Humanistic Tradition Volume 1 music supplements



The Humanistic Tradition, Volume I

Music Listening Guides

Chapter 5

1. Ancient Greek Music—Anonymous: “Epitaph for Seikilos”

While music in ancient Greek culture undoubtedly played a prominent role, only a scant few actually notated works survive. The song heard on the recording, a skolion or drinking song, was most likely composed, before it was carved into the tombstone, by someone named Seikilos

(c. 1st century C.E.), possibly for his wife. The notation of the song is made through symbols indicating both melody and rhythm placed above the song text. Contemporary texts and iconography suggest that vocal music was usually accompanied by an instrument, though this song includes no notated instrumental part. Modern performances vary in accompanimental style from simple doubling of the vocal melody to heterophonic rhythmic droning as heard in this recording.

Ancient Greek music was purely melodic (monophonic), like the majority of musical types found in the ancient world. This particular melody is diatonic, meaning it contains notes only separated by half and whole-steps, though Greek music theory texts describe smaller, or microtonal, divisions of musical space not typically found in later European musical notation.

Discussion

1. Read more about the history of Greek music (see Pythagoras, Aristoxenus, Cleonides, Aristides Quintilianus). What similarities do you find between the analytical/rational approach to musical understanding and other aspects of Greek culture?

2. Read a musical description by Plato from The Republic (Book 3), and respond to his comments.

Chapter 9

2. Gregorian Chant—Anonymous: “Alleluya, vidimus stellam”

Plainsong or Gregorian chant represents another form of pure melodic music. The performance of chant may vary in the number of voices singing, but regardless of the performing group only one part or musical line is present. Additionally, the character of medieval sacred monophonic music is intentionally reserved and reverential (see Augustine’s cautions about music in Confessions). Nonetheless, a variety of characteristics can be observed that distinguish different genres of chant. The Alleluia is among the most easily recognizable due to its characteristic “melismas” (extended melodic flourishes on a single syllable). The special quality of these melismatic chants is a reflection of their function both within the liturgy of the Mass and the changing cycle of feast days throughout the liturgical calendar. This Alleluia, “vidimus stellam,” concerns the New Testament story of the sighting of the star in the east that directed the Magi

to the infant Jesus (“Vidimus stellam ejus in Oriente et venimus cum muneribus adorare Dominum”/ “We have seen his star in the east and are come with gifts to worship the Lord.”) This chant is therefore used specifically for the feast of The Epiphany.

Discussion

1. Listen for the melismatic flourishes on certain words of the chant. Which words are emphasized? Why? What does the word “Alleluia” mean?

2. Does the chant have any detectible sectionality or formal pattern to it? Is this patterning desirable? Why?

3. Buddhist Chant—Anonymous: Morning prayers

The presence of Buddhist practice in geographically and culturally disparate parts of Asia has created a complex set of religious and artistic traditions. Each is distinct in its particular characteristics, yet related in devotional purpose and textual origins. Buddhist chant is the continuing manifestation of one of the world’s oldest continuously practiced musical traditions. It is believed that disciples of the Buddha were called to chant the teaching (Dhamma) shortly after his death. The body of Buddhist teaching was preserved for centuries through oral tradition, the memorization of which was possibly aided by chant formulas.

Like the other examples of ancient religious or sacred chanting, Buddhist chant is also monophonic and fluid in its rhythmic style, typically determined by accentual patterns associated with the language of the chant. Typical instruments used in East Asian cultures include bells, cymbals, drums, gongs, flutes, and wood blocks. Also characteristic of this style of chanting is the nasal tonal quality of the voice, which is common in many types of Asian secular and sacred musical contexts.

Discussion

1. Compare the examples of sacred chant from the various religious traditions (Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim). What similarities and differences exist? What aspects of the function of sacred chant account for their similarities? What cultural features or traditions account for differences?

Chapter 10

4. Islamic Call to Prayer

The place of music in Islamic culture is no less diverse and complex than that of other cultures. Music plays a role in both secular and religious facets of life, and it is impossible to generalize about the incredible diversity of musical expression in the numerous cultures that have been most profoundly shaped by Islam.

The most universal form of sacred musical expression for Muslims is Qur’anic recitation, or the chanting of the holy Qur’an. Here again two main principles should be considered: the origins of the practice and its diverse manifestations as reflected in the wide variety of traditions emanating from disparate geographical and cultural contexts. Qur’anic recitation originates traditionally with the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an itself: “The Qur’an must be recited or chanted aloud and in a state of physical and spiritual purity. It must be recited slowly, deliberately, and rhythmically” (Q. 73:4). Despite this “musical” description, the recitation is not to be “sung” and it is not to be heard as entertainment. The prayers should be chanted with a character reflecting humility and in a sad voice.

5. Arabo-Andalusian Music—Anonymous: Twisya No. 3 of the Nouba

Nouba is a type of musical genre that flourished in North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia) following the Christian re-conquest of Andalusia, or southern Iberian Peninsula. A nouba (nuba, nawba) is an extended musical genre consisting of several vocal and instrumental sections based on particular poetic forms. The “twisya” is a dance section from a particular nouba.

Though this example is an excerpt of a longer musical work, the musical structure is readily apparent in the alternating sections of instruments and voices, the strongly rhythmic character of the melody, and the clear sense of meter (grouping of beats into discrete units). Characteristic instruments such as the Arabic lute or “ud” carry the melody in non-vocal sections. This musical style contrasts dramatically with the previous examples, whose function was defined within a sacred context for the respective cultures.

Discussion

1. How would you compare the Islamic “musical” expression to that of other non-Muslim cultures, e.g. western European medieval, classical Greek, etc., with respect to the admonitions of contemporary writers such as St. Augustine and Plato, respectively?

2. Compare the sounds of types of medieval chant from Europe with Qur’anic recitation. What differences and similarities can you observe?

Chapter 11

6. Troubadour Song—Bernart de Ventadour: “Can vei la lauzeta mouver”

Like the Arabic music in the previous example, the poetic style and structure are important defining elements in troubadour songs. It is likely that Arabic poetic genres were influential in shaping troubadour poetry, but the set of cultural influences evidenced in this musical genre is complex, reflecting the variety of influences contributing to medieval life in general. The genre of “fin’ amour” or refined love is one of the most important features found in troubadour poetry.

This song, or “canso,” exhibits a number of characteristic elements of troubadour music. It is strophic, meaning each stanza of the poem is set to the same melody, it is predominantly syllabic (each syllable of text is set to one pitch), and the melody is fairly limited in range, neither too high nor too low for the average voice. Rhythm, while not a feature of troubadour notation, is nonetheless generally defined by patterns of accentuation in the vernacular poetic genre. Ventadorn’s “Can vei” is celebrated for having been quoted by Dante in the “Purgatorio” of

his Commedia Divina.

Discussion

1. What kinds of similarities can you detect between the secular musical styles of Arabic and European music?

2. How does the subject matter of Troubadour song relate to other aspects of Medieval European society? What other trends in the culture relate to the idea of refined or ideal love?

Chapter 13

7. Liturgical Drama—Anonymous: The Play of Daniel,”Ad honorem tui, Christe,” “Ecce sunt ante faciem tuam”

Liturgical drama is a genre of medieval sacred music/drama originating in the ninth and tenth centuries as an elaboration of the Mass liturgy. The Mass is itself a form of high drama, incorporating traditional dramatic elements such as script, costume, and song in the presentation of sacred text. These dramas, like other types of musical elaborations, were incorporated primarily around the two major feasts of the liturgical calendar: Easter and Christmas. The retelling of the story of the Hebrew prophet Daniel is, for Christians, often associated with the Christmas season due to its frequent references to the coming of the Messiah. The story focuses on the events surrounding the Babylonian king Belshazzar and the mysterious appearance of a hand that cryptically writes letters on a wall, which only Daniel can interpret. The additional text and music for these occasions, along with dramatized presentation, undoubtedly deepened the congregants’ experience of the traditional Eucharist to emphasize the importance of these Christological events.

Monophonic chant is the only type of singing presented in this drama. Nonetheless, a wide variety of musical styles are represented, anticipating the type of musical variety common to opera in the seventeenth century. Although the manuscripts give no indication of instrumental accompaniment, iconographic evidence suggests that accompaniment would not be inappropriate. In this excerpt, several contrasting musical styles are easily detected from the ceremonious and brief prologue, indicating the creators of the play, to the melodically repetitious, folk song-like “Astra teneti” section and the more sectionally complex “Jubilemus Regi nostro.”

Discussion

1. The history of sacred ritual and drama are inextricably linked. Consider what the effect of the reenactment of biblical stories might have meant within the context of a sacred service.

2. Consider the complexity of Gothic European culture and discuss how the variety of musical styles represented in this brief excerpt can be seen as a reflection of different cultural strains, e.g., Roman ecclesiastical and French vernacular.

8. Hildegard of Bingen: O Successores

After the musical repertory of the Roman church became more uniform during the Carolingian period, individuals continued to contribute to the body of existing chant from the earlier middle ages. New Latin chants were composed on original texts to newly composed music. The most common type of medieval chant is called antiphon. The antiphon frequently occurs as a framing song heard before and after the chanting of a psalm verse. Antiphons are musically more interesting than the formulaic patterning heard in psalm chanting.

Both the melodic and textual features of this chant are noteworthy. The text is reported to have come to Hildegard in one of her many visions. It is highly poetic in its use of allusive imagery, reflecting the mystical tendency so closely associated with Hildegard’s life. Musically, the chant develops interest in its varied range, points of climax, and lyrically flowing melismas.

Discussion

1. Read the text and translation as you listen to the excerpt. What is this poem about and how does the musical setting reinforce our understanding of it?

2. Consider what techniques Hildegard employs considering the sparseness of the musical texture, e.g. vocal range, ratio of notes to syllables, and melodic contour.

O successores fortissimi leonis You successors of the mightiest lion

inter templum et altare between the temple and the altar

dominantes in ministratione eius you the masters in his household

sicut angeli sonant in laudibus, as the angels sound forth praises

et sicut adsunt populis in adiutorio and are here to help the nations,

vos estis inter illos, you are among those

qui haec faciunt, who accomplish this,

sempter curam habentes forever showing your care

in officio agni. in the service of the lamb.

(Translation ©1998 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Kamien, Roger. Listen 3e)

9. Two Examples of Medieval Polyphony: 9a. “Rex caeli, Domine” and 9b. “Alleluia: Justus ut palma”

The development of polyphony marks one of the most significant points in the history of European music. From its earliest documented occurrences in the ninth century, polyphony has remained perhaps the most consistent feature of this musical tradition. Probably a consequence of the natural process of group singing, the simultaneous singing of multiple melodic lines can be traced to some of the earliest medieval descriptions of monophonic chant and musical notation. The organum “Rex caeli, Domine” is an example from the earliest treatise on polyphony and demonstrates the style described as parallel organum, in which a chant is sung in both its original form and simultaneously doubled in a second voice primarily at a fixed distance apart.

By the twelfth century, the style of polyphony in music for the Roman church had reached a new stage of development. Organum now referred to a specific sub-category of polyphony alongside other types occurring in the same work. The “Alleluia: Justus ut palma” is found in a manuscript describing how to compose organum. Here the chant occurs primarily below the newly composed “organal” voice. Motion between the parts is parallel and contrary, with the intervals of a fourth and fifth predominating. Phrase endings usually occur on the unison or octave. Sections of polyphonic organum are interspersed with monophonic chant, creating a flow of contrasting textures.

10. Perotin: “Alleluya (Nativitas)”

The culmination of the musical style called organum is found in the works of Magister Perotinus, who worked in Paris at Notre Dame in the late twelfth through early thirteenth centuries. Organum before Perotin was primarily a two-voice affair, meaning only two melodic parts would be sung: one, rhythmically and melodically active, sung above the other, a Gregorian chant melody sung in long sustained notes. Perotin expanded the practice by composing new parts above old chants, adding as many as three lines to the original, producing some of the earliest known four-part polyphony. The degree of success Perotin achieved in his three- and four-part works results in a musical texture and effect that truly does match the expanse, majesty, and imposing scale of the great Gothic cathedrals.

The Alleluya heard in this excerpt illustrates a number of characteristic features of Notre Dame organum. Easily detected are features such as the limited number of rhythms, the long sustained tenor melody, the clash of dissonance between upper parts, and the slow progress of the sung text, here consisting of only one four-syllable word. Rhythm in Notre Dame organa was controlled by a system of “rhythmic modes” derived from the accentuation patterns of Classical poetry. The sustained tenor part is a continuation of earlier styles of organum allowing for freely added parts above. Clashes of dissonance forcefully suggest that voice parts were conceived as melodic lines primarily in relation to the lowest part, so the addition of two or more upper parts often resulted in coincidental dissonance. Polyphony as a device used within a liturgical context signified the elevated status of the occasion. Consequently, its use as an elaboration of typically monophonic chant was reserved for the celebration of special events during the liturgical year.

Discussion

1. From the Carolingian period through the Gothic era, the power, influence, and sophistication of the Roman Church continued to grow throughout Western Europe. The development of the musical liturgy follows a parallel path. Compare the three examples of organum excerpted. Consider the differences between the early examples, with restricted range and limited rhythmic variety, and the Notre Dame style. Are there parallels between the musical examples and the a) relatively reserved and smaller-scale Carolingian church, b) enlarged and expanded Romanesque style, and c) expansive, open, and highly stylized and decorative Gothic cathedral?

11. 13th Century Motet – Anonymous: “En non Diu! Quant voi; Eius in Oriente”

The motet is a direct descendant of organum, evolving out of sections of polyphonic music in which defined rhythm was present in all parts, including the typically sustained tenor. Extracting these relatively brief sections of music and adding new texts resulted in the creation of the motet. The popularity of this new, independent polyphonic form gave rise to a series of critical developments in European medieval music. With sacred chant melodic lines serving as the lowest part, the motet breaks free of its sacred source to become the most important form of secular composition in the late Middle Ages.

“En non Diu! Quant voi; Eius in Oriente” is an example of an early thirteenth-century French double motet, meaning that it has two sung texts in the vernacular, rather than Latin, which are sung simultaneously over a chant-based tenor performed instrumentally. The secular vernacular texts reflect the trend toward secular and academic life in late-medieval France and the place of the motet at the center of intellectual/artistic attention.

Discussion

1. Look for connections to other aspects of late-medieval culture. How does the abstraction and stylization of a three-part composition presenting two independent texts relate to elements of contemporary visual representation? Why would medieval composers view simultaneous presentation of multiple texts as unproblematic?

2. Is there anything surprising about the combining of vernacular (upper voices) and sacred elements in the motet?

12. 13th Century Dance—“Estampie”

The “estampie” is one of the earliest surviving dance types in the European tradition. Only a small number of actually notated pieces survive and there are significant differences between the different “estampies” associated with different parts of Europe. Most of the surviving examples originated in France and Italy.

Despite the dearth of examples of early dance music, it safe to assume that dance and its accompanying music have been a significant part of the humanistic tradition since time immemorial. Nonetheless, the appearance of social dances during the rise of courtly culture in medieval Europe is not merely coincidental. Though the structure of the music has features that identify it as recognizably dance music, the lack of consistency in the lengths of repeated sections (in this instance, three) distinguishes this type of dance from more familiar and regularly structured dances found in works from the Renaissance to contemporary times.

Discussion

1. What does the existence of preserved, notated dances suggest about the state of courtly secular life in the late Middle Ages?

2. Compare the character of the medieval estampie to the troubadour song (and its associated discussion).

Chapter 14

13. Music of India: Traditional: Thumri

The origins of the musical genre Thumri are poetic and vocal. As a vocal musical genre, Thumri had associations with particular classes of North Indian society and even more specifically with women. The texts of Thumri typically dealt with themes associated with erotic imagery tied to ideas of divine love and longing. Even when performed by male singers, Thumri express their sentiments from the female perspective. It is interesting to note that, despite the Hindu origins of the Thumri and associated erotic tendencies in Hindu spiritual texts and imagery, the influence of Islam in Northern India also suggests connections to Muslim cultural expressions such as the poetic language of the medieval mystic Rumi and related musical styles of the Sufi qawaali.

The musical excerpt exemplifies several aspects of Indian classical music, from the characteristic instrumental combination of tablas (hand drum set) and sitar (multi-stringed, long-neck lute), to the improvisational style employed by the sitar soloist based around a defined melodic formula known as raga. We can also hear a progressive movement toward increasing rhythmic and melodic activity as the composition develops. This style of performance, though not uncommon in classical ragas, the performance of which can last up to an hour or longer, may also be linked to the earlier texted versions of Thumri where musical intensity increases with the heightened sense of desire expressed in the vocal text.

14. Music of China—Traditional: “Ngoh Wai Heng Kong”

The Chinese musical genre known as Cantonese opera is generally believed to have originated in the thirteenth century in Northern China. Like European opera, Cantonese opera is a blending of music-theatrical genres assembled into a single performance event. Unlike European opera, Cantonese opera is not based on the conscious revival of a historical dramatic genre, but rather a uniquely Chinese amalgam of music, theater, martial arts, acrobatics, acting, history, and culture. Values associated with Cantonese opera performance can be related to Confucian principles regarding music, such as the desire to shape the minds and character of citizens through education, in which music, dance, and drama played important roles. Included in the artistic expressive forms associated with Cantonese opera is an elaborate style of make-up that dramatically alters the appearance of the actor/singers and, like the masks of ancient Greek theater, communicates information about the character.

One important distinction between Cantonese opera and European opera is the role of music in the performance. While singing, melody, and the use of instruments are features of both, Cantonese opera is not a composer’s genre. Consequently, much of the musical structure is more dependent upon performance and the singer’s knowledge of an existing set of melodies to which the more important texts can be presented. The musical style is to a significant extent improvisatory and the manner of melodic improvisation is intimately tied to the tone and inflection of the language itself, a feature of the musical sound that can readily be detected in the musical excerpt included on this recording.

Discussion

1. A common feature of the arts of East Asian cultures is the integration of artistic elements into various genres, whether predominantly musical, as in the Thumri, or a more complex amalgam of artistic elements, as in the Cantonese opera. How do these two genres demonstrate the integration of a variety of cultural features? What other artistic genres of India and/or China exhibit similar kinds of artistic integration? What features or aspects of these cultures contribute to this tendency?

Chapter 15

15. Machaut: Messe de Notre Dame, “Ite missa est, Deo gratias”

Guillaume de Machaut exemplifies the cultural transformation that is characteristic of the fourteenth century. As the greatest composer of the era, his achievements in the realms of both sacred and secular music are virtually unprecedented. The Ars nova represents a musical style rich in expressive advancement that parallels the kinds of detail and expression characteristic of fourteenth-century painting, sculpture, and literature. Machaut’s style combines the trouveres’ refined poetic expression with advanced and sophisticated polyphonic musical technique.

Unlike the Notre Dame organum composers, Machaut was equally comfortable composing in either a sacred or secular setting. He correspondingly used the techniques he employed in his secular songs and motets, although in a somewhat restrained manner, as the means for creating his landmark polyphonic setting of the Mass ordinary. Four of the six movements, including the “Ite missa est” are set in “motet style” with only the single liturgical text. Most apparent in this excerpt is the diversity of rhythmic style between the parts, including the use of syncopation and the use of instruments, either doubling or exclusively performing the lower parts of this four-voice setting.

16. Anonymous: “Sumer is icumen in”

This polyphonic song “Spring has arrived” is one of the earliest preserved examples of its kind. Technically referred to as a “rota,” this type of piece is sung with several voices singing the same notated melody entering successively after the preceding singer has reached a designated point in the music. The style of the rota is related to the thirteenth-century motet with its lowest voice responsible for a distinct and separate melody, in this case repeating in the manner of the bass line familiar to baroque music in works such as Pachelbel’s Canon in D. It is worth noting that this work exists with two texts, one secular, with Middle English text, heard in the recording here, the other with a sacred Latin text related to the Passion, possibly added later. The seasonal and symbolic correlation between spring and Easter is interesting for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the connection between pagan and Christian imagery in late-Gothic arts.

Discussion

1. Both Machaut’s Mass and the English round demonstrate a vibrancy of musical style that parallels developments in late-medieval European culture. Consider what elements of this cultural period are reflected in the vernal character of Sumer is icumen in and the rich textures of Machaut’s ars nova style Mass setting.

2. How do the features of ars nova musical style—greater rhythmic variety, new meters, and increased expressive possibility—relate to changes in artistic styles in the fourteenth century?

Chapter 17

17. Guillaume Dufay: Missa L’homme armé

The music of the Burgundian composer Guillaume Dufay forms a kind of bridge between the rhythmically free and texturally complex style of the late fourteenth century, typified by the music of Machaut (Excerpt 15), and the sonorous and more homogeneous style of the High Renaissance. Like Machaut, Dufay was equally comfortable composing works for the court or the church. By his time, the practice of composing new sacred works built upon pre-existing sacred chant melodies (cantus firmus) had been long established (see organum examples 9

and 10). New to the fifteenth century, and perhaps reflective of the more secularist mood of the age, was the use of non-liturgical melodies as the source of the cantus firmus. Dufay’s Missa L’homme armé is among the earliest polyphonic Mass settings to use this song as its source.

Listening to the Kyrie, we hear a kind of uniformity of melodic motion and harmonic balance characteristic of Renaissance polyphony. The thrice-repeated text, “Kyrie eleison,” is clearly articulated by the musical phrases with easily detectable cadences separating each statement. Clarity and balance, aesthetically Classical qualities, allow us to follow with relative ease the artful interplay of the vocal lines that beseech divine Christian mercy, subconsciously underpinned by a French folksong.

Discussion

1. How do the features of a work such as Dufay’s mass exhibit characteristics consistent with the apparently opposing cultural forces present in Renaissance society?

2. How can we compare Dufay’s achievements and the underlying symbolism of his music with the works of other important fifteenth-century artists such as Donatello, Brunelleschi, or Alberti?

18. Roland de Lassus: “Matona, mia cara”

Lassus’s “Matona, mia cara” is technically not a madrigal, but a representative of a related genre known as “villanesca” or peasant song. Though artful in its musical style and formal structure, typical of sixteenth-century madrigals, Lassus’s Matona has certain rustic qualities that associated it more closely with the villanesca. The poem even makes the distinction between the high-brow lyric of Petrarch, whose poetry is the basis for many Italian madrigals, and the humble character, the author of this text (But though my words should fail me,…E’en Petrarch could not help me…). Further, the Italian of the poem is not in the literate style of Petrarchan texts, but a kind of urban slang of mixed regional origins expressing the interplay of social order typical of some Italian urban regions, especially Naples.

19. Thomas Morley: Madrigal – “My bonnie lass she smileth”

The madrigal is the most important musical genre in European music in the last half of the sixteenth century. The genre first developed in Italy as a type of secular polyphonic song that quickly attracted the most accomplished composers using some of the best poetic examples of the period. From Italy, the popularity of the madrigal spread to various parts of Western Europe, especially England, where Italian specimens were published in original, as well as reworked and translated, versions. Among the most characteristic features of the Renaissance madrigal is the desire on the part of the composer to express as closely as possible the emotional and descriptive content of the text in musical terms, sometimes referred to as word painting or “madrigalism.”

Thomas Morley was perhaps the most important figure in the development of the English madrigal. He contributed to the popularizing of the genre through his activities as collector, translator, composer, and publisher of madrigals in late sixteenth-century London. Morley’s madrigals in particular, and the English madrigal in general, often tend toward a lighter mood than is typical of their Italian counterparts, and this is the case with “My bonnie lass she smileth.” Characteristic of the genre in general, this madrigal deploys a variety of compositional techniques and musical textures in the service of its text. Two main musical ideas are used in alternation for the four couplets of this eight-line text. Each couplet ends with the familiar syllables fa-la-la, here set in freely polyphonic style contrasting the generally homophonic setting of each couplet. The vocal parts cover a wide pitch range and exhibit considerable rhythmic complexity in the textual refrain, demanding, as was the trend in madrigal writing,

ever higher degrees of musicianship.

Discussion

1. The prominence of courtly life and the more secularized character of European culture are both related to the importance of secular music during this period. How do these songs expose the secularization of this culture?

2. What are the differences between these two examples in terms of both text and musical style? Which seems more courtly and why? What aspects of life at an aristocratic court would contribute to the development of this type of musical style?

3. How does this music relate to other contemporary forms of artistic expression?

20. Josquin des Prez: “Tulerunt Dominum meum”

The music of Josquin des Prez is considered to represent some of the finest examples of High Renaissance style. He, like so many of the greatest composers since the fourteenth century, composed equally fluently in the sacred and secular genres popular during his time. The motet, a form whose character in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was virtually defined by Josquin’s contributions to the genre, had returned to its original sacred function after enjoying huge success as a secular genre through the late Middle Ages. Sacred motets of Josquin’s era were often incorporated into the performance of the Mass liturgy.

In style, the motet was the sacred equivalent of the madrigal in that composers employed a high level of artistic sophistication in the service of a text. Josquin in particular is noted for the use of a wide range of contrapuntal techniques, especially various types of imitative textures and the incorporation of both chant and secular cantus firmus melodies as the basis for sacred motets. “Tulerunt Dominum meum” is an eight-voice setting of a New Testament text from the book of John. This motet has a kind of architectural quality to it in its use of certain basic rhythms and intervals heard in the opening phrase, which is then imitated throughout the choir.

Discussion

1. As the humanistic aesthetics of classical culture swept through Western Europe in the fifteenth century, the arts articulate and express the meaning of those ideas for each artistic medium. How is music influenced by these aesthetics where no direct model from classical civilization can be studied and emulated?

2. What aspects of this motet seem most sympathetic to the humanistic doctrine of the Renaissance? Consider elements such as structure or form, e.g. how the text is related to the use of techniques that organize the music in time (points of imitation); how the opening phrase is the basis for the closing textual section; or the effect occurring on the word Alleluia.

Chapter 18

21. Music of Africa, Senegal—Traditional: “Greetings from Podor”

22. Music of Africa, Angola—Traditional: “Gangele Song”

23. Native American Music—Traditional: “Navajo Night Chant”

The musical cultures of Africa are exceptionally diverse, betraying geographical and political boundaries. Within the more rural regions, folk traditions hold particular importance. In northern and western sub-Saharan Africa, in places such as Senegal, the role of musician in many tribal groups was dominated by a musician caste, called “griot.” A wide variety of instruments are also common throughout the continent and the types of instruments used, frequently including a variety of drums, differ from region to region even within the borders of modern African nation-states.

The tradition in central Africa is somewhat different from West Africa. In Angola and the surrounding tribal territories, the griot and its associated social caste is not as prevalent. Angolan musical styles, varying according to region and linguistic groups, are also distinct from their northern counterparts. Though still dominated by vocal chanting and percussion accompaniment, some types of Angolan chanting are not purely monophonic, but have developed a type of homophonic, or chordal, polyphony.

Podor is the northernmost city in Senegal near the border of Mauritania on the Senegal River. The excerpt exemplifies a type of group performance suggestive of the tribal character of this cultural region. The sound is dominated by vocal chanting led by a solo voice or voices and accompanied by repetitive group chanting in response. Group drumming also underscores the rhythmic chants with a complex blend of rhythms created by the superposition of varying patterns. The communal nature of the performance, most likely accompanied by group dancing, expresses a more traditional musical character, where the performance is the sum total of many parts contributed by a significant portion of the community itself.

Like many other traditional cultures, the Navajo people incorporate music into their lives as a matter of course and for special occasions. Also like the African tribal examples above, the Navajo use music as a component in a complex of ritualized activities including, dance, visual arts, and costumery. The ritual nature of these activities connects the various forms of artistic expression to the culturally shared sense of spirituality. Like the Senegalese, the Navajo people have designated leaders for these rituals: the shaman, or medicine man. For the Navajo people, the rituals often focus around the need for individual healing. The musical chanting and percussive beating become symbolic of the restoration of a type of harmony that illness and disease have disturbed.

Discussion

1. Why is music in traditional and tribal cultures more communal than that of European culture?

2. What characteristics of African and Native American culture are influential in determining this communal character?

3. Why are the names of musicians and composers not known to the people of these traditional cultures?

4. How do tribal musical performances/rituals relate to musical performances in contemporary popular culture? Consider similarities and differences.

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