Transcript Notre Dame
Organum and the Notre Dame School Please take handout 1180 A. D Notre Dame, Paris Perotin: 4-part organum, “Viderunt omnes” These singers attempt, with the lewdness of a lascivious voice, to feminize all their spellbound little fans with the way they render their phrase. When such practices go too far, they can more easily occasion titillation between the legs than a sense of devotion in the brain. John of Salisbury (ca. 1180) From Chant to Polyphony I. Introduction: The Medieval Concept of Authority II. Phase I: Early Forms of Polyphony (ca. 850 to ca.1160) III. Phase II: Notre Dame Organum (Paris ca. 1200) IV. The Payoff I. Introduction: The Medieval Concept of Authority Authority: Exhibit A. Gloss Knowledge is a commentary on or elaboration of existing authoritative text Bible or other authoritative text Commentary Authority: Exhibit B. Medieval Prayer & Poem Ave Maria, Gratia plena, Dominus tecum Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you Ave, ancilla Domini tu humillima laude felix virgo devotissima Maria, stella ducents nos ad celestia ubi sonant angelorum cantica. Gratia, que per Evam fuit perturbata, per te nobis est reconciliata. Plena . . . . Poem = commentary on/elaboration of of existing authoritative text Authority: Exhibit C. O? rganum 1. Organum Defined = Early sacred polyphony; = the earliest Western music in >1 part (e.g.,Viderunt omnes) 2. Organum based on Medieval idea of authority = Commentary on/elaboration of existing text 3. Musical Authority = Gregorian Chant ? 4. Organum = elaboration/commentary on chant II. Early Forms of Organum (to ca. 1160) A. Parallel Organum Pie Jesu Domine, Dona eis requiem II. Early Forms of Organum (to ca. 1160) A. Parallel Organum •Musica Enchiriadis = Musical Handbook Treatise, ca. 900 A.D. 1of first descriptions: early organum. •Parallel Organum = chant elaborated by doubling at higher (or lower) pitch, usually the interval of a 5th II. Early Forms (cont.) B. Free Organum Chant (black notes) Newly added voice 1. Melody added to chant in note-against-note style 2. Melodic contour of added line differs from chant 3. Free Organum moves from improvisation to composition III. Notre Dame Organum Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris Cornerstone 1163 Altar dedicated 1182 ca. 1180-90: Leonin III. Notre Dame Organum A. Leonin and the Magnus Liber 1. Magnus Liber=Great Book Primary source for Notre Dame Organum 2. Organum duplum 2-voice organum: 1 voice= chant 2nd= newly composed 3. Leonin’s organa based on soloists’ parts of responsorial chants Responsorial Chant: Viderunt omnes 1. Original Responsorial Chant: Soloist Choir 2. Notre Dame Organum: Organum Choir III. Notre Dame Organum (cont.) B. Two Styles for Elaborating Chant: 1. Organum style (organum purum or pure organum) •Chant is sung in lowest part, the tenor •Chant or tenor = long held notes •Many notes in added upper voice or duplum for each note of original chant (often > 20:1) 2. Discant style Organum Style Soloist Portion of Chant III. Notre Dame Organum (cont.) B. Two Styles for Elaborating Chant: 1. Organum purum (pure organum) or organum style •Chant is sung in lowest part, the tenor •Chant or tenor = long held notes •Many notes in added upper voice or duplum for each note of original chant (often > 20:1) 2. Discant style •Chant is sung in lowest part, the tenor •But tenor notes move more quickly than in organum style (often 1:1) Discant Style Soloist Portion of Chant Is organum vs. discant choice up to composer? Organum Style Discant Style •If chant was syllabic, then organum style •If chant was melismatic, then discant style III. Notre Dame Organum (cont.) C. The Generation of Perotin, ca. 1190-1210 1. Wrote substitute clausulae, a new section of music in discant style 2. Tripla and quadrupla 3. Thinking Musically: Alters chant in lowest voice or tenor IV. The Payoff Question: What __? •Relies on Appeals to Authority •Is Based on Sacred Ideas, Texts •Is Bound by Numerous Rules & Constraints •Emphasizes not individual creativity, but a process of communal creation •Has Structure that is deeply Hierarchical/Layered a) Hip-Hop b) Beethoven Symphonies c) Organum d) Medieval culture IV. The Payoff Question: What __?