Collins, Michael-The Performance of Sesquialtera and Hemiolia in The 16th Century PDF

The Performance of Sesquialtera and Hemiolia in the 16th Century
Author(s): Michael B. Collins

Source: Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring, 1964), pp. 5-
28
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological
Society
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The Performance of Sesquialtera and
Hemiolia in the I6th Century
BY MICHAEL B. COLLINS
THE LAST YEARS of the I5th century saw a great proliferation of the
proportional signs described by musical theorists. The treatment given
these signs by Tinctoris in his Proportionale musices (c. 1476) and
Franchinus Gaffurius in his Practica musicae (1496) is so exhaustive that
it leads to extravagances which could hardly have any application to the
actual practice of composition. Such excesses as did find their way into
practice were sharply criticized by Zarlino in Le Istitutioni Harmoniche
(1558). The following passage is from the edition of i56z:
If, then, the properties of sensible objects cannot be perceived or judged by
any other sense than that proper to them, as sound is by hearing, color by
vision, and those of the others in order, let those who strive so much and
take such pains to introduce so many intricacies into their cantilene tell me,
for heaven's sake, what and how much pleasure and benefit these may afford
to the sense, and if they [their compositions] are more beautiful and more so-
norous than those that do not have such things, which are only visible, and fall
under no other sense than that of vision, not possible to be heard in any way,
since they are not common objects ... which can be perceived by many senses.
I know that they will reply, if they have any judgment, that these things afford
no benefits, since when these [compositions] have been reduced to a simple,
ordinary method [of notation], stripped of such cyphers, such and as much
harmony will be heard in the latter as in the former.
Although the ancients as well followed such a method [of introducing intri-
cacies], they knew very well that such accidents can afford no augmentation
or diminution of the harmony. But they practiced such things to show they
were not ignorant of the speculations which had been put into practice by
some idle theorists of those times, being that then things had been reduced
to such a state that the speculative part of the science consisted rather in
speculations on accidents of this type than in consideration of the sounds,
and voices, and other things mentioned in the first and second parts of these
my endeavors. And this is made clear by many books written by various
authors, who treat of nothing but circles and semicircles, with and without
dots [in their centers], whole or cut not only once [as the sign of alla breve]
but even twice, and in which are seen so many dots, rests, colors, cyphers,
signs, numbers against numbers, and so many other strange things that they
sometimes resemble the books of a bewildered merchant. Other than those
things enumerated, nothing is read in their books that might lead one to the
understanding of anything subject to the judgment of the sense of hearing,
as are the voices or the sounds from which are born the harmonies and the
melodies. And although the names of some of these musicians still live honor-
6 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
able with us, they have not acquired such reputations with such chimeras, but
with the good harmonies and harmonious concenti which are heard in their
compositions. And whatever confusion in their compositions [caused by] such
intricacies, they also managed, if not with the speculations, at least with the
help of their judgment, to reduce their harmonies to the ultimate perfection
they could give them. Yet that [these intricacies] were badly understood and
improperly used by many others is attested to by the many errors committed
by the practicing composers in their compositions.'
Zarlino clearly implies that all the proportions are reducible to the
common signs of tempus and prolation. This is readily apparent in the
case of such proportions as dupla (z/1) and quadrupla (4/0). We also
know that the occasional appearance of blackened figures, such as a breve
accompanied by a semibreve or a semibreve by a minim, calls for a
resolution of these notes into dotted figures in imperfect tempus and
prolation. They might just as well have been notated as dotted figures
in the first place. The aim here is to produce evidence proving that
1 Gioseffo Zarlino, Le Istitutioni Harmoniche (Venetia: Appresso Francesco Senese,
1562), 111:71, p. 278: ". . . Se adunque i Propij oggetti sensibili non si possono
sentire, ne giudicare da alcuno altro sentimento, che dal loro propio; come il Suono
dall'Udito, il Colore dal Vedere, & cosi gli altri per ordine; dicami hora, di gratia,
quelli, che tanto si affaticano, & pongono cura di porre nelle loro cantilene tanti
intrichi; quale, & quanto diletto, & utile possino porgere al sentimento; & se sono
pidi vaghe, & piud sonore di quelle, che non hanno tali cose, lequali sono se non visibili,
& non cadeno sotto alcuno sentimento, che sotto quello del Vedere; ne si possono per
alcun modo udire: percioche non sono Oggetti communi, come sono li nominati,
che possono esser compresi da molti sentimenti. Io s6 che risponderanno, se haveran
giudicio, che non danno in questo utile alcuno: percioche quando saranno ridutte
ad un modo semplice, & commune, fuori di tali cifere; tali, & tanta sara l'harmonia,
che si ode in quelle; quale, & quanta e quella, che si ode in queste.
Percioche se bene gli Antichi seguitarono un tal modo; conoscevano molto bene,
che tall accidenti non potevano apportare alcuno accrescimento, o diminutione di
harmonia: ma davano opera a simili cose, per mostrare di non essere ignoranti di
quella Theorica, che da alcuni otiosi Speculativi de quei tempi era stato posta in uso:
Essendo che allora la cosa era gia ridutta a tal fine, che la parte Speculativa della
scienza, consisteva pi" tosto nella speculatione de simili accidenti, che nella con-
sideratione delli Suoni, & delle Voci, & delle altre cose mostrate nella Prima, & nella
Seconda parte di queste mie fatiche. Et di ci6 fanno fede molti Libri composti da
diversi autori, che non trattano se non di Circoli, & Semicircoli; puntati, & non
puntati; interi, & tagliati non solo una volta, ma anco due; ne i quali si veggono
tanti Punti, tante Pause, tanti Colori, tanti Cifere, tanti Segni, tanti Numeri contra
numeri, et tante altre cose strane; che paiono alle volte Libri di uno intricato mer-
catante. Ne altro si legge in cotesti loro libri, che possa condur l'huomo alla intelli-
genza di alcuna cosa, che caschi sotto'l giuditio del senso dell'Udito; come sono le
Voci, o li Suoni, da i quali nascono le Harmonie, et le Melodie, che le cose nominate.
Et se bene vive ancora honorevolmente il nome di alcuni Musici appresso di noi;
non si hanno per6 acquistato riputatione alcuna con tali chimere: ma con le buone
harmonie, & harmoniosi concenti, i quali si odeno nelle loro compositioni. Et quan-
tunque mescolassero in quelli tali intrichi, si sforzarono anco, se non con la specu-
latione, almeno aiutati dal loro giuditio, di ridurre le loro Harmonie a quella ultima
perfettione, che dare le potevano; ancora che da molti altre fusse male intesa, &
malamente usata; dilche ne fanno fede molti errori commessi da i Prattici com-
positori nelle loro compositioni." A large part of the chapter from which these pas-
sages are taken is made available in translation by O. Strunk, Source Readings in
Music History (New York, 1950), pp. 248-253.
THE PERFORMANCE OF SESQUIALTERA AND HEMIOLIA 7
the hemiolia and sesquialtera proportions also have no audible effect i

16th century music. The thesis, in other words, is that the common m
ern transcription of these proportions into triplets is incorrect.
Before launching into the argument it will be well to define t
terms "sesquialtera" and "hemiolia." Sesquialtera is that proportion whi
arises when three semibreves appear in the time of two semibreves, though
more frequently three minims in the time of two minims. The si
designating this proportion is 3/2. Hemiolia is exactly the same as ses
quialtera except that all the notes are blackened. The blackening of not
being itself a sign of sesquialtera, there is no need for the sign 3/2 i
hemiolia. It must be understood that sesquialtera and hemiolia are ide
tical in function.2 Therefore, whatever is said concerning sesquialtera
applies also to hemiolia and vice versa. More specific information regar
ing the use of these proportions must be deferred until after the natu
of tactus in the 16th century has been established.
Agricola, Vanneo, and Finck define tactus as triplex: major (or a
breve), minor (or alla semibreve), and proportionate (or trochaic
The first two, in which the downstroke and upstroke are equal, are cal
tactus aequalis. Proportionate tactus, often called tactus inaequalis,
used when all the voices of a composition are signed by some trip
proportion, as can be seen in this passage from Bourgeois's Le Dro
Chemin de Musique of I550: "In tripla, sesquialtera, and hemiolia of th
tempus, one commonly takes the tactus of two semibreves on the down
stroke and one on the upstroke. And in tripla, sesquialtera, and hemio
of prolation, of two minims on the downstroke and one on the upstrok
provided that these said proportions are not opposed by other signs."4
The final provision indicates that the unequal tactus is not to be employ
when proportions are opposed by other signs. Proportion must there-
fore be defined as duplex in nature. Though a definition to this effec
may be found as early as 1533, in Vanneo's Recanetum de musica aurea
the following one is from Finck's Practica Musica of 1556:
Proportion in music is duplex: equal and unequal. Equal proportion is
2 Pietro
tanto significaAron, Toscanello
sesqualtera in musica
in potenza, quanto(Vineggia:
hemiolia . .Marchio Sessa,
. tanto opera 1539),
uno, II, 33: ". . .
quanto
P'altro." Martin Agricola, Musica Figuralis Deudsch (Wittemberg: George Rhaw,
1532), p. 163: "[Hemiolia] ist . . . mit der Sesquialtera ein ding." Herman Finck,
Practica musica (Vitebergae excusa typis Haeredum Georgii Rhaw, 1556), II, io:
"[Hemiolia] nihil differt in Musica a sesquialtera, nisi colore notarum."
a Martin Agricola, op. cit., pp. 72ff. Stephano Vanneo, Recanetum de musica aurea
(Roma: Apud Valerium Doricum Brixiensem, 1533), II, 8. Herman Finck, op. cit.,
II, I.
4Loys Bourgeois, Le Droict Chemin de Musique (Faksimile-Nachdruck, Docu-
menta Musicologica, Ser. I, Vol. 6; Kassel, 954), Chapter 6: "Du tacte. ... En tripla,
sesquialtera & hemiolia de temps, on tient communement le tacte de deux demibreves
en abbessant & d'une en levant. Et en tripla, sesquialtera & hemiolia de prolation,
de deux minimes en abessant & d'une en levant: pour veu que lesdictes proportions
ne soint opposs~es d'autres signes. Et lors on l'appelle tacte proportionnf."
two equal quantities brought together; that is, it is a comparison of two equal
numbers, as 2 to 2, 3 to 3, 4 to 4, 5 to 5, etc.
Unequal proportion is a comparison of unequal numbers; that is, a greater
one to a smaller, in this manner: 2/I, 3/2, 4/3, 8/4, etc., or the reverse, smaller
to greater, in this manner: I/z, 2/3, 3/4, 4/8.5
Sesquialtera and hemiolia may be either equal or unequal proportions

--equal when all the parts of a composition have the sign of proportion,
and unequal when one or more but not all the parts have the sign. How-
ever, many theorists insist that sesquialtera and hemiolia exist only as
proportions of inequality. Here, for example, is what Tigrini writes
concerning this in his II compendio della musica of 1588:
[Sesquialtera] is a proportion of inequality; hence, wanting to make it as
it should be made, it will always be when one or more parts sing two semi-
breves, or two minims in one tactus, and the other parts sing in contrast three
semibreves, or three minims; and not as some, who in their compositions,
under the sign of sesquialtera, cause all the parts to sing equally three semi-
breves, or three minims, against three others... .6
Banchieri, in his Conclusioni nel suono dell'organo of 1609, also makes

this distinction:
The proportion of equality in tactus alla breve7 is marked with two num-
bers, 3/2, and in such case three semibreves are sung per tactus, and the num-
bers mean that in alteration, three semibreves are sung where, were there not
numbers, two would be sung; and here one perceives the error of those who
think that the two numbers are an indication of sesquialtera. . . The propor-
tion of equality comes from no other way of singing, save that in the same
tempo all the parts are sung under the same tactus to the value of three semi-
breves.
In tactus alla semibreve [see footnote 7] the same proportion of equality
comes about with the numbers 3/2, and three minims are sung to the tactus
instead of two, which would be sung without the numbers .... Though the
sesquialteras [of inequality] are rarely used, for the lack of practice on the
part of singers, and because even composers flee the inconveniences in public
50Op. cit., II, 13: "Proportio in musica est duplex: Aequalitatis & Inaequalitatis.
Aequalitatis proportio, est duarum aequalium quantitatum collatio, hoc est, Est com-
paratio aequalis numeri ad aequalem, ut, 2 ad 2, 3 ad 3, 4 ad 4, 5 ad 5, &c. . ... In-
aequalitatis proportio est, cum inaequalis numerus ad inaequalem, hoc est, Maior
ad minorem, hoc modo: 2/I 3/2 4/3 8/4 &c. Aut e diverso Minor ad maiorem
confertur: hoc modo 1/2 2/3 3/4 4/8 &c."
6 Orazio Tigrini, II compendio della musica (Venetia: R. Amadino, 1588), pp.
129f: "Sesquialtera . . . e proportione d'inegualita: onde volendosi fare come si dee,
si fard sempre, che quando una, 6 plud parti canteranno due Semibrevi, 6 due Minime
in una Battuta, l'altre parti cantino all'incontro tre Semibrevi, 6 tre Minime; & non
come alcuni, che nelle loro Compositioni, sotto'l segno della Sesquialtera fanno egual-
mente cantare tutte le parti tre Semibrevi, 6 tre Minime contra tre altre... ."
SAccording to Banchieri (on p. 34f. of the work cited) modem musicians had
reduced the signs to two tempi-tempo perfetto, which is alla breve (r) or two
semibreves to the tactus, and tempo imperfetto, alla semibreve (C) or two minims
to the tactus: "I1 tempo perfetto viene praticato con uno semicircolo tagliato per il
longo . . . in tal maniera, si cantano dui semibrevi alla battuta .... II tempo imper-
fetto viene segnato con uno semicircolo in questa maniera C, in tal caso si cantano
dui minime alla battuta.... "
places, nevertheless, to show the difference between the proportions of equ

and the proportions of sesquialtera of inequality, having now dealt with o
we will demonstrate the second.
Proportion sesquialtera of inequality is so called when one or more parts
sing, for example, under tactus alla breve, two semibreves per tactus, and
others sing three semibreves. Thus it is called inequality, because singing the
parts unequally, one singer sings two notes, and the other three, under the
same amount of time. This is also marked for them with the numbers 3/2,
which imply one part with three semibreves against others who sing only
two of them. And hence comes about the difference of these numbers 3/2
in the proportions of equality and the sesquialtera proportions of inequality.8
Indeed proportions of inequality are rarely to be found in the time

of Banchieri. However, they were certainly in use during the 16th cen-
tury when Zarlino wrote the following lucid account of the relationship
of both types of proportion to the tactus:
. . . and they named these numbers [3/2] sesquialtera, and perhaps not entirely
without reason, for they can be considered in four ways: (I) when they are
put at the beginning of the piece, in all the parts, unequal tactus is used; (z)
when they are likewise put at the beginning, but not in all the parts, each
part is regulated under equal tactus; (3) when they are put in the middle of
the song in each part, the unequal tactus is used; (4) when they are put in
the middle of only one part, the parts are regulated in the same way by the
equal tactus. Whence such numbers can mean two things: one (as is the opin-
ion of the moderns), that with respect to the sign of the tempus, the unequal
measure is put against the equal; in other words, three long or short notes
against two. In the second place, they mean that within the tactus there are
contained three long or short notes-whichever there are-of which two are
put on the downstroke and one on the upstroke, especially when other signs
denoting some proportion in the notes of the piece do not concur. But when
8 Adriano Banchieri, Conclusioni nel suono dell'organo (Bologna: Gio. Rossi,

I609), pp. 36f: "La proportione di equalith nel tempo perfetto [d ] segnasi con
dui numeri, 3/2 & in tal caso si cantano tre semibrevi alla battuta, & gli numeri sig-
nificano, che nell'alterare si cantano tre semibrevi dove (se non fossero numeri) se
ne canteriano dui; & qui si scorge l'abbaglio di quelli, che si credono gli dui numeri
sia inditio di sesquialtra .. .ne per altro tal modo di cantare vien detto proportione
di equalita, solo che nello istesso tempo tutte le parti cantano sotto la medesima bat-
tuta per il valore di tre semibrevi ugual.
"Nel tempo imperfetto [C I vi nasce la istessa proportione di equalita con gli
numeri 3/2 & si cantano tre minime alla battuta invece di dui che cantare si dovriano
senza numeri ....Ben che le sesquialtre siano poco in uso, per la manco pratica, che
ne fanno gli cantori, & ancora gli compositori per sfuggire gl'inconvenienti ne gli
luoghi publici: Nulla di meno per mostrare la differenza, che si ritrova tri la pro-
portione di equaliti, & proportione sesquialtra d'inequalita; havendo gia trattato dell'-
uno, mostraremo la 2.
"Proportione sesquialtra di inequalite chiamasi quando una (6 pid parti) cantano
(per esempio) sotto il tempo perfetto [ (1$ dui semibrevi alla battuta, & altri cantano
tre semibrevi, di quivi chiamasi di inequalit" cantando le parti inegualmente, cioe
un cantore canta dui note, & I'altro tre sotto I'istesso valore; Questo si segnano ancor
loro con gli numeri 3/2 che vogliono inferire una parte contra tre semibrevi, contro
altre, che ne cantano dui solamente, & quivi si viene a fare il confronto della dif-
ferenza di questi numeri 3/2 nelle proportioni di equalita, & sesquialtre proportioni
di inequalita... ."
the tactus is meant in this way, many difficulties arise for composers an
singers alike.9
Now Zarlino seems to say that regardless of whether the tactus is

equal or unequal, the first two notes of sesquialtera fall on the downstroke
and the third on the upstroke of the tactus. When the tactus is equal, as
when only one voice has the sign of sesquialtera, it would seem that
sesquialtera does not produce triplets at all.
Pisa, in his Battuta della musica of 161 I, makes a direct quotation from
Tigrini's II compendio della musica, which in turn has been copied from
Lusitano's Introduttione facilissima of 1553. Pisa writes as follows:
"The tactus is composed of two movements, one a downstroke, and the
other an upstroke. And the notes which are sung sometimes go equally to the
tactus, and sometimes unequally. When they are the former, when one note
goes per tactus, half will be put in the first part, that is, on the downstroke,
and the other half will be put in the second part, that is, the upstroke. When,
on the other hand, unequal notes go in the tactus, as in tripla proportion, in
sesquialtera, and in hemiolia, if they go three to the tactus, two are placed on
the downstroke, one on the upstroke. . . ." The same is said in the 5th Chapter
of the doctrine of Lusitano. However, since these authors make no quantita-
tive difference between the parts of the tactus in the proportions and the ordi-
nary song [i.e., binary measure], but make it in the same way, no difference
between one and the other (i.e., downstroke and upstroke), there can in no
way be constituted more than one single note representative of the musical
tactus, as is shown at the end of Chapter 5 with the practice of Palestrina in
the Missa L'homme arms, where in the last Kyrie and first Osanna, the Quinta
sings in tripla, and the other parts sing alla breve. And because said mass is
sung alla semibreve anyway, although it is under the sign of alla breve, the
above-mentioned Quinta sings in tripla under the same tactus of the semibreve.
Therefore, it is clear that the same measure [i.e., tactus] serves all three species
of song, without varying at all, as is proved above with the authority of
Stefano Vaneo in Chapt. 8 of the second book of the Recaneto, where he calls
it ferma, immutabile, and certa misura. ....
And about proportionate [tactus] he [Vanneo] says, that two [notes] go
on the downstroke, and one on the upstroke under the same tempo of the
semibreve, and he calls it [i.e., the tactus] major, minor, and proportionate
for the three types of notes which are measured by the same tactus, accom-
9 Op. cit., III, 48, p. zo8: ". . . & cotali cifre [3/21 nominavano Sesquialtera, et
forse non senza ragione: percioche si possono considerare in quattro maniere; Prima,
quando sono poste nel principio di tutte le parte della cantilena; & allora si usa la
Battuta inequale; Seconda, quando sono poste medesimamente nel principio; ma non
in tutte le parte: onde ciascuna parte si viene a regolare sotto la Battuta equale; Terza,
quando sono poste nel mezo della cantilena in ciascuna parte, & si usa medesimamente
la Battuta inequale; Et quarta, quando sono poste nel mezo di alcuna parte solamente,
& le parti si vengono a regolare similmente dalla Battuta equale. Onde cotali Cifre
possono significare due cose; prima (come C opinione de i Moderni) che havendo
rispetto al Segno del tempo, si viene a porre la Misura inequale contra la Equale,
cioe tre Tempi lunghi, 6 brevi contra due; Dipoi, significano, che nella Battuta intera
sono contenuti Tre tempi lunghi, 6 brevi, che siano; de i quali due si pongono della
Positione, & uno nella Levatione; massimamente quando non vi concorreno altre
cifre numerali, che dinotino alcuna proportione nelle figure, o note della cantilena:
come gia facevano alcuni Musici: conciosiache intesa la Battuta in questa maniera,
leva molte difficulta che possono occorre alli Compositori, & alli Cantori anco."
THE PERFORMANCE OF SESQUIALTERA AND HEMIOLIA II
modating the notes to it, and not it to the notes. From this is show
that practice is no different from theory, but that where the th
the beginning and end of the measure, the practitioner gives the
and end to the song, in order not to incur disorder . ..10
It is clear that Pisa is speaking about unequal proportio

tera and hemiolia under equal tactus. His instructions are
Zarlino's. Pisa also makes an enlightening distinction betwee
retical nature of measure and the practical necessity of sing
tactus so as not to incur disorder. The distinction between measure and
tactus had already been made in 1550 by Bourgeois. He writes that meas-
ure is the numbering or counting of the notes, their rests, and dots of
augmentation as the signs require, while tactus is a prescribed length of
time to which all the notes, their rests, and dots of augmentation must
be reduced. And although tactus and measure sometimes coincide, it is
wrong to take measure for tactus under signs of diminution."
In speaking of sesquialtera and hemiolia, Zacconi, in his Prattica di
Musica of 1596, has the following to say:
That those produced by the ancient composers are sesquialtera, or hemiolia,

10 Agostino Pisa, Battuta della musica (Roma, 1x6i), p. x28:
"La battuta e composta de duoi movimenti, l'uno de quali si fi con il descendere,
& I'altro con I'ascendere. Et perche le figure cantabili, alcune volte vanno nella bat-
tuta pari, & alcuna altra impari. Quando sono di quelle, delle quali una va per battuta,
la meta si mettera nella prima parte, cioe nel descendere, & l'altra metA nella seconda
parte, cioe nell'ascendere. Quando poi nella battuta andaranno figure impari, come
nella proportione tripla, nella sesquialtera, & numero hemiolio, se n'andaranno tre
alla battuta, due si metteranno nel descendere, & una nell'ascendere. . . 11 medesimo
si e detto nel 5 cap. con la dottrina del Lusitano. Per6 non facendo questi auttori
differentia alcuna quanto alle parti della battuta nella proportione, dal canto ordinario,
m" facendo nel medesimo modo, e l'una, & l'altra, cioe, descendendo, & ascendendo,
non si pu6 in modo alcuno con verita constituire pid di una sola figura rapresentativa
della battuta musicale, come si e mostro anco nel fine del 5. cap. con la prattica del
Palestrina nella Messa l'Homme Arme, dove nel ultimo Kyrie, & Primo Ossana, il
quinto canta in tripola, & altre parti cantano alla breve. Et perche la detta Messa si
canta ancora alla semibreve, se bene e sotto questo segno d il quinto sudetto canta in
tripola sotto la medesima battuta delle semibreve. Dunque C chiaro la medesima misura
serve a tutte tre le spetie del canta, senza variar' punto, come si e anco provato di
sopra con l'auttorita di Stefano Vaneo nel 8 cap. del 2. lib. del Recaneto, dove la
chiama Ferma, Immutabile & Certa Misura....
Et della proportionata dice, che due vanno nell'abbassare della mano, & una nel
levare, sotto il medesimo tempo della semibreve, & la chiama Maggiore, Minore, &
Proportionata, per gli tre gradi di note, che con la medesima misura, si misurano,
accommodandosi le figure " lei, & non lei alle figure, dalle quali cose si mostra evi-
dentemente, che la prattica non & differente dalla theorica, ma che dove assegna
il principio, & fine della misura il Theorico, ivi il prattico da il principio, & fine al
Canto, per non incorrere nel disordine. ...."
11 Bourgeois, op. cit., Chapter 6: "Mesure est nombrer (sans chanter qui voudra)
les notes, leurs pauses & poinctz d'augmentation comme les signes les requierent....
Toutes les notes, leurs pauses & poinctz d'augmentation doivent estre reduictes a
un certain compas que nous appellons tacte. Tacte donques est en chantant com-
prendre les notes, leurs pauses & poinctz d'augmentation soubz un abesser ou frapper
(du doigt ou autre chose) egal A un lever . (improprement toutesfois) on
prend mesure pour tacte en signes diminues... ."
and not proportions at all, is shown by the fact that often they are introd
in a single part.12 The ancient composers have used also this precaution, i
of introducing a small number of them, because of the difficulty which
present. They produce two contrary actions: one of tactus, and the o
of notes.
This is what I have said in Chapter 53 of the first book, talking ab
some extravagances, which, since they are of sesquialtera and of hem
help the composers in certain instances with not unpleasant effects, as is
in the above-mentioned chapter.13
The "extravagances" which Zacconi describes in Chapter 53 are th
shown in Example i, which along with a few variants, he says, may
found in the works of such composers as Josquin, Mouton, Isaac, Obr
and others.
Ex. i
I= AK n! 1 I ' . I.
As to the performance of
. . and it is not to be said th

because the other parts go
to be sung under the same t
that have the cypher . . pro
they would never be understo
unable to occur with the un
seen. ... As for the manner
are sung under the equal tactu
Zacconi does not specify e

be sung in relation to the
sung in proportion, i.e., n
clarified by Quitschreiber
where he writes, "this num
the first or third is to be s
12 Zacconi recognizes only th
proportions.
13 Giulio Cesare Zacconi, Prattica de musica (Venetia: B. Carampello, 1596), fols.
153'-153': "Che quelle che gi" produssero gli antichi nelle loro cantilene sieno pure
Sesquialtere 6 Emiolie, & non Proportioni, consta da questo, che spessissime volte le si
trovano introdutte in una parte sola; & hanno anco havuto quest'avertenza d'intro-
durcene poche per la difficult" che seco portano, convenendosi fare due attioni con-
trarie, uno del tatto, & l'altra delle figure.
"Questo ' quello che io dissi di sopra nel Cap. 53 del primo Libro, parlando d'alcune
stravaganze: le quali per esser di Sesquialtere & di Emiolie aiutano le compositioni
in certi casi che non sono disdicevoli come commodamente nel sudetto Capitolo
si pub vedere."
14 Ibid, fol. 42': "... & non C da dire che questi essempii vadino cantati in Pro-
portione: perche I'altre parte caminano con le figure ordinarie, & dovendole cantare
sotto l'istesso tatto, le vengano a essere le medeme figure che sono quelle che hanno
la zifra . .. perche prima le Proportioni s'hanno da introdurre con altre maniere;
& poi le non s'intenderiano mai in una parte sola: non potendo il tatto equale, con
l'inequale convenire se non in successione, come chiaramente si vede. ... Quanto al
modo di cantarle si ha da sapere che le vanno cantate sotto il tatto equale... ."
make one whole tactus."'5 Vulpius, in his Musicae Compendium of I6

specifies under what conditions such performance is necessary:
The number 3 under three black notes or semiminims set in only one v
indicates that the first two retain their proper value; the third and last, h
ever, is doubled, and is worth a half tactus: 16
Ex. 2
I "1 muss also
gesungen werden
gesungen werden
However, when the number 3 appears in all voices under a black semi-
breve and minim, or under three minims, then three minims are sung in pro-
portionate tactus.17
Beringer's Musicae, das ist Der Freyen lieblichen Singkunst of r6io

clearly establishes that this phenomenon represents a conflict between
measure and tactus, with the tactus changing the value of the notes:
Where are these two measures, binary and ternary, mixed with one another?
When occasionally one or several tactus are found with a 3 noted under-
neath:
Ex. 3
1'
It. . i 4-
1I. , . i
In this case
two-part. T
is also worth
15 Georg Qu
1607), Chapt
oder Dritte
zusammen/e
16 Vulpius,
with norma
lose one-half
value.
17 Melchior Vulpius, Musicae Compendium Latino-Germanicum M. Heinrici Fabri
(Jenae, Excusum apud Johannem Weidnerum, Impensis Heinrici Birnstiels, Bib-
liopolae Erfurtensis, 16o8), Chapter 5: "Die Ziefer 3. unter drey schwartze Noten
oder Semiminimas [sic] nur in einer Stim gesetzt zeiget an dass die ersten zwo ihrer
eigentlichen Geltung bleiben, die dritte aber und letzte geduppelt werde, und einen
halben Schlag gelte: Wenn aber die Ziefer 3. in allen Stimmen unter einer schwartzen
Semibrevi und Minima, oder unter dreyen Minimis erscheinet und gesetzt, als denn
werden drey Minimae auff den proportion tact gesungen."
1s Maternus Beringer, Musicae, Das ist, Der Freyen lieblichen Singkunst (Niirn-
berg: George Leopold Fuhrmann, i6io), p. zo: "Wo sind diese zwo Dimensione
Binaria und Ternaria mit einander vermischt? Wenn in Dimensione Binaria biss-
weilen ein schlag oder etlich mit 3 unten verzeichnet/in einer Stimm gefunden wer-
den. Als denn werden die Noten durch drey theil gezehlt/aber doch nur durch
zweytheil abgemessen. Daher die ersten zwo einen halben schlag gelten/und die drit
allein auch einen halben schlag."
Ex. 4
-F I1
The same information, including resolutions of tribrachic groups of

black minims or semiminims into binary figures, is to be found in several
theoretical works from the first half of the I 7th century.19 Here is a quota-
tion from Finck's Practica Musica which gives some indication that this
type of resolution was practiced as early as 1556:
Moreover, if you wish to say the number sechzehen, you have three syllables,
which must be pronounced with a similar rapidity, with which you express
them according to one beat of the clock, although the first syllable by reason
of its double quantity is longer than the remaining syllables. And the same
holds true when three notes fall on one tactus: the first note is measured by
a half tactus, and the remaining two also by a half tactus in this way: 6 2 20
The evidence presented thus far constitutes an impressive argument

against the performance of sesquialtera and hemiolia as triplets. However,
the following quotations from Picerli's Specchio primo di musica of 1630
presents the same instructions in the terminology of Zarlino with such
crystalline clarity that there can be no doubt as to the method of per-
formance he intends:
The proportion of inequality is signed with these: 0 C (D C , or other in-

dividual signs, with the addition of this 3/2, or other cyphers or numbers,
the superior of which is disparate, at the beginning, or in the middle of all
the parts of the song. Note, however, that if placed at the beginning or in the
middle of some, but not all the parts, they show only equal tactus, giving in
the same way, two notes on the first, and another on the second part of the
tactus, without changing it from its natural and equal character.21
"Sometimes a ternary cypher is placed in compositions between three black

19 Cf., Heinrich Elsmann, Compendium musicae latino-germanicum (VVolferbuti,
imprimebatur per Eliam Holwein, 1619), p. x6.
Nicolas Gengenbach, Musica Nova, Newe Singekunst (Leipzig: Friedrich Lanc-
kisch, i626), p. 62.
Wolfgang Hase, Griindliche einfiihrung in die edle music oder singe kunst (Gos-
slar: N. Dunckern, 1657), p. 32.
Michael Triimper, Epitome oder Kurtzer ausszug der musik (Gotha: J. M. Schall,
1668), p. 29.
20 Finck, op. cit., II, x: "Praeterea si sechzehen dictionem numerare vis, ibi tres
syllabas habes, quae simil celeritate, qua unum expressisti ad horologij tactum, pro-
nunciandae sunt, quamuis prior syllaba duplici quantitate superat reliquas: sic etiam
sentiendum est, quando tres notae ad unum tactum inciderint, ex quibus prima dimi-
dio tactus, reliquae duae etiam dimidio tactu mensurantur, hoc pacto ."
21 Silverio Picerli, Specchio primo di musica (Napoli: Ottavio Beltrano, 1630),
p. 26: "La proportion d'inegualita si segna con questi 0(C 0 , o altri segni priva-
tivi, co l'agiunta di queste 3/2, o altre cifre, o numeri, ii superior de'quali & disparo,
nel principio, o mezzo di tutte le parti della cantilena. Avertasi per6, che, se si pon-
gono nel principio, o nel mezzo d'alcune, e non di tutte le parti, dimostrano solo la
battuta uguale; dando similmente due note alla prima, & un'altr'alla seconda parte
della battuta, senza mutarla dell'esser suo naturale, & uguale."
THE PERFORMANCE OF SESQUIALTERA AND HEMIOLIA I5
or white notes, placing them in proportion according to the demands of the
sign without other cyphers, which makes no other effect than to reduce the
three notes from unequal proportion to the equal one of the tactus, giving
two on the first, and one on the second part of it, as appear in the examples.22
Example 5 shows the illustration that Picerli uses to demonstrate the
use of perfect prolation, tripla, and hemiolia under equal tactus. The
resolutions, while not given by Picerli himself, are made according to
his explicit instructions. Note how the harmony is clarified by the resolu-
tion of the ternary figures into binary ones.
Ex. 5
S "T II I Ohl,"I
[.la A h A 4L l _ d ill L fI'2I ] IL _ II-- I - II .. II . ,,
Resolution
?t; Ie t .rwIIi
Authors such as Quitschreiber, Vulpius, Berin

it amply clear that sesquialtera and hemiolia
formed as triplets, but are resolved into binary
treatises were written in the early years of the I7t
tions are the same as those of Zarlino and Lusita
illuminating documentation is to be found even
theorists. Bourgeois's Le Droict Chemin de Musiq
Musica figuralis Deudsch of 1532 both contain
trating how to resolve and sing sesquialtera
tactus. The resolutions shown in Example 6 wer
geois himself.23 Note that trochaic figures are reso
iambic figures into even minims, and tribrach
into the syncopated figures of the common cade
figures on the lower levels, however, are resolv
of the second and third notes of each group.
The resolutions of Agricola are almost identica
Example 7 shows Agricola's illustration of sesqu
under equal tactus.24 A sesquialtera proportion
each part of the composition. That in the Altus
22 Ibid., p. 69: "Alcune volte si pone la cifra ternari
note nere, o bianche, poste in proportione secondo l'esig
la quale non fa altr'effetto, che ridurre le dette tre not
eguale della battuta; dandone due alla prima, & un'al
appare in detti essempij."
28 Bourgeois, op. cit., Chapter 5.
2' Agricola, op. cit., pp. 158-159.
Ex. 6
Sesquialtera de Prolation
Resolution
Hemiolia de Prolation
St Resolution
Ex. 7
Discantus
Resolutio sesqui.
A t t tt t t t
Tenor
Bassus
Discantus
IAltus" -f fl ""- - - - - -
Tenor
Resolutio sesqui.
b . .. ." ' ^ . L . I I I
B"
Bassus " - e .." _... ,
? .. . ...... .. a ,~~--H , , t . . ..
THE PERFORMANCE OF SESQUIALTERA AND HEMIOLIA I7
Discantus
Altus
Tenor
ji4
Resolutio
f . '
sesqui.
"
Bassus
Discantus
Resolutio subsesqui.
Tenor t+
Resolutio sesqui.
Bassus
proportion, in the resolution of which each note of the proportion has

its missing one-third restored. Each section containing the proportion has
been placed in a brace with its resolution. The composition appears exactly
as Agricola wrote it, except that the parts have been brought into align-
ment in score form and the tactus strokes indicated with arrows to
render the example more legible. The resolutions restore a perfection of
rhythmic and harmonic order to the composition.
From what we have seen concerning the relationship between ses-
quialtera and equal tactus, it is now possible to understand a hitherto
cryptic remark by Aron in his Toscanello in Musica of 1539. In describ-
ing the use of black semibreves in imperfect tempus and prolation Aron
writes that when it has a black breve before it, the semibreve loses one-
half its value. This is because the black breve is worth a dotted semi-
breve (i.e., it loses one-fourth its value), and the black semibreve only
completes the binary quantity of the measure. And then, about the
black breve accompanied by a black semibreve, he writes, "some say that
such a figure should be sesquialterate. This matters little from one men-
suration to another, because the quantity of these notes is subordinate to
the service of the tactus; assume what you please, since the end result is
the same anyway."25 Obviously it does not matter if this figure is called
sesquialtera, since we have seen that sesquialtera and hemiolia under equal
tactus are resolved in the same manner as the black breve and semibreve
under imperfect tempus.
There is reason to believe that Gaffurius also intended a similar resolu-
tion of sesquialtera. Here is a paragraph from his chapter on sesquialtera
in the I508 edition of the Practica Musicae:
For the following must be noted: if that part by which a note is diminished
in proportion is the figurable part of the note itself, for example, the third
part of a semibreve in perfect prolation (i.e., a minim), or the third part of
a breve in perfect tempus (i.e., a semibreve), or a fourth part of a semibreve
in imperfect prolation (i.e., a semiminim) [italics mine], then the diminished
notes of this kind are easily discernible and sung as it is arranged in this
illustration: 26
Ex. 8
Cantus
[Resolution] ' , "

t t t tit t t~t t ~t t t4 t 4tt 4 t
Tenor I.I K
St I ~ -t tl t4 t t t y t 8 t ~tt 1
25 Pietro Aron, op. cit., I, 36: ". .. . alcuni dicono che tal figure de
sesqualterate, ma poco importa da un modo al'altro, perche la quantit
sottoposte al servigio di un tempo, per tanto piglia quello che a te piace
torna a un solo fine."
26 Franchinus Gaffurius, Practica Musicae (Impressa Brixie opera & impensa Angeli
When a resolution like those of Bourgeois and Agricola is appli

to Gaffurius's illustration, as shown above, the conditions noted by t
author are fulfilled. The semibreve in perfect prolation loses one-thi
the breve in perfect tempus loses a third, and the semibreve in imperf
prolation (i.e., under equal tactus) loses one-fourth. Another illustrati
by Gaffurius has both sesquialtera and hemiolia proportions notated un
equal tactus. In this illustration, shown in Example 9, the hemiolia pr
portions are especially revealing, for here the two voices move for th
most part in parallel thirds. If the hemiolia proportions are resol
according to the principles under discussion, the rhythmic similarity
the parts emerges, the harmony is clarified, and suitable cadences ar
established. Here again, in both the sesquialtera and hemiolia proportio
Gaffurius's dictum that the semibreve in imperfect prolation is diminis
by one-fourth is fulfilled.27
Although Tinctoris never gives any indication of how his proportio
should be performed, the probability is that the same resolutions oug
to be applied to his illustrations. His descriptions of sesquialtera and
complicated directions for the notation of black minims are very simi
to those of Gaffurius. Example 1o shows Tinctoris's illustration of hem
olia,28 to which has been added a suggested resolution.
The question now arises, how can musicologists so long have mistaken
Britannici, I5o8), IV, 5: "Est enim consyderandum: que si illa pars qua notula
proportione minuitur: fuerit ipsius notulae pars figurabilis: puta tertia pars semibr
in prolatione perfecta (minima enim est) vel tertia pars brevis in tempore perf
(est quidem semibrevis) vel quarta pars semibrevis in minori prolatione (est en
seminima) vel alio quobis modo: facile discernentur & pronunciantur notulae hu
modi diminutae: ut hoc disponitur exemplo."
27 Ibid., IV, 5.
The resolution of the hemiolia proportions given here is almost identical to
"neue Uebertragung" of the same example by Ernst Praetorius in Die Mensuralthe
des Franchinus Gafurius (Publikationen der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, B
hefte, II, 2; Leipzig, 1905), p. 53. Praetorius's conclusions concerning the performa
of sesquialtera and hemiolia are essentially the same as those presented here. H
ever, his evidence, primarily impressionistic, does not justify these conclusions, n
does it offer any rationale for this type of performance. Given such scanty evide
it is not surprising that his argument was roundly criticized by Willi Apel in
Notation of Polyphonic Music 9oo-z6oo (4th edition; Cambridge, Mass., 1953)
i3o: "However, it [this modification of rhythm] can certainly not be applied
compositions of Josquin or Isaac, as has been advocated by E. Praetorius who .
arrives at a 'neue Uebertragung' of such compositions . . . rejecting the traditio
method as a 'rhythmisches Labyrinth' or 'rhythmisches Zerrbild.' Such stateme
. . . hardly need to be refuted. Suffice it to state once more that throughout
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries coloration in Tempus imperfectum calls for tripl
with the exception of minor color." Such offhand criticism as this, without a
investigation of theoretical sources, seems ill-advised. The documentation presen
here fully substantiates Praetorius's thesis, accounts for the notational custom, an
dictates a rejection of Apel's statement. Neither coloration in tempus imperfect
nor sesquialtera or hemiolia under equal tactus calls for triplets during the per
under consideration.
28Johannes Tinctoris, Proportionale Musices [c. 1476] (Bibliotheque Royale
Belgique, Ms II 4147, fols. ior-i z6'), fol. 1o4'.
thought sesquialtera to indicate triplets, or three equal notes against tw

The answer is that the terminology of the I6th-century theorists has be
misunderstood. First, we have not understood the distinction between
measure and tactus. Second, not understanding how tactus prevails ove
Ex. 9
SICantusI
+_ I 4' 4 _. 4, I I - 1 - 4 I
I I I
Ex. Io
Discantus
[Resolution] [no[ . ,
t p f t t t $ t $ t t tt t t t
Tenore
U I-'Ile
measure, we have t
was to be diminish
semibreve loses on
the term sesquialte
proportion; that is
time of one semib
Glareanus's definit
Sesquialtera propor
number one time wi
of 3 to 2, 6 to 4. In
9/6, and the notes a
breve with a minim,
same manner a breve with a semibreve for one breve.29
Now it is obvious here that the "one" or "sesqui" is a semibreve, and

the "altera" or "one-half" is a minim. And so it is that the perfect semi-
breve in sesquialtera is diminished by its aliquot part-a minim. There-
fore, when other theorists say that each note of the sesquialtera loses
one-third its value, it is incorrect to take them to mean that each of the
three minims loses one-third. If this were true, then indeed triplets would
result; but it is not, for only the perfect semibreve loses a third. To the
16th-century theorists it would be unthinkable for a minim to lose one-
third, for minims, together with all notes below the level of the semibreve,
were always imperfect and therefore not divisible by three. In sesquial-
tera, therefore, either the first or the third of three minims retains its
value, while the remaining two lose half their value. When the tactus is
alla breve, then the perfect breve of the sesquialtera loses one-third, and
two of the three semibreves lose half their value. Thus the sesquialtera
proportion or ternary measure is changed by the equal tactus into a
binary measure. This principle is seen in Vanneo's remarks on sesquialtera
in his Recanetum de Musica aurea of 1533:
29Heinrich Glareanus, Dodecachordon (Basileae per Henrichum Petri, 1547),
p. 233: "Sesquialtera proportio est, quoties maior numerus minorem semel complecti-
tur ac insuper eius alteram partem, hoc est, dimidiam ut 3 ad 2, 6 ad 4, comparata.
In cantu autem ita praefiguntur numeri 3/2 6/4 9/6 ac notulae altera parte minuuntur.
Itaque tum semibrevis cum minima, aut tres minimae pro una semibrevi cantabuntur.
Item brevis cum semibrevi pro unica brevi."
2 2 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Now do not let this beautiful, learned, useful, and best rule, which has
do with the knowledge of the proportion of numbers, escape your no
This rule concerns what difference there is between two of them: to wit
these numbers, three and two, the difference in them is one, and that "o
of the preceding number is the third part of three. Therefore, whatever
[exceeds another by the third part of three] is to be diminished by a thi
Thus three notes equal tzwo, both in meter and in quantity [italics mine]
you will see in sesquialtera.30
Sesquialtera and hemiolia, then, are only theoretical entities. Th

not exist at all in performance. Their ternary measure exists only in
notation, because in performance the measure is subordinate to the
of the tactus.
To summarize the data presented here, sesquialtera and hemiolia
resent two methods of notating a single ternary measure. How
hemiolia is more frequently used for the notation of short passages.
either proportion appears in all voices of a composition a triple me
results, and the first two notes are taken on the downstroke and the
on the upstroke of an unequal tactus. But when sesquialtera or hem
appears in one or more but not in all the voices of a composition, t
equal tactus of the remaining voices in binary measure prevails. In
case the notes of the proportion fall in the same manner, two on t
downstroke and one on the upstroke of the tactus. Under no cir
stances do sesquialtera and hemiolia under equal tactus imply tri
The table in Example i i gives resolutions for trochaic, tribrachic,
iambic figures in hemiolia. Were these figures (all of which have h
tofore been transcribed as triplets) notated in the white notes of s
quialtera under the sign 3/2, the resolutions would be exactly the s
Culled from the illustrations given by theorists cited in this paper
resolutions are also in accord with the examples and rules of numer
I6th-century theorists concerning the resolution into normal note
isolated figures notated in color.31 These rules may be used as a gu
since the resolution of color under imperfect tempus and prolation
identical to that of sesquialtera and hemiolia. The final guide for the
former, however, must be his discretion and taste, after his having t
oughly studied the harmony and rhythm of all the parts of a compos
This will be especially true when the basic figures shown in Examp
are broken into more complicated patterns.
The number of I6th-century compositions affected by the princ
so Vanneo, op. cit., fol. 65: "Quo circa, nec te praetereat haec pulchra, d
utilis ac optima regula.s.habita numerorum proportionis scientia, qualis sit inte
dri [sic] opus est dinosci, videlicet in his 3 & 2 quorum differentia unius esse co
& quia unus praecendentis numeri hoc est trium pars tertia est, ideo quaelibet n
diminuetur in tertia, itaque tres notulae aequivalebunt metro & quantitate du
ut in sesqualterem elibatum videbis."
s For extensive documentation on the resolution of figures notated in colora
under imperfect tempus and prolation see Michael B. Collins, The Performan
Coloration, Sesquialtera, and Hemniolia (1450-1750o) (Stanford University Dissert
1963), Chapter x.
Ex. II
Trochaic Tribrachic Iambic
Color Resolution Color Resolution Color Resolution
(~~ ~ ~ ~ , ((6 6 (
O~1 ?~11( ? P~( ?b b?00 1 Ii ,
documented here is immense. To take but one example, consi

"Dona nobis pacem" section of the Agnus dei III from Palestrina's
Ecce sacerdos magnus shown in Example I2.32 Compare the resolu
which appear in brackets above the notes sesquialtered by hemiol
the transcription into triplets given by Casimiri.33 The great diffe
sound between the two is readily apparent. This example is an es
good one because the correct resolution of the hemiolia alread
in the normal notation. In fact, this whole section of the work c
almost entirely of a working-out of the rhythmic motive shown
brackets in the example. The hemiolia, when resolved, is an exact
of that motive. Even the harmonic relationships are essentially th
It is felt that the same principles of resolution should be appli
the compositions of such composers as Josquin, Obrecht, and
1496, several years before the death of any of these composers,
chinus mentions in his chapter on sesquialtera that the semibrev
one-fourth its value in imperfect prolation. We have seen that sesq
and hemiolia are to be resolved in the same manner as simple col
The earliest treatises to document the resolution of trochaic f
notated in color into dotted figures are the Micrologus of Ornithop
(1517) and the Opusculum musices of Felsztyn (c. 1519). They
written before the death of Josquin in 1521. Furthermore, Aron
gives a detailed account of the losses sustained by black notes
imperfect tempus and prolation in his Toscanello in Musica (1523)
acquainted, he tells us, with Isaac, Obrecht, and Josquin in Flo
Since he specifically mentions so many works of Josquin and his
temporaries in his treatises, it seems unlikely that his rules rega
coloration would differ radically from their practice. One mu
consider the possibility of a lag of theory behind practice. The o
of this manner of performance may well remain securely hidden i
"secret art" of the 15th-century Netherlands school.
If there remains some doubt for us as to the performance o
32 Palestrina, Missa Ecce sacerdos magnus (1554 edition; Biblioteca Musica
Martini, Bologna).
s3 Raffaele Casimiri (ed.), Le Opere Complete di Giovanni Pierluigi da Pa
(Roma, I939), Vol. I, p. 34.
Ex. 12
IP I I I
I II
/.,, . ~ I "-'-
L I[LJ Q o ,1 =
II
in
, v . I ^LA ! I o nI
k-, ?
I"L; o _Z Y. AP: ?1
I
quialtera and hemiolia in I5th-century compositions, there ce

was none for I6th-century theorists, whose examples are drawn f
works of Ockeghem, Obrecht, Isaac, Josquin, Mouton, etc. A
known I6th-century treatise proves beyond doubt that resolution
applied even to mensuration canons. This treatise offers a writte
resolution of the famous Agnus dei II from Josquin's Missa L
arme.34 Not only are the three voices resolved from the single vo
given by Josquin, but the resulting sesquialtera proportion in the Supe
is completely resolved into binary figures. The first, third, and four
staves in Example 13 show the common modern resolution of this cano
the resolution of the Superius given by the treatise is shown on the sec
staff.35 The remaining two voices in the treatise example are exactly
seen in Example 13-
The same treatise also contains a written-out resolution of a section
from the prosa historiae de conceptione Mariae by Heinrich Isaac. The
Ex. 13
Superius
Resolutio Superioris
it ,
Tenor
Bassus
E3 t E3 tWe4 t It 4 4t
- ..1
84 Explicatio c
simorum music
"I75), fols. 86'-8
S Ernst Praeto
would produce
Therefore he w
octaves do not
Praetorius base
(cf. footnote 1
halving the valu
latter resolutio
note values. Pra
three semibreve
Al
original notation from fols. 87v-88r, in which sesquialtera proportions

appear successively in the altus, tenoris, and basis, is shown in Example
14.36 The resolution, found on fols. 88'-89r of the treatise, presents the
Ex. 14
a0%Discantus k ) , k A, 1,L r--- i
Altus
L
IV,Ag
-- AX--
., .^%M
V I m-
w A- AE
$0? 1 YlIV Y w -
^o . lI -"
pi1uq
41 41 1, T W A I I, -- ------ - IA ,
,.I , i, v,..9
t an ,O ,. , ..
I Q A
-- t s ?r - .t C tc t ? r ?t rrrc?
:cz , ' 1 _]"1- 1 " 3c vo'w- W" A

it A t II I z I i 4X V- t
8 A slightly different version of this piec

Glareanus. (Cf. H. Bellermann, Die Mensuraln
XVI. Jahrhunderts [Berlin, 1930], p. 82, for
E. Praetorius, op. cit., p. 114, for a transcrip
resolution of the sesquialtera proportions by
containing a few notational variants and a diff
p. 173, in a reproduction from the Choralis
6 40 -A '- " '
I t , 1 t, I 84 41 t 4t8 t
MIS II ma , " " ' -

entire piece notated under the sign of tactus alla breve, as seen in Exam-
ple I5. The sesquialtera proportions, shown here enclosed in brackets,
are completely resolved into binary figures.
Although it cannot be stated categorically that Josquin and Isaac
would themselves have performed these works exactly as the resolutions
indicate, there seems little doubt that they would have adopted very
similar resolutions. Suffice it to state that many I6th-century treatises
Ex. I5
Discantus I
4?4?+4~ t t4t+1A t!t444- 44vo4 - n m

Tenor
E r% A 0 A I. . . , -
Basis
Im1 . I cl1 v I A A X ' I

4t14 " I ',tO, v-I f ! - 4t -, it]- I I
" 1" O .,. ] t " "-? "" 'I ' O r - r "
M, A
rI-
SA . L ll
\v
&AI
berg, 155o). Compare the transcription of

in Apel's appendix with the authentic resolu
7I 7 r I' I
To-a-L oA
L1 13 __
do instruct that colora

the Netherlands compo
Finally, if sesquialtera
mentioned by Zarlino,
such "chimeras" introd
be that of Zarlino, wh
cacies into the notation
rant of the speculations
possibly composers and
art in an aura of myst
scientific fields attempt
the use of the obscure
century may have sou
art of music through c
to the initiate. A more
theorists, desirous of a
endeavors of the Renai
intellectual obsession with the mathematical art of the Greeks. In the
final analysis, the latter is what they did indeed introduce into their
notation, though its effect on the sound of music was nonexistent.
Stanford University

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The Performance of Sesquialtera and Hemiolia in the 16th Century

Author(s): Michael B. Collins

American Musicological Society, University of California Press are collaborating with

the hemiolia and sesquialtera proportions also have no audible effect i

Proportion in music is duplex: equal and unequal. Equal proportion is

Sesquialtera and hemiolia may be either equal or unequal proportions

Banchieri, in his Conclusioni nel suono dell'organo of 1609, also makes

places, nevertheless, to show the difference between the proportions of equ

Indeed proportions of inequality are rarely to be found in the time

8 Adriano Banchieri, Conclusioni nel suono dell'organo (Bologna: Gio. Rossi,

Now Zarlino seems to say that regardless of whether the tactus is

It is clear that Pisa is speaking about unequal proportio

That those produced by the ancient composers are sesquialtera, or hemiolia,

. . and it is not to be said th

Zacconi does not specify e

make one whole tactus."'5 Vulpius, in his Musicae Compendium of I6

Beringer's Musicae, das ist Der Freyen lieblichen Singkunst of r6io

The same information, including resolutions of tribrachic groups of

The evidence presented thus far constitutes an impressive argument

The proportion of inequality is signed with these: 0 C (D C , or other in-

"Sometimes a ternary cypher is placed in compositions between three black

Authors such as Quitschreiber, Vulpius, Berin

proportion, in the resolution of which each note of the proportion has

[Resolution] ' , "

When a resolution like those of Bourgeois and Agricola is appli

thought sesquialtera to indicate triplets, or three equal notes against tw

Now it is obvious here that the "one" or "sesqui" is a semibreve, and

Sesquialtera and hemiolia, then, are only theoretical entities. Th

O~1 ?~11( ? P~( ?b b?00 1 Ii ,

documented here is immense. To take but one example, consi

quialtera and hemiolia in I5th-century compositions, there ce

original notation from fols. 87v-88r, in which sesquialtera proportions

:cz , ' 1 _]"1- 1 " 3c vo'w- W" A

8 A slightly different version of this piec

6 40 -A '- " '

MIS II ma , " " ' -

4?4?+4~ t t4t+1A t!t444- 44vo4 - n m

Im1 . I cl1 v I A A X ' I

berg, 155o). Compare the transcription of

do instruct that colora

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