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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2013 23:58:15 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2013 20:03:50 GMT -5
A motet is nothing more than a little word: "mot" word "et"; get it? As Wyclif so rightly wrote, "þei don not here sacrifices bi mekenesse of herte..but wiÞ knackynge of newe song, as orgen or deschant & motetis of holouris."
But more recently Morley, in 1597, had this idea: "A Motet is properlie a song made for the church, either vpon some hymne or Antheme, or such like."
Nevertheless the history of the motet is rooted in the organa of Leoninus's Magnus liber, specifically in their discant sections, in their modernizations by Perotinus, and in the clausulas, which originated as detached discant sections and thereafter developed into a distinct genre of self-contained and independently shaped pieces of music based upon Gregorian melismas. Consistent with the traditions of prosa and prosula, as well as the general concept of the consanguinity of music and poetry, Parisian composers of the early thirteenth century experimented with the addition of newly written texts to the most progressive melismatic polyphony, including the caudas of conductus and the melismas of organum. The motet, ultimately the most successful of such experiments, came into being with the application of a poetic text to the duplum of a clausula. Perotinus and his textual collaborator, Philip the Chancellor, emerge as central figures in this development do they not. Naturally the resulting pieces, essentially "troped discant passages" or "troped clausulas," were called motelli (from the French as already stated), a term that soon gave way to "moteti"; the newly texted line could be called motetus as an alternative to duplum. Evidently the clausulas were a pivotal phenomenon; their use as substitutes for old-fashioned passages in pre-existing organa points to the past, but their adaptation as motets explain in large part their continued cultivation. A good many are not known as motets and were probably not equipped with a text; for several decades the genre had its own intrinsic interest for composers. Yet, on the whole, clausulas with patterned tenors doubtless came to be viewed as potential sources for motets.
Apart from the conductus motets, almost all the motets in the earliest sources are for tenor and duplum only, as are most clausulas. Motet composers initially had to abandon three- or four-voice writing as they came to grips with the problems posed by the genre. To make a motet out of a three-part clausula with overlapping phrases in duplum and triplum was at first simply inconceivable, and in such cases the triplum was therefore dropped.
For several decades the 13th century possessed no system of individual notational symbols with which to express rhythms in music cum littera, such as in the upper voice of a motet. The graphic fixation of durational values had originated in melismatic discant, and the conception of rhythm in polyphony was configurational (think ligatures). Under these circumstances it seems difficult to imagine the composition or rehearsal of an early motet without the aid of a melismatic model. The marginal indications of the beginnings of motetus texts for the clausulas in the St. Victor manuscript may be cited in this connection. Moreover, the only time Johannes de Garlandia cited both words and music of a certain motetus part, he wrote the example in ligature notation sine littera. Thus the early motet repertory was paralleled by that of the clausula for practical (rhythmic and notational) reasons; it is likely that some of the later "source" clausulas never had an independent prior existence, but represent new compositions in the motet genre that are being stored in a rhythmically intelligible manner. Given the processes of writing and re-writing that are the hallmark of the early motet, many clausulas in the vast Florence collection may stand there already as modified on account of their careers as pre-existent sources for motets.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2013 0:09:20 GMT -5
Thank you very much indeed, Sydney, for the explanation above. A 'little word' is what I had initially guessed! What is confusing, at least for me, is how the musical structure of the motet has altered over the long course of its development, although much the same may be said for many other musical compositions, for example, the symphony! Anyway, we shall find out what the Bach dynasty made of the motet tomorrow night at Wigmore Hall! Everyone reading ' The Third' is, as ever, more than welcome to join us!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2013 5:29:25 GMT -5
I did not spot anyone from ' The Third' at Wigmore Hall last night, but I should perhaps report that we found the Bachs' motets very moving indeed. Here is a YouTube video of ' Vox Luminis' explaining early English Royal funeral music, although Bach might still have the edge. Vox LuminisIn addition, in the link below is a hauntingly beautiful twenty-first century motet from James MacMillan's " Strathclyde Motets" series, which I commend to everyone reading ' The Third'!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 2:43:07 GMT -5
Writing in ' The Independent', Michael Church points out that no family has ever rivalled that of the Thuringian Bachs for inherited musical talent: they were all either town pipers, organists, or instrument makers, and they frequently gathered together to sing and play; Johann Sebastian, though the greatest by a mile, was by no means the first significant Bach composer. He was so proud of his antecedents that he compiled his own genealogy, and he possessed a collection of motets by a medley of Bachs. Michael concludes thus: The Independent - Classical review: Vox Luminis/Meunier, Wigmore Hall, London (5 stars out of 5)
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Post by Gerard on Oct 1, 2013 5:18:15 GMT -5
- it was Sebastian’s great good fortune to be orphaned early - Does this mean that normally mothers and fathers are too possessive, and will try to steer and control "their" child's development in a way that is not good for it?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2013 7:55:04 GMT -5
Good afternoon, Gerard! I trust that all is well with you today. If I may nevertheless address your question directly: - it was Sebastian’s great good fortune to be orphaned early - 'Does this mean that normally mothers and fathers are too possessive, and will try to steer and control "their" child's development in a way that is not good for it?' I suspect that Michael meant that it was Johann Sebastian’s great good fortune to be apprenticed to his inspiring elder cousin Johann Christoph, which probably contributed to his developing musical genius. Had his parents not died young, he would perhaps not have had such a good musical education. As for parents, well, Gerard, this be the verse: Poetry Foundation - This Be The Verse - by Philip Larkin
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