Composers
Was the leading composer of the fauxbourdon, a technique of elaborating plainchant that shows evidence of the English influence on continental composers
Who was Guillaume Du Fay [1397-1474]?
The last of the Burgundian dukes for whom it is assumed Antoine Busnoys wrote his Missa l'homme arme for; his father had led the crusade against Turkey that the original song "L'homme arme" was written for
Who was Charles the Bold [d.1477]?
Latin for "fixed tune"; refers to the placement of a chant melody in the tenor part of a polyphonic piece.
What is cantus firmus?
The style represented by Guillaume de Machaut and composers of the fourteenth century
What was Ars Nova?
The term for the use of thirds dominating English music at this time
What was triadic harmony?
One of the leading fifteenth-century continental composers who wrote a Caput Mass in emulation of the anonymous English one; had the audacity to transpose the cantus firmus, creating unusual harmonic progression and melodic cross relation harnessing old devices of musica ficta to new effect.
Who was Johannes Ockeghem [ca. 1410-97]?
This man was John Dunstable's patron and the ruler of English-occupied France.
A group of Masses, many of which are anonymous, based on a cantus firmus using the word "caput," which unified all of the movements.
What are the Caput Masses?
Ballade, Rondeau, and Virelai
What are the three formes fixes?
A contemporaneous term for a fifteenth-century style of English polyphony, later influential on French composers, using full, rich sonorities based on the third and sixth scale degree (first inversion harmonies)
What was contenance angloise?
A minor composer who was primarily a theorist of encyclopedic ambition; wrote dozen treatises on contemporary composers (the Who's Who of the fifteenth century)
Who was Johannes Tinctoris [ca. 1435-1511]?
The war between England and France that lead to "cross pollination" of musical styles and had important repercussions on continental composers learning about English music.
What was the Hundred Years War?
Fifteenth-century French song identical in structure with the virelai, but with only one stanza; although its name suggest a pastoral style, it originated in French court circles; Ockeghem's Ma bouche rit ("My mouth laughs") is an example.
What was the bergerette?
"Finder of words"; esteemed singer-poets active in what is now southern France during the 11th-13th centuries, composing highly formalized cansos, tensos, sirventes, pastorelas, etc.
Who were the Troubadours?
A choral technique of singing improvised polyphony in which a "false bass" a fourth below is added to the melody.
What is fauxbourdon?
English composer who had a continental career in English occupied northern France whose music, with its preference for thirds and clear text declamation, was the crowning leader of the La contenance angloise.
Who was John Dunstable [ca. 1390-1453]?
Was a French song used as the cantus firmus for cyclic Masses of the same name; first such Mass was written to commemorate a crusade led by Philip the Good
What was "l'homme arme"?
The liturgical genre most often treated in the fauxbourdon manner (the most songlike of chant types)
What is the hymn?
The prescribed order for a religious service
What is liturgy?
The use of four voices along with new names for the contratenors and the cantus/triplum led to the growth of this.
His Missa l'Homme arme was regarded as a special classic, especially by contemporary composers and theorists; used multiple musical techniques to unify his cyclic Mass (use of the original L'homme arme melody as cantus firmus in each movement)
Who was Antoine Busnoys [ca. 1430-92]?
Group of knights from the court of Burgundy who gathered to discuss a crusade against Turkey; much music was composed for their gatherings
A setting of the major unchanging elements of the Roman Catholic liturgy (the Ordinary) as a single musical unit, unified by a cantus firmus, modes, motives, or other compositional procedures
What is a Cyclic Mass
In an early form of notation, neumes arranged so that their relative height indicated higher or lower pitch
What are heightened neumes?
An homage and attempt to surpass previously written compositions; linked strongly with "compositional lineages."
What is emulation?