Music 326/526

Netherlands Composers part II

·         Jacob Obrecht (c.1450-1505): a generation younger than Ockeghem, his pupil

·         Considered musically more progressive than Ockeghem: continued imitation pioneering, but varied texture: he inserted sections of chordal writing

·         Strong feeling of harmonic organization (as opposed to linear)

·         Dominant-tonic cadences are strong

·         Example: MM #18 Parce Domine, a motet

·         Three voices; upper two move in faster note values than lowest

·         Imitation is in upper voices

·         Mostly pretty contrapuntal, but brief sections of note-against-note

·         Dissonance is treated very carefully; harshness avoided; harmony is intended to be as expressive as possible

·         This piece was used as an example of newly-acknowledged Aeolean mode.

·         Mode described in treatise called Dodekachordon (“12 strings”, 1547) by Swiss theorist Heinrich Glarean (1488-1563, “Glareanus”)

·         In treatise he gives rationale for expanding modal system from 8 to 12 modes

Josquin Des Prez (c. 1440-1521): Obrecht and Ockeghem were transitional figures between Dufay (whose music now sounds archaic) and Josquin

·         Considered to be the greatest of the Netherlands composers; excelled at every genre of his time: sacred and secular

·         Some traits governing his music/characteristics of his music:

·         Very interested in text setting: reflects the Renaissance cultural concern with search for elegance and eloquence of expression

·         Harmony also becomes richer and more “tonal,” texture is more chordal

·         Melodies becomes more long-breathed, music feels very continuous; this is partly because cadences overlap (“elision”)

·         Imitation is still a technique being explored prominantly

·         Josquin wrote about 100 motets; later motets use various techniques to depict text in addition to homophony: contrasts of rhythm and texture, modal variety, chromaticism, ornamentation

·         Masses:

·         The Venetian printer Petrucci printed 3 volumes of Josquin’s masses in 1502-14; few composers had a whole volume devoted to them, let alone 3 vols.

·         Three categories of process used in masses: cantus firmus, paraphrase, and a couple written around cycles of canons.

·         Cantus Firmus Masses were the biggest group

·         Mix of sacred and secular melodies used; secular sources were chansons: they had clear phrase structures that could be divided up into the various mass movements

·         Metric scheme often also progressive, e.g. first statement of cantus firmus is slowest note values; then faster in simple arithmetic relationship

·         Examples:

·         Missa La sol fa re mi: an earlier work, published by Petrucci in 1502

·         Josquin wrote a motive based on solmisation notes (A G F D E).  Over 200 repetitions of the motive in the mass.

·         Missa Pange lingua: later work, maybe his last mass; published after his death

·         Based on plainchant pange lingua: originally a chant for a special feast

·         Chant is paraphrased for the most part, in fragments which form larger melodies

·         Chansons: he wrote about 50

• Some chansons published in Odhecaton (“100 Songs”), Venice 1501

·         includes songs from about 30 yrs prior to printing; collection demonstrates evolution of chansons

• Mille Regretz (a later chanson), one of his last and very popular even after his death. Contains his favorite techniques:

·         Imitation in single voices or in pairs

·         Full texture with equal voice parts

·         Well-developed sense of harmonic direction