uperius [enor Sontratenor Lacau-se est a - Lacau-se cst a - men, e Principles and Practice : of Modal Se a = = = oe ee a es see - Er tanem'est a = mer, A = men quien la mer me voudroy-e voir eo. f- a. ot! —~» = 2 oe ie Jo Et tant m’est a - mer, - mer, quien la mer — me v 6 = zz — ——, * = zFirst published 2011 by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 ARN Routledge ican imprint ofthe Taylor & Francie Group, am informa businace This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011 To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to WwW.eBookstore tand# co.uk. © 2011 Taylor & Francis Al rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced ‘or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mecharieal, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any infomation storage or rezieval system, without pemission ia ‘writing from the publishers. ‘Trademark Notice: Product or comporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and ace used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congres Cataloging in Pubhenton Data Greats Douglss M. (Douglass Marshal, 1929-1999. The principles and prac of modal counterpoint / Dosglas Green and Evan Jones Tacluce bibliographical rfrences and inde, Counterpoint. Jones, Evan Il. Tite MISs.o81a075 2011 7286-2 2010008507 ISBN 0-203-84655-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN13:978-0-415-87821-0 (hbk) ISBN13:978-0-415-98865-0 (pbk) ISBN13:978-0-203-B4655-1 (cbk)Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Foreword by Jonathan C. Sartore Preface Modes and Monophony 1.1 Authentic and Plagal Melodies in Folksong 1.2 Scales and Modes 1.3 Plainsong 1.4 The Problem of Ionian and Aeolian The Single Line 2. Species Counterpoint 2.2 The Melodie Line 2.3. Melodic Intervals Counterpoint During the Middle Ages 3.1 Early Organum 3.2. Voice Interchange 3.3. Music Without a Plainsong Basis First Species in Two Voices 4.1 Harmonic Intervals: Consonance and Dissonance 4.2. Types of Motion 43 Adding a Counterpoint Againsta C.F. 24 24 26 28 33 33 35 40wi Contents Chapter 5 First Species in Three Voices 46 5.1, Harmonic Intervals 46 5.2 Characteristics of First Species in Three Voices 47 Chapter 6 Counterpoint During the Fourteenth Century 34 6.1 Fourteenth Century Textures and Rhythms 54 6.2 Canon and Hocket 58 6.3. Cadence Types 62 6.4 Fauxbourdon 64 6.5 The Style of John Dunstable 64 Chapter 7. Second Species in Two Voices 75 Chapter 8 Second Species in Three Voices 81 8.1 Intervals and Focal Points 81 8.2 Parallels on Successive Strong Beats 82 8.3. Cadences 82 Chapter 9 Counterpoint During the Renaissance 87 9.1 Introduction 87 9.2. Secular Pieces in Three-Part Counterpoint 88 9.3. Sacted Music in Four and Five Parts 98 9.4 Dissonance 107 9.5 Meter 107 9.6 Mensuration Canons 110 Chapter 10 Fourth Species in Two Voices "7 10.1 Consonant and Dissonant Syncopes 17 10.2 Suspension Types 120 10.3 Summary of Fourth Species 121 10.4 Application of Fourth Species 122 10.5 An Approach wo Writing Fourth Species 124 Chapter 11. Fourth Species in Three Voices 130 11.1 Addition of a Third Voice to a Two-Voice Suspension 130 11.2. Relationship Between First and Fourth Species 134 11.3. Suspension Possible Only in Three or More Voices 136 11.4 Cadences 137Contents vi Chapter 12 Texture, Melody, and Meter 141 12.1 Further Characteristics of Renaissance Music 141 12.2 The Cadential Suspension 149 12.3 Meter in the Single Line 154 12.4. Imitation and Fore-Imitation 155 12.5 The Bicinium 156 Chapter 13 Further Aspects of Species Counterpoint 164 13.1 Mixture of the Spe 164 13.2 Species Counterpoint in Four Voices 165 13.3 Summary of Dissonance, Use in Second and Fourth Species 169 Chapter 14. The Melodic Line 170 14.1 Introduction to Modal Counterpoint 170 14.2 Notation 71 14.3 Melodies in Quarter-Notes and Longer Values 172 14.4 Melodies with Eighths and Sixteenths 175 145. Setting Latin Words 178 14.6 Mode 180 14.7 The Single Eighth-Note and the Sixteeath-Note Pair 182 148 Isolated Eighth-Nowes in Pairs 185 149. Eighth-Notes in Groups of Three or More 187 14.10 Use of Accidentals 190 14.11 Melodic Curve 191 Chapter 15 Modal Counterpoint in Two Ve 195 15.1 The Dissonances 195 15.2 The True Cadence 199 15.3 The Initial Phrase in Two Voices 201 15.4 Interior Phrases 202 15.5 Method for Writing a Two-Voice Phrase 204 15.6 The Consonant Cadence 208 15.7. Analysis of a Bicinium 209 15.8 Writing a Bicinium 21 Chapter 16 Modal Counterpoint in Three Voices 214 16.1 Texture 219 16.2 Cadences 220 16.3 Motives and Imitation 225 16.4 Victoria's E¢ Misericordia Ejus: Cadential Treatment 226 16.5 Victoria's Et Misericordia Ejus: Motivic Treatment 230vit Contents 16.6 Part Writing 16.7 Consonant Harmonies 16.8 Unaccented Dissonance 16.9 Accented Passing Tones 16.10 Suspensions 16.11 An Alternative Example Chapter 17 Modal Counterpoint in Four or More Voices Chapter 18 17.1 Texture 17.2 Doubling in Consonant Sonori 17.3 Suspensions in Four Voices 17.4 The Final Cadence 17.5 Initial Notes 17.6 Types of Imitation 17.7 Triple Time 17.8 Some Notes on Writing in Five or More Voices The Rise of Tonality in the Seventeenth Century 18.1 Dissonance as Expression in the Early Seventeenth Century 18.2 Dissonant Chords Before the Seventeenth Century 18.3. Seventh Chords in the Seventeenth Century 18.4 Nonchordal Dissonance: Notes of Adjacency 18.5 Nonchordal Dissonance: Time Extensions 18.6 Diminutions Epilogue: The Nature of Counterpoint Answer Boxes for Self. Appendix A: Some Latin Texts Appendix B: Pronunciation of Church Latin Appendix C: Tones and Text of the Magnificat: The Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 1: 46-55) Appendix D: Facsimile of Parts for Palestrina’s Missa Sine Nomine, Agnus Il Notes Select Bibliographies Index of Rules for Species Counterpoint Index of Rules for Modal Counterpoint Index of Musical Examples 232 233 234 235 238 241 244 244 249 250 256 259 260 263 267 268 268 269 270 a7 273 276 281 283 293 295 297 299 302 306 313 314 316aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.The Single Line 2 @i 23 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 uBR 1B In performing these and the previous C.R, you may have made some or all of the following observations: 1. Species counterpoint is strictly diatonic, No chromatic half-steps appear and the only accidentals are those necessary to create a leading tone or to avoid an augmented second in approaching the leading tone from below. Two half-steps in succession must be avoided: for instance, B-A~Gt, 2. Occasionally a note is repeated, but rarely more than once. 3. Only easily sung melodic intervals are employed. No leaps of augmented or diminished intervals, no leaps larger than a perfect fifth and minor sixth except for the octave. Minor sixths occur only very occa- sionally and always in ascending, never descending, motion. Major sixths are entirely avoided. 4, Melodies end on the final of the mode. The final is approached by step either from above or from below, Although in these examples all melodies also begin on the final, this isnota strict rule, If not the final, the first note will probably be the fifth degree of the scale. 5. Approach to the cadential } is usually by step from above. When the final is approached by step fom above, that is, from scale-degree 2, this,ngte is itself approqched by step or by @ descending third. In other words, the last three notes will be 3-3-1, 1-3-4, or 4-3-1. Of these, 3-2-1 is the most common, 6. A melodic leap must be compensated for in one way or another. Either the note immediately preceding or the note immediately following a leap should move in the opposite direction to the leap itself, That is, leaps must be either approached or left by motion in the opposite direction. While leaps may be both approached and left by movement in the opposite direction, this contour is nota requirement except in the case of large leaps—the ascending minor sixth and the octave, ascending or descending (see item 7 below). The compensating movement in the opposite direction does not necessarily have to be by step. ‘The rule for leaps ofa major or minor third, perfect fourth, or perfect fifth may be put this way: when a leap occurs itis either at the bottom of a line in a single direction or at the top, not somewhere in the middle. 7. Large leaps are both approached and left by contrary motion. ‘The ascending minor sixth and the octave are considered large leaps. For the salke of balance in the line, the notes both preceding and fol lowing must lie within the gap produced by these leaps. (See Example 2-5(b), notes 6-8; Example 2-5(c), notes 4-6; and Example 2-S(e), notes 2-5 and 7-11.) 8. Occasionally double leaps occur. ‘Two successive leaps in the same direction occur twice in Example 2-5ia), notes 4-6 and 8-10, In this case the double leap must be both preceded and followed by motion in the opposite direction. Moreover, the double leap itself must outline a major or minor triad (not diminished or augmented). Or, the two leaps may outline an octave—a perfect fifth as the lower leap, a perfect fourth as the upper leap (as in Example 2-5(d), notes 1-3). A general principle regarding double leaps is that the smaller leap is never the lower one.2 ‘The Single Line 9. A high or low note is not isolated by register from the other notes, but is incorporated into the line by ‘means of notes a step ora third away. SELF-TEST 2.1 The following are intended to help you reinforce this information. Directly above each melody, write “good” or “bad” with the numbers 1 through 7 of the observation that it illustrates or ignores. @) ) © 2 a © (6) ® (hy @ @ (k) o ‘There is one more observation very important to an acceptable melodic line in species counterpois ‘This has to do with the avoidance of the stressed tritone. In everyday language the word “tritone” is often used to mean either the augmented fourth or the diminished fiith. When correctly used, however, the term applies only to the augmented fourth, which indeed comprises three (whole) tones: hence, “ci-tone.” The diminished fifth, on the other hand, is made up of two half-steps, one at either , and two whole tones, OF course the total number of semitones in either case is six, but the effect in tonal and modal music of a tritone is very different from that of the diminished fifth. In illustration, sing, play, and sing the melodies given in Example 2-6, DO NOT READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU. HAVE DONE THIS. EXAMPLE 2-6 @12345678 (12345678 (1234567 Greene a 8aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.Counterpoint During the Middle Ages 2 In addition to the dominati 1g parallel motion, it includes oblique motion at the beginning of phrases and two or three instances of contrary motion. By the next century, contrary motion in orginum was being both practiced by composers and advocated by some theorists. In the twelfth century in certain places in Spain and France, another type of organum was being practiced, which has come to be called florid or melismatic organum, The organal voice, rather than moving note-against-note with the principal voice, sings a melisma in an improvisatory manner above the slower- moving notes of the plainsong. Thus what had originally been the chief tune, the plainsong itself, was now more of a foundation made up of a series of long sustained notes acting as a support for the fantastic arabesques in the upper voice (Example 3-2).! EXAMPLE 3-2 Since the manuscripts, found in the monastery of St. Martial in south-central France and the monastery of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, are by no means consistently clear as to precisely where the simultaneities occur, we cannot draw hard-and-fast conclusions regarding consonance and dissonance treatment in melismatic organum. What is interesting for us in this study is the texture of this music— trwo melodic lines performed simultaneously but maximally contrasted to each other. By the late twelfth century, composers may have felt the need for a notation by which they could indi cate the rhythms of the two voices more precisely of chythmie modes came into being. Each of the six modes provided a basic rhythmic pattern similar to those found in poetry, and means were worked out by which slight variations of these patterns could be notated, Example 3-3 is based on the first rhythmic mode, long-short, here tanscribed as a quarter-note followed by an eighth-note, Over a period of years the practice of notating by means6 Counterpoint During the Middle Ages EXAMPLE 3-3 From Gaude Maria Leonin w s : ‘ 2 a bri = feted As mightbe expected, phrase endings formed the interval of an octave or perfect fifth. Rarely one might find a perfect fourth. More often than not, phrases also began with one of these perfect consonances, but they did not do so consistently. They might even begin with dissonances. Leonin's Gaude Maria (Example 3-3) begins its first two phrases (not shown) with a minor seventh and a major ninth, respectively, both moving immediately into an octave. In twelfth-century counterpoint there was often a great deal of parallel motion, particularly parallel perfect fifths. 3.2. Voice Interchange The anonymous work given as Example 3-4 is a fascinating motet from the thirteenth century. The text itself is amusing. It interrupts the word “Alleluya” by inserting other words between its second and third syllables, at each repetition adding length to this interruption, Finally, as a kind of coda, we hear the word in its normal form, EXAMPLE 3-4 Alle, psallite Anonymous, 13th c.Counterpoint During the Middle Ages a Alle- sing with —_-luya. Alle. noisily sing with —-luya Alle- to God with a full heart sing with -luya, Alleluya. ‘The tenor sings a bit of melody, which may or may not be taken from plainsong, three measures in length. Above this a second voice, the duplum, sings a counterpoint, virtually note-against-note. Above this a third voice, the triplum, sings a slightly more florid counterpoint, These three measures are imme~ diately repeated, the sole difference being that the duplum sings what the triplum previously had, and the triplum sings what the duplum previously had. This type of voice interchange, als» known by the Germanaa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.First Species in Two Voices 39 by ascending motion to a perfect fifth with the same provision: the upper note progresses by step. OF the two motions, the descending one is better and more common (Example 4-8). EXAMPLE 4-8 o good tolerable Special note should be taken of the fact that this leniency is given only to the direct perfect fifth, not the direct octave or unison. ‘The third point is that in two-voice species counterpoint, the parts may not cross. At each moment the upper voice must remain literally above the lower voice. In the next chapter we will observe that crossing does sometimes occur between upper voices in a three-part texture, but very rarely does a voice cross below the bass. In two-wice writing, of course, any crossing is necessarily with the bass (ie. the lower voice). Such strictness limits available choices and thus helps the student's development. Be careful to distinguish between crossing and overlapping. Voices are crossed when the lower voice moves above the upper voice so that at a given moment the lower voice is actually higher. Voices are overlapped when the lower voice moves to a pitch higher than the previous note of the upper voice. In overlapping there is no moment when the lower voice is literally higher than the upper voice. crossing overlapping Finally, to ensure independent melodic curves between the voices, no more than three parallels (thirds or sixths) may occur in succession. The rules regarding first-species counterpoint in two parts may be summa ed as follows: . Only consonances may occur as harmonic intervals: perfect fifths, perfect octaves, major and minor thirds and sixths, The perfect unison may appear as the first or last interval only, All dissonances and the perfect fourth are excluded. 2. Oblique motion is always good. With the exception of consecutive perfect fifths and perfect octaves, contrary motion is also always good. Parallel (consecutive) perfect fifths, perfect octaves, and perfect unisons are forbidden. 4, Similar motion into a perfect interval is forbidden except in the case of the “horn fifth” (descending from a third to a perfect fifth or, less often, ascending from a sixth to a perfect fifth with upper voice moving by step). 5. Overlapping is to be avoided—that is, do not allow the pitch of a lower voice to be higher than the immediately preceding pitch of the upper voice, or vice versa. 6, Crossing of voices is not allowed. We are limited to three parallel thirds or three parallel sixths in succession, 8. For the most part the two voices should remain within the space ofan octave of each other, never more than a twelfth. e40 First Species in Two Voices 9. Each voice cadences by step on the final. Thus, the last two dyads form either a minor thied moving to a perfect unison, or a major sixth moving out to a perfect octave. 10. Avoid cross-relations; that is, a note in one voice should not be immediately preceded or followed in another voice by an altered version of the same note. For example, if the upper voice has a C-natural, the lower voice should not follow it with a C4 4.3 Adding a Counterpoint Against a C.F. Two-voice counterpoint consists of two melodies that ideally are of equal melodic interest but which, while producing good harmony, are opposed to each other in some way. In later chapters we will see that this opposition is generally a matter of rhythm. For the time being, writing only in whole notes, the opposition is expressed mainly in ensuring that the two focal points do not replicate each other. In other words, the climaxes should appear at different times or be of differing types, eg.,a zenith vs. a nadir. Before beginning to write a counterpoint against a given C.F,, then, itis best to sing the C.F. several times, noting its mode and the melodic curve displayed. Since the perfect fourth is not an available harmonic interval, the pening must produce a unison, a perfect fifth, or perfect octave, Each voice must begin on either scale-degree f or §. This means, then, that if the C.F. is the upper voice, the counterpoint must also begin on f in order to form a consonant interval. After writing the first note, skip to the end and write the last three notes of the cadence. Then plot a curve that will get you from the first note to the beginning of the cadence and that will provide a curve differing from that of the C.F. (See Example 4-9.) it EXAMPLE 4-9 We might choose a G5 for the zenith, producing an octave with the C.F. at note 6. In that case we can easily lead up to the zenith as shown in Example 4-10. We now have a satisfictory counterpoint to the C.F, since the curve of each line is independent of the other and only approved harmonic intervals occur. Moreover, as a melody the counterpoint is as acceptable as the C.F. EXAMPLE 10First Species in Two Voices a On the other hand, suppose we had chosen to make a zenith on GS at note 4 rather than note 6. We would have had difficulty choosing suitable fifth, sixth, and seventh notes (Example 4-11). EXAMPLE 4-11 OM mae Ascery: 2nd ery Bed ery: Athy: Sth ery: CE The lesson to be learned, then, is this: when working with a C.F, one cannot be rigid about one’s original choice of the curve for the counterpoint. If we had been determined to use note 4 as our zenith and had GS in mind for this zenith, we would have had great difficulty in writing a really good counterpoint againstit. The student must always be flexible about original decisions, setting them down tentatively only. Still, it is important to plot the curve. Long-range planning is essential if melodies are to be musically coherent, but one’s mind must be constantly epen to possible alterations Counterpoint deneath the C.F. must begin on scale-degree 4, since 5 would form a perfect fourth with the C.F, However, if the counterpoint begins after a rest, it might well start on 5,aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.4 First Species in Two Voices Plainsong EXERCISE 4.2 Write one counterpoint above the following C.F. and another below it. The C.F. is to sound with one or the other of the parts you write—not all three together (notice the brackets). MorleyFirst Species in Two Voices 4s EXERCISE 4.3 Write three examples of first-species counterpoint in two voices without a C.F. Each example should be in a different mode and at least ten notes in length. One example should be in Phrygian, either original or transposed, Begin with a note or two in each veice, then write the cadence in both voices. After this, plot the curves each voice will follow, then fill in the remaining notes.Chapter 5 First Species in Three Voices 5.1 Harmonic Intervals A brief illustration of three-voice counterpoint in first species is given as Example 5-1, the numbers repre- senting harmonic intervals. The analysis is done in four steps. 1, Identify the interval between the two upper voices and write it above the middle voice. 2. IF the upper voices are crossed, indicate this crossing by an X,? 3. Mentify the intervals above the lowest voice and write them below that voice, placing the larger number above the smaller (regardless of which voice it refers to). 4. Reduce compound intervals to simple ones by subtracting an octave. EXAMPLE 5-1 Example 5-2 shows threc illustrations of first species in three voices using a C.P. These are taken from Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum. The C.F. is placed first in the soprano, then in the alto, and finally in the bass. Analyze these for harmonic intervals in the manner of Example 5-1. DO NOT READ FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE DONE THIS.First Species in Three Voices. a EXAMPLE 5-2 a), (b) ) 5.2 Characteristics of First Species in Three Voices You probably noticed some or all of the following observations regarding three-voice counterpoint in frst species.48 First Species in Three Voices Vertical Sonorities A, Vertical sonorities are of two main types: 1, The full chord—three different pitch classes produce the § of the §, that is, a triad in root position or in first inversion. 2. Two different pitch classes are sounded, one voice doubling another at the unison or the octave; various combinations such as 8, 8, 5, etc., are produced. In addition, it is allowed for the initial or the final sonority to have only one pitch class, tripled (see Example 5-2(a), note 11). B. The rule against writing a unison within a phrase does not hold for three-voice counterpoint since there is now ample opportunity for fuller sonority. But all three voices must not sound the same pitch class except as the final sonotity of the first sonority of a phrase. C. You may have noticed that none of the illustrations in Example 5-2 begins or ends with « full chord (§ or §). This result is inevitable. Since each voice begins on 1 or $ of the mode, the initial sonority cannot have more than two pitch classes. (Remember, the lowest voice, unless it begins with a rest, must begin on scale-degree f.) The goal of the cadence, the final sonority, must be led into by stepwise motion in two of the voices: @)7—t and 3-4. The remaining voice may sound a major third above the final, the perfect fifth above the final, or the final itself, D. The penultimate chord is always a full triad. When the two stepwise motions into the final are both in the uppervoices, as in Example 5-2(a), the lowest voice will be on scale-degree 5, producing a$ (the equivalent of a root-position dominant triad, V, in tonal music). When the leading tone is in the lowest voice, as in Example 5-2(b), the third voice will again be on scale-degree 8, producing a $ (labeled gs V® in tonal music). When scale-degree 3 is in the lowest voice the third voice must not sound the 8. Ifitdid, there would bean incorrect perfect fourth with the bass, a chord. Therefore, inthis case the third voice sounds the fourth degree of the scale, producing a § chord (labeled as vii in conal music) as in Example 5-2(c).? In short, the penultimate chord will be either a major triad in root position or a major or diminished triad in first inversion,’ It must not be a diminished triad in root position. These chords are produced automatically by following the rule of stepwise motion into the final through the leading tone in one voice and scale-degree 2 in the other, along with the remaining voice sounding cither the fifth or the fourth degree of the scale. Melodic Curve A. The bass line of the first illustration, Example 5-2(a), tends to lose its melodie quality toward the end. That is, the last four notes, moving by leaps of the perfect fourth and perfect fifth, are there more for the purpose of producing desirable harmony than for the elegance of their melodic curve. (This is also typical of bass lines in tonal music that lead to a root-position V chord in the cadence.) Notice that this does not occur in the other two illustrations, where the bass line leads by step into the final. B. The focal points of each of the voices must be in different places or at least be of different types. Motions A. The rule against parallel fifths applies to parallel perfect fifths but not to unequal fifths. In Example 5-2(c) the dyads above notes 9 and 10 move from a perfect fifth to a diminished fifth. This is perfectly correet, as is the reverse—a diminished fifth to a perfect fifth—although the latter is much lessaa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.10 Counterpoint During the Fourteenth Century iram piant agli’ ochi Francesco Landini Contratenor Tener woes rma’ mn wo se gh 3 - Se noe vo", chin-ra ste) = et dol-ee'a = mo -& Chon Che Counterpoint During the Fourteenth Century wa dus me questa vt nn Counterpoint During the Fourteenth Century Tears pour from my eyes, heavy grief isin my heart my soul is overwhelmed and I die. Because of the bitter, harsh separation, | call on death who does not want to hear me; life goes on against my will, and | must suffer a thousand deaths; but although | live I never want to follow, if you do not wish it, bright star and sweet love. EXERCISE 6.3 Analyze the accompanied song 0 rosa bella (below), which stems from the early fifteenth century. Ithhas been, attributed both to John Dunstable and to John Bedyngham. In addition to the question: raised for Exercise 6.2, you should consider the overall form and tonal organization of the work as well as its motivic aspects. Begin by playing the tenor and cantus alone. O rosa bella Cantus Contatent TenorCounterpoint During the Fourteenth Century Baa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a 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page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.Texture, Melody, and Meter 1s Nymphs of the woods. goddesses of the springs. skilled singers of every nation. Change your clear and lofty voices to sharp wails and lamentations, For the molestations of Atropos have sternly trapped your Ockeghem. ‘Music's true treasure and master can from death no more escape And, great pity, lies buried in earth. (1) Don your clothes of mourning: Josquin, Brumel, Pirchon,* Compere, (2.) And weep great tears from your eyes: you have lost your good father. Tenor: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452-1518).146 Texture, Melody, and Meter Déplerations (laments) on the deaths of famous people were not uncommon during the Renaissance. The poem used by Josquin is a version of an epitaph by the poet Jehan Molinet and was set to music by at least one other composer. It is typical of the Renaissance mind to combine Christian and pagan images. (One thinks of Michelangelo's painting of the Holy Family with nude Greek youths exercising in the background, or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with seven Old Testament prophets confronted by five Greek sibyls.) In this piece the Christian aspect of mourning is represented by the tenor, who sings the words of the Introit of the Requiem Mass using the traditional plainsong. This tune was presented as Example 1-13 (page 10). If you turn back and sing it through you will recall that it is in Mode 6 (Hypolydian) and sounds like major mode. In his manuscript Josquin wrote itin Mode 6 but transposed it up a perfect fourth with one flat in the key signature. If sung as notated, then, it would sound in Ionian (or major) mode. Apparently taking an idea from Molinet’s poem (“change your clear and lofty voices to sharp wails”), Josquin writes the following instructions: Canon: ung demi ton plus bas Rule: one semitone loxoer Rather than starting on Bs, the singer must start on A. It is not a matter of transposing each note of the plainsong downa half-step. What Josquin is asking is that the plainsong be sung not in Mode 6 as written, but in Mode 4 (Hypophrygian) transposed up a perfect fourth to begin on A. The new mode distorts the character of the music, changing a major-mode sound to Phrygian: something “clear and lofty” becomes a “wail.” Against this peculiar cantus firmus in the tenor, the other voices sing a French chanson speaking of Ockeghem’s death in images taken ftom Greek mythology—nymphs, goddesses, Atropos (one of the three Fates who cuts the thread of life with her shears). The main part of the piece is over at m. 55, complete with a transposed Phrygian cadence at mm, 51-52: B13 in the tenor moves dewn to A3 while the G4 in the contratenor moves to the A4 an octave higher. The other voices tum this into a deceptive progression and continue with an extension ending in m. 55 with a plagal cadence. The tenor having completed his plainsong introit, the remainder of the picce may be thought of as an epilogue. The music becomes extremely simple, almost homorhythmic, and the sequences of triads in mm. 60-63 are very moving. Josquin’s Déploration for Ockeghem can serve as a reference piece for pointing out some of the char- acteristic details of Renaissance music. Five-Voice Texture The rich sonority made possible by writing for five voices was very much admired during this time and became more and more common in the sixteenth century. The fifth part was called just that: Quinta Pars, or later simply Quintus (Q). Sometimes Q was a second tenor, as in this piece. Ac other times it was a second alto of bass, the voice range being obvious from the clef used for Q. The Canzona Motive Very prominent throughout is the repeated-note motive with a rhythm of a half-note followed by two quarter-notes (see mm. 6-8, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 35, 36, 40, 45, 56, and 64). We have come across this motive before, as the head motive of Ockeghem’s chanson Fors seulement (Example 9-4, pages 94-96). Ic even plays a prominent role in O rasa bella (pages 72-74) where it begins the second part (m. 27). We will soon meet it again as the head motive of a chanson in Flemish by Pierre de la Rue. In the sixteenthTexture, Melody, and Meter sar century, this same motive became a standard opening for the French chanson and its Tealian counterpart the canzona, and continued as a stereotype for the instrumental canzona da sonar. One still finds it very frequently in instrumental canzone of the seventeenth century. The Nota Cambiata Another motive that appears frequently in fifteenth-century music is the escape tone leaping down a third, In Example 12-2(a) itis a three-note figure. Example 12-2(b) shows it as a four-note figure. In the four- note version it became a cliché of the sixteenth ceatury, dealt with in a later chapter. During the fifteenth century it could take either the three-note or four-note form. In the Déploration it appears in mm. 38-39 (B imitated by Q) and in mm, 48-50 (Ct imitated by $).! In the later half of the fifteenth century the rhythm is almost always 2 dotted quarter-note followed by an eighth-note (assuming that the modern notation represents the tactus by a half-note). The eighth-note is usually, but not always, dissonant. The note to which it leaps must be consonant. Since the eighteenth century, the four-note version has been known as the nota cambiata (‘changing note”), and the three-note version the ineomplet cambiata, EXAMPLE 12-2 The Falling-Third Anticipation One common melodic fragment that did not become a stereotype in later music is a three-note figure based on the falling third, In the latter half of the sixteenth century, in fact, composers such as Palestrina and Lassus took pains to avoid it (Example 12-3). The middle note, though usually 2 consonance, seems like an anticipation to the thind note. In the Déphration it occurs prominently at the following points: m. 9 (S), m. 31 (S), m. 43 (S, imitated hy Cr), m. 54 (S), and mm. 66-71 (S, B, Q, S, B, with all but the second $ in augmentation). Although this figure was present occasionally in the music of Dufay and Ockeghem (sce Example 9-7, m. 198, Cd), it became almost a trademark with Josquin. In Example 9-12 it appears twice in the soprano (mm, 5~6 and m. 12). In augmentation it becomes the basis for a famous passage in another lament of Josquin, a setting of David’s mouming for his son Absalom (2 Samuel 18: 33). This passage is very reminiscent of the last few measures of the Déploration. It also illustrates an unusual use of partial signatures and a range even lower than that of Ockeghem (Example 12-4), EXAMPLE 12-3 ——148 Texture, Melody, and Meter EXAMPLE 12-4 Absalon, fili mi « be am plo But go down to the place of the dead in tears. Josquin des Prez ‘As we shall see, the anticipation (AN) in sixteenth-century music began to be used exclusively to emphasize the weak half of tactus. Therefore it had to appear during the strong half as shown in Example 12-5, This fact must have had much to do with the disappearance of the motive as illustrated in Example 12-4. EXAMPLE 12-5, AN ANaa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.aa You have either reached a page that is unavailable for viewing or reached your viewing limit for this book.