Josquin des Prez

This dissertation investigates harmonic properties of Italian secular songs with Baroque guitar accompaniment in alfabeto tablature, which was a system of letters and other symbols that represented a chord shape to be strummed using all five courses. All of the resulting chords form major or minor triads. These letters were printed in songbooks for guitarists to accompany secular songs. This triadic accompaniment has significant implications for understanding harmonic practices during the seventeenth century.

The purpose of this dissertation is to use computational methods to better understand the harmonic features of the alfabeto song repertoire, which can perhaps be a window through which we can understand the broader harmonic practices of secular genres in the early seventeenth century. Machine learning algorithms are employed to understand the modal framework and harmonic function of the alfabeto corpus. K-means clustering is used to determine how many modes are present within the corpus, building upon the recent work of Albrecht and Huron. To understand the harmonic function within the alfabeto corpus, hidden Markov models analyze the number of functions and which chords belong to each of those functions using a similar methodology to Quinn and White.

The analyses also compare the alfabeto corpus to corpora of other genres and eras such as J.S. Bach, Palestrina, and Franco-Flemish composers. The alfabeto corpus is also compared with itself to better understand its style and any changes over time. This dissertation provides a fresh look at harmonic practice in the seventeenth century by using statistical models that are informed by historical performance practice.

Abstract

Within the theoretical framework of Roland Barthes’s writings on myth and ideology, this essay seeks to expose the historical legitimation project through which the mythmaking, universalizing rhetoric of musical genius that has long surrounded the figure of Ludwig van Beethoven came to infiltrate scholarship on Josquin des Prez, culminating in his late twentieth-century apotheosis. Contextualizing the composer’s reception history with respect to the debates between Joseph Kerman and Edward Lowinsky in 1965 and especially the 1971 Josquin Festival-Conference, the author suggests that the ideological refashioning of Josquin in the image of Beethoven has simultaneously shaped and derailed the intellectual trajectory of early music scholarship in the past thirty years. By privileging a discourse of musical genius in the service of which, among other concerns, the canon of works attributed to the composer is being decimated beyond historical recognition, the richness and complexity of the musical culture of which he was a vital part risks being overshadowed and obfuscated by the disproportionate amount of attention invested in his singular accomplishments. The essay advocates a resolute historicization of sixteenth-century discourses of creative endowment, a critical reassessment of the role of authentication scholarship in Josquin studies, and a renewed sensitivity to the imbrication of mythologies of musical genius in music historiographies of both the past and the present.

The language of the Bible – even its poetry like the psalms – was often scorned by the erudite in antiquity as well as in the Renaissance. The simple, humble style of biblical texts alienated even Christian readers like Jerome and Augustine in their youth. But in the very manifesto of all modern thought about the Sublime, in the first-century treatise On the Sublime (Perí hýpsous), biblical style is quoted as an exemplar of the Sublime exactly because it is so simple. This was a position also taken by Augustine in his later writings: The language of the Bible has no need for a lofty style; its eloquence comes from within, from divine inspiration. Though it is impossible to say if Josquin was acquainted with this discussion (which kept raging on during his lifetime), it is tempting to interpret his psalm-settings as a musical reflection of sublime simplicity. The declamatory way Josquin treats the text might seem humble and even coarse at first glance. But it is also of powerful expressivity – exactly mirroring the way Augustine (and other theologians) thought about the language of the Bible. This is argued by discussing Domine, ne in furore ... quoniam (NJE 16.6) and Miserere mei, Deus (NJE 18.3) from a style-analytical point of view.

The repertoire of Milanese Motetti missales has often aroused interest among scholars from an historical point of view, while there are surprisingly few analytical investigations concerning this corpus. The case of Franchino Gaffurio (1451-1522), surely one of the most prominent figures of the Milanese scene, is particularly striking: paradoxically, the importance of his contributions as a theorist and author of treatises has almost completely obscured his role as a composer. This article presents a first attempt to delineate Gaffurio’s motet style. Some of his motets in Librone 1 of the Veneranda Fabbrica are considered, examining the texts he choose to set, and giving special attention to the formal solutions he adopted, as well as to issues of intertextuality pointing both inside and outside his oeuvre (Ockeghem, Josquin). A number of questions concerning both the Gattungsgeschichte of the motet and the personal style of the first native Italian composer of the Renaissance are pondered.

Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 62 (2012), pp. 3-27.
    Josquin's Missa Ad fugam has long been ignored, maligned, and most recently declared spurious in favor of bestowing its title on the Sine nomine mass, in line with the title Antico published in 1516.  However, a review of the Ad fugam mass as transmitted in VatS 49 shows its canonic procedures are entirely typical of the composer,  and explored in his earliest canonic chansons.  Josquin's concentration on exact canon at the 5th probably influenced De Orto in his canonic mass.  A new canonic relationship is discovered in De Orto's Agnus dei II section, and a direct relationship found between Josquin's Ad fugam and L'ami baudechon masses.  Numerous aspects of the Ad fugam mass as transmitted in VatS 49 suggest that Petrucci's later attribution is justifiable on so many grounds that it should not be suppressed.

Despite the frequently critiqued prolixity in much of his oeuvre, Alexander Agricola (1445/46-1506) crafted music comprehensible enough to elicit great praise from numerous contemporaries. What is then inherently praiseworthy in this abstruse music? In his Salve Regina I, Agricola crafts a musical argument for his garrulity, the thesis of which aims to clarify and justify the virtue of his style. While Agricola employed cantus firmus conventions to provide formal scaffolding, he also imbues discursiveness with comprehensibility through rhetorical techniques, such as inflection of cadence, clearness of imitation, phraseology of text, and varied implementation of cantus firmus. Articulating the micro-structure of his music, these components are then couched in the discourse of the classical argument: an introduction, confirmation, and refutation of a thesis. In Agricola’s Salve Regina I, motet becomes a medium for the exhibition and logical justification of his musical thesis of abstract polystylism.

The motet Laudate Dominum de caelis, copied in Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms. Cappella Sistina 42 c. 1509-12, is distinctive in Brumel's output, bearing many of the hallmarks of the so-called 'Milanese' style. This article addresses its sources, style, and technical construction in the context of some of Brumel's other motets and of Joshua Rifkin's recent research on the French-court motet around 1500, as exemplified by the motets of Josquin and Mouton. Analyses of local contrapuntal structures and of the motet's overall form offer a view of Brumel's working methods. These considerations lead to a picture of the motet as a product of Brumel's engagement with a French-court motet repertory in the first decade of the sixteenth century.

The goal of this work was the study of structural aspects in polyphonic pieces by Adrian Willaert, aiming to identify a possible relationship between his vocal and instrumental works, namely the moteto and ricercare genres. Among the various structural aspects that served as a basis for comparison, cadence was chosen as a measurable and predominant common element, by patterns of occurrence and typology associated with a relatively well-established classification by Bernhard Meier. Some unusual cadential species were identified in Willaert’s pieces, specially the melodic clausula cantizans fuggita, which however could not be attributed to the composer without an investigation on its possible occurrence in works by influential composers such as Josquin. This observation implied in the study of primary sources previous to Willaert, in order to identify, on the one hand, aspects that corroborated the development of the instrumental music from vocal models during the fifteenth- and sixteenth-centuries and, on the other hand, possible influences related to the use of these unusual cadential species. An expanded cadential plan model was developed as the pieces were being analyzed, including a method of motivic analysis that prompted the scope examination of this converging analytical method in a piece by Clemens non Papa, a contemporary but unrelated composer to Willaert’s circle. As a consequence of this research, it was possible to identify a cadential structure nominated ‘staggered cadence’ as an ultimate means of potential articulation, besides some structural groupings in coupling with the basic cadential pattern cantizans-tenorizans, here nominated as ‘C/T-cadence’.

The Missa Mater patris, first transmitted in Petrucci's third book of Josquin masses (1514), has been treated suspiciously by recent scholarship. Still, Jeremy Noble's somewhat resignative judgment from 1980's New Grove holds true: "Mater Patris is an exceptional work – exceptional enough to make Josquin’s authorship questionable, but also enough to make it very difficult to suggest anyone else as its composer." This paper attempts to show 1) that the seemingly simple structure of the work discloses considerable compositional and symbolic subtlety, and 2) that it may have been composed (more probably by Josquin than by someone else) in order to commemorate Brumel's death, likely to have happened in 1512 or 1513.

This study situates theories of movable counterpoint by the Russian composer and theorist Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856–1915) against current scholarship on Renaissance music. Analytical approaches that draw upon Taneyev’s theories can lead to rich insights into the inner workings of Renaissance counterpoint, most especially processes that have hitherto escaped attention. Through reference to specific repertoire examples discussed in recent scholarship, the present study demonstrates how Taneyev’s methodology and terminology can provide a basis for systematic identification of key procedures prevalent in Renaissance music. This study also considers how knowledge of Taneyev’s work can inform an approach that points to new possibilities for analyzing contrapuntal processes that operate across fifteenth- and sixteenth-century music.

El 26 de agosto de 1492 se celebró la coronación de Rodrigo de Borja como el papa Alejandro VI. Para la ceremonia, Marbriano de Orto compuso el motete Salve Regis Mater Sanctissima / Hic est sacerdos, que se conserva copiado – aunque anónimo – dos veces en un mismo manuscrito en el Vaticano. Uno de los principales compositores de la capilla papal, compañero en ella de Josquin Desprez, Marbriano de Orto, fue testigo de la llegada del papa español, y de la oleada de nuevos músicos de tierras hispanas que por primera vez conformarían una auténtica “nación española” entre los cantores papales, algo que no había sucedido en el pontificado anterior de Alonso de Borja (Calixto III). Con esta comunicación presentamos un estudio del citado motete para la coronación de Alejandro VI, en relación con la música y los compositores de la capilla papal del momento, se profundiza en la autoría de la pieza, y se reflexiona sobre los cambios estilísticos que diferenciarán el estilo de Orto o de Josquin del de las figuras españolas que tanto peso tendrán en los años posteriores al papado de Alejandro VI.
On August 26, 1492, the coronation of Rodrigo de Borja as Pope Alejandro VI was celebrated. For the ceremony, Marbriano de Orto composed the motet Salve Regis Mater Sanctissima / Hic est sacerdos, which is preserved copied - although anonymously - twice in the same manuscript in the Vatican. One of the main composers of the papal chapel, and companion there of Josquin Desprez, Marbriano de Orto, witnessed the arrival of the Spanish pope, and the wave of new musicians from Hispanic lands that for the first time would form an authentic "Spanish nation" among the papal cantors, something that had not happened in the previous pontificate of Alonso de Borja (Calixto III). This paper presents a study of the aforementioned motet for the coronation of Alexander VI, the relationship with music and composers of the papal chapel at the time, deepens the authorship of the piece, and reflects on the stylistic changes that will differentiate the style of Orto or Josquin from the Spanish musicians who had such notorious weight in the years after the papacy of Alexander VI.

To accompany premiere recording of the ?Josquin mass on Quem dicunt homines. Brief review & summary of the literature for popular audience. [CD title "The Spirit like a Dove"]

Available on Spotify, YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k94-9Uq_PYN9qZQ5QvagabVBqkAlq05e4) etc

This paper presents a corpus study that identifies the number of statistically distinct modes used in sacred and secular genres from 1400--1750. Corpora used for the study include Masses, motets, and secular songs from the Franco-Flemish School, works by Palestrina, secular Italian songs with alfabeto guitar tablature from the early seventeenth century, and works by J.S. Bach. K-means clustering of key profiles are used to determine the number of distinguishable modes in each corpus. The results of this study show that the number of modes present in a corpus depends not only on date of publication but also on the genre of a composition. Secular genres are more likely to cluster into two modes while sacred genres cluster into several modes. This paper also explores the differences between systems of notation and musical practice and suggests other ways in which machine learning techniques can be in dialogue with the study of harmonic practice in early music.

Although the city of Úbeda (Jaén, Spain) never had a duke or a count, it did have a figure of enormous political power and influence in Francisco de los Cobos y Molina (c.1477-1547). Born in Úbeda, in 1516 Cobos became secretary to the Emperor Charles V and took responsibility for the imperial finances, positions which made him into one of the most powerful people in Spain of that period despite his birth into the gentility in a small town far from court. This study aims to supplement the small amount of information around Cobos’ musical patronage in his home town through analysis of the musico-liturgical regulations and musical repertories related to the Sacra Capilla [Holy Chapel] of El Salvador, founded by Cobos as chapel-burial place.

This paper presents a corpus study that identifies the number of statistically distinct modes used in sacred and secular genres from 1400–1750. Corpora used for the study include Masses, motets, and secular songs from the Franco-Flemish School, works by Palestrina, secular Italian songs with alfabeto guitar tablature from the early seventeenth century, and works by J.S. Bach. A k-means cluster analyses of key profiles determine the number of distinguishable modes in each corpus. The results of this study show that the number of modes present in a corpus depend not only on date of publication but also on the genre of a composition.. . .

This essay is a detailed analysis of the four-voice motet “De Profundis.” This work, formerly attributed to Josquin des Prez, but now believed to be composed by Nicolas Champion, is a setting of the opening verses of Psalm 130. The analysis will first consider the motet’s formal design, its modal structure, and its cadential points. We will then examine the motet’s contrapuntal devices, and its reuse of motivic material. Finally, we will explore its pitch content, both at the surface and at deeper levels of structure. To this end, I have developed a form of reductive analysis based upon (primarily) stepwise connections between perfect vertical intervals (PVIs), intervals that have significance for modal definition in Renaissance style.

This document contains the opening pages of chapter 4 of my doctoral thesis, "System, Gesture, Rhetoric: Contexts for Rethinking Tintinnabuli in the Music of Arvo Pärt, 1960-1990."

Please contact me at busker221@gmail.com if you are interested in reading more!

15th- and 16th-century mensural notation raises many debates and questions among musicologists and modern performers. The contradictory teachings found in the vast body of theory from the Renaissance can be addressed through a better understanding of the treaties’ roles as well as the highlighting of the mechanisms that turn a descriptive system in a set of prescriptive and self-referential rules disconnected from musical practice: the cult of authority, a wish for symmetry and a taste for completeness. Meanwhile, the exploration of the links between tactus and counterpoint makes it possible to define the active time window in which the management of dissonances becomes a dynamic process. The sliding cursor where the Notenbild is scrolled allows for an internal examination of the music that clarifies most of the ambiguities regarding choice of tempo while avoiding the pitfalls of theoretical contradictions.

French abstract :
La notation mensuraliste des XVe et XVIe siècles suscite débats et interrogations parmi les musicologues et les interprètes modernes. Face aux enseignements contradictoires du vaste corpus théorique de la Renaissance, il convient de mieux saisir le rôle de ces traités, mais également de mettre en évidence les mécanismes qui transforment un système descriptif en un ensemble de règles prescriptives auto-référentes déconnectées de la pratique musicale : culte de l’autorité, volonté de symétrie et goût pour la complétude. En parallèle, l’exploration des liens entre tactus et contrepoint permet de qualifier la fenêtre temporelle active à l’intérieur de laquelle la gestion des dissonances devient un processus dynamique. Ce curseur dans lequel défile le Notenbild rend possible un examen interne de la musique qui lève la plupart des ambiguïtés relatives au choix du tempo, tout en évitant l’écueil des contradictions théoriques.

As any scribe, copyist, or editor of any historical time would admit, it is virtually impossible to transcribe a large body of someone else's work without making any errors at all. In the process of compiling my recently completed edition of the works of Renaissance Master Pierre de la Rue, I worked closely with every known piece by the composer and came across quite a few errors, not only in relatively contemporary 16th century sources, but also in more modern editions, whether traditionally published or transmitted via online resources. This paper details these errors and my proposed corrections.

Given the manner in which recordings are distributed these days, liner notes are rarely seen.  This CD recording contains information in the notes that does not appear elsewhere, and may be pertinent to performers and scholars of music of this period.

Die Verhandlungen auf dem Freiburger Reichstag im Sommer 1498 drehten sich nicht nur um den Gemeinen Pfennig, einer allgemeinen Steuer für das Reich 1 , sondern auch um die europäischen Verwicklungen, in die Kaiser Maximilian I. in jenen Jahren verstrickt war. So erklärte er am 26. Juni auf dem Reichstag, daß er gegen Frankreich und gegen seinen neuen König Ludwig XII. "zum Krieg entschlossen" sei 2. In dieser Auseinandersetzung ging es neben dem Herzogtum Burgund um Nord-Italien, vor allem um das Herzogtum Mailand. Während all dieser Diskussionen um innen-und außenpolitische Vorgänge unterzeichnete Maximilian am 20. Juli 1498 in Freiburg ein Dokument, das im allgemeinen als "Gründungsurkunde der kaiserlichen Hofmusikkapelle" 3 bezeichnet wird. So fern diese organisatorische Maßnahme von allen politischen Verwicklungen zu liegen scheint, paßt sie doch durchaus in den allgemeinen politischen Zusammenhang. Maximilian selbst verweist im Text dieser Urkunde darauf, daß er seinem Kapellmeister Georg Slatkonia verordnet habe, "auf Brabantisch zu discantieren" 4. Er soll also nach Art der Flamen oder Niederländer 5 , die schon seit längerem die führenden Komponisten Europas stellten, mehrstimmig im kunstvollen kontrapunktischen Satz singen lassen. Nun ist in diesem Dokument sicher keine Gründungsurkunde im engeren Sinne zu sehen, gab es doch seit langem Hofkapellen in Wien, Augsburg und Innsbruck. Es handelte sich vielmehr um eine Neuorganisation, durch die eine Hofkapelle eingerichtet wurde, die zwar dem Wiener Hof zugewiesen wurde, den Kaiser aber vor allem auf seinen vielen Reisen zu begleiten hatte. Die Innsbrucker Hofkapelle, die er 1490 von seinem Onkel Sigismund in Tirol übernommen hatte, war zunächst eine "rein kirchlich-liturgische Körperschaft, die ausschließlich dem Gottesdienst zu dienen hat" 6. Die neue Kapelle dagegen galt von Anfang an als ein fester Bestandteil politischer