Owen Burton

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With reference to at least three specific pieces of music, describe the way in which plainchant (or Gregorian chant) was used in the composition of polyphonic music between 1100- 1600. Polyphony emerged between 1100 and 1600 as a development of musical ideas based on the previous model of plainchant. The essential argument of this essay will be that this development was not a single event, but occurred gradually over the period. We will examine different genres of polyphonic music which emerged, principally the organum, the motet and the mass, and will attempt to show how these forms built on the foundation of plainchant, making it gradually less important as they supplanted it with true polyphony. Beginning with the organum; this was one of the first polyphonic genres to grow out of liturgical plainsong. Indeed, Grove Music Online describes it as a voice being added to a pre-existing chant melody1. From this, we can conclude that organum effectively added to, or elaborated, the well known existing form of plainchant. The history of the organum charts the gradual emergence of increasingly complex polyphony. Consider the Organum Duplem written in the second half of the 12th century by Leonin, a composer of the Notre-Dame school in medieval Paris. As the title suggests it is a work for two voices and on listening, the polyphony is immediately apparent. The lower voice contains the, by then, well established plainsong chant, in this case, Alleluia. But it is the simultaneous presence of a second, upper, part which marks the innovation. This upper part contains the same text but with a strikingly different melodic quality. The plainsong gives the effect of a drone, or pedal, supporting the upper melody which is made complex by the extensive use of melisma. According to John Caldwell, this form of melismatic organum began from around 1100 and he describes it as a new style in which two parts are clearly separated as to pitch2. We could say that this is a genre that has taken a baby-step into the new world of polyphony; by combining sustained plainchant and melismatic movement, there are two independent parts.
1

Fritz Reckow, Oxford Music Online, Grove Music Online, Organum, 1: Etymology, early usage (Oxford John Caldwell, Medieval Music (Hutchinson & Co Ltd, 1978), p. 121

University Press 2007- 2012)

2

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Owen Burton

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The organum provided musicians with amble scope for further development beyond the simple two part model. For example, Perotins Viderunt Omnes of 1198 consists of four voices. The lowest voice is a tenor3, singing the plainchant. Then three upper lines elaborate this plainchant in a similar way to that displayed by pieces such as Organum Duplem, but now in an even more complex polyphonic and contrapuntal fashion. Example 1: Opening of Viderunt Omnes by Perotin.

Again, we see two distinct forms of melody. The plainchant in the lowest voice provides harmonic support to the upper voices which are rhythmically far more complex. The difference between the two parts, more specifically the lack of rhythmic complexity and extensive melisma in the lowest voice, can be interpreted as a reference back to the original plainchant. It is important to bear in mind that this piece exists because of plainchant; new voices have been added with far more elaborate melodic material, but these build upon the plainchant melody foundation and, in my opinion, cannot function without its presence. This point is supported by the incorporation of a section in Viderunt Omnes which consists entirely of plainchant. This occurs immediately after bar 89 in the newly notated score as all four voices conclude the opening section, singing the text, Viderunt Omnes.

Ibid., p. 122

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Owen Burton Example 2: Plainsong chorus section following the sung Viderunt Omnes.

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Organa of this era often followed this practice. According to Albert Seay, such pieces usually begin with a polyphonic movement and are then interrupted by the plainchant areas4. Thus sections of pure liturgical chant co-exist within a polyphonic piece. Seay makes it clear that the polyphonic elements, such as the previously discussed opening, are derived from original solo sections within chant, whilst, the choral parts are to be sung in plainchant as before5. Consequently, the previous liturgical antiphonal structure of plainchant is preserved to some degree in the form of this organum. This alternation between plainchant and polyphony possibly reflects the tensions between the new musical ideas on the one hand and the requirements by religious conservatives that the words of the liturgy remain clear on the other. Traditionally, there was a strong desire to continue the sense of importance in the communication of Christian texts; however, amidst such extensive melodic treatment in the opening polyphonic section, the clarity of the tenor plainsong part is reduced significantly. Perhaps the plainchant intervals represent a compromise between those developing the new music and those of a more traditional view? Developments in the organum led to the realisation of the motet, usually a vocal setting for two to four voices. Plainchant continued to play a role in the development of the early motet. Indeed, according to Edgar H. Sparkes, settings of the plainchant continue to be written6

4 5

Albert Seay, Music in the Medieval World ( Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1965), p. 100 Ibid. 6 Edgar H. Sparks, Cantus Firmus in Mass and Motet (University of California Press, 1963), p. 192

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Owen Burton

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and so plainchant, in the early stages of the motet in the thirteenth century, still provided a groundwork or basis for composition. An illustration of this is the motet, Nuper Rosarum Flores, written by Guillaume Dufay in 1436 - while this motet was written relatively late, its style is still representative of early motets. Here we have the incorporation of the plainchant melody with the words Terribilis est locus iste set against the continuation of the Nuper Rosarum Flores text in the upper voices. As with the organum, the plainchant is easily distinguishable and once again we have sustained notes in breves which harmonically support the intricate counterpoint between the upper voices. Example 3: Entry of Plainchant in Guillaume Dufays Nuper Rosarum Flores

Dufay has added further complexity through delivering the plainchant in an imitative texture; note the bass part, which is also singing the plainchant text. Not only is the entry staggered but it is singing different notes to the original tenor plainchant, the intervals of which are transcribed perfectly in the tenor part. In light of this, we can see a further effort to elaborate the use of plainchant beyond that found in the organum. The Oxford Companion to Music

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Owen Burton

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states that the lowest part of a motet was derived from a plainchant within Latin text7. This implies that, with the motet, there was an opportunity for more freedom in the setting of the plainchant. With this particular piece, a combination of the two is achieved; we have a direct quotation of plainchant in the tenor combined with an imitation in the bass. This, combined with the simultaneous placement of two texts within a polyphonic setting, adds significantly to the complex texture so intrinsic to the motet. Thus, in this new genre of polyphonic music, while the plainchant may still have been used as a foundation, its importance within the bigger picture is diminishing under the increasingly complex polyphony. Finally, let us consider how plainchant contributed to the development of the mass towards the end of this period. There is no doubt that plainchant was used in this genre8; the Oxford Companion to Music mentions Josquins Missa Pange Lingua of 1514-15 as an example of a mass in which the same plainchant is used in each movement9. This mass displays a way of incorporating the chant called paraphrasing. The plainchant10, rather than being directly quoted in its entirety, is changed by having new notes added to it. Example 4: Josquin, Missa Pange Lingua, opening of Kyrie, bars 1- 4

Jerome Roche/ Elizabeth Rouge, Motet, in Alision Latham (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 802 8 Elizabeth Roche/ Alex Lingas, Mass, in Alison Latham (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 744 9 Ibid. 10 Irving Godt, Renaissance Paraphrase Technique: A Descriptive Tool, Music Theory Spectrum (Vol. II, Spring 1980), p. 112

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Owen Burton

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Irving Godt points out how the first nine notes of the Gregorian melody in the tenor and superius parts are perfectly transcribed11, but upon examination of both the score, and the original chant, it is clear that the plainchant soon diverts to a new melody. Indeed, according to Godt, the parts conclude their opening statements with freely extended elaborations of M1012- M10 being the tenth note of the plainchant melody. Josquin displays a further innovation of this period in the way plainchant is used. Rather than placing it separately in the tenor, with upper parts elaborating a new source of material, he used the plainchant as a basis for each part before proceeding to weave in his own melodic content. The fact that this occurs within all four voices13 means that the polyphony now grows out of the plainchant, as opposed to just being supported by it as it is with organa and motets. This was a new way of using the plainchant as a basis for composition, the composer now uses the plainchant as a spark for his own innovations within a polyphonic mass. This technique is common to the paraphrase masses of this era. In conclusion, plainchant was at the core of the creation of polyphonic music, and it is fair to say that the genres discussed depended heavily upon its foundation for their development. However, the growth of polyphony brought with it a gradual loss of the original status and value associated with plainchant. The introduction of more than one voice, forming more than one independent line, inevitably lessened the clarity of the original monophonic text. We may conclude that music became more complex in this period, as composers pursued the exciting opportunities that polyphony presented, but plainchant was the foundation on which they were building.

11 12

Ibid., page 111 Ibid. 13 Ibid.

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Owen Burton Bibliography

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Books: Manfred F. Bukofzer, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music (J. M. Dent & sons ltd., 1950) John Caldwell, Medieval Music (Hutchinson & Co., 1978) Richard H. Hoppin, Medieval Music (W. W. Norton & Co., 1978) Jerome Roche/ Elizabeth Rouge, Motet in Alison Latham (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford University Press, 2002) Elizabeth Roche/ Alex Lingas, Mass, in Alison Latham (ed.) The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford University Press, 2002) Albert Seay, Music in the Medieval World (Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1965) Edgar H. Sparks, Cantus Firmus in Mass and Motet (University of California Press, 1963)

Journals: Irving Godt, Renaissance Paraphrase Technique: A Descriptive Tool, Music Theory Spectrum (Vol. II, Spring 1980)

Internet Sources: Fritz Reckow, Oxford Music Online, Grove Music Online, Organum 1: Etymology, early usage (Oxford University Press 2007- 2012) http://0www.oxfordmusiconline.com.unicat.bangor.ac.uk/subscriber/article/grove/music/48902 pg1#S48902.1, last accessed: 20/02/12

Scores: Perotin, Viderunt Omnes (Copyright 2007 Philip Legge, first published at IMSLP) Dufay, Nuper Rosarum Flores (Choral Public Domain Library, 2005) Josquin, Missa Pange Lingua (Das Chorwerk, Vol. I, Wolfenbuttel: Moseler, 1929) Recordings: Dufay, Vocal Music (Quadrivium).Cantica Symphonia. Compact Disc. Glossa. GCDP31901 Leonin/ Perotin, Leonin/ Perotin: Sacred Music from Notre- Dame Cathedral. Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts. Compact Disc. Naxos. 8.557340 Josquin, Missa Pange Lingua/ Missa La fol fa re mi. Tallis Scholars. Compact Disc. Gimell. CDG1M009

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