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Silent Music Revisited: A Fresh Approach to Music and Architecture in Dufays

Nuper rosarum flores

By Kaitlyn Wagner

Ever since Charles Warren wrote his infamous paper claiming that the numeric

ratios present in Guillaume Dufays isorhythmic motet Nuper rosarum flores/Terribilis est,1

which was written for the dedication of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral on March 26th,

1436, were the same ratios Brunelleschi utilized in the construction of the famous dome of

said cathedral,2 both architectural historians and musicologists alike continue to debate

whether or not music and architecture are as interwoven as Warren claims. The basis of

Warrens thesis is the ratio 6:4:2:3, which is reached by taking the total number and

durations of breves for each of the four sections of the motet [168, 112, 56, and 84,

respectively; each section has a different mensuration sign: perfect time/major prolation;

imperfect time/minor prolation; imperfect time/major prolation; perfect time/minor

prolation, respectively] and dividing it by 28 [the number of breves in each section before

their durations are altered by the differing mensuration signs].3 According to Warren, this

is the same ratio present in the number and proportions of the braccia in Brunelleschis

dome.4 In 1993-94, Dufay scholar Craig Wright deconstructed Warrens architectural

analysis, and claimed it to be so incorrect that it does violence to the architecture of the

1 Guillelmi Dufay, Opera omnia, ed. Heinrich Bessler (Rome: American Institute of Musicology, 1966),

1:70- 75.

2 Charles W. Warren, Brunelleschis Dome and Dufays Motet, The Musical Quarterly 59, No. 1

(January, 1973): 94-97.

3 Warren, Brunelleschis Dome, 96-97.

4 Warren, Brunelleschis Dome, 97-102

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church. 5 Wright further claimed that the specific ratio of 6:4:2:3 is a transcription of the

proportions not of Brunelleschis Dome, but of the Temple of Solomon as described in the

King James Bible.6 Later, Marvin Trachtenburg criticized Wrights total dismissal of the

architectural ratios of the dome and their relation to Dufays motet and claimed that all

three elements are interrelated: the Cathedralto Wrights textual model, as well as

retroactively to the motet, which itself refers to both text andimage. 7 Trachtenburg also

remarks that if one reevaluates the building by reading its drawing towards the East, the

6:4:2:3 ratio prevails; however, the 2 and the 3 are switched in accordance to the order of

the ratio present in the Temple of Solomon, making it 6:4:3:2.8 As one can discern, the focus

thus far on the relationship between the motet and the cathedral has been numerological or

allegorical; however, one must also consider (as most composers do) the acoustical space of

the building and how it ties into the performance of a work. Many of the textures of Nuper

rosarum flores can be explained as an attempt by Dufay to reign in the excessive

reverberation time present in the newly completed cathedral, specifically in the area of the

nave (the long hall part of the building) and the central octagonal chamber over which sits

the famous dome. Evidence for this claim lies in primary sources from the period, the

unique textures of the motet itself, medieval performance practice, and chronological

evidence that suggests Dufays involvement with the newly completed cathedral during the

time of the motets composition.

5 Craig Wright, Dufays Nuper rosarum flores, King Solomons Temple, and the Veneration of the

Virgin. Journal of the American Musicological Society 47, No. 3 (Autumn, 1994): 401.

6 Wright, Dufays Nuper rosarum flores, King Solomons Temple, 406-407.

7 Marvin Trachtenburg, Architecture and Music Reunited: A New Reading of Dufays Nuper Rosarum

Flores and the Cathedral of Florence, Renaissance Quarterly 54, No. 3 (Autumn 2001): 742.

8 Trachtenburg, Architecture and Music Reunited, 749-755.

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Primary source documents of the dedication ceremony by cleric Giannozzo Manetti

describe the musical performance of that day. In his account, Manetti claims that where the

usual pauses of the music occurred, there always remained such an agreeable and

melodious resonance and that after the cessation of the most suave symphonies, the

music appeared to regain strengthbecause of these wonderful sounds [which continued

to resound]. 9 The phenomenon described by Manetti is that of the domes effect on the

reflection of sound: sound bounces back and forth many times off of the square braccia of

the dome before reaching the stone floor, where it continues to reflect off of the adjacent

walls.10 Because of this excessive reverberation, (valued in Medieval times, and loathed

today) if Dufay had written a more densely written work, it would have been essentially

unintelligible. This is why the texture of Nuper rosarum flores is so separate in its vocal

range: the two upper parts (Triplum and Motetus, respectively) are rather reserved and

quite high in the register, and the Tenor I and II parts dont reach below a d. In his original

paper, Warren claims that Dufay, by having the tenor parts singing the same cantus firmus

a perfect fifth apart does so for the aesthetic effect of the amplification of sonority,

claiming it to be analogous to Brunelleschis desire to raise the cupola of the dome to a

more magnificent and swelling form.11 Further, like other music of the late Medieval/early

Renaissance period, harmonies are beginning to form more vertical consonances (unlike the

earlier, more horizontal writing styles of Machaut and his contemporaries) and the

9 G. Manetti, Praefatiode secularibus et pontificalibus pompis in consecration basilicae

florentianeOratio, Archivio di filosofia, 11/3 (1969); excerpt in G. de Van, Dufay, Opera Omnia v. 1-2 (Rome,

1948).

10 Dorthea Baumann and Barbara Haggh, Musical Acoustics in the Middle Ages, Early Music 18, No.

2 (May, 1990): 206.

11 Warren, Brunelleschis Dome, 98.

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cadences are very clear and deliberate. Acoustician Dorothea Baumann claims that if the

ten singers [of the papal chapel choir] (including Dufay himself) sang the work, Dufay still

differentiated between sections producing a small amount of sound and permitting

dissonance (the active duo) and sections producing a greater volume of sound and thus

more reverberation (the full [choir] singing mostly consonances). 12 This was done because

reflections from the other vaults of the cathedral (e.g. if the singers are placed in the nave,

these reflections would come from the octagon and vice versa) are only intrusive if a certain

level of volume occurs. Another point of contention is the manner of performance: according

to Timothy McGee, church singers had to sing loudly when performing polyphony in

churchsimply because of the problem of being heard in such a large space. 13 Since Dufay

scored Nuper rosarum flores so sparsely, he could achieve the necessary level of volume for

the piece to resound within the entirety of the massive cathedral without losing

intelligibility due to the excessive reverberation.

There can be no doubt that Dufay had known about the acoustical properties of the

Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral when he began work on Nuper rosarum flores. Dufay came

to Florence (the new location of the papal chapel) after serving as maistre de chapelle in

Savoy to request new benefices from Pope Eugenius IV in July of 1435,14 long after the

completion of the new nave (1376) and when Brunelleschis dome was nearing completion.

(Construction on the dome began in 1417 and was completed in 1436 in time for the

12 Dorthea Baumann and Barbara Haggh, Musical Acoustics in the Middle Ages, Early Music 18, No.

2 (May, 1990): 208.

13 Timothy McGee, Performance Practice in the Renaissance in The Cambridge History of Musical

Performance ed. Colin Lawson and Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012): 321.

14 Alejandro Enrique Planchart, "Du Fay, Guillaume," Grove Music Online. Oxford Music

Online, Oxford University Press, accessed October 30, 2014

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dedication.)15 Mass and other church services were already being held in the newly

constructed nave,16 and for a composer commissioned to write a piece commemorating a

certain space, the opportunity to experience the space in question would be invaluable. In

addition, during the time period between his arrival in Florence in 1435 and the dedication

of the cathedral in March of 1436, Dufay had no official duties outside of writing Nuper

rosarum flores,17 which makes it more and more likely that he was experiencing life and

culture in Florence and devoting most of his time to writing music and studying canonical

law. Warren hypothesizes that Dufay may have met with Brunelleschi himself, since they

were both in Florence during the same period, and both were renowned within their field.18

This potential collaboration only adds more evidence that Dufay was intimately involved

with the changing landscape of the cathedral, including its changing acoustical properties

during each phase of its construction, and these properties may very well have been applied

to the composition of Nuper rosarum flores. It is important to note that Dufay was in no

way isolated from his contemporaries. Shortly before his stay in Florence, Dufay and his

then-patron (the Duke of Savoy) attended the wedding of the Dukes son, at which the

Duchess of Burgundy arrived with the famed artists of the Burgundian court: Binchois and

the poet Martin Le Franc (the latter of which commemorated this meeting in a poem: Les

Champions des dames.)19 It is also important to note that Dufay was one of the pioneers of

the emerging International style (that is, the blending of differing national styles into one).

15 Baumann, Musical Acoustics in the Middle Ages, 202.

16 Baumann, Musical Acoustics in the Middle Ages, 202.

17 Planchart, Dufay, Guillaume, accessed November 30, 2014

18 Warren, Brunelleschis Dome, 104.

19 Craig Wright, Dufay at Cambrai: Discoveries and Revisions, Journal of the American Musicological

Society 28, No. 2 (Summer 1975): 179-180.

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He held positions at the Burgundian court, Savoy, Cambrai, and Florence, so his constantly

changing national landscape and the music of his varied colleagues had dramatic effect on

his compositional process. 20 Included in these changes of scenery, were the varied acoustic

environments of the different cathedrals in which Dufay carried out his performances.

In conclusion: the spacing of the voices, the use of parallel fifths in the tenors, the

heavy use of vertical, rather than horizontal harmonic structures, and the clarity of the

cadences in Nuper rosarum flores are likely a compositional response by Guillaume Dufay

to the acoustical space of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral, including its dome by

Brunelleschi. The disparity between voices preserves intelligibility of the parts in the

excessive reverberation of the cathedral; the use of parallel fifths in the lower parts serves

as amplification without having the singers increase their volume (again, to preserve the

intelligibility of the voices); and the use of vertical harmonies and clarity of the cadences

makes harmonic change more noticeable despite the blurring of the pitches caused by

excessive reverberation. The evidence for Dufays linking of the acoustical space with the

conception of the music lies in the fact that he was present and active in Florence during

the cathedrals final stages of construction, and would have had access to it via the church

services. It is also hypothesized that Dufay had direct contact with Brunelleschi himself,

which only strengthens the connection between the motet and the construction of the

cathedral. Finally, because Dufay was so well-traveled, he must have become familiar with

the acoustic palate of Gothic cathedrals of the time, such as those at Savoy, Cambrai, and

the cathedral of Florence.

Bibliography

20 Planchart, Dufay, Guillaume, accessed November 30, 2014
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Baumann, Dorothea and Barbara Haggh. Musical Acoustics in the Middle Ages. Early
Music 18, No. 2 (May, 1990): 199-210

Bernade, Arthur H. Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics. Dover, 1990.

Clark, Alice V. "Music and Art in the Renaissance, 1 March 1996." Current
Musicology (1996): 165-171

Dufay Guillaume. Opera omnia, ed. Heinrich Bessler (Rome: American Institute of
Musicology, 1966): 1:70- 75.

Hilliard Ensemble. Nuper rosarum flores/Terribilis est, by Guillaume Dufay. In Introitus.

EMI Classics 072435552073. CD. 1994.

Manetti, Gianozzo. Praefatiode secularibus et pontificalibus pompis in consecration

basilicae florentianeOratio, Archivio di filosofia; excerpt in G. de Van, Dufay,
Opera Omnia v. 1-2 (Rome, 1948).

McGee, Timothy. Performance Practice in the Renaissance. In The Cambridge History of

Musical Performance ed. Colin Lawson and Robin Stowell (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2012): 318-334.

Planchart, Alejandro Enrique. "Du Fay, Guillaume." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music
Online. Oxford University Press, accessed October 30, 2014

Trachtenberg, Marvin. Architecture and Music Reunited: A New Reading of Dufays

Nuper Rosarum Flores and the Cathedral of Florence, Renaissance Quarterly 54,
No. 3 (Autumn 2001): 740-775

Warren, Charles W. Brunelleschis Dome and Dufays Motet, The Musical Quarterly 59,
No. 1 (January, 1973): 92-105

Wright, Craig. Dufay at Cambrai: Discoveries and Revisions. Journal of the American
Musicological Society 28, No. 2 (Summer, 1975): 175-229.

Wright, Craig. Dufays Nuper rosarum flores, King Solomons Temple, and the
Veneration of the Virgin. Journal of the American Musicological Society 47, No. 3
(Autumn, 1994): 395-441.