Some Problems of Pre-Baroque Analysis: An Examination of Josquin's 'Ave

Maria... Virgo Serena'

Cristle Collins Judd

Music Analysis, Vol. 4, No. 3. (Oct., 1985), pp. 201-227+229-239.

Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0262-5245%28198510%294%3A3%3C201%3ASPOPAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G

Music Analysis is currently published by Blackwell Publishing.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained
prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in
the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/journals/black.html.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic
journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers,
and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take
advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

http://www.jstor.org
Sat Jul 28 01:56:47 2007
CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS:

AN EXAMINATION OF JOSQUIN'S AVE MARIA . . .

VIRGO SERENA

In the analysis of pre-Baroque music, technical study has usually involved one
of two approaches: descriptive-historical analysis or examination with reference
to tonal structure. The first approach attempts to discuss works in contempor-
aneous terms and focuses on compositions as historical documents, deeming
other methods of discussion 'anachronistic' and therefore inappropriate.' The
second common approach results from a teleological perspective of the history
of music: the music is examined in terms of its position as a precursor of
seventeenth- and eighteenth-century tonal it^.^
This article examines features of a pre-Baroque composition which create
both difficulty and controversy in the discussion of music analysis. The
analytical method proposed here does not discard the important issues of
historical or tonal approaches, but considers them in a different context. My
concern is to relate methods of discussing music which are increasingly viewed
as exclusively historical or exclusively analytical. Historical description and
analysis when taken separately may provide an unbalanced perspective of the
music; certainly as regards the music of the Renaissance, it is only through the
broadest possible view that convincing analyses are to be obtained. The analysis
presented here explores the applicability of existing techniques to this
repertory, suggests modifications of these techniques and proposes a systematic
method for the application of aspects of Renaissance theory in an analytical, as
well as a descriptive, context. The purpose is threefold: to obtain a 'period'
understanding of the work and from this formulate analytical tools based on
contemporaneous theoretical concepts, to examine the musical object and to
place the work in its broader historical and stylistic context. Five aspects of
analysis are explored: text, mode, articulation of structure, pitch organization
and tonal structure. While it is impossible for such categories to remain
mutually exclusive, these distinctions are useful for defining methodology.
The five concerns of this analytical method exist in a special relationship. The
first two, text and mode, encompass general considerations which have far-
reaching implications for the other analytical aspects of structural, melodic and
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

tonal organization. Text and modal theory may be understood as bound up with
the humanist and musical culture of the period, while analysis of structure
(both of text and music) represents observation apart from musical or cultural
~ o n t e x tMy
. ~ analytical method focuses on the correlation of these consider-
ations in the music of Josquin. Hence, text and mode are discussed first as
general theoretical issues and then more specifically as they relate to structural
concerns. One motet, Ave Maria . . . virgo serena, has been chosen as a sample
work through which to demonstrate this analytical approach.4
An understanding of the musical elements and context of a work may be
obtained through an investigation of the organizational principles and composi-
tional procedures which may have influenced it.5 Concepts discussed in
contemporaneous theoretical treatises are a useful starting point for developing
an analytical method for music from about 1500. While knowledge of
Renaissance music theory is essential in source-study,6four important aspects
of such theory may further serve as the source of an analytical method -mode,
counterpoint, cadence and imitation. Examination of these aspects can provide
something akin to a sixteenth-century perspective of a work and of composi-
tional practice, and therefore guidelines for this aspect of analysis.
1. Mode7
An understanding of modal 'affect' is a primary consideration in an analysis
involving the relationship of text and music.' Modal affect was not simply an
abstract precept; it was a convention understood and practised in varying
degrees by the composers of the period. While choice of text did not determine
the exact choice of mode, it did exclude certain possibilities; the choice of mode
reflected the particular aspect(s) of the text which the composer chose to
emphasize. An awareness of the use of mode for text-expression may reveal the
large-scale structure of a work.9Mode is an essentially melodic concept, and the
characteristics of individual modes provide a basis for motivic analysis. Modal
and hexachordal theories may also be used in linear-melodic analysis. Each of
the eight modes is individually characterized and therefore determines the
specific nature of such analysis.
Each mode was identified by a species of octave which represented the
conjunction of a species of fourth with a species of fifth. A specific fourth or fifth
described an interval as well as the notes contained within it, reflecting an
immediate relationship of mode and hexachordal solmization. Each mode was
defined by its range, repercussion, reciting tone, final and characteristic
melodic patterns. These defining characteristics provide a hierarchy of pitches
and patterns within the mode and therefore a melodic profile which varies with
each mode. The distinction of plagal and authentic modes was not merely a
theoretical one, but determined the overall range of the composition and the
relationship between voices, as well as reflecting particular textual concerns of
the composer. l o
Ave Maria . . . virgo serena may be used as a specific example of the necessity
of considering modal theory in analysis. This motet is in Mode VI, although
 SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

frequently cited as an example of the Ionian mode." In the eight-mode system,

the Lydian mode on F usually included a 'key signature' of one flat. When
transposed, Modes V and VI are often found on C (a fourth below the normal
location) with the flat cancelled, rather than a fourth above with an added flat to
signify transposition.'* While the vocal ranges of Ave Maria do not conform
exactly to the theoretical ranges of Mode VI, the ranges shown in Ex. 1 place the
motet in this category and the span of the octave species is clearly outlined in the
altus (bs 1347):

Ex. 1 Range

Ave Maria

The hexachordal structure for the transposed mode on C is shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 1: Hexachordal Structure

(fourth) G A B C D E
ut re mi fa sol la
C D E F G (f~fth)
ut re mi fa sol (repercussion)

The primary cadence tones are the final (C) and the fifth (G). The third degree
(E) is often used to stress the repercussion. A common melodic type in Mode VI
is the combination of the repercussion with the modal fourth. This melodic
material is used throughout Ave Maria (see, for example, the opening point of
imitation, bs 1-4). These general observations about cadential and melodic
material in Ave Maria will be discussed in further detail in the structural
analysis of the work.

2. Text
Text is especially important in the motet, a genre in which the composer had
some freedom in its choice, and sixteenth-century theorists placed great
emphasis on the role of sacred vocal music as a means of enhancing the text set.
Theorists' compositional rules provide guidelines for examining the relation-
ship of text and music: the choice of mode should be appropriate to the text;
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

cadences should reflect special textual meaning and structure; the musical
texture should reflect special textual features. Additionally, the source of a text
and its liturgical or non-liturgical function may be related to extra-musical or
symbolic associations and particular musical borrowings.
Specific devices used by composers in the service of text-expression included
literal text painting in addition to less obvious devices.13 In examining
Josquin's use of particular devices for text-expressive functions, literal devices,
departures from usual texture and departures from the norms of modal
composition comprise three areas for consideration. At times, these categories
may overlap: several changes may occur at once or several techniques may be
used to illustrate a multiplicity of ideas.14 Since there are numerous studies of
such features, a brief overview of only a few of these types of text-expressive
device as used in Ave Maria follows. l 5
One of the most obvious approaches to word-painting involves melodic
shape: a rising melodic line to illustrate ascent, a descending line for the
opposite. Alteration of range may also be a significant text-expressive device.
For example, in Ave Maria the condensed range of the discantus, hovering
around g1(bs 94-1 lo), illustrates the contrasting ideas of humanity and divinity
before returning to its former range with the Purification of the Virgin.
Expressive purpose may also be reflected through manipulation of rhythm and
metre: a displaced tenor in the sequential patterns of bs 4 6 5 4 emphasizes joy
'filling' the world. Triple metre is used (along with the contrast of range cited
earlier) to set apart the Purification (bs 96110). And the hemiola in the
discantus and tenor of bs 135-41 may be a Trinity symbol.
Textural changes for text-expressive purposes include variation between
homophonic and imitative texture and deviations from the established texture.
The use of homophony in a text-expressive context may be seen as early as
Machaut; by the fifteenth century it was used to highlight individual words as
well as important phrases. Here, the nature of the word 'solemni' is depicted by
its contrasting homophonic setting in bs 40-4. Petitions such as the one which
closes this work (bs 142-55) were also commonly set homophonically. In other
cases, contrasts of vocal range are used to emphasize the repetition of a
homophonic phrase. This occurs twice in Ave Maria (once with the addition of
an extra voice) defining the strophic text (see, for example, bs 31-9). Josquin's
use of fauxbourdon is also significant in the phrase just cited: this is the only
phrase of text to be so repeated and the only instance of fauxbourdon in Ave
Maria. Repetition and sequence in several voices simultaneously are also used
for text-expressive purposes (as occurs twice in Ave Maria, bs 44-54 and 127-
33), as are unusual imitative techniques - such as the voice-pairing favoured
by Josquin; the latter, however, seems to have been used for formal rather than
text-expressive purposes in Ave Maria. l6
Even this brief survey demonstrates a great variety of text-expressive devices
available to Josquin and a few of the ways he employs them in creating an
immediate relationship of text and music. More important as an analytical
consideration however is the structural relationship between text and music. It
 SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

is this relationship which generated many of the specific concerns of the

analytical method proposed here. The text of Ave Maria is a rhymed, metric,
five-strophe hymn, framed at the beginning by the opening text of a Sequence
('Ave Maria, virgo serena, gratia plena, Dominus tecum') and at the end by an
independent phrase ('0Mater Dei, memento mei. Amen.'):

Fig. 2: Text

Ave Maria, Gratia plena, Dominus tecum, virgo serena.

I. Ave cujus conceptio,
Solemni plena gaudio,
Coelestia, terrestria,
Nova replet laetitia.
11. Ave cujus nativitas
Nostra fuit solemnitas;
Ut lucifer lux oriens,
Verum solem praeveniens.
111. Ave pia humilitas,
Sino viro foecunditas,
Cujus annunciatio
Nostra fuit salvatio.
IV. Ave Vera virginitas,
Immaculata castitas,
Cujus purificatio
Nostra fuit purgatio.
V. Ave praeclara omnibus
Angelicis virtutibus,
Cujus fuit assumptio
Nostra glorificatio.
0 Mater Dei, Memento mei. Amen.

Each of the strophes of the internal hymn corresponds to one of the five feasts of
the Virgin (Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, Purification, Assumption),
and the framing of the text reinforces its association with the Virgin." In
addition, the extra text brings the number of sections to seven, a number
traditionally associated with Mary. Each quatrain is characterized by the 'Ave'
opening and two pairs of eight-syllable lines. The opening lines of strophes 11, I11
and IV share the same rhyme, while 111, IV and V share the same closing rhyme.
The musical structure of this work reflects the strophic divisions of the text.
This is apparent through the manipulation of texture, distribution and types of
cadences, and vocal range. Fig. 3 shows the close relationship between text
structure and musical articulation. Each text division is articulated by the
disposition of contrasting types of counterpoint (imitative or note-against-note)
and of the number of voices sounding (two, four, or duets of pairs). The
strongest cadences, all on the final of the mode, are reserved for the conclusion
of each strophe. In the internal structure, I and 11,paired together by reference
to rejoicing, are the same length. Similarly, I11 and IV, concentrating on the
 SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

human virtues of the Virgin, are paired together in length and range. The
salutation of the opening Sequence text corresponds to the final strophe and the
closing petition acts as a codetta. Each line of the text is set individually. The
paired scheme of the hymn quatrains is emphasized by musical repetition. With
one exception, the strophes are set as aabb' or aabc, with relatively contrasting
musical material introduced for each strophe.18 The first strophe, where the
text 'Ave cujus conceptio' is repeated with its music, is exceptional - and it
follows that Josquin must compose new music for the second line of the
quatrain.
3. Textural distribution; imitation
Contrapuntal theory forms an important area in the analysis of this repertory.
The history and development of contrapuntal theory are based on the extension
of the principles of two-part discant theory to three, four and more voices.19
Musical structure as described by theorists, however, still relied primarily on a
two-part intervallic framework, with the discantus and tenor as the preferred
structural voices .20
A significant aspect of the structure of such a work is its textural distribution.
The skeletal score of Ex. 2 illustrates this in Ave Maria and Fig. 4 shows the
manipulation of imitative temporal distance. It is evident that the strophic
nature of the text is articulated through the combination of textural and
imitative variation without actual repetition of musical material. Clearly, in this
work the discantus and tenor are established as structural voices through the
distribution of imitative material. Each formal section begins with a point of
imitation. Two sections, the opening cantus firmus Sequence and the fifth
strophe, are imitative throughout, with each phrase of text receiving a new
point of imitation (bs 1-31 and 111-41). In both, three of the four entries are
regularly spaced with the imitative temporal distance of one entry decreased (bs
25 and 127-9). The opening Sequence and the second strophe are the only
sections which use four-part imitation; in the second strophe, however, the
decreased imitative temporal distance between altus and tenor (bs 55-9 and
66-7) has the effect of paired voices (D-A and T-B), rather than strict four-part
imitation. The first and third strophes contain only one point of imitation
(between discantus and tenor) after which the section continues freely (in
primarily homorhythmic four-part counterpoint in the first strophe, and as an
alternation of paired voices in the third). The fourth strophe is homophonic in
nature but with a canon at the semibreve between discantus and tenor
throughout. Manipulation of texture and imitation is one of the most important
aspects in the examination of formal and structural articulation in Josquin's
motet^.^'

4. Cadence

Cadential theory links the concerns of modal theory (the tone of the cadence)

and con~rapuntaltheory (the prescribed intervallic structure of the cadence).

Formal divisions of compositions are normally marked by a perfect conson-
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

Key:
- Voice sounding (non-imitative material)

Homophony

Formal division

Point of imitation

Imitative temporal distance

Paired voices

a , b , a ' , b' Phrases of Cantus Firmus

Repetition
 SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

Ex. 2 : Manipulation of Texture and Imitation

Ave Maria
Seouence

A,- -vc- Ma- -rt-

 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

, - -\C - -1,- -0 I So- -lem- -ni

:ail- di- -0. Coe- -les- -ti- -a I - re- - -a No- -va 1.e- -plet

Coe- -len- -ti- -a ler- -re- -stl.i- -a hlo- -"a re- -piet 19-

No- -slra iu. it so- -lern-

 SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

Ut I - -ci- -kt. lux o- -ii- -ens, Vc- -t.om .so-

, .
!I LA- -ve pi- -a hu-mi-/ ' - ' -1i- I -,as, 1 I

., L
A- -be pi- -aFhuCi- - 4-1-,as, I

Si- -ne vi- -n, th.-cun

;IE:\- ve ve- -,.a \,it.- -gi- -ni- -Ins, Im--ma- xu-

II I I A- ve \,e- ;.a
vir-gl- -ni- tar, Im- ma-
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

@ -IT

. Cu- -]US
"
pu-
l

-pi- -li-
--.
-ca-
*, $,, , , ,
-ti-
- 7
-o No- -rtra fu-

-la c,i- s t a , Cu- I,)\ pu- n- -1i- ca- -ti- 0 So- stra

iil- -it pur- -ga- ti-

A-

Kt>-
I
-
An-
1 -gc-

-ge-
-11-
-
-1,-
-cis

I
, ,
i( 1 - Lu- - -1,- -bu\,

J
SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

- - p . 0
l l

-, ':- - I - - -<,

- - /

lo- - ?lo- - -!I- - -ii-

 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

Fig. 4: Manipulation of Imitative Temporal Distance

Point of imitation
\ Imitative temporal distance
\\ Voice-pairing
I Formal division

ance, usually a unison or an octave, approached by the nearest imperfect

consonance. The motion to the perfect consonance defined the two structural
voices of a cadence, and additional voices were added according to the linear-
intervallic rules of contrapuntal theory. Contemporaneous theory considered
the discantus and tenor as the essential and mode-determining voices of a
composition, thus these were the strongest voices for a cadence. Cadences
ornamented with a syncopated suspension figure - 'formal' cadences -
usually signal formal divisions and conclusions.22 Internal cadences were
generally 'simple' cadences which lacked the suspension figure of the formal
cadence, or half cadences which arrived at the perfect consonance by other
voice-leading means (see Ex. 3).23

Ex.3 Cadences

The traditional cadence had an ascending second in the discantus (cantizans)

and descending second in the tenor (tenorizans); motion of a fifth in the bass
(basizans)was also becoming more common in Josquin's time, and rearranging
the two cadential voices could weaken or strengthen a cadence.24Weaker
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

cadential voicings could be used to emphasize musical phrases or lines of text,

reserving the strongest voicing for especially important .cadences.The choice of
cadence tone represented a final means of establishing a cadential hierarchy.
Theorists frequently compared cadences to rhetorical punctuation; thus the
distribution of cadences should mirror the punctuation of the text.25
Specific analytical concepts may be proposed in reference to cadential and
contrapuntal theory. The combination of the type of cadence, its voicing, and
its tone provides a hierarchy of structural patterns. A tabulation of the
distribution and types of cadences, and the placement of structural cadences,
provides an overall view of a work, as Fig. 5 shows of Ave Maria.
The only structural cadences are on the final of the mode and they coincide
with text divisions. All but one of these structural cadences are further
strengthened by the addition of the basizans. The cadence of the opening
section, lacking the basizans, is reinforced by free treatment of the word 'serena'

Ex. 4 : Distribution of Cadences

Cadence tone C o

.Model
formal
cadence

:;:
cadence
[p 1

 SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

and by alteration of the imitative pattern and temporal distance. Two sections
shown in the table do not conclude with structural cadences. The third and
fourth strophes are linked together, as has been discussed earlier; the third ends
with a half cadence and the beginning of the fourth is marked by a change to
homophonic texture. The end of the fifth strophe is marked by a breve rest and
the structural cadence delayed until the close of the work.
Ex. 4 is a further examination of the distribution of formal and simple
cadences. The cadences on the final and fifth of the mode, the most frequently
used, show the most consistent pattern. Cadences on the final move from the
sixth to the octave and those on the fifth, with one exception, move from the
third to the unison. Formal rather than simple cadences predominate and the
most frequent variation of the cadence model is the addition of a third voice,
usually the basizans.
An outline of cadential patterns reflects the articulative framework of the
composition and a reductive graph of motion to cadences illustrates the
structural two-voice underpinning of the individual musical phrase (see Ex. 5
belowj. This graph shows two structural voices, variously paired in accordance
with the distribution of cadential material, which provide a consistent
intervallic pattern supporting the composition. This two-part counterpoint
reflects in interval structure the principles of composition as laid out by
contemporaneous theorists and a structural order in which the basic principles
are melodic rather than harmonic, with each 'structural voice' reflecting
characteristic patterns of the mode. This analysis is based on the premise that
there are two voices on which the structure depends determined by the
distribution of cadential material: there are not continuous structural voices, as
in a Schenkerian analysis; nor is there a sense of levels, beyond the analytical
process of building from prototypical cadential structures to essential fore-
ground elements. Ex. 5, from the opening of Ave Maria, illustrates these
observations. Note that in bs 1-18 two voices result from imitative features
(cadences are elided and only two voices sound at a time) rather than cadential
motion. This is followed by typical cadential patterning. The operative voices
are discantus-tenor (bs 19-22), altus-tenor (bs 23-5) and discantus-tenor (bs
25-30). The section culminates with a structural cadence and the most
extensive directed motion to that cadence.
5. Duration
Ave Maria is composed of two sections of nearly equal duration (as shown in
Fig. 6), subdivided into symmetrical patterns and, at the most detailed level of
subdivision, into the asymmetrical patterns of the text declamation. The large
division of the halves of the motet corresponds to a change in the textual
structure; the focal word of the strophe (that is, the particular feast of the
Virgin) appears at the end of the first line in the first and second strophes but
at the end of the third line in the third, fourth and fifth strophes. The
groupings shown in Fig. 6 are supported not only by durational correspon-
dences, but also by textural and affective coincidences cited above. This
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

Ex. 5 : Cadential Reduction

Cadences
. ..-- --
---- . . -.. .- -.
.- . --- . ----
- -- -
Cadence i
--
. .+

I I I J
--
GI..! - ti - .I pie - nn.
 SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

-- I I I I I I

) Do- ml-nus re -
--
cum. Vir - go
-
sc -
I...

re --
x..
uv..

na
I
I

interpretation represents one of several durational frameworks operative in Ave

M ana .

Fig. 6: Duration

/ 155 78

\77' /
opening I , I1 /\
111, IV V, Coda

6. Motivic structure
About half of Josquin's motets are based in some way on pre-existing models
such as traditional Gregorian melodies or polyphonic composition^.^^ While it
may be possible to trace the source of melodic integration in a work based on a
cantus firmus - especially in a work based on a formulaic chant melody -the
characteristic construction of each mode may also be used to provide the
framework for melodic analysis.
An examination of melodic unity in Ave Maria, a work which uses a cantus
firmus for the opening and is then freely composed, will best demonstrate the
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

use of modal theory in a motivic context. The cantus firmus is that of the
Sequence from which the opening text is taken:27

Ex.6 Cantus Firmus

Josquin's strict imitation follows this cantus firmus almost exactly. The chant
reflects the two important melodic characteristics of Mode VI cited earlier: the
plagal fourth (g-c) and the repercussion (c-e). As is shown in Ex. 7, these two
melodic figures are the motivic basis for much of the composition. Fig. 7
shows by means of a text outline the distribution of these two basic motives,
which are expressed by some voice for nearly every line of text (distribution of
motivic material does not uniformly coincide with the imitative 'themes' of the
work):

Fig. 7: Text Outline of Motive Distribution

Repercussion Plagal fourth Descending sixth

Ave Maria

gratia plena
dominus tecum (dominus tecum)
virgo serena
---------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Ave cuius conceptio
solemni plena gaudio
coelestia, terrestria
nova replet laetitia

Ave cujus nativitas

nostra fuit solemnitas
ut lucifer lux oriens
verum solem praeveniens

Ave pia humilitas

sino viro foecunditas
cujus annunciatio
nostra fuit purgatio

Ave praeclara omnibus

angelicis virtutibus
cujus fuit assumptio
nostra glorificatio
 SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

Ex. 7 : Motivic Organisation

 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

The exceptions (in the third column of Fig. 7) share a descending sixth - a
figure introduced in the elaboration of the discantus on 'Dominus tecum' (bs
19-22), the first embellishment of the cantus firmus and a result of literal text-
painting. Distribution of motivic material does not appear to depend on text
structure and imitation, or to be systematic in itself: it may be interpreted as a
source of variety counteracting the strong structural control exerted by the text
in other domains of the musical organization.28

7. Voice-leading
Perhaps the most controversial area in the analysis of pre-Baroque music is in
the application of Schenkerian voice-leading techniques. Schenker himself
believed that pre-Baroque vocal music lacked any self-contained means of
systematic organization and was dependent on its text for structure; its lack of a
sense of prolongation precluded analysis in his terms.29 Salzer, Novack and
Bergquist have proposed graphic voice-leading analyses in reference to works of
~ o s q u i n . ~While
' Salzer's analyses in Structural Hearing are of a general nature,
Bergquist and Novack deal specifically with the repertory in question here.
Bergquist rejects contemporaneous theory as a sufficient basis for analysis and
proposes fully-fledged tonal structures for the works he analyses. Novack's
approach is more sensitive to historical concerns, but his analyses rely on
several assumptions, the most basic of which is that the music comprises tonal
prolongations at structural levels corresponding to Schenker's model for tonal
music. More specific assumptions are that the outer voices function as
structural voices and that a 'modality-tonality' issue is irrelevant. With each of
these studies, there seems to be more emphasis on the demonstration of the
universality of Schenkerian principles than on analysis of a particular work or
repertory. They are especially provocative because music from earliest
monophony to Monteverdi is categorized simply as 'early music' and thus
subjected to the same theoretical-analytical considerations.
Attempts to modify Schenkerian analysis through combination with other
theories seem even more questionable. Frederick Bashour is concerned with
the music of Dufay, but proposes a method that is claimed to be more generally
applicable.31He attempts to combine the melodic principles of Gregorian chant
theory and contrapuntal principles of discant theory with the Schenkerian
concepts of prolongation, structural levels and voice-leading. There is no
attempt to discover a fundamental harmonic line or structural harmonic
cadence: Bashour proposes structural levels said to reflect background
intervallic progressions similar to the progressions of discant theory. The
resulting analyses thus demand reinterpretation of the theories involved.
Schenkerian levels rely on a Fundamental Structure, discant theory operates as
an immediate foreground compositional structure, and chant results from
unique melodic modal formulations, so that a single harmonic Fundamental
Structure of the type on which Schenker's theories are dependent is inappropri-
ate. And Schenker's work relied on a Fuxian model of counterpoint which
differs radically from the contrapuntal theory of the fifteenth century to which
 SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

Bashour refers. The final difficulty of Bashour's work as a model for analysis is
its specificity. The music of Dufay with which he is concerned uses three voices
of which two are determined to be structural; it is hardly to be expected that an -
appropriate analytical method would be suitable for other repertories.
Nevertheless, the challenge of voice-leading analysis of Pre-Baroque reper-
tories cannot be evaded, and this is certainly true for the motets of Josquin
which have elements that may seem to presage an 'emerging' tonality. Through
the examination of what can and cannot be graphed appropriately, an
understanding of apparently tonal elements may emerge, and this is to be
valued since the twentieth-century observer may perceive both tonal and modal
elements in a composition. My voice-leading graphs of Ave Maria (see
Appendix, pp. 229-39 below) have been juxtaposed with graphs based on
cadential structures. Apparent 'contradictions' in this juxtaposition provide an
understanding of common elements of modality and tonality, those elements
which vitiate any attempt to classify works from this period as exclusively
modal or tonal. Although middleground and background graphs have been
provided, the two foreground graphs and cadential reduction are of greatest
interest, especially in their display of modal-tonal and formal-structural
relationships.
Although mode is a melodic rather than harmonic principle of organization,
modal intervallic structure is reflected in the tonal analysis: the descent from 3
replicates the modal repercussion emphasized motivically in the work, and the
motivic models of plagal fourth and descending sixth permeate the levels of the
voice-leading analysis. Because a limited number of cadence tones is used in a
strikingly consistent and systematic fashion (as shown earlier), little direct
contradiction results between tonal and modal interpretations. The voice-
leading analysis shows a close affinity between the structural pitches of Mode VI
and the major tonal scale;32 the basizans motion of structural cadences is
represented by a V-I harmonic notation. However, there is an important
contrast with reference to the role of e2 in Ave Maria: it is the primary note in
the voice-leading analysis, but the weakest and least emphasised cadence tone
in the modal-cadential structure. This contrast is easily observed at the arrival
of the primary note (b. 35; Appendix, Graph 3). Clearly prolonged from this
point, e2plays a correspondingly minor role in the cadential structure (Graph 1,
bs 35ff.).
Each strophe is set apart in the cadential graph by structural cadences or
alteration of imitative procedure; similarly, each strophe is demarcated in the
voice-leading analysis by a foreground descent from 3. The location of these
foreground descents does not always correspond, however, to the placement of
concluding cadences (see, for example, Strophe 111, Graphs 1-3). The change
in register of the third and fourth strophes (b. 80), an important text-affective
and formal device discussed above, results in a prolonged cover tone over the
primary note (a result of octave transfer to an inner voice), accentuating the
tonal connection of these sections; the modal-cadential analysis points to
patterns which distinguish rather than unite the individual strophes. Graph 2
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

reflects the broad textural and registral concerns of the composition, while
Graphs 1 and 3 illustrate two different types of structural procedure observed
within the boundaries of those concerns.
These types of contrast illustrate the relevance of the two analytical
approaches demonstrated in the Appendix: voice-leading graphs are able to
demonstrate longer-term motion, connection and structure while reflecting
motivic modal considerations; cadential graphs illustrate more immediate
components of that structure, formal articulation and contemporaneous
theoretical concepts.
8. Summary
Almost every aspect of Ave Maria . . . virgo serena, including modal procedure,
cadential structure, invention of motivic material and contrapuntal treatment,
is derived, to some extent, from its text. Yet the composition exhibits a purely
musical balance of durational proportiors, distribution of textures and
contrapuntal devices, and overall motivic and structural coherence. It would be
possible to uncover the musical balance of Ave Maria without reference to
principles of Renaissance theory and background historical concerns, but it
would be difficult to perceive the level to which that balance is influenced and
generated by text. Similarly, an out-of-hand rejection of modern analytical
techniques would hinder the understanding of many of the purely musical
relationships of this work and of its broader historical context. The examination
of Ave Maria demonstrates a multiplicity of ways in which cultural and
structural concerns are correlated, as are textual and musical considerations. It
is hoped that the multi-faceted approach proposed here will contribute to a
greater understanding and definition of Josquin's personal style and to the
analytical understanding of this repertory which seems to have been so elusive.

NOTES
1. For example, see Putnam Aldrich, 'An Approach to the Analysis of Renaissance
Music', Music Review, Vol. 30, 1969, pp. 1-2 1.
2. Examples of this method of examining pre-Baroque music are Edward Lowinsky's
Secret Chromatic Art in the Netherlands Motet, trans. C. Buchman (New York:
Columbia UP, 1946) and Tonality and Atonality in Sixteenth-Century Music
(Berkeley: UC Press, 1961)) and Heinrich Besseler's Bourdon und Fauxbourdon
(Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hartel, 1950). Lowinsky and Besseler both view the V-I
cadence and use of triadic sonorities as the 'cradle of tonality', and the identification
of such formations is followed by functional harmonic analysis. Although
numerous indisputable criticisms were voiced by the advocates of 'historical'
analysis (see, for example, Richard Crocker's review of Tonality and Atonality,
Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1962, pp. 142-53), few if any alternatives
apart from general description were posed. Of an even more questionable nature
are Schenkerian analyses which expanded from the premise of Lowinsky and
Besseler to propose fully-fledged tonal structures for such works.
3. Harold Powers, in 'Tonal Types and Modal Categories in Renaissance Polyphony',
 SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 34, No. 3, 1981, pp. 428-70,
uses the anthropological terms 'etic' and 'emic' to distinguish between these
analytical perspectives in his discussion of mode.
4. The edition referred to in this analysis is Werken van Josquin des Pres, ed. Albert
Smijers (Amsterdam: Vereeniging Voor Nederlandsche Muziekgeschiedenis,
1921-1967), Motetten, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1923, R1967, pp. 1 4 . Ave Maria . . . virgo
serena is one of the most frequently cited works in discussions of Josquin. The
esteem in which it was held by contemporaries is reflected in its position at the head
of Petrucci's Motetti A (1502), and it was given a similar place in Smijers edition of
the complete works. A recent case in which this work is taken as a starting point for
a discussion of the motets and as the yardstick by which various works are
compared is Jeremy Noble, The New Grove High Renaissance Masters 'Josquin
Desprez' (Macmillan: London, 1984), pp. 27-39. Similarly, Leeman Perkins,
'Motet', The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 12, pp. 6 3 2 4 ,
uses the score of Ave Maria as the musical illustration for the discussion of
Josquin's motets. Both examples are part of a long musicological tradition
(beginning with Glarean) which has recognised this work as one of Josquin's
masterpieces. In light of the many studies which use Ave Maria to demonstrate
various features of Josquin's compositional style, it seemed apt that a detailed study
of this work should be used to illustrate an analytical approach which has resulted
from reference to the corpus of Josquin's motets.
5. An example of such a study is Leeman Perkins, 'Mode and Structure in the Masses
of Josquin', JAMS, Vol. 26, No. 2,1973, pp. 189-239.
6. The analyst must have a theoretical understanding of the style to establish the
edition on which the analysis is based. Concepts of musica ficta and recta and
hexachordal solmization practice which are essential in source-study will not be
discussed here. An overview is provided in Gaston Allaire, The Theory of
Hexachords, Solmization, and the Modal System, Musicological Studies and
Documents 24 (American Institute of Musicology, 1972).
7. The first theorist to deal extensively with mode in polyphony was Pietro Aaron,
whose writings have been used as the principal contemporaneous source for aspects
of modal theory in this analysis. The most comprehensive study in English of
Aaron's work is Ed Peter Bergquist, 'The Theoretical Writings of Pietro Aaron'
(PhD Dissertation, Columbia University, 1964, UMI-65-7496).
8. A detailed comparison of theorists' understanding of modal affect and a history of
the development of modal theory in the first half of the sixteenth century is
provided in Ellen Beebe, 'Structure and Text Expression in the Motets of Jacobus
Clemens non Papa' (PhD Dissertation, Yale University, 1976, UMI-77-14020).
9. This is especially true of the Phrygian modes and the use of commixture. See
Bernhard Meier, Die Tonarten der klassischen Vokalpolyphonie (Utrecht: Oosthoek,
Schelema and Holkema, 1974), pp. 269-314.
10. An important discussion of the relationship of plagal and authentic modes is
Powers, op, cit.
11. This probably stems from Glarean's use of Ave Maria as an example of his Hypo-
ionic mode in the development of a twelve-mode system. Dodecachordon, trans.
Clement Miller (American Institute of Musicology, 1967), Vol. 1, p. 236, Vol. 2,
p. 463.
12. Beebe, op. cit., p. 198.
13. These devices have been examined by numerous authors. Among important works
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

are Beebe, op. cit., Fritz Feldman, 'Untersuchungen zum Wort-Ton-Verhaltnis

in den Gloria-Credo-Satzen von Dufay bis Josquin', Musica Disciplina, Vol. 8,
1954, pp. 141-71; Meier, op. cit., pp. 338-57; Joseph Miiller-Blattau, Der
Verhaltnis von Wort und Ton in der Geschichte der Musik (Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler,
1952).
14. These categories are based on Meier, op. cit., Part I1 and Beebe, op. cit.,
pp. 266ff.
15. Literal devices in Ave Maria are discussed in Ludwig Finscher, 'Zum Verhaltnis
von Imitationstechnik und Text Behandlung im Zeitalter Josquins', Renaissance-
Studien: Helmuth Osthoff zum 80. Geburtstag (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1979),
pp. 69-72.
16. The final category - expressive departures from the modal norm - includes
changes in any of the defining characteristics of the prevailing mode. These vary
from simple melodic alteration to unusual distribution of cadences, or even a
complete shift in the governing mode for a phrase or longer. Ave Maria, however,
does not seem to use these devices for text-expressive purposes. For an example
of well-known motets of Josquin which do, see Absalon, fili mi or the seconda pars
of Tu solus, qui facis mirabilia.
17. At least three versions of the text of the first strophe of Ave Maria are extant. For
a discussion of the text source see G. Benoit-Castelli, 'LIAve Maria de Josquin des
Prez et la sequence "Ave Maria . . . virgo serena" ', Etudes grhgoriennes, Vol. 1,
1954, pp. 187-94; and Jacquelyn Mattfeld, 'Cantus Firmus in the Liturgical
Motets of Josquin des Prez' (PhD Dissertation, Yale University, 1959,
UMI-66-6841), pp..43-7, and 'Some Relationships between Texts and Cantus
Firmi in the Liturgical Motets of Josquin des Pres', JAMS, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1961,
pp. 171-3.
18. This material is by no means 'new', however, as will be shown in the discussion of
cantus firmus and motivic integration.
19. Richard Crocker, 'Discant, Counterpoint, and Harmony', JAMS, Vol. 15, No.
1, 1962, pp. 1-21.
20. Contrapuntal and imitative theory will not be discussed at length here, as it has
been explored by numerous writers.
21. A detailed examination of manipulation of texture and imitative temporal
distance provides a useful basis for al~alysisand comparison of a group of works as
well as insight into the specific relationship of text, text structure, musical form
and musical structure of the individual composition. Such comparisons are
readily accomplished through literal graphic representations of textural-imitative
structure and manipulation of imitative temporal distance (see Cristle Collins
Judd, 'An Analytical Study of Selected Motets of Josquin des Prez', M.Mus.
Special Study, King's College London, 1984). A survey of types of imitative
techniques and their application in works of Josquin is Isabelle Williams,
'Manipulation of Imitative Temporal Distance in Textural Progression of Josquin
des Prez' (PhD Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1975, UMI-75-20482).
22. There are exceptions. It is not uncommon for a work to end with a simple cadence
which is strengthened through duration rather than stylized ornamentation. See,
for example, the final cadence of Ave Maria.
23. The terminology used for cadence types is based on Meier, op. cit., pp. 75-102,
and Charles Dill, 'Non-cadential Articulation of Structure in Some Motets of
Josquin and Mouton', Current Musicology, Vol. 33, 1982, pp. 37-56.
 SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

The terms cantizans, tenorizans, and basizans may be used to indicate the structural

motion to a cadence; thus cantizans indicates an ascending second, tenorizans a

descending second, and basizans a falling fifth to the cadence tone. Meier, op. cit.,

adopts these terms from seventeenth-century usage.

Undoubtedly, the relationship of rhetoric and cadential theory in this period could

be of use in formulating additional aspects of an analytical method.

An excellent study is Mattfeld, 'Cantus Firmus in the Liturgical Motets of Josquin

des Pres', op. cit. See also Willem Elders, 'Plainchant in the Motets, Hymns, and

Magnificat of Josquin des Prez', Josquin desPrez, ed. E. Lowinsky (London: OUP,

1976), pp. 523- 42.

The source of this cantus firmus is examined in Benoit-Castelli, op. cit.

This basis for motivic analysis, derived from the defining characteristics of the

governing mode (repercussion, species of fourth and fifth, principal cadence tones)

differs in premise from that proposed by Irving Godt, 'Motivic Integration in

Josquin's Motets', Journal of Music Theoy, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1977, pp. 264-93,

which seeks a single generating motive subjected to transformation through

retrograde, inversion, etc.

Sylvan Kalib, 'Thirteen Essays from the Three Yearbooks . . .' (PhD Disserta-

tion: Northwestern University, 1973, UMI-73-30626), pp. 372-9,443-5.

Felix Salzer, Structural Hearing (New York: Dover, 1962), Exs 156, 184,273,539;

Saul Novack, 'The Analysis of Pre-Baroque Music', Aspects of Schenkm'an Theoy,

ed. David Beach (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), pp. 113-34, 'Fusion

of Design and Tonal Order in Mass and Motet', The Music Forum, Vol. 2, 1970,

pp. 187-263, and 'Tonal Tendencies in Josquin's Use of Harmony', Josquin des

Prez (London: OUP, 1976), pp. 317-33; Peter Bergquist, 'Mode and Polyphony

around 1500: Theory and Practice', The Music Forum, Vol. 1, 1967, pp. 99-161;

David Stern, 'Tonal Organization in Modal Polyphony', Theoy and Practice, Vol.

6, No. 2, 1981, pp. 5-39, and 'A Quotation from Josquin in Schenker's Free

Composition', Theoy and Practice, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1982, pp. 3340. Stern also

discussed several Josquin examples in a paper given at the Heinrich Schenker

Symposium in New York in March 1985, including the fourth strophe of Ave

Maria . . . virgo serena as an illustration of concealed repetition. An important

discussion of the application of voice-leading techniques to pre-Baroque repertor-

ies is Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, 'Machaut's Rose, lis and the Problem of Early

Music Analysis', Music Analysis, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1984, pp. 9-28. Leech-

Wilkinson's work has not been referred to directly in this article, however, because

of its concentration on Machaut. Cross-repertory reference in analysis of pre-

Baroque music of itself raises significant issues which are outside the scope of this

article.

Frederick Bashour, 'A Model for the Analysis of Structural Levels and Tonal

Movement of Compositions of the Fifteenth Century' (PhD Dissertation, Yale

University, 1975, UMI-7524499), and 'Towards a More Rigorous Methodology for

the Analysis of the Pre-Tonal Repertory', College MusicSymposium, Vol. 19, No. 2,

1978, pp. 140-53.

An examination of a Phrygian motet such as Josquin's 0 bone et dulcissime Jesu

reveals great contradiction between modal and tonal hierarchies and illustrates the

sensitivity with which the analyst must apply the techniques discussed here.

 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

GRAPHIC SYMBOLS USED IN THE APPENDIX

Cadential Reduction
j = formal division
J = framing pitches of cadential motion
[ 1 = two-voice framework determined by imitative rather than cadential
procedures
n= directed motion to cadence
n= modal-motivic elements
+
= structural voicing of cadence (cantizans in the discantus; tenorizans in the
tenor)
Cadence types: Ex. F: D, T ; c2
Type of
1.1-
/ cantizans tenorizans highest sounding
cadence: voice voice cadence tone
F = Formal
S = Simple D = discantus
H = Half A = altus
T = tenor
B = bassus
Voice-leading Graphs
The graphic techniques are based on those used by Felix Salzer in Structural Hearing.
To observe subtle differences in the application of these techniques to the music of
Josquin, compare bs 40-6 of the Appendix with Salzer's graph (Ex. 273, Structural
Hearing). The only harmonic symbols which have been used are V and I, which
correspond to the basizans motion of the cadential structure. The graph pays particular
attention to modal-motivic materials in its disposition of slurs and in the indication of
long-term motion.
 CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

Appendix
0 @ 0

Sequence
Y
h IC
- I

1 -+
- ex--
Cadential =>- -=!!

T*

--
reduction
--
+ a*+

. - --
I
..c
-, - I

I
.1
- I
-
- I
+

2
Foreground I

Foreground I1
i \
SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS
CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD
SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS
CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD
SOME PROBLEMS OF PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS
CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

L-,,,,,,,,--,-,----li
C.S.
SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS
CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD

@ @ @ @ 0
3 ~3 ? i

Bac k g r o t ~ n d
SOME PROBLEMS O F PRE-BAROQUE ANALYSIS

I I I ]

C.S. I P I