UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Musical Rhetoric in the Multi-Voice Chansons of Josquin des Prez and His Contemporaries (c. 1500-c. 1520) A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Division of Composition, Musicology and Theory of the College-Conservatory of Music By VASSILIKI KOUTSOBINA B.S., Chemistry University of Athens, Greece, April 1989 M.M., Music History and Literature The Hartt School, University of Hartford, Connecticut, May 1994 Committee Chair: Dr. Stephanie P. Schlagel 2008 ABSTRACT The first quarter of the sixteenth century witnessed tightening connections between rhetoric, poetry, and music. In theoretical writings, composers of this period are evaluated according to their ability to reflect successfully the emotions and meaning of the text set in musical terms. The same period also witnessed the rise of the five- and six-voice chanson, whose most important exponents are Josquin des Prez, Pierre de La Rue, and Jean Mouton. The new expanded textures posed several compositional challenges but also offered greater opportunities for text expression. Rhetorical analysis is particularly suitable for this repertory as it is justified by the composers’ contacts with humanistic ideals and the newer text-expressive approach. Especially Josquin’s exposure to humanism must have been extensive during his long-lasting residence in Italy, before returning to Northern France, where he most likely composed his multi- voice chansons. The present dissertation explores the musico-rhetorical resources that demonstrate how composers read and interpreted contemporary poetic texts in conjunction with their efforts to accommodate larger textures in the secular domain. “Musical rhetoric” is thus understood as the totality of musical gestures that aim to secure a successful delivery of musical speech. Musico-rhetorical analysis of the repertory demonstrates that composers of the time read more in the poetry they set than the rhyme scheme and the syntax of the verses. They responded, albeit by various and subtle musical means, to the semantic implications of the text, its bawdy, serious, or mixed register, to the changes from indirect speech to personal declaration or third- person address, to the sonorous quality of the verse and its projection through the expanded polyphonic fabric, and to the resonances of the text with other texts or musical settings. iii Especially in chansons in the courtly register, composers frequently employed gestures derived form classical rhetoric either to alert the listener to a specific textual point or to weave meaningful connections that project the larger argument of the text. The expanded texture functioned as a multi-layered canvas on which multiple readings of the text were juxtaposed in intricate relationships. iv v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS No dissertation is prepared single-handedly and I have been especially fortunate in the support I received from my professors, colleagues, and friends. My deepest thanks go foremost to my advisor, Stephanie P. Schlagel, for her swift and thorough readings, her astute observations, and her patient guidance in sharpening my research skills, critical thinking, and writing style. I cannot but express my deepest gratitude while during the same period she was so willing to read my drafts for conference papers and the numerous versions of my first published article. My most sincere appreciation goes to Professor Miguel Roig-Francoli, whose theory seminar provided the impetus for undertaking this project. I thank him deeply for his encouragement and support to pursue this research and for the valuable advice he provided on my many analytical questions regarding the thorny issue of Renaissance modality. My gratitude also goes to Professor Edward Nowacki for his confidence in my abilities and encouragement throughout my studies at the University of Cincinnati, his thought-provoking contributions during the Colloquium, as well as the lucid English translations of Latin passages he was always so eager to provide. I must also thank Professor Lowanne Jones, Head of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, for her helpful suggestions on translating and interpreting the frequently ambiguous Middle French lyrics of my repertory. Studying with Professors Stephen Cahn, bruce mcclung, Mary Sue Morrow, Karin Pendle, Hilary Poriss, and Robert Zierolf enabled me to develop as an independent scholar and build my confidence for undertaking this dissertation and sharing my findings with the scholarly community. I would like especially to thank Professor Cahn for the inspiring conversations he shared with me. I am also indebted to Honey Meconi for reading and commenting on my first vi paper to be presented at an international conference and the subsequent follow-up she offered whenever I asked. The University of Cincinnati Summer Graduate Student Research Award and Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship made it possible for me to continue and expand my research, and my appreciation extends to the nomination committees for reading through and evaluating my proposals. I am also thankful to the excellent resources and the helpful staff of the College-Conservatory of Music Library, particularly the Head Librarian Mark Palkovic, whose office door was always open for reference inquiries. I was fortunate to enjoy the friendship of my colleague Jewel Smith, College- Conservatory of Music doctoral graduate, who was always alerting, preparing, and encouraging me for the next daunting step. My most sincere thanks go to my friends Thomas LeClair and Anna Aliki Antoniou, as well as Stefanos Manganaris and Theodosia Kalfas for opening their homes to me during my visits in Cincinnati at the final stages of the dissertation process. Special thanks are due to my cordial friends Will and Jane Hillenbrand for their good cheer, faith, and support, and to my numerous friends from Terrace Park who were always showing interest in and enthusiasm for my project. I am grateful to my parents, Thomas and Helen, for all that they have done for me. To my family, Argy, Stergios, and little Thomas, goes my deepest gratitude for sharing this lifetime experience with me. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………...iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………………..vi LIST OF TABLES AND MUSICAL EXAMPLES……………………………………………....x INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1 Chapter I. RHETORIC AND HUMANISM DURING THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES: THE IMPACT OF THE “WORD”…………………………………..22 The foundations of rhetoric Classical learning in the Renaissance Humanism and rhetoric north of the Alps Rhetoric and music II. LYRIC AND CHANSON VERSE IN THE LATE FIFTEENTH AND EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURIES………………………………………………………….54 French poetry in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries Chanson verse and the multi-voice song repertory III. JOSQUIN’S MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS ON A MELODY OF HIS OWN INVENTION…………………………………………………………………………95 IV. JOSQUIN’S MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS ON A CANTUS PRIUS FACTUS…...207 V. ASPECTS OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN JOSQUIN’S MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS………………………………………………………………………..287 VI. PIERRE DE LA RUE’S MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS…………………………...349 VII. MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS BY JEAN MOUTON AND OTHER CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS………………………………………………..416 Multi-voice chansons by Jean Mouton Multi-voice chansons by other contemporary composers CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………………………………….502 viii BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………510 Appendix 1. INVENTORY OF MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS FROM THE 1490s TO C. 1520…...531 2. CONTEMPORARY MANUSCRIPT SOURCES AND PRINTED EDITIONS OF MULTI-VOICE CHANSONS………………………………………………………….537 ix TABLES Table Page 1.1 Rhetorical figures and tropes in Rhetorica ad Herennium and Institutio oratoria that can have possible applications in music………………………………..................52 3.1 Multi-voice chansons by Josquin according to the type of pre-compositional material…………………………………………………………………………….......96 3.2 Chansons based on Josquin’s own melodies (Group 1)……………………………….97 4.1 Chansons on a known cantus prius factus (Group 2) showing the provenance of the borrowed material………………………………………………………………...208 5.1 Motivic content of the individual phrases in “La tricotée est par matin levée” and Je me complains de mon amy (in the canonic voices)………………………………..308 5.2a Comparison of the Susato 154515 phrase structure of the canonic melodies in Josquin’s N’esse pas ung grant desplaisir with Le Brung’s Si vous n’avez aultre desir…………………………………………………………………………....343 5.2b Comparison of the Mellange15722 phrase structure of the canonic melodies in Josquin’s N’esse pas ung grant desplaisir with Le Brung’s Si vous n’avez aultre desir……………………………………………………………………………343 6.1 Multi-voice chansons attributed to Pierre de La Rue in contemporary sources……...350 6.2 Multi-voice chansons conjecturally attributed to Pierre de La Rue…………………..350 7.1 Multi-voice chansons by Mouton, divided according to the nature of the poetry……418 7.2 Multi-voice chansons of the first quarter of the sixteenth century by composers other than Josquin, La Rue,