Consonance and Rhythm in the Organum of the 12Th and 13Th Centuries
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CAPTURING MUSIC Writing and Singing Music in the Middle Ages THOMAS FORREST KELLY Morton B
CAPTURING MUSIC Writing and Singing Music in the Middle Ages THOMAS FORREST KELLY Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Harvard University BLUE HERON Scot Metcalfe, direcor SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15, 2014 3 PM & 8 PM Firs Church in Cambridge, Congregational PROGRAM PART 2 at 8 pm Povre secors / Gaude chorus (Montpellier Codex, early 14th century) BG MB JM Capturing Music Diex qui porroit / En grant dolour (Montpellier Codex) Writing and Singing Music in the Middle Ages JM BG HARP Aucun ont trouvé / Lonc tans (Montpellier Codex) Tomas Forres Kelly Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Harvard University JM MB ST Blue Heron Scot Metcalfe, direcor Garrit gallus / In nova fert (Roman de Fauvel, 1314-18) IH MN SM Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377): Biauté qui toutes autres pere PART I at 3 pm OM JM MB Io son un pellegrin (14th century) Introit Ad te levavi OM ST soloist MB Jacob Senleches (f. 1380s): En atendant, Esperance conforte Introit Resurrexi OM CW SM soloist PT Baude Cordier (f. c. 1400): Belle, bonne, sage, plaisant et gente Alleluya Pascha nostrum MN CW SM soloist PG Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1420-1497): Kyrie, Missa prolationum Hymn Ut queant laxis MN IH JM MB Leoninus (f. 1180s-1200): Alleluya Pascha nostrum soloist JM Perotinus (f. c. 1200): Alleluya Pascha nostrum soloists MB & ST (Alleluya) / OM & JM (Pascha nostrum) Michael Barret, Brian Giebler, Paul Gutry, Ian Howell, Clausula Latus est (Magnus liber organi) Owen McIntosh, Jason McStoots, Martin Near, Mark Sprinkle, soloist MS Sumner Tompson, Paul Max Tipton, voices Motet Immolata paschali victima (Magnus liber organi) Charles Weaver, lute & voice MS JM Scot Metcalfe, director, harp & fddle Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola (c. -
Conductus and Modal Rhythm
Conductus and Modal Rhythm BY ERNEST H. SANDERS T HAS BEEN MORE THAN EIGHTY YEARS since Friedrich Ludwig (1872-193o), arguably the greatest of the seminal figures in twenti- eth-century musicology, began to publish his studies of medieval music. His single-handed occupation of the field, his absolute sover- eignty over the entire repertoire and all issues of scholarly significance arising from it, and his enormous, inescapably determinative influ- ence on the thinking of his successors, most of whom had studied with him, explain the epithet der Grossehe was given on at least one occasion.' Almost his entire professional energies were devoted to the music of the twelfth and, particularly, the thirteenth centuries, as well as to the polyphony of the fourteenth century, which he began to explore in depth in the 1920s. His stringent devotion to the facts and to conclusions supported by them was a trait singled out by several commentators.2 Ludwig's insistence on scholarly rigor, however, cannot be said to account completely for his Modaltheorie,which appeared to posit the applicability of modal rhythm to all music of the Notre Dame period-except organal style-and of the pre-Garlandian (or pre- Franconian) thirteenth century, including particularly the musical settings of poetry. Much of the pre-Garlandian ligature notation in thirteenth-century sources of melismatic polyphonic compositions of the first half of that century (clausulae, organa for more than two voices) and of melismatic portions of certain genres, such as the caudae of conducti,3 signifies modal rhythms, and the appropriatenessof the modal system cannot be disputed in this context. -
From Neumes to Notation: a Thousand Years of Passing on the Music by Charric Van Der Vliet
From Neumes to Notation: A Thousand Years of Passing On the Music by Charric Van der Vliet Classical musicians, in the terminology of the 17th and 18th century musical historians, like to sneer at earlier music as "primitive", "rough", or "uncouth". The fact of the matter is that during the thousand years from 450 AD to about 1450 AD, Western Civilization went from no recording of music at all to a fully formed method of passing on the most intricate polyphony. That is no small achievement. It's attractive, I suppose, to assume the unthinking and barbaric nature of our ancestors, since it implies a certain smugness about "how far we've come." I've always thought that painting your ancestors as stupid was insulting both to them and to yourself. The barest outline of a thousand year journey only hints at the difficulties our medieval ancestors had to face to be musical. This is an attempt at sketching that outline. Each of the sub-headings of this lecture contains material for lifetimes of musical study. It is hoped that outlining this territory may help shape where your own interests will ultimately lie. Neumes: In the beginning, choristers needed reminders as to which way notes went. "That fifth note goes DOWN, George!" This situation was remedied by noting when the movement happened and what direction, above the text, with wavy lines. "Neume" was the adopted term for this. It's a Middle English corruption of the Greek word for breath, "pneuma." Then, to specify note's exact pitch was the next innovation. -
Poetic Diction, Poetic Discourse and the Poetic Register
proceedings of the British Academy, 93.21-93 Poetic Diction, Poetic Discourse and the Poetic Register R. G. G. COLEMAN Summary. A number of distinctive characteristics can be iden- tified in the language used by Latin poets. To start with the lexicon, most of the words commonly cited as instances of poetic diction - ensis; fessus, meare, de, -que. -que etc. - are demonstrably archaic, having been displaced in the prose register. Archaic too are certain grammatical forms found in poetry - e.g. auldi, gen. pl. superum, agier, conticuere - and syntactic constructions like the use of simple cases for pre- I.positional phrases and of infinitives instead of the clausal structures of classical prose. Poets in all languages exploit the linguistic resources of past as well as present, but this facility is especially prominent where, as in Latin, the genre traditions positively encouraged imitatio. Some of the syntactic character- istics are influenced wholly or partly by Greek, as are other ingredients of the poetic register. The classical quantitative metres, derived from Greek, dictated the rhythmic pattern of the Latin words. Greek loan words and especially proper names - Chaoniae, Corydon, Pyrrha, Tempe, Theseus, Zephym etc. -brought exotic tones to the aural texture, often enhanced by Greek case forms. They also brought an allusive richness to their contexts. However, the most impressive charac- teristics after the metre were not dependent on foreign intrusion: the creation of imagery, often as an essential feature of a poetic argument, and the tropes of semantic transfer - metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche - were frequently deployed through common words. In fact no words were too prosaic to appear in even the highest poetic contexts, always assuming their metricality. -
The Poetry Handbook I Read / That John Donne Must Be Taken at Speed : / Which Is All Very Well / Were It Not for the Smell / of His Feet Catechising His Creed.)
Introduction his book is for anyone who wants to read poetry with a better understanding of its craft and technique ; it is also a textbook T and crib for school and undergraduate students facing exams in practical criticism. Teaching the practical criticism of poetry at several universities, and talking to students about their previous teaching, has made me sharply aware of how little consensus there is about the subject. Some teachers do not distinguish practical critic- ism from critical theory, or regard it as a critical theory, to be taught alongside psychoanalytical, feminist, Marxist, and structuralist theor- ies ; others seem to do very little except invite discussion of ‘how it feels’ to read poem x. And as practical criticism (though not always called that) remains compulsory in most English Literature course- work and exams, at school and university, this is an unwelcome state of affairs. For students there are many consequences. Teachers at school and university may contradict one another, and too rarely put the problem of differing viewpoints and frameworks for analysis in perspective ; important aspects of the subject are omitted in the confusion, leaving otherwise more than competent students with little or no idea of what they are being asked to do. How can this be remedied without losing the richness and diversity of thought which, at its best, practical criticism can foster ? What are the basics ? How may they best be taught ? My own answer is that the basics are an understanding of and ability to judge the elements of a poet’s craft. Profoundly different as they are, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Pope, Dickinson, Eliot, Walcott, and Plath could readily converse about the techniques of which they are common masters ; few undergraduates I have encountered know much about metre beyond the terms ‘blank verse’ and ‘iambic pentameter’, much about form beyond ‘couplet’ and ‘sonnet’, or anything about rhyme more complicated than an assertion that two words do or don’t. -
Elements English Prosody
E L E M E N T S E N G L I S H P R O S O D Y i CQEKS .5639ZNQZIR ‘FCU? LHiE IflV ‘Sf GUECLR E X P L AN AT O R Y O F T H E V A R IO U S T E R M S U S E D IN “ K N R O C H O E YC O M B . H N R U S K IN L L D O . ' , , H N A Y Q T U DE N T O F C H IS T C H U C H XF D A N D H N A Y O F O OR R R R , O OR ; O OR R C P U S C H R IQ T I C L L E G E X F D OR O , O OR . G E OR G E AL L E N , U N N Y ID R P IN G T N K N T S S E , O O , E . 1 8 8 0 . l W tson an d V ine P rin ters L on d on a n d A lesbu r . H a z el , a , y, , y y F A E P R E C . H AV E n ever hitherto printed any bo o k falling so far short of what I hoped to make it as this sketch of the system of English Prosody ; but I had e I no conc ption , when threw the first notes of it together, what a number of difficult and interesting questions would arise out of the vari a ble conditions of national ear for music, and intention in song . -
Narrow Range -More Virtuosic
Medieval Theory -Guido of Arezzo developed solomization -solfege came from the hymn “Ut queant laxis” -9th century oral transmission of music -10th century heightened neumes -11th century four line staff and square notation Secular Music Jongleur -Golliards -age of chivalry, courtly love -knightly love kin to monk with god -a religious love in secular music -chanson de geste (song of deeds) ex. King Arthur -were looked down upon, traveled from town to town Troubadour (Southern France) -12th century -educated family, higher class -knew how to read and write music -langue d’oc Trouveres (Northern France) -founder and seeker of song -langue d’oil -chansonnier secular love poetry (monophonic) -pastourelle seduction song Adam de la Halle’s Jeu de Robin et Marion -trouvere -monophonic rondeau (repeating refrain) -low style (profane aspect) -unsuccessful love -vernacular language (langue d’oil) Can vei la lauzeta mover -troubadour -strophic form -8 stanzas -modal music, Dorian mode -word-painting www.notesolution.com -narrow range -more virtuosic A Chantar -troubadour -ABABCDB -phrase end with same cadence (rhyme scheme) -more structural organization -Frauenlob famous German Minnesinger) Polyphony -organum earliest witten polyphony singing simultaneously at more than one pitch evidence in Musica & Scolica Enchriadis -parallel motion note vs. note, harmonized with fourth and fifth -contrary motion one melody with another melody beneath early cadence structure usually ends in octave Alleluia Justus ut Palma -word-painting melisma on “multiply”, -
Vestiges of Midsummer Ritual in Motets for John the Baptist
Early Music History (2011) Volume 30. Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0261127911000027 M A A Email: [email protected] FIRE, FOLIAGE AND FURY: VESTIGES OF MIDSUMMER RITUAL IN MOTETS FOR JOHN THE BAPTIST The thirteenth-century motet repertory has been understood on a wide spectrum, with recent scholarship amplifying the relationship between the liturgical tenors and the commentary in the upper voices. This study examines a family of motets based on the tenors IOHANNE and MULIERUM from the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June). Several texts within this motet family make references to well-known traditions associated with the pagan festival of Midsummer, the celebration of the summer solstice. Allusions to popular solstitial practices including the lighting of bonfires and the public criticism of authority, in addition to the cultural awareness of the sun’s power on this day, conspicuously surface in these motets, particularly when viewed through the lens of the tenor. The study suggests the further obfuscation of sacred and secular poles in the motet through attentiveness to images of popular, pre-Christian rituals that survive in these polyphonic works. In the northern French village of Jumièges from the late Middle Ages to the middle of the nineteenth century, a peculiar fraternal ritual took place. Each year on the evening of the twenty-third of June, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose its new chief. Arrayed in a brimless green hat in the shape of a cone, the elected master led the men to a priest and choir; Portions of this study were read at the Medieval and Renaissance Conference at the Institut für Musikwissenschaft, University of Vienna, 8–11 August 2007 and at the University of Chicago’s Medieval Workshop on 19 May 2006. -
PÉROTIN and the ARS ANTIQUA the Hilliard Ensemble
CORO hilliard live CORO hilliard live 1 The Hilliard Ensemble For more than three decades now The Hilliard Ensemble has been active in the realms of both early and contemporary music. As well as recording and performing music by composers such as Pérotin, Dufay, Josquin and Bach the ensemble has been involved in the creation of a large number of new works. James PÉROTIN MacMillan, Heinz Holliger, Arvo Pärt, Steven Hartke and many other composers have written both large and the and small-scale pieces for them. The ensemble’s performances ARS frequently include collaborations with other musicians such as the saxophonist Jan Garbarek, violinist ANTIQUA Christoph Poppen, violist Kim Kashkashian and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. John Potter’s contribution was crucial to getting the Hilliard Live project under way. John has since left to take up a post in the Music Department of York University. His place in the group has been filled by Steven Harrold. www.hilliardensemble.demon.co.uk the hilliard ensemble To find out more about CORO and to buy CDs, visit www.thesixteen.com cor16046 The hilliard live series of recordings came about for various reasons. 1 Vetus abit littera Anon. (C13th) 3:47 At the time self-published recordings were a fairly new and increasingly David James Rogers Covey-Crump John Potter Gordon Jones common phenomenon in popular music and we were keen to see if 2 Deus misertus hominis Anon. (C13th) 5:00 we could make the process work for us in the context of a series of David James Rogers Covey-Crump John Potter Gordon Jones public concerts. -
Journal of Theological Studies
386 THE JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES Ill. I 1 Civitas contemnens quae habitat in spe, quae dicit in corde suo, Ego sum et non est post me adhuc I quomodo facta est in exterminium pascua bestiarum I omnis qui transit per illam sibilabit, I et movebit manus soas. 10 inlustris et redempta civitas, columba quae non audit vocem, non recepit disciplinam, in Domino non est con- 3 fisa, et ad Deum suum non adpropinquavit. • Prillcipes eius in ea ut leones frementes, iudices eius ut lupi Arabiae non relinquebant in <I mane. 'Profetae eius spiritu elati viri contemptores, sacerdotes eius 5 profanant sacra et conscelerant legem. • Dominus autem iustus in media eius non faciet iniustum 8 • Exspecta me, dicit Dominus, in. die resurrectionis meae in testi monium, quoniam iudicium meum ad congregationes gentium, ut excipiam reges, et eft'undam super eos iram meam • III 1-5 Tycon. R'K' Qwwt.; Lac:. Cal. Dt satId. Alllfm. i 36 III I, I Cypr. Ad Noval. v III <I S,.. xlvi HI 8 Cypr. Tub"". Hi 106 ; Dt bno pat. :ai. Ill. I. Civitas) pr a"" & in speJ .r .Ardle & ...Ar. fl' (8IIpw.er. r fl' ~ 3. Columba non euadit vocem, id eat praeclara et redempts civitas, non recepit doctrinam, et in Dominum fidens non fuit C inlustrls] quae erat splendida L quae) 0 ... & vocem) + G'OII 68 87 discipUnam] _3,ar M· (.a.a, MC.., e.~) non adpropinquavit] non accessit L 01111 'ITf'II0' 0 lli8 283 01111 'IY'fIG'0' & I. ('xc 153 233)" 30 in ea] 0... L /tab & (0'" AnN.) ut 1° 3°] sicut L frementes] fremunt L non relinquebant] non subreliquierunt L .. -
Chapter 2: Secular and Cathedral Music in the High Middle Ages I
Chapter 2: Secular and Cathedral Music in the High Middle Ages I. Introduction – Chapter 1 dealt primarily with sacred music, influenced by the fact that initially only sacred music was available for observation. Chapter 2 turns to secular music. II. Troubadours and Trouvères A.Troubadours 1. The first European vernacular poet whose work survives was William IX (7th count of Poitiers and 9th duke of Aquitaine). b. The tradition of these poets is known as the troubadour. c. The troubadour tradition was a “top down” as those of the highest social ranks were the main participants. Their poetry celebrated feudal ideals. d. Different types of troubadour verse dealt with various aspects of the feudal system, including songs of alliance, knightly decorum, exploits, challenges, and death. 2. Courtly love lay at the heart of the troubadour tradition. a. The canso was a song about love. b. Courtly love songs celebrated the same high ideals as other types of songs. c. The lady about whom a poet wrote usually outranked him, making her theoretically unattainable. d. Courtly love was generally more about veneration than physical love. e. The poetic style matches the lofty ideals of courtly love, as demonstrated in Can vei la lauzeta mover. B. Performance and Oral Culture 1. We do not know the rhythm of troubadour songs, but most likely the loftier style of the troubadour songs approximated that of contemporary chant. 2. Some troubadour songs matched a lower-class style; these were not based on chant style. a. Pastorela is one such genre. b. L’autrier jost’ una sebissa by Marcabru is an example. -
Some Preliminary Observations on the Afterlife of Notre Dame Fragments*
138 MASCHKE | NOTRE DAME FRAGMENTS Article Some Preliminary Observations on the Afterlife of Notre Dame Fragments* Eva M. Maschke | Hamburg In the broad spectrum of dimensions a manuscript’s afterlife1 and also the paths taken by manuscripts from one collection can take on, the use of manuscript fragments as binding to another; they might also enable scholars to assign further material was a very common case in the European Middle dismembered fragments to these contexts. Projects like the Ages and the Early Modern Period. Attempts to reconstruct Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland2 and the Penn/ dismembered manuscripts which were reused as binding Cambridge Genizah Fragment Project3 have developed tools fragments have often benefited from the systematic work of for future research which address an interdisciplinary audience. the bookbinder, who usually reused several pages of the same Musicological research on fragments, too, has shown manuscript in various bookbindings of the same collection. increasing activity during recent decades and has benefited Considering, however, that the majority of historic collections from major projects in which fragments have been catalogued; from the European Middle Ages are now widely dispersed, only a few random examples from different countries the reconstruction of historic libraries is usually the first step will be mentioned here. In the United Kingdom, Wathey, of a systematic search for binding fragments. Bent and Craig-McFeely happily announced a decade ago Attempts to virtually reunite