Detection  of  fragment  binding

Josquin (as he is known) exerted a powerful influence on generations of composers to fol-low. After spending his youth in northern Europe, Josquin was employed for most of his varied career in Italy, at courts in Milan and Ferrara and in the papal choir in Rome. In Italy, he absorbed the classical virtues of balance and moderation, the sense of harmonious proportion and clear form, visible in the paintings of the era. Toward the end of his life, he lived in France, where he served as a provost at the collegiate church of Condé.

Josquin appeared at a time when the humanizing influences of the Renaissance were being felt throughout Europe. His music is rich in feeling, characterized by serenely beauti-ful melodies and expressive harmony.

MAJOR WORKS: Over 100 motets, at least 17 Masses, as well as many French chansons and Italian secular songs.

3iMusic: El grillo (The Cricket)

Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria

83 REMEMBER ME: PERSONALIZING THE MOTET IN THE RENAISSANCE CHAPTER 14

LISTENING GUIDE 5

Josquin: Ave Maria . . . virgo serena (Hail Mary . . . gentle virgin)

DATE: 1480s?

GENRE: Latin motet What to listen for

Melody High vs. low voices, singing in pairs;

opening phrase quotes a chant.

Rhythm/

meter

Duple meter, with shift to triple, then back.

Harmony Consonant; hollow-sounding cadences.

Texture Imitative polyphony, with moments of homorhythm.

Form Sectional according to strophes of the poem (each begins “Ave”).

Expression Personal plea from composer at the end.

Performing forces

Four-voice choir; a cappella.

Text Rhymed, strophic prayer to the Virgin Mary.

TEXT TRANSLATION DESCRIPTION

0:00 Ave Maria, gratia plena, Hail Mary, full of grace, Four voices in imitation (SATB) quote Dominus tecum, virgo serena. The Lord is with you, gentle Virgin. chant; duple meter.

0:45 Ave cujus conceptio Hail, whose conception, Two and three voices, later four Solemni plena gaudio Full of solemn joy, voices; more homorhythmic texture.

Caelestia, terrestria, Fills the heaven, the earth, Nova replet laetitia. With new rejoicing.

1:21 Ave cujus nativitas Hail, whose birth Voice pairs (SA/TB) in close imi-Nostra fuit solemnitas, Was our festival, tation, then four voices in imitation.

Ut lucifer lux oriens, As our luminous rising light Verum solem praeveniens. Coming before the true sun.

1:59 Ave pia humilitas, Hail, pious humility, Voice pairs (SA/TB); a more Sine viro fecunditas, Fertility without a man, homorhythmic texture.

Cujus annuntiatio, Whose annunciation Nostra fuit salvatio. Was our salvation.

2:27 Ave vera virginitas, Hail, true virginity, Triple meter; clear text Immaculata castitas, Unspotted chastity, declamation; homorhythmic

Cujus purificatio Whose purification texture.

Nostra fuit purgatio. Was our cleansing.

3:04 Ave praeclara omnibus Hail, famous with all Imitative voice pairs; return to

Angelicis virtutibus, Angelic virtues, duple meter.

Cujus fuit assumptio Whose assumption was Nostra glorificatio. Our glorification.

3:59 O Mater Dei, O Mother of God, Completely homorhythmic;

Memento mei. Remember me. text declamation in long notes,

Amen. Amen. separated by rests.

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PART 2 THE MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE 84

peal of the motet for composers, who were able to demonstrate their individual creativity through choice of text as well as musical invention. Motets in praise of the Virgin Mary were extremely popular because of the many religious groups all over Europe devoted to her worship, and also because of the potential for the faithful to identify with the powerful intimacy of the mother-child relationship.

The preeminent composers of motets from the early Renaissance (1450–1520) were from northern Europe, in particular present-day Belgium and northern France. Among these composers, we will consider Josquin des Prez, one of the great masters of sacred music.

Ave Maria . . . virgo serena is a prime example of how Josquin used the motet to experiment with varied combinations of voices and textures to highlight diff erent emotional aspects of the text (Listening Guide 5). In this four- voice composition dedicated to the Virgin Mary, high voices engage in a dialogue with low ones, and imitative textures alternate with homorhythmic settings (in which all voices move together rhythmically). Josquin opens the piece with a musical reference to a preexisting chant for the Virgin, but soon drops this melody in favor of a freely composed form that is highly sensitive to the text. Notice that the equality and interdependence of the voices is highlighted by the frequent changes in the way voices are grouped, and that smaller groupings of two or three voices tend to build to the full ensemble at the ends of phrases.

The fi nal two lines of text, a personal plea to the Virgin (“O Mother of God, remember me”), is set in a simple texture that emphasizes the words, proclaiming the humanistic spirit of a new age. How do you think this direct appeal relates to the change in the depictions of the Virgin shown in the images on page 81? How does the full-chord sound that opens this section compare with the sound of the fi nal “Amen,” which is instead an open fi fth?

CRITICAL THINKING

1. In what way does the “humanist” approach diff er from ways of thinking in the Middle Ages?

2. How does Josquin combine preexisting musical material with his individual creativity? Does this combination of individuality and tradition also connect to other examples we have examined?

YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE

The recording associated with our Listening Guide features a mixed-gender chorus of several voices to a part, but in the Renaissance, sacred music of this sort was almost exclusively sung by small all-male ensembles. Find a re-cording of this work (or another Josquin motet) by an all-male group (for example: the Hilliard Ensemble, The King’s Singers, Chanticleer). How is the eff ect diff erent from the version on your recording? Which do you fi nd more expressive, and why?

Homorhythm

In His Own Words

Music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the agita-tions of the soul.”

— Martin Luther

15

CHAPTER

Glory Be: Music for the