her Syntax and Style - Rhythmic Patterns in the Music of Ockeghem and His Contemporaries (Ockeghem Volume 1998)

Margaret BENT

Manuscripts referred to: Brussels 5557

B-Br5557; Brussels. Koninklijke Bibliotheek M S 5 5 57

Brussels 9 126

B-Br9 126; Brussels, Koninklijke Bibliotheek M S 9 I 2 6

Chigi

I-Rv234; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, M S Chigi C VIII 234 I-RV35; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, M S Cappella Sistina 3 5

SYNTAX AND STYLE Rhythmic patterns in the masic of Orkeghem and his contemporaries

I-RV51; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, M S Cappella Sistina 5 I Jena 3 Lucca 238

D-Ju3 ; Jena, Universitiitsbibliothek, Cod. Mus. 32

Milan 2269

I-Md2269; Archivio della Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, Sezione Musicale, Librone 1 (olim M S 2269)

Old Hall

GB-Lb1579 50; London, British Library, M S Add 579 50

Qls

I-Bc I 5; Bologna, Civico museo Bibliografico musicale Q 1 5

S. Pietro B80

I-RV80; Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, San Pietro B 8 0

Vienna 1783

A-Wn178 3; Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, M S 1783

Sean GALLAGHER

I-Las238; Lucca, Archivio di Stato, M S 238

University of North Carolina

HE WORD syntax, taken in its broadest sense, refers simply to the

T o r d e r e d arrangement of parts, or elements. Applied outside of purely or grammatical contexts, however, the straightforward nature of this can easily disappear, with the word itself left behind to serve as a weak metaphor. When an art historian, for example, refers to the syntax of a particular painting, or of a particular artist's works, no doubt something more specific is intended than could be conveyed by the word 'style'. It is difficult though to say just what that might be unless the writer should go on t o identify, however provisionally, both the elements in question and their arrangement within the work. Otherwise, syntax and style can become misleadingly synonymous. At first glance, music (or at least, certain kinds of music) would seem more promising than the plastic arts in this regard. Talk of syntax in connection with music tends not to strike us as especially vague or surprising, and not merely because of the frequency with which it is done. We intuitively sense the orderly arrangement of elements that is a precondition of much music - its invention, its notation and its realization in time. Moreover,

"

I wish to thank Jaap van Benthem, Lawrence Bernstein, Don Harrin, and John Milsom for their helpful and stimulating comments after the presentation of this paper.

682

Sean GALLAGHER

through analysis we are often able t o discern underlying organizational rules, which in turn tend t o draw discussions of musical syntax back closer t o the realm of grammar. However if at a general level the weddlng of music and syntax appears largely unproblematic, at the level of particulars we encounter numerous difficulties, some of them akln t o the art historian's. Can we speak of the syntax of a given work, or of syntactic details characteristic of a given composer, without equating syntax with style? O r rather, should syntax be thought of as a broader category of style, with the individual work representing a certain collection of compositional choices?' Recalling the definition of syntax as an ordered arrangement of elements prompts a further question, one which lies behind the others: by which criteria do we define the musical elements that are to be arranged? These issues have led me t o make a study of rhythmic procedures in the works of Ockeghem and his contemporaries. I have limited the initial investigation t o music composed in tempus perfecturn, because thls mensuration, of those most commonly used, offered composers the widest range of rhythmic What follows, then, is based on a systematic examination of rhythm in all music in tempus perfectum that is securely attributable to Ockeghem, D u Fay, Binchois, Busnoys, Regis, Pullois, Faugues, Caron and others. I will focus on rhythmic patterns, most of them occupying a single perfection. These patterns underscore certain general rhythmic principles of

I

A literary scholar might well reverse this ordering: a given author's style could be said to result from both syntactic and semantic choices, thus making style the broader category for analysis. However the relative absence in music of precise referential meaning, and the resultant foregrounding of its syntactic qualities, would seem to justify using the term syntax t o refer to the set of compositional rules and conventions operative during a given period. Viewed in this way, it is the composer's decision to accept, deviate from, or modify these syntactic rules that distinguishes in large part his/her style. As employed in this study, the relation of syntax to style thus bears some resemblance to the distinction between langue and parole first posited by Saussure and later developed in structuralist approaches in a variety of fields (linguistics, literature, anthropology). The fruitfulness of Saussure's original idea continues to be felt, even while the limitations of structuralist elaborations of it are now widely recognized. FerCourse in General Linguistics, transl. R. HARRIS (La Salle, 198 3); for dinand DE SAUSSURE, an introduction to the influence of Saussure's ideas on the works of Jakobson, LtviStrauss, Greimas, Todorov, and others, see Terence HAWKES, Structuralism and Semiotics (London, I 977).

Syntax and Sple

68 3

the period and are at the same time contingent upon basic contrapuntal procedures, of which they are the temporal realization. The significance of such rhythmic patterns for the study of musical syntax and style derives from two things: ( I ) they occur frequently enough and are used in a consistent enough fashion t o have been perceived as rhythmic (and often, rhythmic/melodic) units; and (2) as a result of being linked with melodic and contrapuntal elaborations, they are deeply embedded in the local, rather than the large-scale, structuring of a work. With the possible exception of a rhythmic/melodic motto in a Mass cycle, brief rhythmic patterns would hardly have figured into whatever pre-compositional decisions needed t o be made. O n the other hand, such rhythmic/melodic formulas, which were no doubt a part of every good singer's musical 'equipmenti, might well have been useful in mentally working out passages of polyphony. In the case of Ockeghem, his use of certain rhythmic patterns, especially in terms of their mensural placement and contrapuntal function, is common enough among his contemporaries to allow the patterns t o be considered constitutive elements of a more general compositional syntax. Nevertheless, in this, as in seemingly every aspect of composition, Ockeghem in some ways stands apart. The appearance in his music of rhythmic patterns that are distidctive, either in themselves or through their context, helps illustrate how thtp approach t o rhythmic analysis, by refining our knowledge of Ockeghem's style, can play a role in editorial decisions and even attributive research. In the second book of his counterpoint treatise, Tinctoris describes some of the ways singers rhythmicize a chant against which they wish t o make counterpoint: "Certain ones.. . make the first note of the plainchant three semibreves of minor prolation, the second two, the third one, and, conversely, the fourth one, the fifth two, the sixth three, and so on up t o the end".' Part of Tinctoris's accompanying musical example is given in Example I . This was doubtless a fairly standard procedure, and the alternation between these two rhythmic patterns (an imperfect breve with a semibreve, followed by a semibreve with an imperfect breve, with or without interspersed perfect breves) is a fundamental rhythmic feature of tempus perfec-

2

"Quidam insuper primam notam plani cantus tres semibreves minorts prolationis, secundam duas, tertlam unam et e converso quartam unam, qulntam duas, sextam tres, Liber de arte contrapunctt, et SIC de caeteris usque in finem efficiunt." Johannes TINCTORIS, ed. Albert SEAY,CSM 22/2 (Rome, I 9 7 5 ) , pp. 1 15-6; translated in J. TINCTORIS,The Art of Counterpoint, transl. A. SEAY,MSD 5 (Rome, 1961), pp. 108-9.

Sean GALLAGHER

EXAMPLE I Johannes TINCTORIS, Liber de arte contrapuncti, Bk. 11, ch. 2, [SEAY,ed., p. 1161

Syntax and Style

EXAMPLE 2 Johannes OCKEGHEM, Missa Caput, Gloria, bars 64-71 [ C W , vol. 21

Contrapunctus

Alleluia

tum music from this period. T h e sequential and simultaneous use of these patterns permeates much fifteenth-century music. Within a single line, the alternation provided greater forward motion than could the simple reiteration of one or the other pattern. Sounding simultaneously, the two patterns could be the temporal realization of equally fundamental contrapuntal patterns (e.g., 7-6 suspensions at cadences). The rhythmic/metrical ambiguity found in much of Ockeghem's music, with 'the preswhat Clemens Goldberg has succinctly described as his ence and absence of a perceptible meter', features in most general accounts of the cornposer's style.' Less often noted, however, is the frequency with

3

"Wahrend bei Ockeghem ein Spiel zwischen An- und Abwesenheit von fiihlbarem Metrum herrscht, spielt Busnois mit verschiedenen Metren innerhalb eines vorgegebenen Metrums." Clemens GOLDBERG, Die Chansons von Antoine Busnois: Die A'sthetik der h$s-

which Ockeghem achieves this ambiguity within the type of standardized rhythmic framework just described. Example 2 is a brief passage from the Gloria of his Missa Caput. Beginning in bar 64, the alternation between the two patterns (here marked 'x' and 'y') is first passed between voices, reinforced by the Superius in bar 66, and then outlined by all four voices in bar 67, In bars 6 8 and 69, though, the alternation, while still discernible, is weakened in two ways. First, in the Superius, bar 68, the common dotted sehibreve/rninim figure is changed t o a much less frequently encountered rhythmic sequence, dotted semibreve followed by another semibreve. Second, Ockeghem introduces in the lowest voice a group of three breves in coloration. The net effect is a broadening of the rhythmic flow, a brief example of rhythmic vatietas, made more subtle through its occurrence within a type of normative rhythmic motion. The passage is far from unique in Ockeghem's music, nor is it restricted t o early works like the Caput Mass; a similar process can be seen in the Missa Mi-mi.4

then Chansons (Frankfurt am Main, I994), 16. For earlier discussions of Ockeghem's Die burgundisch-niederlandische Motette cur Zeit Ockrhythmic style, see Wolfgang STEPHAN, eghems (Kassel, 1937, repr. 1973), pp. 3 6-9, 44; Edward HOUGHTON,'Rhythm and Meter in Fifteenth Century Polyphony', Journal $Music Theory, 18 ( I 974), pp. 190-212. Collected Works 4 Cf. Missa Mi-mi, Agnus I. Both Masses are edited in Johannes OCKEGHEM, [hereinafter, CW] 11, ed. Dragan PLAMENAC (American Musicological Society, 1947; 2nd corr. ed., 1966). See also the more recent edition: J. OCKEGHEM, Missa Caput, ed. Jaap VAN BENTHEM,Mass and Mass Sections, fasc. I, 1 (Utrecht, Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, I 994).

Sean GALLAGHER

EXAMPLE jb Johannes OCKEGHEM, Intemerata Dei rnatcr, bars 1 - 5 [CW, vol. 3 1

\I

1

11~-

- t c

- ) m e - r a -

-

-Ira

De-

-

-

1

687

Syntax and Style

Example 3a presents a standard full form of the dotted semibreve/minim pattern just mentioned. Arranged thus, i.e., with the dotted semibreve at the beginning of the perfection, the pattern appears nearly 250 times in Ockegheinls works and is equally common in the music of his contemporaries. The formulaic nature of the pattern is reflected in the way these composers sometimes employ it; namely, at or very near the beginning of a work or at a significant shift in texture, but then virtually nowhere further on in the same piece. Examples 3b and jc, the opening of OckeghemJs Intemerata Dei muter, and two brief passages from Regis's Clangat plebs, respectively, are cases in point. In Intemerata, the figure is bracketed, occurring in bar I of the vagans, and bar 5 of the Superius. Though the melodic style of all the voices is remarkably homogeneous throughout the piece, and though this pattern is easily incorporated into alinost any contrapuntal texture, it never recurs in the work. Similarly, in the Regis motet, the Superius (bar I) and Contratenor bassus (bar 3 I ) begin or re-enter with this pattern. Again, though the inelodic style is consistent throughout the piece, the pattern reappears only once, at the contratenor's third prominent entrance. In many pieces, of course, the pattern shows up both near the very beginning and also in later passages. But from the two motets cited here, as well as many other such examples, it would appear that this dotted pattern served as a standard rhythmic/melodic gambit as formalized at times as the opening moves in chess.

h

EXAMPLE jc Johannes

REGIS,Clangat plebsfiores, bars 1-4; 28-3 1 [Opera omnia, vol, 21 Number of occurrences in Ockeghemls works: 84 [tempus perfeccum sections o ~ l l ~ ]

q --

3.&Bi%E Cum

T h e rhythmic pattern given in Example 4 - a dotted semibreve at the beginning of a perfection followed by three minims - served as one of the most common rhythmic formulations of the under-third cadence during the fifteenth century. Here especially the rhythmic element seems t o have developed out of the melodic gesture. While the rhythmic pattern persists in b c k eghem's music - I have found more than 80 examples of it in his works - in only six cases is it utilized in an under-third cadence, three of them in the

Sean GALLAGHER

688

Missa Mi-mi alone.' Mostly the pattern appears in the course of long melismatic passages. This is not surprising in itself, for the under-third cadence plays a much smaller role in Ockeghem's music than it does in either Binchois's or D u Fay's, and when it does, it is most often set as a dotted minim followed by three semiminims. What is worth noting, however, is the degree to which Ockeghem maintains the mensural placement of the figure, even while abandoning the melodic progression most closely linked with it. There was nothing to prevent him from disposing the rhythmic pattern over two perfections in one of the ways listed in Table 1. Moreover, the very simplicity of the figure would have made it contrapuntally flexible. In short, it is precisely the kind of figure one would expect Ockeghem, the expert in asyrnmetric rhythms, t o be drawn to. But as the numbers in Table I reveal, he rarely took advantage of these options. The same holds true for his contemporaries, suggesting that the rhythmic pattern and its particular mensural placement together constituted an element of a more general compositional syntax.

Mensural placement of pattern

glJ4J J J J 1J IJ J J IJ. JIJ J 11. J J IJ

no. of occurrences in OckeghemJsworks [tempus perfecturn sections only] = 11 = I = I5 =

I

Syntax and Style

mitred in the sources, pattern 'k' should not be considered simply an ornamented form of the common dotted semibreve-minim figure (marked as pattern 'm' in Example 5). Of the 100 occurrences of pattern 'k' for which at least two sources exist, there are only seven cases where one source has 'k', while another has 'm'.l I wish to look more closely at one such case in order to demonstrate the implications of this type of rhythmic analysis for the evaluation of source variants.

A special factor to bear in mind when considering source readings for pattern 'k' is Ockeghem's tendency to use it frequently within a single work or movement, or else not at all. For example, it appears eight times in the Credo of his Missa Thomme armi', with no variants between the mass's two source^,^ while it occurs nowhere in the Missa Cuiusvis toni, the five-voice Sine nomine Miss, the Credo Sine nomine, or the motet Intemerata Dei mater. What this discrihpancy between pieces could possibly tell us about Ockeghem's compositional process, the chronology of his works, or the status of various sources, falls outside the scope of this paper. What can be said now, however, is that it is extremely rare in Ockeghem's music for pattern 'k' to appear only once in a given work. One piece in which this does appear to happen is his motet Alma redemptoris mater, which is preserved in two sources, FlorR 2794 and VatS 46.8 The

The seven instances are: Missa 'Deplus en plus', Ky, Ct, b. 2; Cr, Sup, b. 62 (in both cases VatC 234 = 'm' while VatS I 4 = 'k'); Missa Z'homme armi', Sanc, Ct, b. 7 (VatC 234 = 'k', VatS 3 5 = 'm'); Missa Mi-mi, GI, Sup, b. 2; Ag I, Sup, b. 2 (in both cases VatC 234 = 'k', VatS 4 1 and VatS 63 = 'm'); 'Ma maistresse', T, b. 26 (of the work's six sources, all have k except SevC 5-1-43, which has 'm'); and Alma redemptoris muter, Ct, b. 3 5 (discussed below); 7 The Mass is found in VatS 3 5, f. 14.7~-I57 and VatC 234, f. 3 5v-45. Pattern 'k' occurs in Sup, b. 158; Ct, bb. 41, 44, 140, 146; Bass, bb, 2, 14, 58. 8 Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 2794, f. I lv-13; Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cappella Sistina MS 46, f. I l6v-119. Edited in C W 111, 3-5. 6

T h e last in this group of dotted semibreve patterns to be considered is distinguished by the use of two semiminims, marked as pattern 'k' in Example 5. This brief figure appears 130 times in the tempus perfecturn sections of Ockeghem's works. Judging from the consistency with which it is trans-

5

The six instances of this pattern utilized as an under-third cadence are as follows: Missa (Deplus en plus', GI, Sup, b. 12; Sanc, Sup, b. 49; Missa 'LJhommcarmi', Ky 11, Sup, b. 3 1; Missa Mi-mi, Cr, Sup, b. 73; Sanc, Sup, b. 16; Ag I, Ct, b. 3 .

689

Sean GALLAGHER

passage in question is given in Example 6a. T h e Collected Works edition gives the reading in Sistina 46; I have provided the Florence reading above the staff. T h e Sistina version of bar 1 5 , with pattern 'k', occurs nowhere else in the 5 I tempora of the work's prima pars, while pattern 'm', the Florence version, appears eight other times, with no discrepancies between the sources. Bar 3 5 marks the re-entrance of the Contratenor altus, and I have already mentioned the frequent use of the full form of pattern 'm' at precisely such points in Ockeghem's works. In fact, there is an example of this in Alma Redemptoris itself, the re-entry o l the Superius at bars 1 3 and following, given in Example 6b.

EXP~VPLE 6a johanneS OCXEGHEM, Alma reimptoris rnater, bars 11-7 (CW, vol+ 3

1

Syntax and Style

69 1

Turning t o the two manuscripts, an evaluation of them as sources of Ockeghem's music would seem at first glance to come down strongly in favour of FlorR 2794. In addition t o Alma Redemprotis, this manuscript contains three other works by Ockeghem, and was probably compiled at the French royal court during the composer's tenure there.9 VatS 46, by contrast, was copied at Rome after Ockeghem's death and contains no other works by him.'' Such matters are rarely so simple, of course, and this case proves no exception. As Wexler notes in his commentary t o the edition, the Florence copy of the motet contains a large number of errors, sufficiently serious in nature t o have prompted him to take Vats 4 6 as his main source." I agree with Wexler's decision and d o not wish t o argue for the Florence copy being better than it actually is, particularly on the basis of this small detail. Nevertheless, it is just these types of details that point t o a larger issue; namely, a consistency in small matters of rhythmic procedure in Ockeghemis music observable over a large number of works and sources. Thc 'rhythmic profile' that emerges from an awareness of this consistency could, when considered with othcr factors, add another facet to the assessment of certain kinds of variant readings.12 One part of establishing such a rhythmic profile would consist in the identification, whenever possible, of patterns characteristic of the given comser. This identif cation will naturally be more valuable where the patterns P$ are distinctive, both in themselves and in their combination with other compositional parameters. In the last part of this paper I wish t o propose a pos-

EXAMPLE 6b Alma redelllptoris mater, bars 12-6 [CW,V O ~ .31 -

(

qua

lpcr

m

-

y

-

-

T h e other Ockeghem works are 'D'un autre amer', 'Aultre venus', and 'Ung a~lltreI'a'. For more on this manuscript and its copying, see Joshua RIFKIN,'Scribal Concordances for Some Renaissance Manuscripts in Florentine Libraries', JAMS, XXVI (1973), pp. 305-26; id., 'Pietrequin Bonnel and the Ms. 2 7 9 4 of the Biblioteca Riccardianal,JAMS, Xxlx (1976), pp. 284-96. 10 T h e Salve regina on f. I19v-21of VatS 46, once believed to be by Ockeghim, is more likely a work by Basiron. The case for the latter's authorship is summarized in CW 111, p. Iv, 1I C W 111, pp, xli-xlii. 12 In turn, this assessment has implications for performance practice: Edward Wickham, director of The Clerks' Group, informed me after the presentation of this paper that although on his ensemble's recording of Alma rederptoris (Academy Sound and Vision Ltd., GAU 139) they sing pattern 'k' at b. 35, they have since decided that the Florence reading, pattern 'm', is more in keeping with the overall rhythmic character of the piece, and so it is this version they now perform. 9

692

Sean

GALLAGHER

Syntax and Style

sible candidate for such a distinctive pattern in Ockeghem's music, and then to test its relevance in the area of attributive research.I3 What I am calling pattern 'w' is given in Example 7a. Unlike the previous patterns discussed, this one begins with a relatively brief note, a dotted minim (or blackened semibreve in minor color), and is thus ill-suited to serve as an initial melodic gesture. Furthermore, the dotted figure's potential for generating momentum is undercut by the subsequent imperfect breve, limiting thereby its value as part of an elaborative melodic line. Indeed, there would be little motivation for recognizing this as a rhythmic pattern or element at all were it not for the consistency with which Ockeghem uses it in terms of mensural placement and melodic outline. Whenever the pattern has its full duration, i.e., whenever the imperfect breve is present (rather than, say, a semibreve followed by a semibreve rest), and when the initial note of the pattern coincides with the beginning of a perfection, it always appears with one of two melodic outlines: either (I) a descending cambiata figure that encompasses the interval of a fourth, or (2) an ascent by step, as illustrated in Examples 7 b and 7c. This slightly unusual rhythmic motive is thus linked with two, and only two, melodic gestures. Ockeghem does not use this rhythmic-melodic pattern as the elaboration of a final long, but rather incorporates it into the full contrapuntal flow. Though it appears in both upper and lower voices, it rarely occurs in passages in reduced scoring. It is worth stressing that this substantive description of the pattern is valid without exception for Ockeghem's works, a rarity with any statement about this composer. However, in attempting t o carry out what Lawrence Bernstein has called a 'processive analysis' with regard t o this pattern, it has proven more difficult t o make such general comments, since it serves a vari-

13 Some recent research on the music of Binchois has attempted to identify distinctive features of the composer's style with the aim of attributing anonymously-preserved works to him; see Walter KEMP, Burgundian Court Song in the Time o f Binchois, (Oxford, I99O), pp. 18-32. Dennis Slavin has demonstrated in.a series of studies the importance of codicological research in determining whether these stylistic 'fingerprints' can be traced back to the composer or to scribal intervention; see his 'Binchois' songs, the Binchois fragment, and the two layers of Escorial A' (Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1987); id., 'Questions of Authority in Some Songs by Binchois,'JRMA, 1 1 7 (1992)~ pp. 22-61; id., 'Some Distinctive Features of Songs by Binchois: Cadential Voice ~ e a d ing and the Articulation of Form', Journal o f Musicology, X (I9.92), pp. 342-6 I.

a. Pattern 'w'

b. 1. IIr p0 I

0

0

+

1.

Distinctive features of pattern 'w' in Ockeghem's work (tempus perfectum sections only): I . Occurs as one complete tempus; not spread over two tempora.

2. Always appears with one of two melodic outlines: a) descending cambiata figure encompassing the interval of a fourth; b) ascending by step. 3. N o t used as melodic elaboration of final long.

b. descending version of pattern 'w'

SEs

C.

-

ascending version of pattern 'w'

ety\of contrapuntal and sonorous functions in Ockeghem's music.14 In Intemerata Dei muter (Example 8a), its appearance in the Bassus, bar 29, re-introduces greater rhythmic activity after a series of sustained sonorities. At the beginning of the Missa 'L'bomme arm? (Example 8b), it is part of a chain of dotted rhythmic figures, while at the same time its imperfect breve reinforces the sustained pitches in the Tenor. In the Credo of the same Mass (Example 8c), it is fully integrated into the polyphonic intensification preparatory t o a final cadence. By contrast, in the Sanctus of the Missa 'De plus en plus' (Example 8d), the pattern functions as the simple prolongation of an internal cadence. A more striking use of it, often in its ascending version, is as part of a rhythmic broadening towards the end of a phrase, as in the opening passage of 'La despourveue' (Example 8e), especially bars 4-6. Here is a different kind of prolongation, this time without a cadence, or at least a

I 4 Lawrence BERNSTEIN, 'Chansons attributed to both Josquin des Prez and Pierre de la

Rue: A Problem in Establishing Authenticity', Proceedings ofthe International Josquin Symposium, ed. Willern ELDERS(Utrecht, I 9 8 6 ) , pp. 143-8.

Sean GALLAGHER

694

Syntax and Style

strongly articulated one. Pattern 'w' in the Contratenor fills out the dotted momentum of the opening bars, but at its breve f, there is a gentle harmonic stasis and the phrase floats t o a close without punctuation.

EXAMPLE 8c Id., Mtssa 'L'homme armi', Credo, bars 63-8

Johannes OCKEGHEM, Intemerata Dei mater, bars 27-3 1 [CW, vol. 31

pro

no

-

btr

par

-

rus

tr

se

-

-

-

-

puI

-

[us

EXAMPLE 8d Id., Missa 'De plus en plus), Sanctus, bars 25-7 [CW, vol. I ]

Tu

- mur.

scis,

I

vir -

-

I

-

de - cens, -

- go

I I

I..

I..

~i

EXAMPLE8b Johannes OCKEGHEM, Missa Z'homrne arm?, Kyrie I , bars 1-4 [CW, vol. I ]

EXAMPLE 8e Id., 'La despourveue', bars 1-6 [CW, vol. 3 1

-

arme

r i e

W L

I

I

7 I

-: U

-. I

/

0

IS[

In all, pattern 'w' appears 2 8 times in Ockeghem's securely attributed works, 1 4 times ascending, 14 descending.15 These are listed in Table 2. occurs in pieces both early and mature, with a concentration in certain masses, but also in the probably early chanson 'La despourveue' and the dense polyphony of the motet Intemerata Dei mater. Through its continued and consistent presence in Ockeghem's music, this rhythmic/melodic pattern must be considered a salient feature of his works, one which contributes to what should perhaps be called the style of certain pieces. It is not, however, part of a more general compositional syntax of the period, since examples of pattern 'w' in the works of other composers are thin on the ground. Altogether it occurs only thirteen times in the works of the following composers: D u Fay, Binchois, Busnoys, Pullois, Regis, Faugues, Barbingant, Frye, Morton and Barbireau. Even this limited number of examples might need to be reduced though: as can be seen in Table 3 , two of these works have been attributed on less than solid evidence. The Agnus 'Custos et pastor' has been linked with D u Fay by various scholars on formal grounds, but in its unique source, TrentC 92, it appears without attribution.16 The popular 'Comme femme desconfortke' is attributed to Binchois in one of the song's nine sources, the Mellon Chansonnier, but many of its features seem at variance with what we presently know of Binchois's k , style.'7 'Pour prison', possibly a late song by Binchois, contains pattern w in only one of its many source^.'^ Two of the examples in Pullois's Mass

15 Another possible instance of the pattern is Missa 'Ma maistresse', Ky 11, Sup, b. 3 8 (CW I, p. I I 8). In the Chigi Codex (VatC 234), the unique source for the Mass, the rhythm however this pattern, placed thus at the beginning of a perfection, at this spot is b.1 is found nowhere else in Ockeghem's works. The rhythm here is likely to have been pattern 'w' originally, which a copyist later embellished. I am grateful to Michael Friebel for bringing this passage to my attention.

TABLE 2 Occurrences of pattern 'w' in works by Ockeghem

Work

Mvt.

Bar

'

Version

(Descendin ) (~scendin~3

Intemerata

-

B

29

M. Caput

Kyrie I Gloria Sanctus Kyrie I1

CT

10

T I1

D D A D D D D D

Kyrie Kyrie I1 Credo

CT S S CT B CT CT

Sanctus

CT

B

22

D

CT

4 43 10 44 47 70 5

A A A A A A A

M. Ecce ancilla

S CTA

T T

M. De plus

M. L'homme

Gloria

CTA S

Credo

B B

Gloria Credo Sanctus

B

M. S. nom. .jvv M. Mi-mi

D D A A A A D A D

8I 35 94 I00 I04 26 55 52 80 63 41 26 39 2 35 66 163 I0

Sanctus Gloria Credo

1~;

16 Trent, Museo Provinciale d'Arte, Castello del Buon Consiglio, M S 92, f. 208v-210; see Studien