempe raments. in which the major triads from El, major to E major were in l.une. hui. those furthe r to the 11al or sharp side were out of lu ne.

General Characteristics of Baroque Music Beyo nd interest in drama anel in moving the affections, music of the Baroque era tends lo share severa] trails that dislinguish it from music oi' other periods. The prevailing 1excure of sixleenth-cencury music is a po lyph ony of independenl voices. By contrast. the new seventeenlh-cenlury styles 1.ypically fealure p rom inent bass anel lreble lines, with writtcn· out or improviscd inncr paris Jill ing in lhe harmony. Melody wilh accompan imcnt was not itself new; so met hing li ke it appears in chansons of thc fourtcenth anel liftccnth ce ntu·

A theoroo. atypcoflulc wi1ldong. iinswpped bass strings. in addition w shorter s1rings across a,f,-eued J,ngerboard, often used in accompMying singcrs. The altemaic /ralian nome. chitarrone (large kilhera). reflects ltatians · in1erest in ancienl Creek music. The inslrnmenl ·s f,.rst kno wn app•a rance was in the Florenline intermedi of 1589 (dcscribed in chapter 14). whose 1/aeme wa.s the power of Creek m usic: tli e theorúo may /1ai•e been inven ted j'or the occasion. Detail froni The Five Senses. apaintingbyT/ieodoor Rombouts (ca. f 630). ( SCAI.A/AftT 11. .OUftCE. NY) FIGURE 13.9,

Basso contiruw

Realization

TheconcerLo medi1.1,1n

Mean-tonc andequal temperaments

301

302

C ti A P T E li 13 • N,w Stylos in 1h, S,ven1een1h Cu1ury

FIGURE 13.10, Gt11lia Caccini's sola madrigal Ved,·õ ·1 mio sol. as prmtcd in Le nuove musiche. ln 1/üs early example afftgured bass nota1ion, rhe bass i.s fig11red

tuith thc exact inten,als to be s011nded in rhe chords above it. si,ch a.s rhe dissoriant elevenlh (u) resolving to ll1e major tenth (# ro) in rhefirs1 measure. ln !ater practice. the precise octcwe was left lo rlte plarer, so+ and;would be usedinsreadof" a,1d#10.Ajlator sliarp tuilhout a nurnber indicares o minorar major third respectil'ely, a.s in 1/ie middle oftl1ethird system. (FLOllENCt: MAfltSCOffl. 16Ql ,i)

Chords <uul dissona,1ce

Chromaticism.

ffarmonically driven counterpoint

Regulararid flexible rhythm

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visatory solo instrumental pieces like toccatas and preludes (seechapter IS). Forothermusic, regular rhythms such as those found in dance music became ever more pervasive. Bal'lines. used in tahlatures since lhe nfteenth cenrury,

became common in ali kinds of music in the

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G,neral Charac1eris1ics of Baroqu• Music

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and cbromatic semitones (such as Bl,- B) were much smaller tban diatouic semitones (such as B- C). Fretted instruments. like lutes and viols. tended to use approximations of equal ternperament to avoid out- of- tune octaves. aJthough players cou.lcl adjust ú1e pilch with their úngers. The comhinalion of tbese three incommensurate tuning systems provoked some of Artusi's most bitter complaints against modem music. ln p ractice. performers worked ou t comprom ises. As harps ichord and organ hecame the most widely used continuo instruments, various ki11ds of mean- tone temperaments came Lo predominate. although more - nearlyequaJ lemperarnents we re some times used lo all ow a wicler range of keys. Basso continuo composit ion led natu rally to th inkingo l' consonantsou nds as choreis rathcr than as sels of inte rva.1s over 1.be bass. This idca, in l.urn. Jcd lo a view of disscJnance less as an in terva l between vo ices t.ha n as a note thal does not ti t in to a chord. As a rcsu lt, a greatc r variety of' dissonanccs was to lcratcd , though by the mid -seventeenth cenlury, convcntions governed how they cou ld be introduced and resolved. Ch romaticism fo!Jowed a simi lar devc lopment, f'rom experimentation arou nd the tum of the century to freedom within an orderly scherne by rnid ccntury. Chromaticism was used espccially to cxpress intcnse cmotio ns in vocal. works, to suggest harmonic exploratiou in instrumental picces, anel to create distinctive subjects for tream1ent in imitative counterpoint. The nature of counterpoint changed during the Baroque era. Treb le-bass polarity anel the use of continuo altered the balance amongtbepans. replacing tbe polyphony of equal vo ices typical of tbe sixteentb century wüh an emphasis on the bass. Even in imitative counterpoint the individual melodie lines were suborclinated to a succession of chords i:mplied by the bass. producing a counterpoint driven by harmony. Music in the Baroque period was either very metric or very free. Composers used llexible rhythms for vocal recita tive (see cbap ter 14) and impro -

Two possible contintto realizations for che opening of Veclró ') mio sol

EXAMPLE 13.2,

a Chordal style

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dri>'I_' ~e mio s~I. seventeenlh century. At nrsl these barlines fl u simply dema rca ted phrases of equal or unequal leng1h . Bu t by midcentury they were used tt ~ in lhe modern sense l.o ma rk olf measures. recu rring patterns of st rong a nd weak beats, wit h lhe va luc and 11umbcr of beats indicated •,o by ti me signatu res. The two types of rhythm , Aexible and metric, were often used in sue- b. With figu.ration ccss ion to provide co ntras! , as in the pai ring of n u recitative anda ria, or toccata and fugue. Polyp hony, playa ble by a ny com bination 1 1 1 tJ dd)'I _ Ve mio $OI. of voices anel instruments, tencled to equalize " u vocal anel instrumental styles. The prominent ro.le of the so loist in thc seventee nth cen r f tury encouraged composers to make music idiomatic for a parücular medium, such as violin or solo voice. The development of the 1 •,o1 li violin íamily was especially important beca use lwil!seemysun. the f.orceful overhand howing, in contrast to the underhand bowing on viols. produced a clistinctive. penetrating so und. Lutes anel keyboa rd instruments hacl their own idiomatic styles suited to each instrument and its play ing technique. Technical improvements in wind instruments made them suitable for exposed solo performance. Famous singe rs and voice teachers promoted new standa rds of virtuosity, colo r, and projection. Styles for voice and for each íamilly of instrumcnts graclually d ivcrgcd . cvcnlually bccoming so <l istincl that co mpose rs could consc iously bo rrow vocal id ioms i n instru mental wriling anel vice versa. Thc id iomatic qual ity of much Baroquc mus ic relates to anoth er tra it: 11ie central ity oj' this mus ic is ce ntered o n the performer and per fo rm a nce, not the compe,fornian1,;e poser and the work. Baroque musicians regarcled wri tten musicas a basis for performance, not as an unalterable text. Perforrners were expected to aeld t o what was wri ttcn. Con tinuo players improviscd chords, me lod ies. anel eve n counterpoint above the given bass. Vocal a nd instrumen tal so loists ornamented melod ies while performing. Such performance practices varied from nation to nation and generation to generation. Modern scholars and performcrs have tried to reconstrnct these practices based on written accounts anel transcrihed improvisations, a task tbat remains complex and controversial (see ln Performance: Historically lnformed Performance and lts Controversies. p. 305). For us the word or11.ome 11tatio11 may suggest mere ly addi ng decorat.ion. Oma,nientation but Baroque musicians saw it as a means for mov ing the alfections. They recogni,1ed two príncipal ways of oma menl.ing a melodie li ne: (1) Brief fo rmulas

304

C H A P T E K t 3 • New Styles in th• S,venteenth C,n,ury

EXAMPLE 13.:S,

G,nerat Characteristics of Baroqu• Music

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call ed onwme 11t s , such as trills, turns, appoggiaturas, and mordents, were added to certai n notes to emphasize accents. cadences. and olher importam po int s in the melody. Spec ial signs :so met imes- though no t always- indicated thcir p laccmcnt. (2) Mo re cxtcnd e d c mbcll is hmc nts. s uch as scalcs, arpcggi os, and lhe li.kc. wcr e addcd to creatc a frec and elaborai.e parapbrasc oí l he wrilten linc . This pr ocess, so m eti mes ca ll ed division, diminittion. o r fig· uration (sec p . 266), was especially appropriate to melodies in slow tem po. Exa mple 13.3 sh ows an excerpt from an aria in Monteverdi's ope ra L'Orfeo (scc chaptcr 14) that was publis he d with thc origi nal m c lody ( top staff) in t he tenor rcgister joined by an embe ll ished version that rep rcsents t be kind of ornamentation added by a s inger , presumably indicating th e way it was sung at the 1i rst performance. Performers were free not only to add embell ishmems to a wrinen score but also to change it in other ways . Singers often added cacle11zas-elaborate passages decorating important cade nces- to arias. Arias were oroit ted J'rom o peras. o r differ eni arias substiluted . to suil. tbe singers. Cburcb organ works cou ld be s horten ed to 1i t the service. Sectio ns oívariation sets and rooveroents of suites could b e omitted or rearranged as desi r ed. Title pages of ensemble collections encouraged players to cboose which i ns u·u ments and even how many to use for a performance. l n cve ry respect, the wrillen music was rega rded as a scr ipl that could b e adapted to s uit the performers.

HISTO RICALLY INFORMED PERFORMANCE AND ITS CONTROVERSIES How should we perform music of the past? Composers in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries often gave guidance in their scores for every aspect of their music, from the notes themselves to precise tempo , dynamics. articulation. and phrasing, and expected performers to render the music as fa ithfully as possible. But musicians in earlier times took pare in traditions where a written piece of music was a platform for performance, not an inviolate text. and where many aspec ts of performance were not notated because it was assumed that performers would know what to do. For this music. simply following the score is not sufficienL The problem for performers today who sing or play music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is that the tradition ofhow to perform it. once passed down orally from teacher to student, has been lost over time. Like other aspects of past music. this performing tradition has to be reconstructed from its traces, the historical evidence le ft behind. T hrough historically informed performance. we can attempt to recreate how a piece of music might have sounded to its composer. and perhaps understand better what listeners of the time valued. While much cannot be known abou t how music sounded in previous eras. there are many resources scholars and performers can use to piece together as much information as possible. By playing instruments of the time or reconstructions of period instruments, performers not only can produce a sound similar to what listcners of the era might have heard but also can discover the unique character of each instrument. For example. the phrasing and articulation that result from using a seventeenth-century violin and bow are very different from the style natural to a modem violin with wire strings and higher tension on the bowstrings. These differences affect how performers play violin music of the time. as

is apparenl in the period instrum ent recor-dings of sonatas by Biagia Marini (NAWM 84) and Arcangelo Corelli ( NAWM 94) on the accom panying record ings. Performance treatises and other primary sources describe tuning systems, playing techniques. ornamentation, vocal timbre, and how to realize a basso continuo. all of which help us recreate the technical and stylistic practices of the period. Yet there are limits to what we can know, and heated debates over what the goals of historically informed performance should be. ln his book The Early Music Reviva!. Harry Haskell identified as a central issue the sizable gap between what can be known about past music and everythi ng the music is. Richard Taruskin sparked controversy in the 1980s by arguing that trying to recreate the sounds the composer would have heard is a false goal. because we can never know when we have succeeded: that it is an historically misleading goal, because there has always been a range of options and of opinions among performers: and that it is a bad goal as well. because it devalues the creative music-making that is the hallmark of good performance. So what should be our aim in performing music of the past? For performers trained on modern instruments , learning about past practices can be like learning a new language. Perhaps most important. studying past practices can open up new ways of thinking about and conceiving music in performance. For example, learning the variety of ways in which performers in earlier centuries departed from the written notes-embellishing melodies, filling in harmonies. adding ornamentation-can empower performers today to unleash their own creativity within the range of available options. From thi s perspective. knowing the history of performance is liberating . and just as applicable to performers on modem instruments and of any repertory.

30 6

C H A P T E K 1 3 • New Styles in th• S,venteenth C,n,ury

Froni modal to tonal nwsic

lf the elements cliscussed above tencl to characterize the entire Baroque period, one aspect of music tbat did not bolei consiant is harmonic orga nization. Musicians in the early seventeenth century still thought ofthemselves as working within the eigbt church modes or the expancled system oi' twelve modes codified by Glareanus (see chapter 7). By the last third

of the century. Corelli. Lully, and other composers were writing music we would unbesitalingly call to11al. operating within the system of major anel m inor keys familiar l'rom music of Lhe eighteemh anel nineteenth cenLuries. Rameau's Tl'ea.tise on Ha.rrnony in 1722 offered the first complete lheorelica l formulalion of the new system . which by 1.hen had existed in prac ti ce fo r ove r half a centu ry. Li kc lhe Rcnaissancc vc,·sion oi' thc moda l systern, t.onulityevo lved gracl ually. The long-standing use of ce,·ta in Lechn iques- standard cadenl.ial pro gressions, bass movement by a fou rth or ftfth , conventional bass patterns, the use of suspensions to create forward motion- eventua lly bred a consistent set of routines that could be codifted in a lheory. But the presence of such lechniques does 11ot mean that a work üs tonal. anel music in the ftrst half of the century often shows the continuing ini1ue11ce of 1he modes.

Enduring lnnovations Many of lhe i nnovalions of Lhe early sevemeemh cenmry endureci for centuries, and some are still with us. Severa! characteristics described above remained typical of eighteenth- anel ninetee11th - ce11tury music. iucluding interes t in dramatic effect. emotional expressivity. r ule-breaking as a rhel.or ical clevice, lreble-bass polarity, chorclal harmony, chromaticism, icliomatic writing. and tonality. Othe rs, such as basso continuo . passed from use by lhe end of the eigh lccnth century. The performer's ro le as the mus ic's "co- composer" d imin ishcd in thc coursc of the nincteenth and carly twcoticth centw·ics whcn thc compose r came to be more impo rlant than lhe perfonne r. Of course. there wcrc star perfo rmcrs, but many ofthcm also composccl thc music they playccl. ln the twenl ieth ce,ttury, faithfulness to the compose,..s score beca me a paramount virtue for music of earlier times. Engaging with Baroque music requires us to accept, at least for a time , the values and prefe rences he lcl by those who macle and heard 1his music. Chief among thcm was the focus on drama anel moving thc affcctions. embocliccl in the development of a new genre: opera, the to pie of the next chapter. ~ Resources for sludy and review available ai wwnorton.com/studyspace.

THE INVENTION OF OPERA

The quintessentiaJ art of the seventeentb century is opcrn , a union of poetry. drama, music, anel stagecraft, ali brought to life througb performance. An opera (Italian for "work") co11sists of a text or

libretto ("little book"), a play usuaJly in rhymed or unrhymed verse. combined with continuous or nearly continuous music, anel is staged with scenery. costumes. anel action. From its origins around 1600, opera became the leading genre of lhe seventeenth and eighLeenth centurics anel has rcmaincd important evcr since. There are lwo ways to tell lhe tale of its creat ion. ln one sense, opera was a new invcntion, an attcmpt to rccreate in modern terms Lhe e xper ience of ancient Greek tragedy: a drama, sung Lhrough out, in wh ich music conveys thc emotional effccts. Yet in another sense, opera was a blend of existing genres, including plays, theatri caJ spectacles. dance. madrigals. and solo song. Both views are correct, because the creators of early operas clrew on ideas about a11cient tragedy anel on the content of modern genres.

Forerunners of Opera Although the earliest operas date from around 1600, the association of music with drama goes back to ancient times. The choruses anel principal lyric s peeches i n the plays of Euripides anel Sophocles were sung (see N ,\WM 2) . Medieval liturgical dramas were sung through out (see NAWM 6). and lhe re ligious mystery and miracle plays of

121

308

C H A P T E K 14 • Th• lnvention of Opera

the late MiddleAges includecl some music. Renaissance plays often incorporated songs or offstage music, as do many plays of Shakespeare.

TIMELINE Th e lrwentio1i of Opera

RENAISSANCE ANTECEDENTS

One so urce for opera was Lhe pastoral drwmr. a play in verse with music anel sorigs interspersed . ln a trad ition derived from ancien l Creece anel Rome. pastoral poems Lold of idyll ic • ca. 1573-87 Meetings love in rural seltings peopled by ruslic youths an<l maidens, of Giovanni de' Bardi"s as well as mythological figu res. Sim pie subj ecrs, bucolic land·camerata" scapcs. nos ta lgia fo r classical anriqu ity, and ycarning forª" • 1581 Vincenzo Galilei. unaUai nable ea rthly para d ise made pastoral themes altraetive Dialogue o{Ancient and to poets, co mposc rs . and patrons. ln this imagi nary world, Modem Music song secmed the natural mode of discou rse. The tirst pastoral • 1589 lnterm edi for the play poem to be staged was A.ngelo Poliziano's Fa~ola dºOifeo. on the La pellegrina in Florence lcgcnd of Orpheus, produccd in Florcnce in 147 1. Pastoral dramas became increasingly popular at ltalian co urts and • 1598 First opera performed, academies during the sixtee.nth century. Their suhject, style, Jacopo Peri's Dafne mythological chara cter tnies, anel use of music and dance • 1598 Henri IV issues Edict of were all adopted by the ear!iest ope ra composers. Nantes Another inlluence on opera was the madrigal. Some mad • 1600 First surviving opera. rigals were miniature dramas. using contrasting groups of Peri"s L'Euridice, performed in voices ro suggest dial ogue between characters (see NA\VM 57 Florence and 59). Madrigal composers' experience in expressing emo tion and dramatizing text thr ough music Jaid lhe foundation • 1600 Giovanni Maria Artusi, for opera. Occasionally. composers grouped madriga ls in a L'Artusi seri es to represent a succession of scenes ora simple plot, a genre known as 11wdrignl comecly or 11wdrigal cycle. The best known was l.itmfipamaso (The Slopes of Parnassus, 1594) by Oraúo Vecchi ( 1550- 1605). Perhaps the most dirccl sou rcc for opera was lhe i11te1medio (pi. inter· Internil'dio niedi), a musical interlude on a pas1oral, allegori cal, or mythological subject pcrformcd bctwecn acrs of a pl;iy. Thc genre arose from a practical necd: Renaissance theaters lacked cu,iains that co uld close between acts, so so methingwas needed to mark divisio ns .and suggestt he passage of time. lntermedi served this function. Usually there were six, performed before, between, and after a play"s standard ftve acts and often linked by a common theme. Intermedi for impo1iant occasions wcrc cla borate productions that co mb incd dia logue with chorai, solo, and instrumental music, dances, cosntmes, scene1y, and stage effects: in sum, almost aJJ the ingredients of opera except a plot and lhe new style of dramatic singi ng (described below). The most spectacular intermedi were those for Lhe comic play La peUegrina The 1589 intemiedi (The Pilgrim \Voman) at the 1589 wedding in Florence of Grand Duke Ferdinand de' Mediei ofTuscany and Christine of Lorraine. Severa! artists who were !ater involved in Lhe eadiest operas worked ou these intermedi. including their producer, composer and choreographer Emilio de' Cavalieri (ca. 1550-1602); poet Ottavio Rinuccini (1562- 1621): and singer-composers Jacopo Peri (1561- 1633) and GiLtlio Caccini (ca. 1550- 1618). The unifying theme. conMUSICAL

H ISTOR ICAL

Fororunners of Opera

ceivecl by Florentine count Giovanni de' Bardi (1534-16 12). was tl1e power of ancient Greek music, a consuming interest of his circle (see below). Figure 14.1 shows the set and costumes of the ftrsl in termedio. 011 the harmony of the spheres. giving a sense of how lavish che production was. The music was

also elaborate. as illustrated by the opening piece. a madrigal for voice and three lutes sung by Vittoria Archilei. shown in Figure 14.2. lL was lacer published as in Example 14.l(see p. 311), wüh r.hevocal line in both itsoriginal form (thesecond staff) anda highly ernbeUished ve rsion thal suggests lhe bril1iant scales. turns. and oth er Ftgurat ion Arehilei improvise<l in perform ance.

309

• 1602 Giulio Caccini. Le nuove

musiche • 1607 Claudio Monteverdi.

L'Orfeo

First English colony in Virgínia at Jamestown

• 1607

• 1618-48 Thirty Years' War • 1620 Mayflower brings first

colonists to New England

GREEK TRAGEDY AS A MODEL These musical aod theatrical gcnres provided matcrials that co mposcrs incorporatcd in ea rly operas, but opera might never have emerged without the interest of humanist scholars, poets, musicians. anel patrons in reviving Greek (ragedy. Thcy hoped to gencrate the ethical effccts of ancient music in Greece by creating modem works with equal emotional power. Theirdiscussions. at first abstract and entirely theoretical. led to experiments that ultimately culminated in the ftrst operas. ln this sense, opera fulfilled a profoundly hwnanist agenda, a paraUel in dramatic music to the emulation of aucieut Greek scuJpture anel architecture. Renaissance scholars clisagreed among chemselves about the role of musie in ancient tragedy. One view, that only the choruses were sung. was put into practice in a 1585 performance in Vicenza of Sophocles' Oedipits Rex in ltalian lranslation. For that production, Andrea Cabrieli cast the choruses in

• 1625 Francesca Caccini.

The Liberation o{ Ruggie,o • 1632 Stefano Landi, Sant'

Alessio • 1637 First public opera house

opens in Venice • 1642-49 English Civil War • 1643 Monteverdi. The

Coronat,on o{ Poppea • 1649 Francesco Cavalli.

Giasone • 1656 Antonio Cesti. Orontea

FIGURE 14.1: Set a11d

costumes deség,ied by Berrwrdo Bur,ruc,lettti for1itefil'SI inLermediofor La pellegrina , performed in florencc in 1589. Engraving by Agostmi Carracc,.

310

C ti A P T E li 1 4

Forerunners of Opera

Th• lnvention of Opera

a homophonic declamatory style that emphasized the rhythm of the spoken word. A con tra1y view, that the entire text of a Greek tragedy was sung. was expressed by Girolamo Mei (1519- 1594), a Florentine scholar who edited severa! Greek dramas. While

·,

EXAMPLE 14.1,

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,., Dai • lc ~i(, -

te _ _ sfc

in the theater. After readiog in Greek almosL eve1y aocient wo rk on music Lhat su rvived, he cond uded Lhat Creek music consisted of a s ingle melody, s urig hy a soloist or chorus, with or wi1hout accompa rLime nl. Th is melody could evoke powcrful cmoti ona l c l'Fects in thc lis lcn e r 1hrough lhe oalural express iveness of vocal registers. rising anel falling pitch, and changi ng rhyt hms and te mpo.

.-·

Mei communicate<l his ideas to colleagues in Florence, no · tably Counl Bardi and Vincenzo GaWei (ca. l520s- 159 I), a rheorist and co mposer and the fathcr of astronomer Gali leo. From tl1e earl.y 1570s, Bardi hosted an academy where scholars discussed literature, science. anel th e arts and dio fo r ui pellegrina. Costume design by musicians p erformecl new music. GaliJei and Giulio Cac· BemardoBuontolenti. ln theprefocetohi.s cini (anel perhaps also Jacopo Peri) were pari of 1his group, operei L" Eu.-idice,Jocopu Peri colledher wl1ich Caccini )ater called the Came ntta (circle, or asso "the fatterpe ofourage . .. who hos o.lways cialion). Mei's letle rs aboul Greek music oflen appeared fow1d my music ·worthy ofher peifom10,1ce. on the agenda as pari of a wider interesl in classical an liq adorni,ig it with those orname,11s and lung uity, fostered by Ln e ruling family of Florcnce, the Medie i, ,,acn/ 111ns. bot.h simple and double. which as a way to reinforce their image of themselves as lhe her lively genius irwmts at every mome,it. ·"Caesars of thei r age" anel i.heir goals of poli tical em pire. more logo alon.gwith lhe c1<stom ofour ln hi s Dialogo della mu.sica 0,ntic0, et delta moderno (D iaLime than becm.seshe thinks 1/iat inthem logue of Ancient ariel Modem Mus ic, 1581). Galilei uscd resides Lhe beautyand power af our singing. Mei's doctrines to attack vocal co unte rpoinl. He argued Shc add$ a.Isa 1/wse cl1arms and graces thai that only a single i ine of melody, with pitches anel rhythms ca.nnol bewritienand. ifwrit1en. cannoi app rop riale to Lh e lexl, could expressa given line or poehy. be leamed frolit ihe nolation. ·· ( FLORENCE, Whcn severa) voices si mul ta neo us ly sa ng diffc rcn t melo &IBLlOTtCA NA%lON'AU!CEN'rKALf) dies anel words, in different rhyt hms and rcgiste rs, some low and some high, some r ising and others descending, some in s low notes anel othcrs in fast. the rcsulting chaos of contradicto ry impressions could never de li ver tbe emolional message of the text. Wordpainting, imitations of sighing. and rhe like, so common in madrigals, he dismissed as childish. Only a solo melody. he believed. could en hance the natural speech infleclions of a good orator or actor.

MONODY. ARIA, ANO SO LO MADRIGAL

Monody

Ga lilei was advocating a type of mouocly, a term use d by mod ern historians 10 emb race ali lhe s Lyles of accompanieel solo singing pracLiced in the late sixteen th and ea rly seventeent h ce nlu ries (as d istincl fro m monophony, which

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THE FLORENTINE CAMERATA FIGURE 14.2: ViuoriaArchilei. 1he most famou,S soprano ofher time. in 1he role ofthe Dorianham1on.ia (one ofthe onciml Greek scoles: see chap1er 1) in J/1ejirst imermc·

-·.

rc _

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m m

working in Rome as a cardinal's secretary. Mei embarked on a lhorough invesligation of Greek music. particularly its role

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From ihe higlim spheres

is unaccompa nied melody) . Solo si nging was not new; solo ists sa ng epics and ot.hcr stroph ic pocms to standard formulas with light. accompanimcnt. com· poseu-s wrote songs for voice :mel lute, and il was common to sing one part of a po lyphonic madrigal whi le instrumc nts p laycd thc othcr parts. But th c Camerata"s discussions of Greek music led severa) mem bers down ncw paths. Caccini wrote numerous songs for solo voice with continuo in the 1580s anel 1590s and publish ed them in 1602 uuder the titlc Le 1iuove musichc (The New Music). Those wilh strophic texts he calleel a rias (halian for ··airs"). which at this time could mean any setting of strophic poetry. The others he called madrigals. showing that he considered these works to be lhe same type of piece as polyphonic maelrigals: t.hrough-composeel settings of nons1rophic poems. sung for one's owu entertairune nt or for an audience. Toclay we use the tenn solo maclrigal lo elistinguish the new type írom the maelrigal for several voices. ln his foreword. Caccini boas teel lha! lhe mackigal Vedrà 'L mio so! ( NA\VM 72 anel Pigure 13 . l O) was greeted in Bar<li's Camerata "with affectionate applause:· Cacci ni set each line of poetry as a se para te phrase ending in a cadence. shaping his melocly lo lh e natu ral accenl.ua tio n of the texl. He wrote

Caccinis Lc nuovc musiche

1 Conm< ~ 1 1 Full ~

312

C ti A P T E li 1 4 · Th• lnvention of Opera

Th• Fim Operas

into the music the kind of embelli.shments tbat singers wouJd usually bave added in performance. Faithful to the goals of tbe Camerata, he placed ornaments to enhance the message of the text. not just to display vocal virtuosity. His foreword to Le rrnove 111ttsiche includes descriptions of lhe vocal ornaments then in use, provid ing a valuable resource for scholars and singers.

PERl"S RECITATIYE STYLE

The First Operas Periand Rin11ccini"s Dafne

Cavalieri

After Ba rd i moved to Rome in 1592, discuss ions abou1 new mus ic- and performa nces oi' such works- conlinued under t hc sponso rship of anothc1· noble111an . Jacopo Cor si (1561 - 1602). Among the par ticipants we re two vet era ns of the 1589 in te rmedi, poet Ottavio Ri nuccini a nd singe r - co m pose r Jacopo Pe ri , shown in Figur e 14.3. Convinccd t hat C rcck tragcdics wcrc sung in their entirety, they sct oul to recreate lhe ancient gen re in modem form. Pcri's sctting of Rinuccini's pastora l pocm Dafne was pcrformed in October 1598 at Corsi"s paJacc. Althougb ouly l'ragmcnts of thc music survivc, t his was the ftrst opera, modeled 011 the Greek plays: a staged drama , su11g throughout, with music dcsigned to convcy the characters' c motions. Meanwbile, Emilio de' Cavalieri, whowas in chargeoftbeater, art. and music at the Florentine ducal court, mounted smaller scenes with his own music in a similar style. ln February 1600, he produced in Rome his musical morality play Rappresematione di anima ei di corpo (Representatio11 of the Sou! and tbe Body), at that time the longest entire ly musical stage work. These works typify the search for new eiqJressive means that could match the power anciellt writers ascribed to Greek music.

L'EURIOICE

ln the preface to his opera L"Eu11díce. Jacopo Pera clescribed hís search For a new kind of musical setting. m,dway berween speech and song, that could convey a characte,·s emotions as forcefully as did the muslc of andent Greek dramas. This new style, known as recllatlve, beca me a,, essent,al part of the new genre of opera.

Putting aside every other manner of singing heard up to now, 1dedicated myself wholly to searching out the imitation that is owed to these poems. And l reAected that the sort of voice assigned by the a ncients to song. which they called diastematic (as if to say sustained and suspended), could at times be hurried and take a moderate course between the slow sustained movements of song and the fluent and rapid ones of speech, and thus suit my purpose (just as the ancients. too. adapted the voice to reading poetry and heroic verses). approaching that other (voice] of conversation. which they called continuous and which our modems (though perhaps for another purpose) also used in their music. l recognized likewise that in our speech cer· tain sounds are intoned in such a way that a har-

mony can be built upon them. and in the c-ourse of speaking we pass through many that are not so intoned. until we reach another that permits a movement to a new consonance. Keeping in mind those manners and accents that serve us in our grief and joy and similar states, 1made the bass move intime with these, faster or slower according to the affections. l held the bass fixed through both dissonantes and consonances until the voice of the speaker. having run through various notes, arrived at a syllable that, being intoned in ordinary speech. opened the way to a new harmony. 1did this not only so that the flow of the speech would not offend the ear (almost stumbling upon the repeated notes with more írequent consonant chords), but also so that the voice would not seem to dance to the movement of the bass, particularly in sad or severe subjects, granted that other more joyful subjects would require more frequent movements. From Peri. Le musiche sop10 l"Eu,idice (Florence, 1601). trans in Claude V. Polisco. Humanism in ltalion Rena,s· sance Musical Thoughc (New Hoven, Yale University Press. 1985). 428 - 32.

In 1600. Peri sct to music Rinucci11i"s pasto ral drama

FIGURE 14.3: Jacopo Peri. in a costume designed by Bernardo Buon1alen ti, as the legendary singer Anon in. Peri and Christo · fano Mal1>ezzi 's fifih intennedio oJI 589. Arion. retumingfrom concerts in Corinth. sings an echo aria just before he pi unges into 1he sea. 10 escape liis 11wli1ious crew. (F<l'r<> MAIIRUIIG/ ART ftl'-' iOUllf:F., NY)

l'Euridice. Thc subject demo nst rates m us ic's power to move 1hc cmotions: t hrough h is singing, Orfco (O rphcus) makes even the denizens of the underworld weep and persuades Lhem to restor c his wife Eurid ice to life. lºEuridice was performed in Florence that October for the wedding of Maria de' Mediei, 11iece of the grand duke, to King He nri IV of France. Cavalieri d irected. anel Peri sang the role of Orfeo. Although the event looms large in music history as the ftrst performance of the earliest surviving opera. lhe work was only a smaJI part of t he wedding enter1airunent. eclipsed ai the time by more established forms such as a horse ballet. The production incorporated sect ions of another setting of the libretlo. this one by Caccini. who wo uJd not aJJow his singers Lo per form music composed by others. Both versions were soon published, anel they remain Lhe earl iest surviving complete operas. Of the two settings. Caccini 's is more melodious anel lyrical. resembl i11g the

arias and madrigals of Le nuove 11111,s iche. But Peri cla imed t·bat his was better su ite d to t hc dram a, becausc he found a new way to imitatc spcech and varicd his ap proach accorcling to the dramatic situatio11. For dialogue, Per i i11vented a 11ew id iom, soon known as ,-ccitc1tivc sty lc. ln his preface to L"Eu.ridice (seeSource Reading), Peri recallcd the disti n ction made in ancielll Greek theory berween continuous changes of pi tch in speech and i ntervallic, or "diastematic.'· motion i11 song (see chapter 1). He sought a kind of speech - song that was bal fway between them. similar to the style r.hat scholars though t the Greeks used for reciling heroic poe111s. By holding steady the notes of th e basso continuo whil e t he voice moved freely t hrough both consonances and dissonances . he Liberated the voice from the harmony enough so that it simula ted free, pi tchless <leclama tion of poetry. When a syllable arr ived t hat wou ld be stressed in speaking- in his wor ds, " intoned .. _ he formed a consonance with lhe bass. Exam ple 14.2 s hows hc)w Per i followed h is own prescri ption fo r t he new

Recitative style

313

314

C H A P T E K 14 · Th• lnvention of Opera

EXAMPLE 14.2,

Narrative reci,tativefro,n Peri. Eu ri dice

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Claudlo Monteverdi

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EXAMPLE 14.3,

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Varied styles of monody 1

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Bul the lovel;r Eu,ydice dancingly movcd h erfeet on the green grass. wlien- 0 bi1ter, angry Ja1e!-a snak ente! un d merciless, [1hai lay hiddcn in. the grass. bit lwfool.]

Aria

... ...

..,

Non pían go

... r e non sos pi ro,

Expressive recita.ti,vefrom Peri. Eurídice

0rfco

style. The vertical boxes idemify Lhe syllahles tbat ase sustained or acce nted in speech and the consonam hanno nies that support them. The horizontal boxes contain the syllab les tbat are passed over quickly in speech and may be set wilh e ither dissonances (rnai-ked hy aste risks) or co nsonances againsl the bass and its imp lied chords . T he ways dissona nces are introduced and le fi often violate the rules of cou11terpoi11t. but t.he effort lo imitaie speech exempls these notes írom norma l mus ical co nve nt ions. This co mbinat ion of speechlike freedom and s us la in ed . harm onized accenled syllab les rea lized Pcri's idca of a medi um halfway bctwcen spcech and song. Two excerpts from L"Euridice illuslrale two co ntrasling t.ypes of monody cmploycd by Pcri. Ti rs iºs aria. or strophic song (NAW M 73a). is rhythmi c and tuneful, resemhli ng a canzoncua or dance-song. Tt is introduccd by a bri ef si11f 011i<t, a generic term used throughout thc sevcnteenth century for an abstract ensemble piece, cspecially one that s erves as a prelude. An instrumental refrain called a ritom cllo (Italian for "small return") follows each stanza; here the ritorneUo cchoes the introductory sinfon ia, The speech in wlúch Dafne narrates Euridice's death (NA\VM 73b and Exaropie 14.2) uses the new recitative, The bass and chords have no rhythmic proftle or formal plan and are there onJy to support the voice's recitation. which is free Lo imicace the inJlections and rhythms of poelic speech. A1 more emotional moments, Peri heightens tl1e expressiviry of hi.s recitaüve, using methods from the madrigal tradition to convey a ch.iracter's feelint,'S. When Orfeo first reacts to the news of Ew·idice's death. as shown in Example 14.3. bis brealhJess shock is conveyed by frequent rests (measures l -3), and his grief by suspensions (measure 4). unprepared dissonance (measure 5). chromaticism (measures 4-6), and unexpected harmonic progressions (measures 5-6).

,;.·

'~ l do 1101 weep and l do not sigh. O mrdear Eurydice.forro sigh. ro weep l cannot.

ln L'Eiiridice, Pe ri devised an idiom thal me t the dem ands of dramatic poeur. Afthough he and his associates knew they had no t revived Greek music, they claimed to bave realized a speech- song tbat was close to what had b een used in ancienl r.heater bur was also compatible wich modero praccice. At the same time tha t it introduced a new style based on anci ent models, Peri 's opera also b orrowed from lhe trad itions of the madrigal. ada. pastoral drama. and int:e rm ed io, using whai was mos t app rop rial·e for each mom enl of lhe drama.

TH E IMPACT O F MON ODY The va rious stylcs oi' monody, includ ing rccitativc. a ria, and mad rigaJ, quickly mad e tbeir way inlo ali kinds of music, bolh secular and sacred, Monody mad e musi ca l thea ter poss ible because it could convey in mus ic everyt hing from narra.tion to dialogu e to so liloquy, with the immediacy and flexibi li ty needed for trnly dramatic expression. Tbe stylistic dive rsity Peri in troduced was con tú nucd and cxpandecl in all latcr opera, as compose rs followcd h is lead in suiting their music to the dramatic situation.

Claudio Monteverdi lt is s ometimes noL the o riginalor of an idea , but Lhe fu·st pe rson Lo show its full potential, who gives it a permanent place in human history. So it appears wilh op era. whose firsl widely renowned compose rwas no LPeri or Caccini bul Claudio Monteverdi (see biography and Figure 14.4. p. 316)

315

316

C ti A P T E li 1 4

Th• lnventio n of Opera

Claudlo Monteverdi

Mom everdi drew ou an even wider range of sryles and genres and used the conlrasts to shape botb rhe music and th e drama. The librettist, Alessandro Strig.gio. organized the drama into the usual nve acts, each centered around a song by 0rfeo and ending with a vocal ensemble that comme nts on the silUa tion, Jike 1he chorus in a Greek tragedy. Monteverdi brought ro opera

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)

The most innovative and imaginative composer of his day, Monteverdi wrote only vocal works, including sacred pieces. madrígals. and operas. His music ís always perfectly suited to the text. He was partícularly inventive in creating expressíve devices and combining styles and genres to capture feelings and personalities in music. Monteverdi was born in Cremona. in northern ltaly. Trained by the carhedral"s music director, he was a prodigy as a composer. publishing two volumes of sacred music by age sixteen and three books of madrigals in his early rwenties. Monteverdi was an accomplished viol and viola player by 1590. when he entered the service oí Vincenzo Gonzaga, duke of Mantua. He married a court singer, Claudia Cattaneo, and in 1601 was appointed master of music in the ducal chapei. The Gonzagas commissioned Monteverdi"s first operas, L'Or{eo (1607) and L'Arianna (1608; only the heroine's much-praised lament survives). Between the two premieres, Claudia died. leaving him with three small children. Overworked and poorly paid, he suffered a nervous breakdown. then complained bitterly to the duke that he was being mistreated. He was rewarded with an annual pension in 1609 and a generous salary increase. His Vespro dei/a Beata Vergine (Vespers of the Blessed Virgin), published in 1610, may have been intended as self-advertisement. as he was unhappy in Mantua and was seeking a new position. The collection features a range of styles from modern vocal display to severe counterpoint. The new duke dismissed Monteverdi in 1612, but the following year he became maestro di cappella at St. Mark's in Venice, the most prestigious musical post in ltaly, where he remained until his death thirty years later. He wrote a great deal of

317

FIGURE 14.4,

Claudio

Monteverdi, ina porlraú b;r Be11w rdo Strou,. (l.,\NDtSMUSEUM PtBUISANDf!UM. Il'iNSDRUCK. AUSTfl.lA,

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sacred music for St. Mark·s and for the confraternities that were an important part of Venetian life. ln 1632, he became a priest. Th roughout his career, however, Monteverdi remained drawn to the madrigal. publishing no fewer than 250 in nine collections over five decades. He helped to transform the genre from the witty, polyphonic. a cappella part-songs of the late Renaissance to powerful explorations of the concertato medium and updated its language with emotionally charged, unprepared dissonances and declamatory melodies. His operas li ritorno d'Ulisse (The Return of Ulysses, 1640) and L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea. 1643), written in his seventies, use a varied mixture of styles to portray the characters and their emotions. After his death ar the age of seven ty-six, Monteverdi was lauded in poetry and music. His inAuence spread through the circulation of his published works and the operas of his younger contemporaries. MAJOR WORKS; 3 surviving operas, COr{eo, li rítorno

d'U/1sse, and L'mcoronazione di Poppea:9 boob of madrigals; 3 o 1her volumes or secula, songs; Vesp,o dei/a Beata Ve,gine: 3 masses: 4 collections oí sacred muslc

L'ORFEO Mon1everdi's tirst opera, J:Orfeo. was co mm issioned by Prancesco Gonzaga . hei_r to lhe throne of Manlua. and pi-oduced there in 1607. [l was modeled on L'Euridice in subjeci: and mixl ure of sl.yles, bul was more effective because

his experience composing madrigals known for expressive texr-setting and inte nse d rama. He also used a large r and more varied group of instruments than Per i had used; th e score. published in 1609. calls fo r reco rde rs. cornetts, 1rumpe1s, trombones, slrings, do ub le harp, anel severa! diffe rent co ntinuo insl ruments. including a regai (a buzzy- so unding reed organ) fo r the scenes in 1he underwo rld. Mo nteve rdi fo llowcd Pc,·i in using severa! kinds of monody from songlike aria to recital ive. His Prologue is a declamatory aria wilh rilornello in which Montteverdi wrotc out each sh·ophc, varying the melody an d the dura tio n of the harmonics to rcflcct thc acccntuation and mca ning of the t.cxt, a procedu re caJled st.rophic variation. He used the sarne approach for the work's centerpiccc, Orfeo's Act 111 aria Possente spi.rto. and includcd in thc publishcd score a florid omamentation of the lirst four strophcs (see Exam ple 13.3). Monteverdir's recitative is more varied than Peri's, moving from narrative to songfulness to ago nized expression as the dram a warrants. ln addition to monody, Monteverdi included many duets, dances, and ensemble madriga ls and ballettos. thus providing a range of contrast ingstyles to reflect the varying moods in the drama. The ritornellos and choruses help to organize scenes into schemes of almost ceremo nial formal ity. For example, Act I is an arch, framed by strophic vari ations in the Prologue (sung by the character personifying Music) and at the end of the act. as shown iu Figure 14.5 . Two choruses. a mad rigal and a balleito. all.ernat ing with reci1atives.

Monody

Ensenibles

FIGURE 14.5:

Prologue Music: Stsophic variations with rilornello. DaL mio Perrnesso amato Act l Shc phc rd : Rccital ive, /n questo lieto eJorturw.to giomo Chorus with instrumen1s, Mad riga l. Vieni Tmeneo Nymph: Recitative. M1tse. honordi Pamaso Chom s wit.h instruments: Balletto with rito rnello. La.sciate i monti Shepherd: Recitative, Ma tu gentil cantor 0 rfeo; Recitative. Rosa dct ciel [ Eurídice: Recita tive, lo non dirà

Choms with instruments, Balletto with ritornello. Lasciate imonti Chorus ,vith insLnunems: Madrigal. Vieni lmeneo Shepherd: Recilat ive. Ma se"t nastro gioir Ensemble: Stro phic variations witb ritorn ello,A!ct1n non sia Cho rus, Madrigal. Ecco O,feo

Mo,ueverd.i. L"0 rfeo, Prologue a,1dAct 1.

318

C H A P T E K 14 • Th• lnvention of Opera

EXAMPLE 14.4: .,:i ,,

Orfeo's lament. from Monteverdi. L'Orfeo. Aci li

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enhance the illusion of speech but also express Orfeoºs bitter feelings. The raw passage from an E-major to a G- minor chord (measures 3-1) underscores tbe irony that he still lives when Euridice-his "life'º-is dead.

Orfeo

.., "

Claudlo Monteverdi

se' da me parti - ta.

You,aredead. mrlife. and I still breathe? Yo11 hcwe departedfi-onl me,

precede lhe central impassioned recitalive of Orfeo, followed by a response from Eurídice and then the same balletto and madrigal in reverse order. ll'Act I is a s!atic arch . appropriale lo a weddingceremony. Act II (excerpled ActII in Ni\WM 71) is a dramatic rush forward. Orfeo and h is companionssalute the happy day in a series of arias and ensemb les, each with i ts own ri tornello, slrung together without a break. The series culm inates with a strophic aria for Orfeo, Vi ricorda (NAWM 74a), in wh ich he recalls his u nhappiness tu rning 1 Concise =-'I I l_Full =-'I 1 to joy as he won Eurídice. The form and the lighthea rted style pa rallel Peri's canzonetta fo r Tirsi, and thc hcmiola r hythms give il a dancelike lil t. lronica.lly. at the peak of joy, a Messenger a rrives lo bring the tragic news that Eurí dice has dicd from a snakcbitc. A sudden changc of cont in uo instru ment lo an o rgan with woodeo pipcs aod of tonal a rca from lonian rnode (C major) to Aeolia n (A min or) marks the Messenge r's cry, Ahi, co-so acerbo (Ah. 1 Conciso ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1 bitter cvent, NAWM 74c), in an impassioned recitative. At ii rst, Orfeo·s com panfons do nol understand and kee p singing in the ir own tonal anel timbra i world as they wonderwhat is wrong. But aftcr the Messenger relates her sto ry, a shepherd repeats her opening cry, which becomes a recurringrefrain for the resr of the act, as the orher characters join her in grief. This use of tonal area, timbre. and forma l organization to deepen the dramatic impact shows Mon 1everdi's skill in using all rhe resoul!"ces ai hand for expression. Orfeo's lament T,ise· morta, (NA\VM 71d) attains a new beight oflyricism for 1 Condse =-\ 1 1 Full =-\ 1 recitative that leaves tbe ftrst monodie experiments far behind. ln tbe open ing passage. shown in Example 14. 4, each phrase of musie. like each phrase of text, builds on the preceding one, intensifying it tbrough pitch and rhytbm. Tbe dissonances against sustaiued choreis. marked wilh asterisks. not only

LATER DRAMATIC WORKS

O,jeo was so successful lha! Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga commissioned a second opera. LAria.nna.. from Monteve rd i for the nexl year. lt won grea1 renown. but only a fragmenl survives: Arianna's lamcnl . Bo th O,feo anel A,-ianna wcre staged in ofüer cities as much as lhree decades late r, an unusual longevily fo r operas ai 1.he time. Mon tcvc.-di movcd lo Vco icc in 16 13 as macs11·0 el i cappclla at S1.. Markºs. Alongsiele chu rch anel vocal cha rn be r music (described in chapte r 15). be conlinued to write operas and other drama tic wo r ks. Especia lly s igni li cant is Comba.ttiniento di To.ncredi e Clorinda (The Combat of Tanc rcd and Clori nda, 1624), a shorl work blending rnusic and mime. The lext, from Torquato Tasso's epic Cerusalemme liberMa, (Jcrusalem De livcred, 1575). descr ibes the combat between the crusader knight Tancred and the armored pagan heroine Clorinda. Most of the poem is narrative , which Monteverdi assigi1ed to a tenor in recitative. Thc few short speeches ofTancred anel Clorinda aresung by a tenor and soprano, who also mime the actions duringthe narrative. The instruments (strings with continuo) accompany the voices and p lay interludes that suggest the action. such as galloping borses anel clashlng swords. To convey anger and warlike actions, Monteverdi devised the c o11citato ge11ere or stile co11 cit(1to (excited style), ch aracterized by rap id reiteralion on a single note. wheOler on quickly spoken syllahles or in a measu red string lremolo. Other composers im ii:ated this <levice. and it became a wielely used convention. N'ear lhe end of his li fe. Monteverdi composed three operas for lhe new publõc lheate rs in Venice (see below). Two surv ive: /! ritomo dºIJl.w;se (The Rcturn of Ulysses, 1640), baseei on thc last part of Homcr·s Od:rssey, and L'incvrona.zione di Poppea. (Thc Coronation of Poppca, 1643). a histo rical opera on the Roman emperor Nero's illicit affair with the amb itious Poppaea Sabina, whom he eveutually married. Poppea, often considered Monteverdi"s masterp iece, lacks the varied insl n une nl.alion of Orfeo beca use it was wrillen for a commercial theatcr instcad of a wca lthy court, but it surpasscs Orfeo in depictio n of human cha racrer anel passions. The lovc scene betwecn Nerone (Nero) and Poppea inAct 1, scene 3 (NA\VM 75), shows Monteverdi"s willingness to cbange styles frequc ntly to reflect the cha racters and thei r fee lings: expressive recitative inflected with dissonance anel chromaticism as Poppea pleads for Nerone not to leave; si mpler recitation for dialogue; aria scyles with ritornellos. often in tripie time. for declarations of !ove; and passages thac lie somewhere between recitative andaria style. whicb are often called reciwtivo <trioso, or ari.oso. Even for sectious uot in strophic verse, the composer sometimes used aria style. Content more lhan poetic form. and heigbrened emotional expression tather than the wisb to charm or dazzle. detel!"mined the shifrs between styles. Thus the stylistic variety in Poppea, tbough even greater than in O,feo. serves lhe same dramalic goals.

LºArianna

Combattimento

Venetian operas

1 Conc,se =-'I 1 1 Full =-'I 1

320

C ti A P T E li 14 • Th• lnvention of Opera

Th• Spread of ltalian Opera

The Spread of ltalian Opera Operas were expensive and remained relatively rare. yet they continued to be produced in Florence and Mantua and slowly spread lo oth er cities. As opera attracted new sponsors and audiences. it changed to reflect their tastes. from a courtly emertainment based ou humanist ideals to a lheatrical s pectacle reminiscent of imermedi but ceme red on singers. much like today.

FLORENCE: FRANCESCA CACCINI Only a fcw more operas wcrc writtc n and performed in Fl orcncc eluring thc lhirty yea rs afte r L'Euridice. in cluding Dafne ( 1608) hy Marco da Cagliano (1582-1643). Opera had notyet ga in ed preemine nce, and the cour t preferred ba ll ets and intcrmedi ro glamo ri1,e state eve nts. The flexibi lity of genres at the time is illust rateel by La. libemzione di Ru.g},'iero clalL'i.sola d:4lcina (The Liberation of Ruggicro from thc ls land of Alci na , 1625), with music by F'ranccsca Caccini (1587- ca. 1645), s taged for the visit oi' a Polish prince. Billeel as a ballet, lhe work had al i the h·appings of opera: openiug sinfon ia, prologue, recitatives. arias, ch oro.ses, instrumental ritornellos. anel e laborate staging, as sbown in Figure 14.6. It also had dances, performed either to music s ung by the choru.s or to instrumental music noc included il1 the publish ed score. Commissioneel by the archduchess. the work explores the tbeme of wome11 aud power, with a good and an evil sorceress, delineated by comrasting musical styles, contending over the young knight Ruggiero. Caccini had a briUiant career as a singer. teacher. and composer. becoming lhe high est- paid musician employed by the grand duke of Tusca ny. She carne from a musical family: her father was Giuli o Cacci11i, and she sa ng fre quently with her sister Setti.mia and stepmolher Margherita in a concerto delle FIGURE 14.6: Stage design by Ciu Iio Pa rigi forthesecond changeof scene in Froncesca CaccinCs La liberaiione d i Ruggiero. produced in 1625 at the Mediei Villa of Poggio Tmperiole. The

seuingis the ench<rnted is/a n d ofthe sorceress Alcin a. u1ho /wlds the crosculer R11ggi.ero cop· til'e rlwre. The plot was bused on 011 episode in LudovicoAriosio·s epic Orlando furioso (1532). Engravingbr Alfonso Parigi. (.<LFOJ<so l'AlU(;l)

. ' .. _;_,

- .

donn.e rivaling that of Ferrara (see chapter 11). She composeel music for at least fourteen dramatic en terrainments, making her among the most prolifi.c composers of dramatic music at the time.

ROM E ln lhe 1620s. lhe center for new developments i n opera moved Lo Rome . where weal thy prela1es vied with each other in offe ri nglavish emerrai.nmem s . When Maffco Barberini was elected Pope Urban VIIT in 1623. his nephews were pu t in an advantageous posilion, and lhey beca me a rdent spo nso rs of ope ra. Subjec1s expa nd ed fro m pas toral and myü1 ological plots 10 include lhe ep ics ofTorquat.o Tasso anel Ludovico Ariosto, the livcs of sain ts. anel the llrs l co mi e operas. The most prolif1c libret1 is t wa s Ciu lio Rospigliosi (!ate r Pope Cle ment IX), who helped create li bretto wri ting as a distin ct c raft. His most fomous libretto, Soar.' Alessio (1632) , based on the life oi' the iifth - century Saint Alexis. was sel to music by Stefano Landi (1587- 1639). Operas often empba s ized spectacular stagc e ffects; for cxa mp lc. in thc 1634 reviva! of Sant" Alessio, the elevils anel elemons are consumed i11 flames. la the Roman opera , solo singing increas ingly fell into two clearly elefmed types. rec itative anel aria. The recitatives were more speechlike than Peri's or Monteverdi's, and the arias were melodious and mainly strophic. Roman operas often inclucled vocal ensembles. developed from the madrigal tradition, aud extended fmales for eacb act. with chorai sil1ging and elancing. foUowing the models of classical plays. Ma11y Roman operas op en with a sinfonia in two parts, a slow chordal section followed by a lively ünitative canzona. Opening sü1fonias of this kind beca me standard for seventeenth-century operas. Because wome n were prohibited from the s tage in Rome. female roles were su ng by castrflli (sing. ca.st.ra.to). males w ho were caslrated befo re pube rty to preser ve thei r high vocal range. Cast rati were already si nging church mus ic the re; women were not. allowed to sing in Catho lic churches. and from thc mid - s ixtccnth ccntury o n castrati sa ng thc high parts in some chu rch choi rs in Italy. including lhe papal choir. La ter in lhe sevcntccnlh and eightee nth ce nturi es, castra1i also sang in operas outside Rome, but almos l. always in male rath er than female roles (sce cha pter 18).

Music

Castrati

VENICE A decisive step in th e h istory of opera was taken in 1637 with the opening in Vcni ce of th e ftrst public opera house, Teatro San Cass iaJ10. Un ti l thcn musi cal theater depeneled on individual aristocratic or ecclesias rical patrons, but now it was presented for anel s upported in part by the payil1g public. with fmancial back:ing from weaJthy and p rominent families who rented boxes for the season. Ven ice was idea l for public opera. lts reputation for freedom from reli gious and social restraints attracted visitors each year for Carnival. which ran fo r several weeks from Lhe day afler Christmas to lhe elay before Lent. Carnival broug ht together diverse aueliences, and producers sough t to lure them to tbe opera. Rich merchants built a11d s uppor teel lhea le rs . two to four of them each seaso n elevnted to opera . 1n all, n ine s tages ex isl.ed ín 1678. when Tea tro San

Audience

321

322

C ti A P T E li 14 · Th• lnvention of Opera

Th• Spread of ltalian Opera

FIGURE 14.7: A view ofthe Teatro San Cio11an11i Crisostomo in Venicc. showing the st<lge with sets in place. lhe orc/1es1ra in

who were clrawu to Veuice to further their careers. lmpresarios competed for the most popular singers by paying high fees. The singers Signora Girolama aud Giulia Masotti earned twice to six times as much for an opera's run as Cavalli. the best- paid composer. received for writing it. The vogue of tbe operatic diva was inaugurated by Anna Renzi (see [nnovations: The Operatic

front of tlte stage. and

her talents.

Diva and Figure 14.8. pp. 321- 25). and composers wrote parts expressly for

severa! tiers ofboxes.

which offered both a betrer view an d greater prestíge for aud1e11ce

ITALIAN OPERA ABROAD

mernbcrs thcrnseo.1ingon the main.Jluor.

Engravir1gfro,111709. (MUSEO CORRER, VENICE)

Ltbrettos and music

Cavai.li and Cesti

Singers

Giovanni Grisostomo. showu in Figure 14.7. opeued as the last newtheaterof the ceutury. The wealthier families could lease boxes. and anyone could rent a seaL on Lhe grow1d levei for a single performance. Everyone, including box ho lders, had to buy admission t-ickets. With steady fmancing anda guarauteed audience for at least pari of lhe year, artists and impresarios could count on mu lliple performances of an opera during the season. anel many in 1he audience would aite nd the same ope ra numerous I imes. Alongside operas on mythological themes. Venetian librellists drew sub· jecls from the epics of Homer. Virgi l, Tasso. and Ariosto. and from Roman h istory. Plots we re chosen with an eye for a wide range oi' emol ions, dramatic conflicts. and si riking stage ef-fc::cts. from magica] 1ransformations to clouds lha! carried singers. Th ree acts ralher than the li ve of earlier times were now typica l. For frnaneia l rcasons. choruscs and dances wcre mostly climinatcd. The separation of recitalive and arr ia, begun in Rome, cont inuecl in Venice a nd beca me rhe conventio n. The nu mber of a rias pe r aet inc reased. No longe r required to fo llow evcry nuance of the text, composers wrote melodious a rias thal unfold in gracefu l, smoothly llowing phrases supported by sirnple harmonies, often in trip ie meter with a persistc nl rhythm ic motive. Tl1is lyrica l scyle of vocal music was imitated all over Europe and also inJ1uenced instru mental music throughout the following centuries. Among the leading Venetian opera composers were Francesco Cavalli (1602- 1676). a pupil ofMomeverdi"s and organist al St. Mark's. and Amonio Cesti (1623- 1669). Tbe most celeb rated of Cavalli"s over thirty operas was Giasone (Jason. 1649). whose arias exemplify the lyric style. Cesti. who also excelled in lyrical arias and duets , was Cavalli's mosLserious competitor but speut much ofhis career abroad (see helow). More important than the drama. spectacle. or composer in attracting a cosmopoli tan public were the singe rs-especially the women and castrati-

From Venice. touri ng companies took opera to Bologna, Nap les, Lucca. Geuoa, and other ltalian cities. ln Lhe 1650s. permanem opera houses were estahlished in Naples and Florence. and others soou followed. Meanwhile. ltalian opera began to reach other lands . ltalian operas were s taged io Paris in the 1610s, culminaLing in a commission to Roman composer Luigi Rossi (159 7-1653) for a new version of Orfeo (161-7). A copy of a Cavalli opera reached England. though 1.10 performance is known . Austria beca.me a ceoter of !tal ian opera. ln Innsbruck. the archduke of Tyrol had a Venet ian -sr.y le ope ra house bullt in l 654, and Cest i wrote four operas fo r t.hat thcal.cr. Whcn lhe lasl archdukc dicd, CesL i movcd on to lhe impe ria l courl in Vienna. where his most famous opera. f! pomo doro (The Golden Apple. 1667), was performed forthe wedd ingof Em pe ror Leopolcl I atgreal expense. The French tu rncd to thei r own style of ope ra in the l 670s (although i1 was devisecl by an ltalian immigrant.; see chapte r 16), bul ltalian opera re igned in Ccrman-spcaking lands through thc carly n inctecnth century.

ITALIAN OPERA AT M IDCENTURY Cesti's Orontea. wrillen for Innsbruck in 1656. was one of lhe most frequenlly Cest.i"s Oro n tea perfo rmed operas in Lhe seventeenth ccntury, appearing ali over lta ly and reaching northcrn Cermany in 1678. It cpitom.izcs thc changcs opera had undergone in half a cenl:ury. lnstead of imitating Creek l.ragedy, t.he lih rettisl intcr wove roman ti c and comic scencs and high and low characters, sccking f,rsl or all lo e nlerla i n. The plo1, based on cl isguise and lovc at F, rsl s igh1 across soei a I levels, is qui ntesse ntially Venetian, far from the heroics of ea rly opera. As in thc typica l midcentury opera, most of the action unfo lds in simp lc Recítative style recitative. Exampl e 14.5 (see p. 326) shows pari of a scene in which Orontea, quecn of Egypt, cucoun tcrs th e drunken servant Cclon c ri fl ing the pockets of the sleepingAlidoro, ayoungpainter (NA\VM 76a}. This sort of recitative, witb I Full ~ 1 many repeared notes, mosrly chord tones, and modulating barmonies with frequent secondary dominants. continued with little change for over a centu1y. Tbe following scene is a soliloqt1y for Orontea that includes ex lended Aria style sections in aria, recitative, anda rios o style, reflecting Orontea's couflicting emotions. lts openiugaria, Intomoall' i.do!mio (NA\VM 76b) . in which Oron- 1 Full ~ 1 tea confesses her lave for Alidoro. shows how elabo ra Le the al'ia had beco me by midcentury. The form is stroph ic, with some mus ical adjustments for the second stanza. but the music for each strophe is longer than in earlier arias wilh more repetition of the words to allow greater scope to the music.

323

NNOVATIONS

The Operatic Diva

rom its very beginnings, opera was a complicated, costly, even extravagant affair requiring the collaboration of the librettist, the composer (who held a decidedly lower status than the author of the words). and the artists whose performances engaged the audience directly, ln addition, it demanded the services of a vast array of crafts people and providers who worlced behind the scenes. Among these silent and unseen participants-including stage managers, carpenters, painters. costume designers. tailors. hairdressers, and copyists-none was more crucial than the impresario, who was roughly equivalent to the modem producer. (Transferred into English from the ltalian, the word impresario acquired its distinctive meaning with the rise of Venetian opera.) The theaters owner. head of one of the noble families of Venice, entrusted the impresario with managing the theater successfully for one season ata time. which meant bringing in a profit after all the production expenses and artists' fees were paid. Naturally, the economic outcome depended in good measure on the impresario's decisions about how many and which operas were to be performed in a given season. Competition was fierce, so the impresario also had to consider the financial risks involved in mounting spectacular scenic effects or hiring the most highly paid singers, and measure these costs against the potential gains o-f attracting larger audiences. This volatile commercial atmosphere fostered. among other things. the phe nomenon of the operatic diva (or star). lmpresarios went to great lengths and expense to secure effective performers because they realized that a singer could make or break an entire opera season no matter what work was being produced. Although singer-power had been a theme in opera from its beginnings-think of O rfeo, whose legendary song persuaded supernatural beings to return his spouse to life-rhat power now resided with the singers themselves rather rhan with the characters they portrayed. Sopranos, especially those who were able to win favor through virtuosic ornamentation and persuasive interpretation, quickly achieved stardom. Once having made it to the top. a diva could demand that composers and librettists alter roles to suit her particular vocal talents and range, ln so doing, she not only exercised her star-power but actually iníluenced the development of opera in ways that eventually affected its dramatic structure as well as its musical values. The career of Anna Renzi. leading lady of the Venetian operatic stage in the 1640s, is a case in point and illustrates the rise in stature of the female singer, Renzi was only about twenty when her teacher brought her from Rome to Venice to perform the title role in the work that was scheduled to open the newest public opera house in that city. the Teatro Novíssimo. The composer. Francesco Sacrati. undoubtedly tailored the role specifically to her in order to capitalize on her particular talents. That she played a woman pretending to be afAicted with

324

1nbn14 si . c_A11l111n .rim!IIAt prite,o rdia mulcd, lps;i.n1 11mmom sr,ls 11n II c-a111lAnn11 rnpit. ..:........ ~ . ; - J . ,J.J, :;..

FIGURE 14.8: 77te [C1mOu$ opera smgerAnno. Renzi. in iin engra11ingfrom. Ciulio Srrozzi's adu.la107book The Glories of Signora Anna Renú the

Roman. (PROM cuEN eoSA.Nu. 01•rHA 1N SL'VtN1't'BNTHct.1-·Tusrv,$1cc, r. 2s2)

madness on that occasion and then, a few years later, created the role of Nerone's spurned empress O ttavia in Monteverdi's L'incoronaziane di Poppea speaks to her capabilities as an actress, one who could impart a certain dramatic intensity to her characters. Although her powers as a performer were by all accounts splendid, her meteoric ascent was at least in parta product of ' media hype."' The librettist of her first Venetian opera, Giulio Strozzi, anxious to prove that public opera employed singers as divine as those of the wealthiest courts, published a special volume of adulatory poetry in her honor in 1644, The engraving of her likeness seen in Figure 14.8 comes from that volume. ln an introductory essay. Strozzi describes Renzi's stage presence and vocal qualities, stressing the apparently spontaneous nature of her movements and gestures: ·our Signora Anna is endowed with such lifelike expression that her responses and speeches seem not memorized but born at the very moment. ln sum. she transforms herself completely into the person she rep-

resents." He goes on to praise her diction and vocal delivery, extolling her · Auent tongue, smooth pronunciation. not affected. not rapid. a full. sonorous voice. not harsh, not hoarse.· He also remarks on her stamina and resilience, her ability to "bear the full weight of an opera no fewer than twenty-six times. repeating it virtually every evening . , . in the most perfect voice: Finally. Strozzi approaches Renzi's offstage attributes and portrays her as a person of •great intellect, much imagination, and a good memory ... ; of melancholy temperament by nature (she] is a woman of few words. but those are appropriate, sensible. and worthy." Although she did not have what might be called a ·c1assic beauty,· Renzi's qualities essentially set the standard for the prima donna (ltalian for "first lady," the lead soprano in an opera). Divas became larger-than-li fe heroines with lucrative internationalcareers. Following her memorable Venetian years, Renzi performed roles in other ltalian cities and in Innsbruck. where O ueen Chris!ina of Sweden, who was then vislting the Austrian court, acknowledged her stunning skills by making hera present of her own meda! and chain, Other prima donnas (and leading male singers) enjoyed similarly dose relationships with patrons, composers, librettists, and impresarios in whose homes they sometimes lived when they were on the road. Not surprisingly. they frequently exploited these ties by insinuat· ing themselves into the creative process, exerting their inAuence on such matters as the selection of a plot, the number and length of arias written for their parrs, and the casting of supporting roles. Occasionally a singer even refused to participate in a production unless a particular composer was commissioned to write the music. Singer-power and singer-worship, then, ultimately played a big part in the direction that opera took in the seventeenth century. But the s10ry does not end there. After taking hold of the Venetian imagination, the glamorous world of opera and its stars went on to captivate all of Europe and eventually the Americas. Even today, the powerful personalities oí divas and their equivalents outside of opera- rock star s and film icons-are the driving force behind much of the entertainment industry.- BRH ·auotations lrom Giulio Strozzi are taken lrom Ellen Rosand,

Opera ln Sever>1eench-Cemu1y Ven,ce: The Creat/on o{ a Gente (Universityof California Press.1991), 228-35.

325

326

C H A P T E K 14 · Th• lnvention of O pera

EXAMPLE 14.5·

O peta as Drama and as Th•a1er

Reciiative fro1n Cesti. Orontea. Act TI. scene 16 6

Celone Se

bot - te ct:(.il

\•e1· -

dei - te

sà

mie

di - mo

lo ca-gio - ne.

o Sig-no - ra.

Si pu - ni - sca,

(8)

Sac - co

non Ce - lo - ne._

(ej

Opera as Drama and as Theater

lf BacchttS is 1/ie cc1use of my delays. punish the bot1lc tho.t he pourcd for me. O l.,a<ly. and riot Celone.

EXAMPLE 14.6:

Violin 1

Aria. ln torno all' ido! mio, from Ccsti. Orontea. Act 11. scene 17

t.) A

Violinll ' t.)

Orontea .

..,

,or - no ali'

i - dol

- o.

Spi

=:--:-,

1e.-

pur

spi -

:li=

-no

A 12

t.)

I\ 'tJ li

-v

• _,, 'ra

·-----

rc.

reflection in this aria and the bumo rous exchange in the preceding recita tive is typical of midcentury Italian opera, and worlds away from the serious ideals of the poets and composers who invented opera half a century earlier. By the midd.Je oi' lhe seventeenth century. Ital ian opera had acquired the main features it wo uld maintain without essen tia l change for the n ext rwo hundred years: (1) concentration on solo singing. rather than ensembles and instrumental music: (2) lhe separation of recitative andaria: and (3) the use of varied s tyles. The F'lo renti ne view of musicas lhe servam of poetry and drama had by now been reversed; thc Vene tians and t.heir imilators saw the drama a.nd poelry as lhe scaffolding for lhe music. bul lheir interesl centered on the visua l eleme nts ()f scenery, costumes, and specia l e ffects and, m<)St o f all , on t hc ar ias and I he stars who sang t.hem.

gr3

lC:.---

,_,._,_ 'O'

Around my ido/ breo the. jus/ breathe, breezes sweel and pleasant.

The lyrical idiom re igns throughout. wilh smoolh. mai nly diatonic lines and easy rhy1 hm gratifying to the singer, as shown in Example 14.6. The two violins. no longer restricted lo rilornellos before and after lhe s inger's strophes. play Ih roughout lhe ari a. T he strong cont rast belwee n serio us

Opera began as an effort to recreate ancient Greek ideais of drama, linking the new Baroque era with the first musical culture we studied in chapter 1. Yet it also had sources in theatrical spectacles like intermedi anel in various types of solo song. These roots proved strong, and spectacular scaging a.nd solo singing soon became preeminenr. emphasizing what might be called the theat rical s ide of opera at the expense of the dramal ic. This lension between drama , s pectacle, and vocal display has continued in all later o pe ra and musica l theatcr. Many operatic reform movemen ts, includ ing those around Gluck in Lhe eighteenth centu ry and Wagner in lhe nineteenlh. sough t to reslore 1.he balance in favor of drama. once again looking back rn Greek tragedi es for inspiration . But love of the thea tri cal has bcei, a constant theme. from lhe elabo rate cos~umes and dances of French Ba roque ope ra. lo lhe virtuos ic s ingi ng of nine teenth-century llalian opera, to mode rn musical theater even ts like Cats that emphas izc everything l°r()m costu mes to dancing over plot. Most scventccnlh - ccnlury o pe ras lasted only a s inglc season. Those that were still perfo nn ed two or three decacles alter the ir co mposilio n we re cxccptional. Alm os1 in evitably, a ncw producrion brought new si nge rs and revisions to lhe score, oftc n by other hands. Historians and musicians have tcndcd to va lue Monteverdi most high ly for hi s musie in service of drama and have devalued other early opera, which is rarely heard today. But the focus on solo singing, separation of recitative and aria, and use of varied styles that were characteristic by 1650 continued to dominate lta lian opera for the next two cenruries. Meanwhile. styles nurtured in opera also appea red in chi1rch music. vocal chamber music. and instrume ntal music. as we will see in the next chapter. The use of music for dramatic or theatrical effect . pioneered in the early operas, has been a constant feature of musica l life ever since. Today such uses for musicsurround us. in songs. lilms. television. websites. vídeo games. and even commercials. and most of the emolional and dramatic effects they employ have thei r source in opera.

(@)

Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

327

lcallan Vocal Chambtr Music

and composers used ritornellos. repeating bass patterns. and contrasts of s tyle to create large -scale fonns and enrich the expressive resources of theír musi.c. The following brief summary cannot do justice to the variety of song in the early seventeenth century. but it does focus on the three developments in ltaly that had particular signiôcance for the future: concertato works, basso

ostinato. and thc ca11tat<1. C H APT E R

SECU LAR WORKS IN CONCERTATO STYLE

MUSIC FOR CHAMBER ANO CHURCH IN THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Seventeenth-century musicians were acutely aware of style and its relationship to the social functions music sell'Ves. Theorists of the time distinguished hetween church , chamber and thea ler mus ic, recognizingdifferentstyles appropriate forcach. Compose rs conlinued lo cultivate and expand on the forms, genres, and idioms cha racterist ic of six1eenth century vocal and instrumental music, giv ing music in each category a disltnctive flavor. Yct the new styles and techniques that were developed for monody ando pera quickly spread, as composers infused dramatic elcments into othe r typcs of music. Thus thc cham bcr. church, and instrumental music of 1600- 1650 reveals hoth continuities with the past and influences from the modem theatricaJ style.

ltalian Vocal Chamber Music Although opera by midcentury had become the focus of musical life in Venice. elsewhere it was :still an extraordinary event. Most secular music involved ensembles with voices and was performed in private music-making or by amateurs for tbeir own enjoyment. Dillerent kinds of secular vocal music were cultivated in different regions and by different social groups. [n Italy. canzonettas. ballettos. villaneJlas. and other light genres of slr-0phic songs cont inued to be populu with the musically literate public (see chapter l 1). Vocal chamber music for the elites appeared in many forms and styles. often comhining elements of the madrigal. monody. dance songs. dramatic rec ita tive. and aria. The concertato medium (see p. 302) aJlowed varying texl.ures,

Frorn the beginniog of Lhe centu1y, ltaliao compose rs turoed out lhousands of pieces for so lo voice o r srna ll vocal ensemb le with basso continu o, sometimes including othe r insl ruments. These pieces were widcly sung aod were published in nume rous collections. Mos t wo rks were wTillen for one to th ree voices, though so me featured six or more. Forms and gcnrcs includ cd madri gals, canzonettas and other stroph icsongs at1d a rias, strophic vari ations, dia logues, and recitatives. Many of these compositions were more widely known than any of the operas. which were performeel only a few t imes for restricteel audiences, and severa! of the innovations crucial to opera were popuJarized through secular song. T.he importance of the concerto medium can be gauged by its impact on the madrigal. We can trace tbe cbange from tbe unaccompan.ied polyphonic madrigal to the concerted mad,·igal with instrumental accompaniment in Monteverdi's ftfth tlirougb eighth books of maelrigals. Beginningwith the last SLX macl.rigaJs of Book 5 (1605), ali include a basso continuo, anel some cal! for ot.her instruments as well. Solos, eluets, and trios are set off against the vocal ensemble. and there are instrumental introductions and ritorneJios. The seventh book. titled Concerto ( 1619) . includes strophic variations and canzo nettas as well as through - composed madrigals. Book 8, Mo.drigali g,ierri.eri et a,norosi (Madrigals ofWar and Love. 1638). features a rema rkable variety, encompassing madrigals for f1ve voices; so los, duels. and Lrios wilh con tinuo; large pieces for cho rus, solo ists, and instrumenta l ense mble: and sho rt dramal.ic works. Stylcs range from irnil.ativc polyphony and horno phon ic dec lamation, typica l of sixteent h-century madrigals, to operat ic rccitativc anel stile concitato (exc itcd stylc).

Concerted mo.drigals

OSTINATO BASSES Many works used a basso ostinato (Italian for "persistent bass'"), or g1"01111d bass . a pattcrn in the bass that repeats whi le the melody above it changes. Most ostinato basses were in tripie or compound meter, usually two, four, or eight measures 1011g. There was a well-established tradition in Spain and ltaly of popular songs. composed or extemporized. that were sung to familiar basso ostinato pauerns such asGuárdame los vacas (see NAWM 68b). its close relative the romanesca, and the Ruggiero (see chap ter 12). Sucb basses underlay many songs and instrumental works of the early seventeenth century. Another common paLtern was a descending tetrachorei. a s tepwise descem spanning a fourth, wh ich Monteverdi used in bis Laniento della. ninfa (La ment of the Nymph) in his eighth book of madrigals. lts falling conlour and cons lant repetition are suiteel to a Jament. conveying a sense of inescapable sorrow. ín th e passage in Example 15. l, th e recurring bass establishes a tona l

Descending tetrochord

329

330

C H A P T E K 15 • Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

ltallan Vocal Chamb•r Music

center aud regular phrasiug. while t he vocal melody conveys the nymph's dis tress through strong dissonances (marked with x) and phrases of six or seven measures that overlap th e four- m easure groupings of the bass. Notes that were d issonant in the singer's ftrst phrase become consonant in h er varied repetition and vice versa. Three male singers incroduce and commenc on her

various forms of che descending bass pattern. esp ecially in opera. for over a century (see NAWM i7. 80, and 89 for examples). An opposite emotion was conveyed by bass patterns adapted from the clwcorw Cltalian ciaccona), a vivacious elance-song imported from the Spanish colonies in the Americas into Spain anel then into ltaly. The chacona

lament. turning this madrigal into an unstaged drama. Many composers used

was one of the first types of music to be brought from the New World to Europe.

EXAMPLE 15.1, Monteverdi, Lame nto della ninfa, with descending tetrachord, bass

_ o_

t.l

cite

tor .

il mio a . mor

co . m'ei pur

fu,

º-

...

~·

r r

)

...

r---

= :

r.t·

r r

?J.

·'

331

Chacona

where it became widely inlluentia1. The refrain followeel a s imple repeating pattern of chords played on tJ1e guilttr, whi ch had beco me 1J1e most popula r plucked or s trummcd inst rumcnt in Spain and Lhe Spanish co lonies. Example 15.2 shows the original bass patte rn and lhe adaptation in Monleverdi's rnad riga l Zeftro t.orn(L e di. soa.vi accen.ti, publishecJ in hi s Scherzi musicali ( Musical Jcsts) of 1632. Mo ,Hevcrdi rcpcats th c rising, lighrly syncopatcel l1gu,·c 11 frysix times in s uccessio n wh ile two Lenors provide vivid irnagery suggesti ng happy fceli ngs inspi red by breezcs, ílowers, and sccncs ofoature, thcn ironi cally depict the abaneloned lovcr's torment in s low, expressive recitativc .

CANTATA A

:u m\m • ~í .. di

ch·i •

non mi

101· ..

ment -

pi\l.

... [Spoken lo Love:] Makc mylovc relum as he onccwas. orkill mcyourselfso that I wi/1 no! tonnen t myselfany longer. EXAMPLE 15.2,

Momeverdi. Zeftro rorna e di soa vi accenti , with chacona bass

a. Chacona bass

Harmony: 1

b. Zcf,ro torna, mni. 5- 9 ,...1)

•

¾,,., .~i-:o!c - fi • ro

A n ew genre of voca l chamber music emerged in ltaly during the seventeenth century: thc cantata , meaning a pi ece .. lo be sung." The term was applieel before 1620 to a published co llection of arias in strophic variation form. By midcentury, cantata meant a secular composition with continu o. usually for solo voice. on a lyrical or quasi - dramatic text. cons isting of several sections that inclueleel both recitatives and arias. Most cancatas were composed for private performances in the homes of aristocratic patron s and are preserveel only in manuscripts. Some of the Jead ing cantata compose rs of lhe mid seventeenth century we re Luigi Rossi and Antonio Cesti (see chapter 11): Giacomo Carissimi, who is reme mbe red toelay for his o ratorios (see below); and Barbara Strozzi (1619- 1677: see biOb•nphy, p. 332). Strozzi'sla.grimemie (NAWM 77), published in herDiportidiEuterpe (Pleasurcs of Eutcrpe. 1659), is rcp rcse ntativc of thc solo cantata in presc nting successivc sectio ns of recita tive, arioso, anda ria. and of Strozzi in its focus on unrequited !ove. ln lhe opc ning measures of the rec itat ive, s hown in Exa mp lc 15.3, thc Jo ng el csccnding line, hcsitatio ns o n disso nant n otes (D~. A, and F#) over the opening E- minar harmony, and the augmented second from D; to Cq port ray the weeping and s obb ing lover. Throughout thc cantata, Strozzi changes stylc and ftguration frequently to capture the moods anel

_, EXAMPLE 15.3,

z.e -ji-ro ,e - fi - ~

/\ - 1•

Strozzi. Lagrim e mie

-:;!= . i

íi roto;-

Ci ~o tor

U.l

gn-me mi

)

t.l

r· r r

1-1 '

r r

Zephyr [tlte gentle /Jreeze] retu.ms.

rF~ rr r 1

'T" F 1

•

): Myiears. [-whatholdsrouback?J

1 Concise ~

1 1 Full ~ 1

332

C ti A P T E li 15 • Music for Chamber and Church ln eh• Early S•ventt•nth Century

BARBARA STROZZI (1619-1677)

Strozzí was a rarity among Baroque composers. both as a woman and as a musician whose performances were intended for intimate. private garherings rather than for large, public audiences. She was bom in Venice, the adopted (and perhaps biological) daughter of poet and librettist Giulio Strozzi. Her father nurtured her ambitions as a composer and introduced her to the intellectual elite of Venice. From her teens, she sang ar the Strozzi home for gatherings of poets and other writers, formalized in 1637 as the Academy of the Unisoní. She srudied with Francesco Cavallí, the leading Venetian opera composer and a student of Monteverdi's. Unlike Anna Renzi (see chapter 14) and other female singers, Strozzí did not perform in public and perhaps could not because of her high social class. She was supported financíally by her father. by the noble patrons to whom she dedicated her publications, and probably by Giovanni Paolo Vidman, the apparent father of at leasl three of her four chíldren. Between 1644 and 1664, Strozzi published eight collectíons of vocal music (one is now lost). Her publications contain over one hundred madrígals. arias. cantatas, and motets, placing her among the most prolific composers of vocal chamber music of the century. 1ndeed, she published more cantatas than any other composer of the time. Her choice to publish her music is unusual for women musicians in the seventeenth century and may reAect the feminist sympathíes of her father and his circle or (since publication was expensive) her relative weal th. Perhaps her

Catholic Sacred Music

333

for church music. setting religious texts in sacrccl co11ccrtos that incorpo rated basso coniinuo, the concertato medium, monody, and operatic styles from recitative to aria. The stimulus was the sarne in both cases: using a dramatic. powerful art medium lo convey the church's message in the most persuasive and rhetorically el'feccive way.

Yet the church did not abandon polyphony. Indeed. Palestrina's style Stile antico became lhe supreme model for ch1u ch music. bringing associations of age. tradilion. reverence, purity. and sanct ity. Composers were routinely trained to write in t he old contrapuntal style, known from midcentury on as lhe stile (111tico (old s1.y le), whjch coexisle<l aJongside the stile 11wdemo (mo<lern s tyle) . A compose r might uc il ize both styles. some1imes in a s ingle piece. as Montevcl'(li did on seve ra! occas ions. Ove,· cime, 1hcstile anti.co ,~as modcrn izecl. Co rnposers aclded a ba s~o cont inuo anel regularized rhylhms. and chu rch modes gave way to major- minor to nality. Johann Joseph f'ux codi fi ed th is quasi - Palcstrinian cou nterpoin t in his f'amous t reatise Gradus ad Pam.Msu.m (S teps to Parnassus, 1725), which remainecl the most influential texlbook on countcrpoi nt forthc next two ccn tur ics.

LARGE-SCALE SACRED CONCERTO Major feast days- at least in the large, wealthy churches- were celebrated on

a grand scale. For such observances, composers wrote Vespers, psalms, mass movements, and other wor ks for many voices with instruments. often using Female Musician with Viola da Gamba. almost certain ly a portrait of Barbara Srrozziarou.nd 1637, pain1ed by BemardoScrotti (perhops a relarioe). lfer sedu.ctive costume. rlte flowers in herltair, ,md the musical attrib11tes (instruments and songbook) sugges11ha1 llie subject is a personifica,1ion of la, Musica,, allegorized os 0,1 ilwüoti-011 to sensU-Ol love. <o•MX1 ••· FIGURE 15.1:

OAL.11.11,LE $TMTUCII E XUNSTSAMM"LUNOE~. ORESOtfl.',

cr.n~UNY. PIIOT(); P.IUCJI t.F'.SSINC/ AnT AF.SOtrRC::t. NY)

choice to publish was a way for her to be · heard" beyond the prívate gatheríngs in which she sang. MAJOR WO RKS : 3 collectionsof cantatasand arias, 2 of

cori spezzaii (divided chofrs). Giovanni Gabrieh wrote polychoral mote1s for St. Mark's in Venice and for the confraternity of San Rocco that includecl two or more choirs. vocal soloists. an instrumental ensemble. anel one or more organs playing continuo. One of his mosr specracular large - scale sacrecl concertos is ln ecclesiis (NAWM 78), written for an an nua l celebratio n in Ve nice and pubHshecl posthumously in 1615. Here Gabrieli combined four vocal soloists. a four-part chorus. a six-part i nstrumental ensemhle. and organs in a kalei<loscope of s tyles from mo<lern arias and instrumencal canzo nas to Renaissance imita tive polyphony. slowly building to a massivc sonor ous chmax. Orazio Benevoli (1605- 1672) was anolher maste r of the medi um an<l one oi' thc maj or ftgures ín sevcntccnth- ccntury Catholic music. His works includc psalms, motels, a od masses fo1· 1hrce or more ch oi rs wilh orga n, wrílten mostly fo r St. Pcter's in Rome during the 1640s. Benevoli co mb íned the so norities with utmost skill, alternating an tiphona l effects with mass ivc climaxes.

1 Concos• i\\ 1 1 Fui! i\\ 1

arias, and 1 each of madrigals and motets

SMALL SACRED CONCERTO images of the text. The overal l effect . combining contrasting musical elements and emotions, is c:yp ical of rbe concerted style ai midcentury.

Catholic Sacred Music Jusl as Bernini used iheal rica l effects for his religio us sculpl.ure and archi 1ecture (see chapte r 13), so Catholic compose rs adop tcd I he theatrical idio m

Few places had the resources to support large - scale polychoraJ works, buc the s11w U s<1crcd concerto. with one or more soloists accompanied by organ co111i nuo and often by one or 1wo violins. was within rhe means of even small chm·ches. Lodovico Viadana (ca. 1560- 1627) became a pioneer in using the small voca] conceno for church music. and his 1602 collection Cento concerti ecc/.esiastici (One Hundred Chu rch Con certos) was the first vo lume of sacr ed vocal music prinled with basso continuo. Viadana adapled the melodie style and imilative lextures of s ixteenth-centu ry polyphony to the reduced forces of one to fou r singe rs wilh cont inu o. Exsulta,t,e Deo, s hown in Exampl e 15.4, is

Lodovico Viadana

334

C H A P T E K 15

• Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

EXAM PLE 15.4,

Viadana. Exsultate Deo./rom. Cento concerti ecclesiastici

EXAMPLE 15.5,

- -

Ex -

)

Catholic Sacred Music

e,· • s1d - 10- r,

. r

r• 1

De . o ad-ju -

r:::::: :1' r f r r· 1

Contrasti,ng siyles i.n Gra,ndi's O quam tu pulchra es

a. Recita tive style 10- ri

------

no - srro

r·

s11l-ta- 1c De - o

335

- J,J

º-

)

----

_v _

quam

ht pul cbra

::.r

cs.

º--

quam tu pul chra cs .

-x·

- FF f'

&ult in Cod ou.r lielper.

Oh how beautiful rou are.

Alessandro Grandi

typical in suggesting more vo ices ttha n a re actually presenl. The voice imi tates the bass, the n both bass and. voice repeat the sarne fi gure at anothe r pitch lcvcl, creating an eff'ect of four independent voices cntering in succession. The continuo player may add further voices, as shown in the example . Thc prcsence of continuo assurcd .a fu ll harmony. making it unnecessa ry to double or replace any vocal parts with instruments; indeed, the pieces for two to four singers sound complete even if one voice is omitted. This adaptability made Viadana's collection usab le by almost any church and contributecl to its popularity. Alessandro Grandi (1586- 1630). Monteverdi's deputy at St. Mark's in Ven ice in the l 620s. composed many solo motets that used the new styles of monody. His O quam tu pt,lchra es (NAWM 79) , published in 1625, blends elements from recitative, solo madriga], and lyricaria. The changingstyles reflect the moods of tbe text. drawn from the Song of Songs. a book in tbe Hebrew Scriptures whose dialo&,ue between two lovers was caken as a metaphor for God's lave foi-the church. As show11 in Example 15.5, t.he wonderof the opening line. "Oh how beautiful you are.'' is captured in recitalive style by a sus tained note in tbe voice, a ski p lo a dissonance in lhe bass. anda qujck descent to a resolution in the voice, while pa rts of the text suggest ing act ion are set in a ria stylc in tripie mete r. The use of modcrn musical stylcs and tbe language of love para ll els Bemini 's sensuous de picti on of St. Teresa in ecstasy (see chaptcr 13) in suggesting thc inte ns ity of communion with th c divinc. No doubt ma ny more peopl e cncounte rcd the mocle rn vocal styles in chu rch services anel dcvotional music than in opera or in private concens of secu lar vocal music.

MUSIC IN CONVENTS

Lucrena Vi.zzana

Music in convems was mostly unheard by che public. Church administntors in Rome and some other citi es put many obstacles in the way of convents try ing to develop a full musical life for nuns and novices. These administrators would not allow exp erienced male music directors, composers. or outside musicians to enter the convents forthe purpose of instructing singers or joining them in rehearsals. Oespite che many regulations that made serious musical aclivity a clandestine operation, a lively musical culture developed in the convents throughout Italy. At Santa Cristina della Fondazza in Bologna. the nuns fought for a levei of music- making equal to the standards and styles oulside the convent walls.

b. Aria style I\ t)

Sur - ge.

sur - ge.

pro - pe-ra .

sur - gc.

spon - sa

me - a.

_t,

)

Arisc. has1en . a rise. n,y b,·idc.

~ -

~· F= ~

Lucrez ia Viizana (1590- 1662) entered Santa Cl'is tina as a child a nel was trained tbere by an aunt. an organist. and by the convem's music master. He r Componimenti musicaLi (Mus icaJ Compos itions), pub lished in Venice in 1623, con tains twc n'ty motcts, most fo r onc or two soprano voices with basso continuo. Thcy incorpo ral.e clemcnts of thealri cal monody. including elaboratc voca l ornamentalion, declamalory phrases, and express ive use oFunprepa red or unresolved dissonance. Although tbe church ofncially reslricted music in convents, some establis hments thrivecl bccausc of sympathetic malc church offtcials who bc lieved that th e angelic voices oi' nuns coulcl have a crucia l rol e in the saJvation anel spiritual ed iftcation of the communities that s urrounded and supported the conven ts. One such co nvent was Santa Radegonda in Milan. whcre the public could anend services in the public half of the church and the mms' music- making on feast days was kt1own all over Europe. Margarita Cozzolani (l 602-ca. 1677). daughter of a wealthy merchant, entered the convent in 16 l 9 and cook che name Chlara. Berween 1640 and 1650 she pubHshed four coUections of sacred concertos, including an extended dialogue on Mary Magdalen e at Jesus' tomb anda large -scale Vespers that alternates po lychoral antiphony wich solos and duets i.11 up- 10-date a.ria and declamaco1)' sryles. Cozzolani's settil1gs are markecl byvariety in style and scoring, by reorderings ofliturgical texts. and by frequen t use of refrains. sequences. repeating bass lines. and other structural devices.

Chiara Margarita

Cozzolani

336

C H A P T E K 15 • Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

ORATORIO

TIMELINE Music for Chamber an.d Church in the Eady 17th Cen.tury

ltaly had a long tradition of religious music outside church services. such as the lauda. ln seventeenth-century Rome. a new genre of religious dramacic music emerged, comhining

uarrative. dialogue. and commentary. Toward midcentury.

such works beca me knowi1 as orntorios. after the halian word oratorio. or prayer bali. where lay societies met to contemplate. hear scrmons, and s ing laudas and othcr devotional songs. MUSICA L H ISTOR ICAL Like operas. oralorios u8ed recitatives. arias, duels, and instrumental prelucles and ritornellos. But. ora to rios differecl • 1600 Peri's L'Euridice from ope1·as in scve,·al ways: thci r subject mauer was ,·eli performed in Florence g ious: lhey were seidom if ever staged; action was desc ri bed or • ca. 1601 Shakespeare. Hamlet suggested rather than played out; the re was ofte n a narrator; • 1602 Giulio Caccini. Le nuove and thc chorus- usually an ensemble of severa] voices singing musiche one to a part- co uld take various roles, from participating i.n the d rama t.o na rrati11g or mcditating 011 cvc11ts. • 1602 Lodovico Viadana, Oratorio librettos were in ltalian or in Latiu, and despite Cento concerti ecclesiastici general simila rities lhe two types served somewhat different • 1605 Claudio Monteverdi purposcs. Si11ce they were in rhe vernacular. ltalian oratopublishes Fifth Book of Madrigals rios were a useful too! for the Catholic Church to spread its • 1611 King James translation of message of faith to commoner and nob lemen alike. ltalian me Bible oratorios resembled operas very closely and could provide a high-minded alternative rn the lheatrical form chat was at • 1615 Girolamo Frescobaldi, times condemned as sinfu l by the church. Often the same First Book of Toccatas singers were hired to sing opera and oratorio. helping to blur • 1617 Johann Hermann Schein, lhe stylistic differences between the genres. However. espeBanchetto musica/e cially early on, the [talian o ratorio repertory was notas care• 1618-48 Thirty Years· War fully preserved. since it was considered functional music to sp read lhe failh. The Latiu oratorio. on lhe olher hand. was • 1618 Schein, Opella nova more cherished by the church e lites. because like early operas for aristocralic cou.rts. it was prcscntcd by invilalion only. with lhe mostsophisl icaled resou rces availab le, sparing110 expe11se. Giacomo Carissimi Th e lcading composcr of Latin oratorios was Ciacomo Carissimi (16051674). HisJephte (ca. 1648) excm pli Ftes the m idcentury oratorio. Th e libretlo is based on Judges 11 :29- 40. with some parap hrasi11g a11d added materia l. ln rccitative, the narrator introduccs thc story. Then Jcp htha , an ls raelitc general, vows that il' lhe Lord gives him victOJ)' i11 lhe impend ing battle, he will sacriftce whatevcr crcaturc first greets him on his rcturn home. Jeph th a's victory over the Ammonites is recounted by the ensemble of six singers, with appropriate effects including stile coricitato. Tbe narrator relates in recita tive how Jephtha returns home in triumph. but the first to greet him is his daughter. so be must sacrilice her. Songs of rejoicing for victory are set as solo arias, duets, and ensemb les. followed by a dialogue in recitative between father and daughter. The chorus tells how the daughter goes to tJ1e mountains with her companions 10 bewail ber approaching death. ln che fmal scene 1 Condse :-\ 1 1 Full :-\ 1 (NAWM 80) , she sings a lament, a long, affecting recitative. Two sopranos, representing her companions. echo some of her cadential flourishes . The response by lhe chorus of six voices employs both polychoral and madrigalistic effects, includ ing the descend i ng 1e1 rachord bass associaterl with lame nts.

Lutheran Church Music

ln the sacred concertos of Gahrieli. Grandi. Vizzana. and Cozzolani, the oratorios of Carissimi, and other Catholic sacred music, we see composers usi11g a wide range of styles wilh both secular and religious origins to convey the church's message to their listeners. Rhetorical el'fectiveness was prized far above stylistic purity. ln these works. the primacy of the text and its dramatic declamation was central.

337

Heinrich Schütz, Psalmen Davids

• 1619

May{lower arrives in NewEngland

• 1620

Lucrezia Vizzana, Componimenti musicali

• 1623

Lutheran Church Music

Samuel Scheidt, Tabu/atura nova

• 1624

ln Ce nnan -speaking regio ns. co mposers in both Lhe Catho• 1629 Biagio Marini. Sonate. li c and Luthera11 churches soon took up the 11ew mo nod ic and symphonie, Op. 8 concertato techn iques. Sacred music in Austria a.nd Catholi c • 1632 Galileo charge d w irh southern Germany remained under strong Jtalian influence, heresy with ltalia11 composers particularly aclive in Munich, Salzburg. Prague, and Vienna. Composers in the Lutheran central • 1635 Frescobaldi, Fiori musicali and n orthern regions employed the new media, sometimes • 1637 First public opera house usingchora.le times or texts. AJ011gsicle compositions in mod opens in Venice em style, Lutheran composers continued to write polyphonic • 1638 Monteverdi. /v1adrigali chorale motets and motets on biblical texts without chorale guerrieri et amorosi melodies. Many biblical motets by Hans Leo Hassler, Michael Prae• ca. 1648 GiacomoCarissimi, torius, and otJ1ers in the early seventeentb century were in the Jephte large -scale concerto medium. showing Germans' admiralion • 1650 Schütz. Symphoniae for the Venecian fashion. The small sacred conce rto was even sacrae Ili more comm on. Here the most inlluentiaJ figures were Viadana, • 1659 Barbara Strozzi. Oipo, ti whose works ci.rculated in German-speaking lands. andJohann difoterpe Hermann Schein (1586-1630), who puhlished two imporlant collections in 1618 and 1626 at Leipzig, both titled OpeUa novn (Ncw LitLlc Wo rks) . Thc f,rst book consists chiclly of ducts with cont.i 11uo on chorales, freely paraphras i11g lhe chorale melodies, inserli.ngvocal embellis hments, and dividingphrases amongthc voices. ln thcse works Schein ble11ds the Lutheran chorale trad ition with the modem Jtalian style. The seconcl book i11cludes more chora ie duets. but most pieces are 011 biblical texts and the scttings are mo re varied, often using onc or more solo instruments and conlrasting solo with ensemble sections. Schein's sacred concertos seta precedent for a long series of sim ilar works by Luthcran composers.

HEINR ICH SCHÜT Z Heinrich SchUlZ (1585- 1672) was a mascer at applying the new ltalian styles lo cburch music. He studied in Venice with GiovaJmi Gahrieli, visited aga in during Monteverdi's years there. and brought their approaches back to Germany. where he was chapei master at the Saxon court in Dresden (see biography, p. 338). Hc is particularlyren oW11ed forwritingmusicthat captures tJ1c meanings and imagery of lhe text. Allhough he was a Lttlheran composer ala Lutheran courl.. he seldom used chora le melodies in bis sacred music. preferring lo create mo1e1s and sacred concertos on Lexts from the Bible and other sou rces.

338

C ti A P T E li 15 · Music for Chamber and Church ln eh• Early S•ventt•nth Century

HEINRICH SCHÜTZ (1585-1672)

Schütz is known especially for his church music and for his singular genius at conveying the meaning of words. The son of an innkeeper, Schütz showed an early talent for music. Although his family did not want him to pursue musicas a career. his singing at age twelve so impressed Moritz. the Landgrave of Hesse, that the nobleman insisted on bringing Schütz to Kassel and sponsoring his education in music and other subjects. Schütz entered the University of Marburg to srudy law. but Moritz persuaded him to go to Venice in 1609 and study composition with Giovanni Gabrieli. There Schütz published his first work , a collection of five-part ltalian madrigals. After Gabrieli's death in 1612, he returned to Kassel as court organist. but the elector oí Saxony pressured Moritz first to lend and ultimately to grant him the young musician. showing not only that Schütz was greatly esteemed as a musician. but also that musicians were essentially servants. not entirely free to decide their own destinies. From 1615 to his death in 1672. Schütz was chapei master for the electors court in Dresden. although he took leaves to visit ltaly and work brieffy at other courrs. He peritioned for reduction of his duties beginning in 1645, at age sixty. a request granted only after the elector's death in1657. Schütz wrote music for ali major ceremonies at court, secular and sacred. The former included the Íirst German opera (1627), several ballets, and other stage works, although almost none of this music survives. He apparently did not write independent instrumental music. What remains is a great quantity and variety of church music. Some had personal resonance: his fírst sacred collection.

Early sacred works

339

Lutheran Church Music

1625) contains polyphonic Latiu motcts. cnlivencd by harmonic novel ties and mad.rigal - like wordpainting. The ti.rst book of Syrnphoniae sacra.e (Sacred Symphonies, 1629) presents concerted Latiu motets for various small combinations of voices and instruments. Published in Veniee during Schu tz's second sojourn there, it shows the strong inlluence of Monteverdi

and Grandi, combining recita tive. aria. and concerted madrigal styles.

FIGURE 152,

HeinrichSchillzalaboul

Schütz wrote the pieces in !tis Kleine geislliche Konzerte (Small Sacred Concertos. 1636 and 1639) during lhe 1630s for chu rch services at Drestlen. As h e mentions in h is preface (see Source Read ing), thc chapei had been greatly reduced in size duelo lhe Tltirty Years' \V/ar lhen raging through Germany and draining h is parron's t reasu ry , so he sco retl the concertos for only one LO f1ve solo voices. fewcr singer s than in mosl of his prcv ious works. a nel uscd no instruments beyond lhe continuo. These lwo collecüons were quite popula r th r oughout Ge rmany because they met the need fo r s mall wo rks suitab le fo r pe rfo rmance in Luthcran chu r chcs. Two more books of Sym.phoniae sacrae, fealu ring sacred concertos in German. appeared in 1647 a nd 1650. The last insta ll ment. publishccl after th e Tbirty Years· War, used thc fttll musical r csour ces ofthe Dresdcn chape i, now agai n available. The large · scale concerto Saul, was veifotgst du mich ( NAWM 8 1) calls for two cho irs cloublccl by instrumcnts, six so lo voices. two vio li ns. and continuo and comb ines the polychoral style of Gabrieli with the dissonant rhetoric of Monteverdi. lt brings to life the moment when Saul, on the way to Damascus to fetch Christian pri soners. is stopped by a blinding flasb of ligh t and lhe voice of Christ calllng to him, ··saul, why cio you persecute me?"

Kleine geistliche Konzerte

Symphoniac sacrae l l anel

111

1 Conc,se M 1 1 Full M 1

age sevenly. in a porlrail by Cluistoph

Spe.tner. (ueaEc11T Mus1c • ARTS PHOTO ueRARY) Psalmen Davids. was published shortly before his 1619 wedding to Magdalena Wildeck. and her death in 1625 prompted simple four-part settings

of a German psalter (published 1628). His Musi· kalische Exequien (1636) was funeral music for a friend and patron. But most was simply service music, each piece perfectly suited to the text at hand and the musicians at his disposal. MAJOR: WORKS: Psalmen Dav/ds (German polycho• ral psalms), Cantiones sacrae (Latin motets). Symphoniae sacrae (sacred symphonies. 3 volumes). /vlusikalische Exequ/en (funeral muslc). K/e,ne geistliche Konzerie (small sacred concertos, 2 volumes), The Seven Last WordsoJChrist. Christmas Hisrory. 3 Passions

Schtilz published most of his sacr ed wo rks in a series of coll ections that show a remarkable variety. The nrst , Psalnien Davids (Psalms of David, 16 19), combines sensiüve lrearmen Lof German texts with Lhe magnificence of the Venetia n large·scale concerto for two o r more choruses, solo is1s, and inslru · ments, foll owing t he modcl of Cab ri e li. Cant.iones sacrae (Sacrcd Songs,

THE EFFECTS OF THE TH IRTY YEARS' WAR The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) devastated Germany and depleted the treasuries of the rulers involved After Saxony enrered the war in 1631. rhe elecror of Saxony, Heinrich Schütz's employer, could no longer afford to keep many musicians. ln response. Schütz published his Kleine geistliche Kcnzerte (Small Sacred Concertos, 1636 and 1639). which could be performed with rhe reduced forces available. His preface acknowl edged the eflects of the war.

The extent to which, among other liberal arts, so also praiseworthy Music has not only gone into a great decline but in many places has been alto· gether destroyed by the still continuing course of the war in our beloved German homeland. is e lear to many eyes, along with the general ruin-

ous conditions and deep-seated unrest which unhappy war is wont to bring with it. 1myselí am experiencing th is with regard to several of my musical compositions. which I have had to hold back for lack of publishers up to this time and even now, until perhaps the Almighty will gra· ciously grant us better times in which to tlhrive. But meanwhile. so that my God -given talem in this noble art does not remain totally idle but can create some small offering , 1 have composed a few small concerted pieces and have now published them as a foretaste, as ir were. of my musical work in God's honor. Heinrich SchOtz. Dedication to Part One. trans. Stan· ley Appelbaum, in Kleine ge,stliche Konzerte, •d. Philipp $pitta (Mineola. NY: Dover. 1996). 3.

340

C H A P T E K 15

Use of rnusica.l figures

Historia

• Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

Jewish Music

(Acts 26: 12- 18). The experieuce led him to convert to Christianity. change his name to Paul, and devote himself to spreading the Gospel. This work typilies Schütz's use of musicn f figures to convey the meaning of the words. Schütz's studenl Christoph Beruhard (1627- 1692) was one oí many German theorists to catalogue figures rhat break the rules oí traditional

setting based on a bih lical narra tive. ln TheSeven.Last WordsofChris1 (1650s?). Schütz sec the narrative portions as solo recitative or for chorus with continuo, while the words of Jesus. in free, expressive monody. are accompa nied. by strings anel continuo. The whole is introduced by a s hort chorus and inscrumental sinfonia anel ends wilh a repeticion of the sinfonia anda clos-

counterpoiut but are useful to composers in interpreting the text. For exam-

ing chorus. His Christmas Hi.srory (1664) features recitatives for the narra-

ple. at the end of the opening phrase. shown in Example 15.6a. lhe top voice leaps down from a dissonantAto a dissonant E (both againsta G-cninor triad). Then the lwo voices move in paralle l seco nd s, thc bouom voice resolving Lhe suspens ion. D- q. at the sarne time lhe top voice anticipates the resol ution by movingto D. These unusual dissonances at the cad.en ce are what Be rnhard ca ll cd cadentiae du.,fasculo.e ( harsh cadcnl ial no tes), convcying lhe ha1·shncss of Jesus· words. ·'Why do you persecute me?" Later. in Example 15.6b. a solo voi ce leaps down a s ixth from a n unresolved dissonance , a saltus duriusculus (harsh leap), to suggcst the hard road ahead forSaul if he res ists. Such figures have their roots in the text- painting of Renaissance madrigals and motets, wh il c thc attempt to codify them reíl ccts the des irc of Cerman theorists to reconcile theory with practice. A prominent geme in the Lutheran tradition was the hi.storin , a musical

tive inierspersed wilh scenes i11 the conce rta to medium. including arias and choruses with instrumen tal accompani.ment. The 1110s t common type of historia was a P<1ssio11 , a musical se lling of the sto1y oí Jes us' cruciftxion. Schütz wrote three in 1666, íollowing the accounts of Mat 1.hew, Luke. and Jo hn. For t.hese he used not concertal<) s tyle but the oldc r Cc rman tradit ion of trcal ing the narra tive in plainsong anel lhe wo rds of Lhe d isciples. Lhe crowd. anel olher groups in polyphon ic 111otet style. During h is lifet ime. Schütz's music was known mainly in Luthe ra n areas of Germany, anel aftcr his death it f'aded from the repertoire unti l revived in the n inelee nth and twentieth centuries. Yet he helped to establish Germany as a central pari of thc Europcan tradition rath er than as a pcripheral rcgion. His SJnthesis of German and halian elements helped to lay the foundation for !ater G-erman compose rs, from Bach through Brahms.

EXAMPLE 15.6:

Schii.tz. Saul. was ver folgsl du mich oodennae dumuculae

o·

Saul,

Saul.

Sat1l.

Saul.

wns

1 du mich?

ver-folgs1

, :-

Saul.

ôo

'O°•

'O"

1 1 \•e,· - íolgs1

was

;

du mic.h?

f$'

Saul, whydoyou persecute me?

•

<> o

'O"

b. Solo, wilh sa ltusdu riusculus

" '~ ,? 11

Solo

$c,ltu.$ duriusculu.$

,----,

• Es wir<l

dir schwcr wer F

r..::=: ~F r

: ~

wi-der /en Sta-chel iu lo;;----::--- ken._

den.

lt will be hardforyou to kick ogainst thegoads.

Legacy

Jewish Music

a. Opening, with cade ntiae dur iusc ulae

Passions

r r

r r t

•

The n ew developments in the seventeenth centmy extended even to Jewis h music. which was among Europea11 íaiths lhe one mosl bound hy tradition. Musical pracrices in sy11ag01,1t1es had remained rema rkahly s table for centuri es, but t.his began to ch ange in th e early l 600s. Although cantill ation was s till Lhe primary form of music in the Jewish liturgy. new techniques came int.o use. We know t.h.is because oí severa) rabbinica l declaralions denouncingtlnc use of popu lar non -Jcwis h tuncs as thc bas is fo r im proviscd passagcs. Becau sc oílhe oral nalurc of cantillalio n, no mus ic swvivcs Lo show how these secular melodies were used. but wrilien desc ri ptions s uggest practices that. resemble those sti ll used today in Orthodox Jcwish synagogues. The seventeenth ceolu ry also saw the introduction of polyphony into synagogue services. Through thc effo,ts of Leon Modena ( 1571- 1648), who was a humanist scholar as wel l as a rahbi and cantor, imp roviscd po lyphony was performed atlhe synagogue in Ferrara as early as 1604. ln 1607, Modena beca me cantor at th e Venice synagogue anel conti nued to promote the use of polYJihony. Among Modena's writings on music is the preface to the n rst publisheel book of polyphonic Jewish liturgical music, whose title page is shown in Figure 15.3. The thirty-three settings oí Hebrew psa lms. hymns, and synagogue songs were written by the Mantuan composer Salamone Rossi (ca. 1570-ca. 1630), and the collection was titled Hashirim asher li.slilomo (Th e Songs of Solomon, 1622- 23). a pun 011 Rossi's ftrst name. The style is thatof Rossi's secular mus ic. incorpora ling the i11Iluences of Monteverdi and olher northern ltalian composers of the time. There are also eleme nts of [ralian Jew ish chant. which is lhe only factor. otber Lhan Hebrew texts. 1hat ide111i í1es t hese works as Jewish. Rossi is equally well known fo r his mad rigals. incl u el ing the f1 rst pub lished col lectio n or cont inu o mad rigals. Despite his

Polyphony

Salamone Rossi

341

342

C ti A P T E li 15 • Music for Chamber and Church ln eh• Early S•ventt•nth Century

evident skills as a composer. Rossi's Jewisb faith limited his professional opp ortunities, and he never achieved a pennanent court posit ion. His remained one of the few at temp ts to write Jewish liturgical polyphony unlil tbe nineteentb century.

Instrumental Music

343

• keyboard or lute pieces in improvisatory scyle. called toccata. fant<t,sia , or prelude; • fugal pieces in con tinuous imitative counte rpoint, ca ll eel riccrcarc, fantasia ,fan,cy, capriccio , orfugne; • pieces with conlrast ingsections. o ften in imilat ive counte rpoint.. called c,111z o11" or .~1.m a/.a ; • settings of existing melodies, as in an orga11 verse or chorale 11re-

Instrumental Music Th e inte ract ion of tradition and innovation typical of the f1rst hall' of Lhe scvcntcenth centul'y is apparcnl in mus ic ío r instruments as well as for voices. Instrum en tal music continued to gain ind epend ence fro m vocal mus ic, beco ming thc latte r's cqua l in both quantity and qua li ty. Composers still prac ticed most sixteenth-century types of instrumental mus ic but focuscd on abs tract gcnres whi le decmphasiiing t bose most dependcnt on vocal modcls, s uc b as transcrip tions. At the sarne time, instrumental co mposers borroweel many eleme nts typical of the new FIGURE 15 ~, Tiile page of thejirs1 pu.blicavocal idioms, includingemploymenl of the basso continuo, liurt of}ewish lt1mgical music ,ri polJplwrty. interest in moving lhe affectio ns. focus on the soloist. and Salamone Rossi's Hashirim ashe r use of virtuosic embellis hment, id iomatic composition. lish'lomo. prinwd.111, Venice in 1622-23. s tylistic contras1, and even speciJic styles s uch as 1·ecitative and aria. Performers ou the violiu. which rose to promiuence in the seventeenth century. emulated the solo voice and absorbed many vocaJ techn iques into their vocahulary.

TYPES OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Pe,fo rmingforces

~nue

Nationa,lity

Types ofpieces

The re are several ways to catego1·ize Baroque instrume ntal mus ic. Four approaches a1·c panicularly help ful : by pcrforming forces. vcnue. nationality. anel type of compos iti on. ln considering perfo rming forces, we find so lo works, for keyboa rd, lute, lheorbo, guitar, o r harp; chatnber works, for soloist or chambe r group wil h continuo: anel large -e nsemble wo rks, ío r two or mo re playe rs on a pari. The last bccomcs signiftca nt only aftcr 1650, but so me ca rlie r cnscmbl c works may have been perfonneel with mui ti pie players on each part. Baroque instrumental musiccan also becatego rized by venue orsocial fun ction . Like vocal music, instrumental works served in alJ three social arenas: church (e.g., organ and ensemble music in religious services), chamber (e.g., solo aud small eusemble music for private entertainmen ts and public pageants). and theater (e.g.. sinfonfas. dances, anel interludes in baileis and operas). A third way is by nationality. Italian , French, German, English, and Spanisb composers d iffered iu the genres and stylistic elements they preferred. Part of the fascination of Baroque music is leanüng whicb traits are common in each region and watching composers borrow and blend characteristics from other lauds. Finally. a fourth way is hy type of work. Until 1650. the following broad ca tegories prevailed:

l1ule: • pieces that vary a give n melody (·v"riC1tio 11s , JJCtrliLCt), chorale (chora/e varfot.ions. chorale partita). or bass Jin e (partiu, , chaco1111c. passacagli<t); • ,lu11ccs and othe r pi eces in stylized dance rhythms. whether inde pe ndcnt, paired, or linkcd togcthc r in a suit,e.

ln the secoud ha lf of lhe ce ntury, co mposers more often specifted the exact instru mentation. anel th c mix of preferred gemes changed. The prin cipal types of keyboard composirion alter 1650 were 1he prelude, toccata , fugue, chorale or chant setting. variations, and suite. Works for ensemble fell into two broacl categories: sonata and related gemes. and st1ite and similar genres. Large-ensemble music encompassed suites, sinfonias, and the new genre of the instrumental concerto. El ements of one style or type of work often appear in another. For exam ple, the process of varying an idea can be found in ricercares, canzonas, anel dance suites as we ll as in variations. Toccatas may in clude fugal sections, and canzonas may have sections in improvisato1y style. For listeners at the Lime. 1he diffe re nces be tween nacional styles. ber:ween dances. or between tocca ta anel fugal textu res we re as apparent as the elifferences between h ip h op anel co unt1y mus ic are to mode m lis te ners. Composers exploited these di ffe re nces. us iug co ntrast.s of s tyle and lextu re as ele me nts of form anel cxprcssion.

Mixing textures andstyles

TOCCATA Toccatas anel other imp rovisatory pieces were playeel on lhe harpsichorel (as chambcr musi c) or the organ (as se rvice music) . AJthough some differences can be observed between toccacas intended for organ and harpsichord, notahly greater reliance ou sustained tones and unus ual harmon ies in those for orgao, most toccatas couJel bc played on either inst rumeu t. Tbe most importam composer of toccatas was Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583- 1643: see biography and Figure 15.4, p. 314), organist at St. Peter's in Rome. Toccata No. 3 from his first book of toccatas for harpsichord (16 15: NAWM 82) is typical in l'eaturing a succession of brief sections. each focused 011 a particularngure tbat is subtlyvaried. Some sections displayvirtuoso passage work. while otbers pass ideas between voices. Each section ends with a caden ce. weakened harmonically. rhyihmically. 01· through con tin ued voice move ment in orelerto sustain momentu m until the very enel. Accorel ingto the composer's preface. the vai·ious seclions of these toccatas may be played separately. anel the player may end the piece at any appropriate cadence. remind ingus that in the Baroque e ra written mus ic was a pla tform fo r performance,

Cirolamo Frescobaldi 1 Conc,se ~ 1 1 Full ~ 1

344

C ti A P T E li 15 • Music for Chamber and Church ln eh• Early S•ventt•nth Century

Instrumental Music

FIGURE 15.5, Toccata before Mass fo r Sundays. fram Prescobaldi's Pio ri musica li (1635). as it appeared ,11 tlte original print. Prescobaldi pub· lisl&ed 1he wurk iri ope,1sco,·e rather tl, an 011 two srcwes, as was ttSILal for Italian k·eyboard rnt,sic. beca11sc he considere<t it ofgrcal irnporlance for performers 10 know how 10 play from opcn score. (COURTrSY Tlt t BRITISH

GIROLAMO FRESCOBALD-1 (1583-1643) As one of the first composers of international stature to focus primarily on instrumental music, Frescobaldi helped to put lt on a par with vocal music. Heis best known for his keyboard music, but he also wrote vocal works and ensemble canzonas. Born ln Ferrara, Frescobaldi was trained there in organ and composition. ln 1608, he became organist at St. Peter's in Reme. He supplemented his income serving noble patrons and teaching keyboard, giving him an outlet for harpsichord and other chamber music. He published collections of keyboard works with dedications to various patrons, ln 1628, he became organist to the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Florence, then returned to Rome and St. Peter's in 1634 under the patronage of the Barberini family, nephews of the pope. By then, his music was celebrated in France, Flanders, and Germany. After his death, Frescobaldi remained widely adm,red across Europe. His keyboard music was a model for composers from his time through

F'iori musica li

Johann}acob Froberger

FIGURE 15.4,

Cirolamo Frescobaldi in Jus fo rties. in achallr drawing byC/audeMellan.

J,IIJRJ\ftY)

(ÉCOU: DES 8EAUX• AflTS, J•A(US, PMNC6. l'l:tOTO:

S<'.A.i.AIAR.'r R.l?SOURCE. NY)

RICERCARE AND FUGUE

J. S. and C. P. E. Bach 's, particularly his toccatas because of their free fantasy and his ricercares and other imitative works because of their learned counterpoint. MAJOR WORKS: Keyboard toccatas, fantasias, ricer·

cares. canzonas. and partitas: Fiori musical,, with 3 organ masses: ensemble canzonas: madrigals, chamber arias, mo tétS. and 2 mass, .s

nol all unchangeable lexl. Frescobald i i11dicaled th at in h is tocca tas lh e tempo is nol subj ect to a regular bea t but may be mo di li ed acco rding to the mood or charactc r of thc mus ic. He also s ought to convcy a va riety of affcct·ions or moods in each toccata (see Source Readings, p. 346). Th e role of the toccata as se rvice music is illus trated by those in Presco baldi"s Fiori musicaU ( Musical Flowers, 1635). a set of three orgc111 111.asscs , each co ntaini ngexamples of lhe mttsic Frescobald i suggests an organ is t coul d play at Mass. Ali three i nclude a tocca ta bc forc Mass and another at thc Elcva tion of thc Host b efore Communion, and two add another toccata befo re a ricercare. These toccatas are shor te r than his on es for harpsichord bul just as scctional. and t hey fcature thc sustain cd tones anel harm onic surprises ofte n foun d in organ toccatas. He p ublished this collection in open score, as sbown in Figure 15.5. rather than on two staves. the usual notation for keyboarcl music. arguing in his preface that p layi ng from a score ··serves to dist ingu ish the true go ld of the actions of virtuosos from those oi' the ignora ol.'' Frescobald.i's most famous student was Johann Jacob Frobe rger (16161667). organist at lh e imperial coui-t in Vienn a. Froberger's toccatas len d to allernale improvisatory passages wi th sections in imilalive cou tllerpoim. His pi eces were the model for th e later merging of 1occata and fugue, as in the worksof Buxtehude (see NAWM 95) . or thei.rcoupling, as in Bach's toccataso r preludes a11d fu&rues (see NAWM 100).

345

The seven l.eenth - century ricercare was typically a serious co mpositio n fo r o rgan or ha rps ichord in which o nc s11.bjcct , or themc. is co ntinuou s ly developed in imitation. The Ricercare after the Credo from Frescobaldi's Mass fo r th e Madonna in flori m11sicali (NAWM 83) is remarkab le for th e ski llfü l handl ing oi' chromatic lin es and the subtle use oi' s hifting barmo 11ies and dissonances, revealing a quiet intensity that cbaracterizes much of Fr escobaldi's organ music. As shown in Example 15.7. the subject has a strong p rolile marked by leaps and a slow cbromatic ascent. mak.ing it easy to b ear Lhe sub ject on each ent rance, wbile lhe fasler d iatoruc co utller subject offers co ntrast. ln lhe early seventeenth century. some composers. especially in Gennany. bega n m apply the Ler rn fug utl ( fro m rhe llali anjiiga. " llight."). fo rrnerly used for th e techn ique of imitation itself. as the nam e of a genre of ser ious p ieces that l reat on e tbeme i ncontinuou s imitation. As we will see in chapters 17 and 19, fugues beca me increas ingly impo rlan t in lhe late seven leenth and early e ightee nth ce nluries.

EXAMPLE 15.7,

Frescobaldi, Ricercare of1er the Credo f rom Moss fo r lhe Maclorma,

in Fi ori musica li

Fui! !\\

346

C H A P T E K 15 • Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

Instrumental Music

CANZONA As in the sixteenth century, the canzona was an imitative piece for keyboard or ensemble in severa! contrasting sections. played either as chamber music or in church. Canzonas fearnred maTkedly rhythmic themes anda more lively

FRESCOBALDI ON INSTRUMENTAL EXPRESSION ln the prefaces to his collections of keyboard works. Girolamo Frescobaldi encouraged performers to vary the speed and manner of performance ln order to express the chang,ng moods o, affections (af{ertí). His advíce suggests that he saw instrumental musicas akin to vocal muslc ln conveying the affectlons, and that he sought to reílect a va,iety of feelings th,ough f,equent changes of figuration.

- ~ ln the course [of performing] take care to d istinguish the passages. p laying them more or less quickly according to the difference of their ef{etti. which are made evident as they are played.

Girolamo Frescobaldi, foreword to his Primo Libro di Toe· cate [First Book ofToccatas. 1615].

Having seen how accepted the manner of playing with singable il{{etti and diversity o f passages is. 1 have seen it fii to show myselí equally in favor o f it, as well as lond o f it, with these leeble e fforts of

m ine. presenting them in print with the g uidelines below.. .. First, that this way o f playing must not be subject to the beat - just as we see in modem madrigals which. though d ifficult. a re made more manageable by [altering] the beat. making it now languid, now quick, and occasionally suspending it in mid-air, according to their af{etti, or the sense o f the words. 2. ln the toccatas I have taken care ... that they be rife with a variety of passages, and of a//etti. Frescobaldl. loreword to the 1616 reprlnt of his Primo

Libro di Toccace. ln those matters which do not appear to be regulated by the use of counterpoint, one m ust foremost seek the affetto of that passage and the Author's goal. as far as the pleasing o f the ear and the way of playing is concerned. Frescobaldi. foreword to his Capricci (1624). Translations by Andrew Dell'Antonio.

FANTASIA

English consort fant asias

Thc keyboa rd fan tasia, an imitative work 011 a larger scal e than the riccrca re, had a more com plex formal organization. Th e leading fantasi a composers in this period were the Dutch organist .lan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562162 1) and his Ccrman pupil Samuel Schcidt ( 1587- 1654). ln Sweelinck's fantasias, a fugaJ exposi tion usua.Uy leads to successive sections witb different countersubj ects, sometimes treati ng the suhj ect in rhythmic augmenta ti.on or dimi11.11,tio11 (in s horter durations), Scheidt's Tabu,latura nova, (New Tablature, 1624) incl udes severa! monumental fantasias. He called it new, because instead of using tradicional Cerman organ rablarure. Scheidt adopted lhe modem Italian practice of writing out each voice on a separate staff. The works of Scheidl. and bis intluence as a teacher. were the foundalion of a rema1·kable development of North German organ music in the Baroque era. ln England. music for viol consort was a mainstay of social music- making in lhe home. The leading geru-e was the imitalive fantasia. oflen called fancy. which could u·eat one or more subjects. Popular co mposers included Alfonso Ferrabosco the Younger (ca. 1575-1 628). soo of an ltalian musician active at Queeo Elizabeth's cowi. and John Copra rio (ca. 1570-1626). whose llal ianized name ( he was born Cooper) exemp li ti es the f;:nglish fashion fo r th ings ltalian.

character than ricercares. We can see in Frescobaldi's organ masses the role canzonas played in services: ali include a canzona after the Epistle. and two have anolher after Communion. ln some keyboa rd and most ensemble canzonas, each section tr eats a different the me in imitation or offers a nonimitative texlu.re for contras!. ln anothe r type. called thevariationcanzon.a. transformations a s ingle Lhe me appea r i n successive sectio ns.

,,r

SONATA The te rm sonata, was often used ca rly in thc scventccn th ccntury to rcfer broadly lo any piece for instruments. lt gradually came to designate a compos ition that rcsc mb led a can1.ona in form but had special charactc rist ics. Sona1as werc oftcn sco rcd for onc or two melody i nstrum cnts, usually vio lins, with .basso continuo, wbile the ensemble canzona was wrillen in four or more parts and cou ld bc played without co n ti nuo. Sonatas ofte n exploited the idiomatic possibilities offered by a particular instrument and imitated the modern expressive vocal style, while the typica l canzona displayed more of the formal. abstract quali ty of Reuaissance polyphony. The quality of 1he seventeenth -cen tury sonaia can be highlighted by examining one of the earlies t sonatas for solo violin and continuo, by Biagio Marini (15 94- 1663). Marini served for a time as violinist al St. Mark's under Monteverdi. and then held various posts in Italy and Germany. He published twenty- two coll ections of voca l and instrume ntal mu s ic, designating each colleclion as an opus (Latin for "wo rk'') and numberi ng them; lale r compose rs followed his lead and des ignated opus numbers for the ir publns hcd works , whcthc r collcctio ns o r ind ividual p ieccs. His Sonata IV per it violino per sonar con due corde. from Op. 8 (NAWM 84), puhlished in 1629', is an ea rly exa mpl e o r what may be ca lled ""instrume ntal monody." Like the canzona. it has contrasting scctions, but almost every one features idiomaric violin gestures, including large leaps, double stops, nms, trills, anel c mbe llis hm c n ts . Marini 's sona ta ope ns with an exprcss ive mc lody, shown in Example 15.8 (see p. 348) , that is reminiscent of a Caccini solo madcigal. the n tums almost immcd iately to violinistic sequential figures. Rhapsodic anel metri cal sections alternate, rcca lli ngthe co ntra sts of recita tive and aria styles in Strozzi's cantata and Schtllz's sacred concertos. One secti,011 features double stops. hrst in s inging style and then in imitarion; another leaps through a two -and -a - half-octave range. By lhe middle o f the seventeenth century the canzona and sonaca had merged, a.nd the term sona.ta ca me to stand for both.

SETTINGS OF EXISTING MELODIES As in lhe sixteenth cenlury (see cha pter 12). o rga.nists improvised or composed settings of liturgical mel odies for use in church services. These works include organ verses on Cregorian chan t, like t:he Kyrie and Christe se1t ings

Biagio Marilii

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347

348

• Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

C H A P T E K 15

EXAMPLE 15.8,

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in Frescobaldi's organ masses. aud various kinds of chorale settings known collectively as organ chorales or chorale pi-elucles. Composers in middle and northern Gennany produced chorafo seuings in lal'ge numbers and in a greaL variet)' of forms aftcr midcentury, but examples already appear in Scheidt's Tabu.latura nova and lll lhe works of Sweelinck.

VARIATIONS Keyboa rd and lute co mposers wrote sets of variaLions on borrowed o r newly co mposcd thcmcs. Thcsc works wcrc k:nown as v<1riatio11s or p<trlite (parts ordivisions) . Thc most common tcchniqucs forvariation8 were thc following: • The melody is repeated with liule change but is surrounded by different contrapuntal materia.l in each variation and may wander from one voice to another. This type is sometimes called ca11tus-fim111s vari.atious and was practiced by Sweelinck and the English virginalists (see cha pter 12). • Thc mclody. usually in the topmost voice. receives differe nt embellishment in each variation while the uuderlying harmonies remain essentially unchanged. • The bass or harmonic progression. rather than the mc lody. is hcld constant while the liguration ,changes. Sometimes, as in th e case of the romanesca, a melodie outline is associated with the bass but may be obscured in the varialions.

Chaconrie and passacaglía

Of the last type, the forms mos t familiar to mod ern liste ners are the clwco1111e and passacaglia. lhe former ultimately de riving from the Lalin American chacona and 1:he !alte r from lhe Spanish passacaUe. a ritornello imp rovised ove r a simple cade ntia l progression and playecl befo re and

between strophes of a song. The earliest known keyboa rd variations 011 thcsc forms are Frescobald i's Partite sopra cioccona and Po,rtite sopra passacagli, both published in his second book of toccaias and partitas in 1627. Each of the ftrst severa) variations from Partite sopra, ciaccona features a different variant in the bass line. as shown in Example 15.9. iudicating thnt Frescobaldi considered the 1-V- vi -V harmonic progression to be the cons tant elemen t. not the bass itself. \Vithin a generation. chacomie and possacaglia were used in France. Germany. and elsewhere as terms for variations over a ground bass, whether traditional or newly composed, usually foU!' measures loug. in tripie meter and slow tempo. Chaconnes and passacaglias appeared in solo keyboard music. chamber music. and theatrical dance music. By about l 700. Lhe distinct.ions between the two faded. and the terms became interchangeahle.

DANCE MUSIC Dances wcrc com poscd for social danc ing. for theatrical s pcctaclcs. and in stylized form for chamber music for lute, keyboard, or e nse mble. Dance music was so central to musical li fe that dance rhythms pc rm eated othcr instru mental and vocal music, secular and sacred alike. The idea of linking two or th ree dances togethe r, such as pavanc and gal liard , was now exte nd ed to create a suite of severa! dances, used either for dancing oras chamber mus ic. Johann Hermann Schein"s Banchetto mttsi-cale (Musical Banquei, 1617) coutains tweuty suites foriive instnunents with continuo, each having Lhe sequence padouana (pavane), gagliarda (gaJJiard), courante, allemande, and tripla, the last a tripie-meter variation of the allemande. Some of the suites build on one melodie idea that recurs in varied form in eve1y dance. and others al'e linked hy more SL1bLle melodie similarities.

A SEPARATE TRADITION As composers focused increasingly on abstract genres-i ncluding to ccata. prelude. ri ce rcare. fantasia, canzona. sonata. and ground bass varia lions-instrnmenlal music gained stature as a trad ition separate from vocal music and worthy of att.ent ion for its own sake. The toccatas, rice rcares. anel

Suites

349

350

C H A PT E K 15 • Music for Chamber and Church in eh• Eatly Sevent•enth Century

variations of Frescobaldi bave been compareci to orations. ho lding tbe liste11er·s attention while ideas are presented and developed. This is a new role for music without words. moving beyond decoration and diversion to encompass leveis of intellechtal and expressive communication formerly reserved for vocal music. Ic was on this foundation that the fugues, sonatas. and sym-

phonies of !ater generatious were built.

Tradition and lnnovation Thc cxtraordinary burst of innovation in the ca rly scve nt.ecn th ccntur-y is as appa renl in the chambe r. chu rch, and instrumental music oí the time as in ope ra. Yet. li ke opera. these other ld nds of mu sic also drew deeply on sixteenth-cenntry rraditions, redeftn ing ex isting genres and approaches by combining them with new styles and tecbniques. This pcriod is of lasting import,mce becausc it sc t the pattern for severa! generations, creating new genres such as cantata, sacred concerto, oratorio, sonata, partita, chaconne, passacaglia, and dance suite; establishing tech niqucs sueh as basso continuo. the concertato medium. and grou nd bass; aud fostering new expressive <levices and an increasingly separate instrumental tradition. One especially noteworthy development was the recognition that differeut st:yles were appropriate for different purposes. Thus the older style (sti.Le a.111ico) was preserved and pracliced alongside newer ones, useful for its associations with sacred music and with pedagogy. At the sarne time, most styles could be used outside their original coutexts for expressive ends. so that. for example. 1hea1rical sryles were used in church. But the fascination with the new that energized the music of th is period implicitly 1,,uaranteed its impermanence. As tasles and styles rapidly chauged. virtually aU lhis m usic fell oul of fashi on by lhe end of the century. Some. like Frescobald i's keyboard mus ie, was lmown to composers but rarely played. Thc music of thc carly scvcntccnth ccnlury was rcdiscovcrcd in lhe late nineteenth century and throughou l lhe twentieth, and much of it has been publis hed in scholarly editi ons and rccordcd. Although nowadays pe rfo rma1,ces aod recordiogs oí works by Monl everdi, Schütz, Frescobaldi, and othe r ea rly-seve ntc enth- cenlury composers are re lalive ly frequent. unti l rcccnt dccadcs thcir music was not as we ll known as that of Palest rina . Vivaldi, or Bach. Perhaps seventeenth-century music so unds less familiar in part because in the music of a Monteverd i ora Sehü!?, styles are more fluid , the routines of me lody, rhytbm, hanuouy, aud countcrpoint less hxed than in sixteenth- or eighteenth -century music, so that the listener may not know what to expect. But that eleme nt of ex-ploration is also one of the great charms of this musie. as composers. thorougbly trained in the now out-of-clate idiom of the sixteenth century, i1wentecl new styles at every turu, feeling their way forward in the dark to a new musical world.

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Resources for study and review available at wwnorton.com/studyspace.

FRANCE, ENGLAND, SPAIN, ANO THE NEW WORLD IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY The last two chapters focuscd large ly on gcn re: how new anel old ideas combined in opera, and how theatrical styles affeeted ehamber, sacred, and instrumental music, foscering new genres such as cantata, sacred co11ce1io, oratorio, and solo sonata. Withom neglecling genre as a way of focusing our historical narrative, it becomes more useful in the middle anel late Baroque period to highlight the distiuctive national a11d regional styles that developed, including trends within a nation's music and borrowings across borders. Malional style was inlluenced by polirics as we ll as by culture. The Ttaliao pen ínsula remained thc lead ing musical region, but Francc, a centralized mona rchy whose king used the arts for propaganda and social control, cmcrged as ltaly's chief compctitor. Undc r the king's sponsorsh.ip, musicians forged a new French id iom rnarked by elegancc and rcstraint. a couuterbalanec to the virtuosie. expressive music of ltaly. Musicians in England and German -speaking lands then absorbed elements from both French and ltalian styles, combining them with native traditions. The EngLish mouareh was an important musical patron but did not dominate the scene as in France, leaving room for direet support of musie by the public and the invention of the public concen. Rulers of the many small German sta1es adopted French fashions in musicas in literature. art. architecntre. and manners. but Italian musicians and genres remained influential. Spain anel its American colonies supported a thriving musica l life and developed a unique style of theater music marked by syncopated rhythms.

352

Franc,

C ti A PT E li 16 • France. England. Spaln. and 1he New World in 1he Seventeenth Century

FIGURE 16.2· Fountain on the growtds of Versailles. Louis XJV's grand count,y pafoce. showingApollo on his chariol emergi.ngfrom. lhe sea. ln Greek· rnrllwlog. thesungodApollo rode his chariot across the sky ea.ch day. descending inu, 1he

This chapter explores the impact oi' po litics on music in France and England, the adaptation of ltalian gemes in Fra.nce. the rise of a distinctive French style. English assimilalion of French and ltalian elements. and Spanish traditions at home and in the New World. We will follow tbe sarne categories as in the previous two chapters: Lheatrical rnus ic. voca l charnber rnusic, cburcb music. and instrumental mus ic.

seain thewesteCJclteveningand

burslingout ofthe sea i,n 1/ie easi each moming. readyagain, 10 are ocross ihe sky. LouisXfV cultivated an irnage as "tlie Sun King... ide,uifying hiinselfwith Apollo and with the rising sun,.

France The special qualities of French Baroque music were s hapcd by tbe centrality of cbnce anel th e rol e of thc arts in an absoluce monarchy. These in tum reflect the personality and policies of King Louis Xl V, whose sevendecacle reign changecl the culture of Europe. FIGURE 16.1, Lou.isXIVi,i /, is sixtics. i11 apor· trait by Hyocinthe Rigcwdfrom around 1700. The king is surrowided by images rhat co,wey liis grw1dciu: a red velver curtc,.in. mullicolor sto11e

LOUIS XIV

Louis XIV (r. 1643- 17 15) succeeded to the throne al age nve on the deatli ofhis father. Unti l he was twenty· Lbree. however. France was ruled by bis motber. Anne column. impressivc wig. arut cnormous erm.ine of Austria. and ber lover Ca rdinal Mazarin. an lt.alian. robe covered on one side wilhgoldfleurs-de·lis. Resentment aga inst the rule of fore igners provoked rhc S;)•11bol of FrCllch ro;ralry. His crown is by hi-s a series of revolts known as the Fronde. \Vhen Louis side. shadowed a.nd partially obscu.red. as ifhe took Lhe reins of siate after Mazarin's dealh in 1661, did nol need to e111phasize lhe sign ofhis power, he re membe1·ed t hose years of r·umu lt and reso lved to c,,cn whilc hi.s hand and staffdraw lhe cxe tu it. asseri absolutc authorily. His elongated. upright stature and exposed. per· To maintain power, Louis p rojected an image of jecrly shaped legs procla,m h,s phys,calstrength himsclf as in supre me contra i, using thc arts as p ropaand remind the viewerofhis renow1i as a dancer. ganda. The porlrait in Figure 16. l is a ftlling exa mple: (1'1U. LOlfVKt, l'A.lUS, t'RASCI!, l'UOTO: IU?KVÉ Lt":WANOOWSKI, 8ÊUNION DES M USÉtS .SATlôNAUX/Al\1' RtsOUkôt!. l\'"Y) a n almost I heatrical perfo rmance. depict ing Louis as an imposing physical specimcn, surrounded by symbols of power and rnajesly, in complete command. Louis styled himselí ··the Sun King:· an idea l symbo l for Louis as giver of ligbt. He idemitied himself wich Apollo, the Greek sun god. anel commissioned many depictions of Apollo, including the specracular fountain in Figure 16.2. Apollo was also the god of music, learning, science. and the arts, and Louis wanted co be seen as the cbief palrou in ali those ftelds. He cemralized the arts and sciences, establishing roya.1 academies of sculprure and painting 0648). dance 0661). literature (1663). the sciences 0669). opera (\ 669). and arcbilecture (16 71). and granting eacb academy authority to oversee endeavors in its field. Versailles Leu.is rebuill the Louvre. the great palace in Paris (now a remarkable museum). and constructed a vast palace in lhe country at Versailles. Figure 16.3 shows only one par, of 1.his huge palace. The ga rdens are equally expan·

353

(AOA~f WOOLTIT/ COfll.\lS)

sive, stretching for miles. Figure 16.4 illustraces the sculpted gardens near the palace, where everything is controlled and discip lined. and no plant is out of place or allowed to grow wild . lc is a pcrfect image for Lhe ahsolute monarchy, wherc aJ1 have their roles in the orderly state ruJed by a single visiou. and even nature must suhmit to the will ofthe king. Versailles proclaimed Louis's power and also servecl a practical pmpose. The nobilicy were panly Lndependem anel could be danger· ous, as proven by the Fronde rebellions. By keeping the aristocracy at Versailles for large parls of Lhe year. away from lheir !aneis and focused on cou rl ceremonies. etiquetle. and entertainmenl. he kepc them under his firm co ntroL

THE COURT BALLET Dance, both social and thealrical, was particularly importanl. in French cu lture and to Lou is. A di stinclive French gc nre was the c ourt brrllct o r bat!et de cot1,r, a musica l-dramatic work, stagcd with costumes and scenery, tbat featured me mbers of lhe co url alongside professional dancers. A typica l court ba llet had scvera l acts, each composed of a

FIGURE 16.3, Gorden foçude of the Palace of Versailles. d.esig11ed by Louis Le Vatwnd built 166190. 1he columns ar,d arches echo c/assical arcltilecture. ond the mythu/Obiical stattia")· 1hrougliou1 rhc btiildingandgrou.nd.s reinforced the links Louis XIV sought to make bctween his rcign a11dGreek and Roman. civiliza· tion. The sheer size oflhe buUd • mg, emphasized b)' the reflecling pool. was meanl ro impress. butwasal.sopractical.. becaase th.e entire French. nobilityand theiren1oumges spenl muclioj' theyeorhere. h·uo,·o: sc.:At.AJA1n · Nt.SOU11Ct;, Nl')

354

Franc,

C ti A PT E li 16 • France. England. Spaln. and 1he New World in 1he Seventeenth Century

FIGURE 16.4 , Pan. of ll1e southga-rde11 at VersCLilles. 1virh fleurs· d.e-lis. Tl,e carefully trimrned plan1i11gs con· ver an imugc ofco,urol over 11 ature. and th e way each ga rden leads

T HE MUSIC OF T HE GREAT STABLE

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Danceand political controL

series of entrées (entries) that included solo songs, chontses, and instrumental dances in styles sui ted to the character s portrayed by the dancers. Ba llets had flourished at court since tJhe Ballet comique de la reine (The Queen's Dramatic Ballet, 1581). Louis XIII (r. 1610-43) regularly took part in music and dance at cou rt. His son Louis XIV won a r eputation as a brilliaut dancer. períorming in ballets from the age oí tlúrteen. His r oles included Apollo in the Ba,Uet desfê1es de Bacchu.s (Baller of the Festivals of Bacch us, 165]) and Lhe Rising Sun in the Ballet de la nu.it (Ballet of the Night, 1653), establi shing hi s idenlity as the Sun King. Dance reinfo rced Lhe state by offoring a model of d iscipline. ord er. reftnement, restrai nt, and subordination ofthe individua l to a common cn terp rise. Requiriug aristocrats to par!icipate insocial danc ing aud in ballet perfor mances kept them busy and provide d a rilualized demonsl ration of the social hic rarchy, wil-h thc king at thc top. lt is no wondcr that Frcnch Baroquc mus ic , so centc rcd on dance, is markcd by ref111ement. c lega nce, and rcslraint. in strongcon t rast to th e ind ividuality and s howmans hip typica l of lta lian music at the tim e.

MUSIC AT COURT Music for the king was as hierarch.ically organized as the state itself. Ther e were 150 to 200 musicians in t hree division s. The Music of the Royal Chape i included singers , organists, and ocher instrumentalists who performed for religious services. The Music of tbe Chamber. primarily string. lute, harp sichord. and 11ute players. provided music for indoor entertainments. The Music of the Great Slable comprised wind. brass. and timpan.i players. who played for mil itary and outdoor ceremonies and sometimes joined tJ1e ch ape] or indoor music. adding instrume ntal color (see Music in Context). Louis's wi nd ensemble profou11dly ini1ueoced Lhe developmem of wind and brass music by encouraging improved instruments and p laying teclmiques and by nurturing generalions of performers. among them families of wind players s uch as the Hollelerres and Phil ido rs.

Louis XIV's musicians of the Great Stable played at ali manner of events that took place outdoors: processions occasioned by royal weddings and funerais. Íireworks displays commemorating royal births. visits by foreign dignitaries. military reviews, hunts, and other types of games and pageants. Like the uniformed trumpeters who always pre· ceded the king·s coach when he rode out from his palace, stable musicians often mounted horses on these occasions. which helps to explain their assoc iation with what we now think of as an undig nifi ed place oí lodging. ln fac!. the stable musicians were Louis XIV's best wind and brass players. They performed ceremonial music on instru· ments such as fifes and drums. oboes and bassoons, cornetts and trumpets, ali of which could easily be heard in the open air. Stable musicians were relatively well paid and sometimes enjoyed privileges that exempted them from taxation or permitted them to pass their position on to a son. Because employment as a stable musician offered status and job security, the institu tion o f the Great Stable became a proving ground for severa! important families of wind players. A nnember of one such íamily, Jean Hotteterre (ca. 1610-ca. 1692). experimented with the construc· tion of several kinds of wind instruments. Fash-

ioning them out of wood. he sometimes included elegant ornamental details in ivory and ebony, signs that his instruments were highly prized and appreciated ai court. Lully"s inclusion of woodwinds in his opera orchestra also became a Factor in their improvement, since his interest in writ· ing music for these instruments stimulated their makers and players to strive for a sweeter. more reíined sound. Wind players and instrument makers a l the French court are generally believed to have been responsible for creating the modem oboe. This instrumen t differed Írom its predecessor, the shawm. in having a fully freestanding reed (rather tha n a partially enclosed one) that allowed for greater contrai oí intonation and tone quality. lnstead of being constructed out of a s ingle piece oí wood. the instrument had three sec tions Íitted together in such a way as to íacilitate the most delicate adjustments in tuning. lt also had an expanded. two-octave range. and the instrument's improved design and smaller fingerholes allowed the player to produce more accurate chromatic pitches. Thus. despite its unpromising name. the Great Stable actually initiate d the rise to prominence oí woodwind instruments in today's orchestras.-BRH FIGURE 16.5, Perspectwevw-w Jrom the Charco 1i ofVersailles of rhe Place dilrmes an.d theSiables, 1688 (oil on can,,a-s) br Jean· Baptisie Martin (/659- 1735). Th,: musicians ofthe Crand Ecuri.e (Creal Stablc) providcd music for the pomp and ceremon)'of aJl mannerofevents under Louis XIV. (CIIA'í EAlí DU GRA.Nl) TIUAN'ON. Vl:11.SAILLF.S, t'RAN<:fJ BlllOGU.I.AS AH1' unl'IA11Y)

355

356

C H A PT E K 16

String orchestra s

Ahhough the F'rench often preferred the viol forchamber and solo music. they cr eatecl the li rst large ensembles of the violin family. These became the model for the modern o r c/wst.rn-a11 e11semble whose co re cons ists of strings with more than one player 011 each parl. Louis XIII established the Vingt-quacre Violons du Roi (Twency-Four Viol ins of the King), which

Tragédieen

m1tsique

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librettos

JEAN-BAPTISTE LULLY (1632-1687)

typically played in a five-part texture: six soprano violins. tuned like mod-

Lully was the most powerful force in French

em violins. 011 the melody: twelve alto and tenor violins tuned like modern violas. divided among Lh ree inner paris; and s ix bass viol ins, tuned a whole tone lower t han mod ern cellos, on Lhe bass linc . ln 1648, Lhe PeliLs Violo ns (Small Violin Ensemble). with e ighteen st ri ngs . was created for Louis XlV's persona l use. Th ese 1.wo groups acco mpani ed baileis, balis . Lh e king's s up per, and other co u1·1 l'unct io ns. By t he l 670s, Lhe tenn "o rches tra" was uscd for s uch ensembles. after lhe area in fronl of lhe s tage in a lheate r. where t he music ian s we re us ually p laced fo r ope ra and othe r eve nts .

music in the seventeenth century. renowned for creating a French type of opera. pioneering the French overture, and fostering the modem orchestra. lronically, he was ltalian, though he lived in France throughout his adult life. Bom in Florence, Lully carne to Paris at age fourteen as Italian tutor to a cousin of Louis XIV. ln Paris he completed his musical training and studied dance. His dancing in the Ballet de la nuit (1653) so impressed Louis that he appointed Lully court composer o f instrumental music and director of the Petits Violons. ln 1661, Lully became Superintendant of Music for the King's Chamber. taking over the Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi as well as the Petits Violons, and became a French citizen. His marriage the next summer to Madeleine Lambert. daughter of composer Michel Lambert, was witnessed by the king and queen, showing how high Lully had risen al court. Lully composed music for numerous court ballets and sacred music for the royal chapei. He tumed to comédies-ballets in 1664. then in 1672 to opera, where he gained his greatest fame. The discipline Lully imposed on his orchesrra, enforcing uniform bowing and coordinated use of ornamenrs, won admiration. was widely imitated, and became the foundation for modern orchestral practice. Although Lully conducted witha long staff or cane instead of a baton. the tradition of dictatorial leadership he introduced, modeled on the king's own absolute power, has been continued by later conductors.

JEAN -BAPTISTE LULLY AND FRENCH OPERA

Influences on French opera

Franc,

• France. England. Sp ain, and 1he N•w Wo rld ln 1he Sev•ntee nth Century

F'or over three dccadcs, Louis xrv·s favor itc musician was Jean- Baptiste Lully (1632- l687; see biography and Figure 16.6). Lully wrote music for ballets anel religious services at court but earnecl his greatcst success with clramatic music. ln the 1670s, with Louis's s upp ort, Lully created a distinctive French kind of opera that persisted for a century. Cardinal Mazarin had tried to establisb ltalian opera iu France. commissioni11g Luigi Rossi·s O,feo in 1617 and Francesco Cavalli's Ercole amanie i n 1662. But the operas. which were sung in ltalian, met opposition on political a11d artistic grounds. Lully learned operatic styles from both operas. especially from Ercole amante. m which h e contributed ballet music. After Cavalli's departu re, Lu lly collaborated with comi e playwright Jean-Baptiste Moliere ro cr eate a series of successful comédies-ballet-s. which blended elements of ballet and opera . Bul Lully did not yet contem plate full o pera. The ballet tradilion seemecl too s cro ng, as d id French s11oke n lragedy, represented by dramatists Pie rre Co rncillc (1606- 1684) and Jean Racine (1639- 1699) . French litera ry culture demanded tha t poetry and drama be give n p riorily o n Lhe stage and co nsidcrcd dial ogue in so ng 1.0 Jack bclicvability. Thc domination of music anel s i nging in l talian opera the re fo re seemed unsu itable for Francc . Butsuccessfu l cxpe rime nts by ot hers co nvinced Lully that ope ra i n F'rench was viable. ln 1672, with Louis XIV's suppo rt, he pu r chased a royal privi lege granting h im the excl usive r ight to produce sung drama in France anel cstablish ed thc Académic Royal e de Mu sique. Togcthcr with his lib rettist. playwrigbt Ph ilipp e Quiuau lt ( 1635- 1688), Lully reconciled the demands of drama, music, and ba llet in a new French form of opera, tr<tgédie e11 musique (tragedy in musie). later named tmgéc/.ie lyriq11e. QLLinaul t'slive-actdramas combined serious plots from a11cientmythology orch.ivalric tales with frequent dive rti,1sem.e 11ts (d ivers ions), longinterludes of danci11g with solo and choral singing. He cleverly intermingled episodes of romance and adventure wi th aduJa1 ion of Lhe king. gloriôca tion of France. and mora l reílection. H is tex ts wer e overtly and coverlly propagandistic, in tune with Louis·s use of the arts . Each opera included a prologue. often s inging t he king's pra ises lil'erally or th rough allego ry. The plots dep ieted a well-

FIGURE 16.6 , Jeon-Boptisie Lullr. in a. bronze busl by Antoine Co)"'evox ploced on. Lunr·s iomb in the church o[Notre Da.me does

Vicioires in Paris.

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Lully's dose relationship with Louis XIV was clouded by scandal in 1685 when the king learned that Lully had seduced a young male page in his service. Lully remained rich and powerful but had to rely on other patrons. He died in 1687 after he hit his foot with his staff while conducting his Te Deum and the injury turned to gangrene. MAJOR WORKS: Alceste, Armide. and 13 other operas; 14 comédies•ballets: 29 ballets (most in collaboration with

other composers): numerou, motets and other lltu rgical muslc

ordernd. disciplined society. and Lh e my thologieal cha racters a.nd selli ngs reinforced the parallels Louis sought to draw between bis regime and ancient Greece and Rome. The librettos also provided opportunities for spectacles to en1er tain tbe audience, as illustrated in Figure 16.7. L11lly's music projected the formal splen dor of Louis's court. Each opera began with an ouvert11re (French for "o pening"). or overt.ure. marking Lhe entry of 1.he king (when he was present) and welcominghim and the audience

French overture

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