WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Continuing on with our unit on the Renaissance, 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 One thing that I 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000 will never get tired of saying in hear, is that 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 the Renaissance is the most underrated period in music history. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 And as a musicologist, it's really kind of perplexing 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 and irksome to me that all of this wonderful 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 music has not filtered into the public consciousness to the same 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000 degree that, say, William Shakespear's works have or Leonardo da Vinci's 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 paintings or Michelangelo's sculptures, but 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 the composer we're going to talk about today unquestionably had 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 compositional skill that was every bit on par with 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 what Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci brought to the table 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 as far as painting goes. Josquin des Prez 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 was unquestionably one of the 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:60.000 greatest figures musically of the Renaissance. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 An absolutely amazing composer. Now one of the reasons 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 why Josquin's music is so great, 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 not to mention that of other Renaissance composers, 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 is that it's based on the same principles that 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 an aesthetic values that the sculptures and the paintings 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 were created with. And that is #1 - humanism, 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 of Ancient Greece and Rome, and #3 - the whole 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:35.000 desire to resurrect classical learning. Okay? 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:40.000 So we'll talk about the humanist aspects of Josquin's works after 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000 we go through some of his music. But, kind of for 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 a review, you have that sheet that I gave you on 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 the Renaissance style in general. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 What I'd like to do is review the principles of why 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:60.000 Ancient Greece and Rome was such a big deal to them. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 Why were artists of all stripes so interested in 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 those particular ideals? And what we came up with 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 was what? Why were they 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:18.000 so fascinated with Ancient Greece? 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:24.000 I remember the things that they like about it, but I can't remember 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000 why exactly they... 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Anybody got it? 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Well they drew inspiration from what the Greece philosophers said about music 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 and from the way music was described in classical literature. Okay. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 Before that, let's talk about 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.000 it more generally speaking. Should be on page two, at the top. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.000 Authority beyond the church? Good, authority beyond 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 the church because that's what they were looking for, number one. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:60.000 Number two? 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 I suppose it ties in, in that it's more mathematical 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.000 rather than spiritual. Actually, the 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.000 opposite. During the Middle Ages it was all about the 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000 numerology and the metaphysical symbolism of numbers, and now music 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 has become a bonafide art, and largely 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 through classical humanist thinking. Okay? 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 What else? The Ancient Greeks understood the essence of being human. They did. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 The Ancient Greeks understood what it was all about to be human, probably better than any other 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 culture, and Plato, Aristotle, and the great philosophers of Ancient Greece 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 are still studied today because there is probably an Ancient 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.000 Greek myth for just about any and every story 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.000 or any and every experience that you could possibly have 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.000 as a human being. And it's all right there with incredible insight 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.000 into how to handle things, basically. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:60.000 And also, the art of Ancient 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 Greece and Rome was also incredibly realistic and beautiful. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.000 Right? That's another reason why they were attracted to it. So how does all of this 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 filter into music? Nick, I'm going to get back to you. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.000 They drew inspiration from what Greek philosophers said about music 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 and from the way music was described in classical literature. Right. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.000 Because, guess what, we don't have 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.000 the paintings of Michelangelo and his sculptures 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 were modeled on statues directly from Ancient Greece 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.000 that were in the collection of the Medici, or whoever the patron was. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Now unfortunately with music, musicians 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.000 can do something similar because just not enough Ancient Greek music has survived 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 in order to basically build your style off of. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 So they had to go with what Plato, Aristotle, Talmi, 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Pythagorus, and others had to say about music because 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:60.000 the traditions had basically been lost. Okay? 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 How else did that filter into music, Greek ideals? 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.000 Laura? They were looking for balance in the form. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.000 Okay, good. So in order to get music that has 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 the same beauty and balance and proportion that the sculptures 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.000 had, how did they go about that? The poetic aspect of the works. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.000 That's the next thing I want to talk about. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.000 Let's talk about balance first. Like follow sentences and words? 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.000 Think counterpoint first. That's our next point. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.000 They had all the separate parts that could by themselves but then went together 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.000 to make the whole thing. Okay, yeah. You have 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.000 a balance of contrapuntal devices, for one thing. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Anything that happens in one voice has to happen in the other voices. Okay? 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Because that's how you get the beauty of balance and symmetry, 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 which is how you define beauty. Right? Okay. So those are things that we're going 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:60.000 look for in Josquin's works. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.000 But just a little bit about 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 Josquin himself. So Josquin 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.000 was and is the most famous composer of the Franco-Flemish School 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 and was and is truly the towering figure of the Renaissance 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.000 musically speaking. Just for review, what's Franco- 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.000 Flemish School? Was it an actual school? 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.000 It was a school in the Netherlands. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.000 Good. It's not an actual institution, it's a group of composers 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.000 that all happened to originate from the northern France, 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.000 Belgium, and Netherlands area in modern terminology. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.000 And then, after receiving their training in cathedral schools, 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 what happened? 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.000 To use our professional sports analogy? Free agents. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.000 Yeah, they became free agents, if you will, signing these 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:60.000 lucrative deals throughout Europe, the courts, and cathedrals. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.000 And just like professional athletes today, they typically didn't stay in one place for very long. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.000 They work for a few years and then they signed another lucrative free agent deal with 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.000 somebody else. And so they bounced around a lot. There were a few 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.000 franchise players, but they typically bounced around quite a bit. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:20.000 Okay? 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.000 Josquin is totally enigmatic, vertualy nothing 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:28.000 is known about his training or his early career. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.000 During the Renaissance, 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 music was linked to 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.000 rhetoric. Now this is where I 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.000 want talk about how music was based around speech 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.000 acts if you. Music is tied to the art 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.000 of rhetoric, or persuasive speaking. So as a result 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.000 of that, you have contrapuntal devices that clarify the text, you have 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:60.000 cadences that have different strengths that lock on to 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.000 punctuation in the text. And they're always looking for ways to bring out the 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.000 spirit of the words. Okay? So Josquin, in his day 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.000 he was compared to the great Roman orators, like Cicero and Quintilian, 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.000 and his works were considered the absolute model 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.000 of excellence for more than half a century after his death. If fact, 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.000 so many great things have been written about him that it's impossible really to 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.000 separate the man from the myth at this point. This is kind of 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:32.000 a strange analogy, but you know the blues singer 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Robert Johnson? He's arguably the most 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 influential musician of the twentieth century, and yet almost nothing 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.000 can be said with certainty of him. In fact, all we have is 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.000 two pictures now. There was a second photograph that showed up in the mid-nineties. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.000 There's one where he's wearing that dapper suit and he looks all happy. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.000 And then there's the one where he's all kind of sad, wearing suspenders, 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:60.000 and he's got this cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Just these two black and white 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.000 pictures are all we have of him. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:08.000 And Josquin's kind of similar. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.000 This simple woodcut is the only likeness we have of 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.000 the most famous musician of that particular period. The original 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:24.000 painting it was based on is long gone. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.000 For members of the nobility, 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:36.000 hiring Josquin was something that was very prestigious 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.000 and they competed for his services. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.000 It was widely believed, and this is a direct quote from an Italian courtier, 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:52.000 in Europe. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.000 So a lot of people wanted to work with him and 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:63.000 some people advised against working with him because he 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:08.000 was very introspective, I guess, and wasn't the most sociable person 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.000 and he was known to compose when he wanted to, rather than 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:16.000 you wanted him to. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.000 So some people advised working with him, but he usually got his price. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.000 Josquin was a singer by 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.000 profession, who just happened to be a great composer 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.000 because that's how it worked back in those days. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:36.000 It wasn't like you have a composer who works in the 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 office and writes the music and then hands it off to a director or conductor 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.000 who brings the music to life. In those days, the singer 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:48.000 was the composer and they were in the choir or directing 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.000 it singing. Okay? So Josquin 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.000 begins his career working for the Duke of Anjou, which is in northwestern France. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:60.000 And then, shortly after that, he signs another 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.000 lucrative free agent deal with noblemen from Milan. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.000 He signed a contract with the reigning duke of the area 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.000 who was almost immediately assassinated, which is kind of 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.000 a daily occurrence in the Renaissance, and then he went to work for the high ranking 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.000 Cardinal of Milan. But he really made his mark on the world 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.000 when he landed the ultimate gig in christendom. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.000 And that is a gig with the papal choir, working for 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.000 the Pope in Rome. And he did that when he was in his mid-thirties. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.000 And he spent a number of years there. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.000 After leaving the Pope's service, he signs another lucrative free agent contract 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.000 with the Duke of Ferrara and he worked there for several 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000 years and got and fled just in time as the Black 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:52.000 Death was making a second appearance in Ferrara at the time. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:56.000 And so he returned home and he spent his last years working for 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:60.000 cathedrals in northern France. Just to kind of 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.000 give you an idea of the geography. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.000 Kind of Italy during the Renaissance. So Ferrara, where Josquin 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.000 worked is up in the north there and it's a sizable duchy 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.000 kind of in between Venice and Bologna. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 It's kind of odd that he never went to work for the Medicis in Florence. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.000 Kind of odd that the greatest musician of the day didn't end up in the same place as 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.000 Leonardo and Michelangelo, but he didn't. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.000 And just while we're at it, while we've got it up there, you can see that big 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.000 swatch of purple in the middle there. That's the papal 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:40.000 states, so you can tell from that the Pope 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.000 is not only the spiritual leader of christendom, he's also the 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:48.000 secular king, if you will, for a sizable portion of Italy. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:52.000 Josquin was the master of contrapuntal techniques used by the 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.000 Franco-Flemish School and his work is the epitome of what we covered 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:60.000 last time, the Ars Perfecta, right? And what are some of the main 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:06.000 techniques of Franco-Flemish polyphony? 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:12.000 We saw a bunch of them. Drew? They typically had a low range. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.000 Okay, good. A dark rich sound was typical. Okay? How about 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.000 techniques, what did we see last time? Austin? 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.000 It's all polyphonic, specific techniques? 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.000 Good, canon is one technique. Duets is another one, which means 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.000 you've got two voices going. Drew? Imitation? Good, imitation. Points of imitation, 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.000 which are different from a canon. A canon means that everybody is singing the 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:40.000 same melody but they're at different parts, at different times and they just kind of go 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.000 around and around. A point of imitation is just a momentary 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 point of imitation and then the voices 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.000 go off and do something else. And we've also got trios, 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:55.000 where you've got three voices at once. And then when all the voices 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:60.000 declaim the text we call that? Familiar style, good. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000 This is one of Josquin's most well-known works. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:08.000 It's an early work, but 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:12.000 Josquin matured quickly. This particular motet is 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.000 discussed in just about every music history textbook there is. It's so famous 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.000 it's practically a cliche, but things are cliche for a reason. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.000 Alright? It's because they're really good. One of the reasons 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.000 why this work is so popular with 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.000 music history textbooks is because it provides 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 an absolute, stereotypical, quintessential example of how 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.000 Renaissance choral music is typically laid out and how it unfolds. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.000 Because we haven't seen anything that's stereotypical 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.000 and quintessential yet. We've seen Dunstable and Dufay, which still 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.000 had medieval characteristics, right? So it's kind of in transition. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.000 And then we saw the massive prolation, 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:60.000 which is anything but typical. I mean that thing's just crazy. Massive 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.000 canons, right? But this work here, is a more 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.000 general example of how the music typically unfolds. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.000 First of all, turn to the page where it just has the text and 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:16.000 translation. This is a prayer to Mary 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.000 and heaven. This is what, like the sixth or seventh 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.000 piece we've seen so far this term, dealing with praise to Mary? 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.000 And just a recap, why was Mary 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:32.000 so huge in pre-protestant consciousness and 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.000 still remains popular in catholicism today. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.000 Yeah, she's all about intersession because 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.000 when you want something, you've got a better chance of going to Mom than you do with Dad. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.000 Okay? So, prayers to Mary are quite 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.000 common. Oh and this 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:56.000 is a motet. What did we talk about? The motet has changed dramatically 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:60.000 from the Middle Ages. So what is it now? Simple definition 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.000 now, Middle Ages it was complex as heck. Now 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.000 it's pretty straight forward. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:12.000 Yeah, just a sacred polyphonic work basically, 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:19.000 that could be put into the liturgy in a variety of different ways. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.000 So, here's the text, and what I've done here is 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:28.000 showing how each portion of the text is dominated 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:32.000 by a different contrapuntal technique. So you've got variety, 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:36.000 but you've also got balance. Okay? 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.000 So the first phrase, 'Hail Mary, full of grace, 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:45.000 the Lord is with you' is set in four voice imitations. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.000 imitation in pairs and 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:63.000 familiar style. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:12.000 is set in, again, imitation in pairs 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:16.000 and also imitation in four voices. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:22.000 So that part's all about imitation. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:35.000 with different duets. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.000 chastity, whose purification was our cleansing' is set in 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:48.000 familiar style and canon at the same time. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:53.000 It gets kind of complicated in the phrase. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.000 Josquin likes that a lot. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.000 And 'Oh Mother of God, remember me 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:14.000 is entirely in familiar style. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:20.000 And that's typically how Renaissance polyphony is laid out. Every 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000 section of a text typically has a different technique. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:28.000 Or with another way they can go, is just that every single section 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:32.000 of the text has a new melodic idea that's worked out in imitation. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.000 And that's the form. They're through composed, that's how it's organized. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.000 Okay? A collage of different contrapuntal techniques. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.000 Okay, does everybody have this? 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:48.000 Okay, we can go on. Now let's map 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:52.000 this out. First of all, before we go any further, 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:56.000 just from what you know from Renaissance music already, 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:60.000 what would point you in the direction 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:07.000 that this is from the Renaissance, just from a quick glance at the score? 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:12.000 What strikes about as this being smack dab from the Renaissance? 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.000 Rich? The canon? Okay there's imitation in there 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:20.000 for sure, that's a big giveaway. It's got a true bass. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.000 Okay, good. Full four equal voices. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.000 Okay, there's no supporting voices. Good, that's a good point because we saw in the Middle Ages 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.000 the voice was kind of doing angular things and kind of a support tool and now 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.000 it's its own thing. Yeah? Uh, harmonically 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.000 emphasizing thirds and sixths. Good harmonized with thirds 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.000 and sixths, because harmony in this period is all about 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.000 enhancing the effect of simultaneous melodies, right? They're not thinking in terms of 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.000 chord progressions. Good. How about just the 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 melodies themselves? We have to start there because good counter points start 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:61.000 with a good melody. Okay? 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:04.000 How does that kind of emphasize 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.000 the principles of the Renaissance? Yeah? 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:12.000 A wild guess, but stepwise motion and limited skips. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.000 Good, there's lots of stepwise motion and limited skips. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:23.000 How about the shape of it? 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:28.000 Notice how it has a nice sense of 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.000 balance? It's kind of a nice arc. It doesn't go 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:36.000 in one direction for any particular amount of time. It kind of rises with 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.000 the fall of the phrase and then falls, because actually 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.000 Josquin does something interesting here. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:48.000 This opening melody is actually a snipett of Gregorian chant, 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.000 a chant that was a sequence praising 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:56.000 Mary, amass for the enunciation. But Josquin 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:60.000 soups it up a little bit with some nice melismas. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.000 And what he does with this nice little 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.000 fall here, this drop of a third, 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 is it creates kind of a calling effect. It sounds like 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:16.000 somebody's calling out to Mary. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:28.000 Another thing about this is notice how 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.000 when you have a comma, every time you have a comma in the text, he 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:36.000 follows it with a rest. So the phrases are nicely punctuated and they're all 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:40.000 offset from one another. And I've color-coded this 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:45.000 thing so we can kind of get a better idea of the imitation works. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.000 The work is in hypoionian, which means that it has a 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.000 C-final, but the range extends 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:60.000 considerably lower at times from the final of C, so it's 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.000 in hypoionian. And also going along with 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:08.000 the idea of Ancient Greece, they still believe in the doctrine of ethos, right? 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.000 And every mode has a different emotional effect. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 What we saw with the main 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.000 music theory guy from the Renaissance is Zarlino. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.000 So this would be mode twelve. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.000 He says, 'It's texts about love which 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:32.000 contain sad things. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.000 So this is a text about love, no necessarily romantic love, but certainly 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.000 devotion to a religious figure. I don't know about sad 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.000 things, but something's happened and the soul wants help. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:51.000 Right? So the mode was probably a good choice. 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:56.000 So, here we go 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:60.000 with four voice imitation, right? 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:07.000 And as you can see from the green coloring, the four voice imitation 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:12.000 dominates that whole first page. Two systems full. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.000 Also, here's kind of a small 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:20.000 word painting gesture. What's word painting again? It's another big Franco-Flemish 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:26.000 device. Descriptive words that have a... 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:32.000 Good, illustrating the text somehow with some musical gesture. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.000 And remember sometimes these things can be really subtle 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:44.000 Because in the renaissance the idea is that you're not killing everyone in the room with over the top gestures. Subtly equals sincerity. 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:53.000 And here's and example right here. Josquin had some nice melismas to the original chant melody. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.000 Because it's talking about hail mary full of grace. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:62.000 So he makes the line a little bit more pretty and graceful. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:06.000 So we got a four voice point of imitation, 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:10.000 and then, sneaking in with the red here, 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:16.000 we've got already a new point of imitation starting in the soprano. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:28.000 And on the next page, there it is. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.000 The next two systems use yet another point of imitation. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:37.000 Every phrase has a new melodic idea that's worked out contrapuntally in imitation. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:40.000 And why do they imitate again? 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:43.000 Good. Balance. Classical sense of balance. 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:50.000 And also they believed they were clarifying the text, because it's being repeated several times. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:58.000 Another Franco Flemish technique is the idea that as the phrase progresses the note values get smaller 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:64.000 so you've got this rhetorical charge that drives to the cadence. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.000 And of course, the phrases overlap 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:10.000 because in the Renaissance they don't like wide open space 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.000 Phrase set off by rests as you can see. 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:22.000 And in the next phrase, the yellow's coming out better than the red is, I'm surprised. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:26.000 Now we have imitation in pairs 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:32.000 Now, the next phrase is set entirely in familiar style. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.000 And there's a text painting technique here 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:41.000 talking about Mary creating things that are full of joy and her grace filling Heaven and Earth. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:48.000 So, in order to get that filling effect, he fills up the score with a lot of notes. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.000 So that's why it's familiar style. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:57.000 And also this is like the last phrase of the first section so it's declaiming the text. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:64.000 And it even ends with, there's no third but something close to a perfect authentic cadence. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:11.000 And again wonderful, beautiful, overlapping of phrases. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:23.000 So, in the middle system, that would be measure 28, 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:29.000 imitation impairs again 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:35.000 And then a new point of imitation starting in the soprano again at the last measure. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:43.000 There's just this wonderful collage of different contrapuntal techniques. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:52.000 Moving on to the new page, four voice imitation, in purple. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:67.000 And it's not exact imitation, I mean he does vary it a little bit but it's close. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:13.000 Again, every time there's a comma he has a rest, 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:16.000 So as to make the text very clear. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:20.000 And, notice, this is kind of another text painting device, 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.000 as the prayer gets more and more elaborate and more devotional to Mary, 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:28.000 prolifany becomes more complex and the melodies become more elaborate 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:36.000 So, after this four part imitation, we have a duet, 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.000 and as you can see, I kind of made a boo boo, 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:45.000 I was a little overly aggressive with the purple pen and I allowed that phrase to bleed into the two voice duet. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:48.000 So my bad there. 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:54.000 But you can see what's happening right? And see that phrase is offset. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:58.000 And of course, we got duets for balance. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:27:64.000 And the duet imitation lasts for the rest of that page. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:17.000 Moving on to the next page, things get more complicated yet. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:29.000 At the end of the duets, now we have, 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:33.000 familiar style and canon at the same time. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:40.000 So we have a canon between the soprano and the tenor, and the alto and the bass are in familiar style. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:48.000 So two voices are rowing their boat, and two voices are declaiming the text in familiar style. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:58.000 And he does that for a while, almost two full systems. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:04.000 And at the end of that page, 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.000 we see, as you can see from the colors, something new is happening again. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:24.000 What he's doing is, as you can probably tell from the colors, 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.000 the soprano and the tenor are imitating each other, 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:30.000 and the alto and the bass are imitating each other. 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:38.000 So it's like a double point of imitation, if you will. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:44.000 And that lasts, because it's a really cool technique, it lasts for pretty much that whole page. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:53.000 The double imitation lasts, for the first system of the next page. 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:64.000 And the rest of the work, 'Oh mother of God remember me," is set in familiar style. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:17.000 Notice on the word God, de, it's at the highest point of the system. 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:21.000 It's another subtle but effective text painting device. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.000 And what he's got going here, with ending the work with familiar style, 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:29.000 is that it's a gesture of humility I think. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:34.000 Because there was so much elaborate prolifany as he's praising Mary, 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:46.000 And then when you get to the end, you realize what all that complexity was all about. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.000 It's just one little nobody praying. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.000 So the music gets real simple as a gesture of humility. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:06.000 Okay, let's hear how this gorgeous work sounds. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:48.000 What do you think? 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:52.000 Is that Michelangelo in music? 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:59.000 That's some serious contrapuntal skill, absolutely, beautiful writing, and beautiful singing, that's an incredible choir. 00:35:59.000 --> 00:35:64.000 This certainly would have been a showcase of Josquin des personal ambition and technique too. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:08.000 But don't forget, this is how it would have been performed. 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:12.000 At the front, you've got the priests celebrating the mass, 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:17.000 and, below them, I know the angle is kind of interesting the way they portray this. 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:20.000 And in the middle, you've got the choir singing off the large part book. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:28.000 But off to the far right, you've got the dude that paid for it, you've got the nobleman or the ruler of the city, the duke. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:38.000 And, this music absolutely would have had that intimidation effect that Botichelli brought to his paintings. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:43.000 The way he would paint his patrons into the adoration of the magi or the nativity. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:45.000 It was an intimidating thing. 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:53.000 You could either be apart of this if you want to, but you better think twice if you're not apart of this and challenge it. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:56.000 So when somebody heard Josquin des music, 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:60.000 I mean everybody knew that you don't want to mess with the person who could pay for this music 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:10.000 Absolutely. And he'd have his family, is right below him, and then in the middle, you've got monks and soldiers and common folks, 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:19.000 and also looks like dogs. I don't know what the official church policy was with animals in church but it looks like they were there too. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:36.000 Oh, the church could too. For example, when he worked for the Pope. And the Pope was paying for it. 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:43.000 Or, if you worked for a Cardinal or a Bishop that was in charge of a particular cathedral and you worked for that particular cathedral, 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:50.000 you'd compose music and you'd get a bonus for your works, I'm sure. 00:37:59.000 --> 00:37:64.000 Oh yeah, oh absolutely, it would be a this is what I can do piece. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:09.000 And, like in a cathedral, like we saw in Florence, the medicis are in control. 00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:15.000 I mean there's also a Bishop there, who heads the church and stuff, but the Medicis were in control of it, 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:20.000 and they most certainly would have commissioned works from a composer. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.000 And as the choir's proclaiming it, yeah, it's definitely a political statement. 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:27.000 In addition to being a sign of piety and religious devotion, 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:36.000 because they weren't totally, totally oblivious to that aspect, in spite of the fact that this is a humanistic age for sure. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:42.000 So that's just kind of a short introduction to Josquin des work. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:46.000 If you think that was pretty, wait till you hear Wednesday's piece. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:52.000 It's the greatest hit of the age, if you will.