A Perfected Art: Church Polyphony in the Late Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
Feb 23, 2016
A Perfected Art:
Church Polyphony in the Late Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
Josquin des Prez(ca. 1450–1521)
• “Master of the notes: They must do as he wills” – Martin Luther
• Creator of the Ars perfecta “to which nothing can be added, after which nothing but decline is to be expected”– Henricus Glareanus (1488–1563)
Humanism
• Renewed interest in the study of Ancient texts• Music as a branch of poetic eloquence
Dodecachordon(1547)
• Glareanus• Recognition of four additional modes– Ionian, Hypoionian– Aeolian, Hypoaeolian
Josquin’s Career
• From 1475: chapel choir of René, King of Sicily and Duke of Anjou, in Aix-en-Provence
• 1489: papal choir in Rome• 1502: music director for Duke Ercole d’Este, in
Ferrara– Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae– Soggetto cavato dalle vocali (theme carved out of
vowels)
A Model Masterpiece
• Josquin’s Ave maria [Anthology 1-47]– Words and melody from the Annunciation
sequence– Equal-voice polyphonic setting– Declamation, syntax, and semantic
Imitations
• Ludwig Senfl (ca. 1486–1543), Ave Maria …Virgo serena
• Antoine de Févin (ca. 1470–1512), Mass on Ave Maria … Virgo serena – Imitation Mass
• Josquin, Benedicta es, coelorum [Anthology 1-48]
– Six-voice motet based on chant sequence for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin
– Cantus firmus writing
All Is Known
• Ars perfecta• Le istitutioni harmoniche (1558)• Gioseffo Zarlino (1517–1590)• Triad as “harmonia perfetta” (“The Perfect Harmony”)
The “Post-Josquin” Generation
• Jacobus Clemens (1510–1556) “Clemens non papa”– Souterliedekens • 150 Psalms paraphrased into Dutch verse• Metrical psalms• contrafactum
The “Post-Josquin” Generation
• Adrain Willaert (1490–1562)– Benedicta es, coelorum regina (published 1545)
[Anthology 1-50]– Motet
The New Instrumental Music
• ricercare • Cori spezzati (split choirs)
Palestrina and the Ecumenical Tradition
• Gionvanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594)– Worked in papal service under 11
successive popes– 104 complete settings of the Ordinary– Approximately 400 motets– Vesper hymns and a complete cycle of
Mass Offertories– Two books of madrigals
Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli
• From second book of Masses (published 1567)• [Anthology 1-51a,b,c]• Council of Trent
• Palestrina’s Tui sunt coeli [Anthology 1-52]– From the book of Offertories (published 1594)
“Stairway to Parnassus”
• stile antico “old style”• Gradus as Parnassum (1725)– Johann Joseph Fux (1660–1741)– Music theory treatise derived from Palestrina’s
style
Alternatives to Perfection
• Henry VIII• Anglican Music• Church of England• John Taverner (1490–1545)• Thomas Tallis (1505–1585)
The Recusant William Byrd(1543–1623)
• Catholic serving in the chapel royal• Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur– Published jointly with Tallis (1575)– Motets
The Recusant William Byrd(1543–1623)
• Settings of forbidden liturgical texts• Mass Ordinary settings• “Agnus Dei” from Mass in Four Parts
[Anthology 1-53a]• “Agnus Dei” from Mass in Five Parts
[Anthology 1-53b]