Announcements
- Quiz 1 this week during recitation 4A on content from weeks 1–3.
- First Impressions 2 Assignment due next week.
Listenings & Readings
Lecture 4: More Music from the Renaissance
- Guillaume Dufay, “Kyrie” from the L’homme arme Mass (Kyrie/Mass)
- Josquin Desprès, “Agnus Dei” from the Pange lingua Mass (Agnus Dei/Mass)
- Johannes Ockeghem, “Kyrie” from the Missa prolationum (Kyrie/Mass)
Recitation 4B Listening & Reading (Neff)
Recitation 4B Listening & Reading (Goetjen)
Key Terms
Polyphony
Musical texture in which more than one line of music is sung or played at the same time. Refining this description: In some instances, it may be helpful to use the term “non-imitative polyphony” rather than simply “polyphony.”
Homophony
Musical texture in which more than one line of music is sung or played at the same time; however, the rhythmic notation for all the musical lines is exactly the same or very similar.
In other words, homophony is a subset of polyphony (many parts being sounded simultaneously) but distinguished by the rhythmic patterns used in each part.
Imitative polyphony
Musical texture in which more than one line of music is sung or played at the same time; however, the entrance of each part is staggered at different time intervals, such as in the round “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Composers can also choose to begin a section of a composition in imitative polyphony and then conclude that section with non-imitative polyphony.
Point of imitation
A short passage of imitative polyphony based on a single motive (short musical phrase). This term is used to describe the way Josquin uses motives to construct longer passages as in the “Agnus Dei” from his Pange lingua Mass.
Paraphrase
A compositional technique in which a pre-existing melody is used as the foundation for a new composition. The pre-existing melody can be ornamented (have notes added to it) or changed rhythmically.
A cappella (“In the chapel style”)
Vocal performance without instrumental accompaniment.
