Medieval Polyphonic Patterns — Part I
Author: Margo Schulter
Fretboard illuminations: Roger E. Blumberg
Directory of images (fretboard illustrations of the medieval
chords and progressions covered in these articles)
Medieval Polyphonic Patterns:
Part I: The F-G-F theme
Please let me commence this promised essay by warmly thanking Cait for an exciting dialogue, and specifically for inspiring this post by sharing a suggestion of Bill Taylor, an expert in early harp music of the British Isles, that one typical medieval pattern useful in accompanying songs is a "home" sonority on F and an "away" sonority on G -- for example, an alternation between F3-C4-F4 and G3-D4 or G3-D4-G4.
In looking at this and other characteristic patterns in medieval music, I'm going to focus on what happens in polyphonic compositions. This recorded practice could serve as one guide to possible instrumental accompaniment practices for monophonic songs, albeit a guide which one might want to use with some caution and with due artistic judgment.
When I speak of caution and judgment, I have in mind especially some predilections and at least potential biases of my own to which the reader should be alerted.
First, for 35 years and a bit more, I've been improvising polyphonic textures in a medieval vocal kind of style on keyboards. If I produce something that evokes for me an ensemble organum, clausula, conductus, motet, or cantilena, etc., then I'm happy. Also, my compositional and analytical efforts have focused on written polyphony.
Secondly, my responses to improvised accompaniments in performances of monophonic song might reflect more a delight in familiar textures -- "how neat to have this trouvere song sound like an extempore conductus or motet" -- rather than a judicious evaluation of likely performance practices for a particular genre at a particular epoch.
To take what might some might consider an especially telling example:
I have taken great pleasure in a rendition of a trobador song by Marcabru, from around the middle of the 12th century, performed in a lilting modal rhythm with a plucked string accompaniment, as I recall, in a nice discant style (as noted in the performance notes) which I found a bit like a conductus.
Someone looking more critically at likely period style might ask whether trobador songs in this era were likely to be accompanied at all (a debatable question, as we've seen in recent threads), and whether a modal rhythm would prevail rather than a freer declamatory reading.
Anyway, there are some implicit assumptions in what follows that I'd like to make a bit more explicit. I tend to assume some kind of modal or mensural rhythm which could invite something like a composed polyphonic texture in this type of rhythm, and an approach where techniques like three-voice sonorities and progressions would not be out of place. These are the things that I'm accustomed to do, not necessarily the ones you'd want to do in a given situation.
For more freely declamatory songs, there could be other models. One could look at polyphonic settings from the 13th century or a bit later of Psalm recitation tones or the like, or even consider a trinic equivalent of the "dry recitative" of the 17th century or later.
With these caveats, I'll first consider the F-G-F pattern, and then, in Part II, another question which you have raised, Cait: the relationship between steps a third apart, such as F and A.
It's prudent to conclude this preface by saying that the possibilities suggested below are meant to be illustrative rather than exhaustive.
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1. The F-G-F pattern
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In recommending the "F home, G away" pattern, Bill Taylor has called attention to a theme characteristic of much Continental as well as English music in the 13th century.
We might actually take this as a theme within a yet more pervasive theme: the frequent alternation between steps a degree apart, typical of a style where progressions by stepwise contrary motion define the ideal for efficient and compelling cadential action. Thus if our final or trinic center of repose in on F, we'd expect unstable cadential sonorities on the adjacent steps of G or E, and this is in fact what tends to happen in standard practice.
Likewise, if the final is G, we might expect to find and do find that the most popular cadences involve unstable sonorities on the adjacent steps of A or F, and so on.
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1.1. A Montpellier manifestation
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Here we'll focus on the F-G-F theme, and some of its documented or possible expressions. First, I'll quickly recall an example adapted from the opening of a 13th-century Montpellier motet, #103, _Aimi! las! vivrai_/_Doucement me tient_/OMNES, which I seem first to have encountered through an analysis of Richard Crocker in his _A History of Musical Style_:
1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 ...
F4 E4 D4 E4 F4
C4 D4 C4
F3 G3 F4
(Maj7-5 + Maj3-1) (Maj6-8 + Maj2-4)
Here I've indicated the transient directed progressions introduced by the seventh sonority F3-C4-E4 at the end of the first unit and the sixth sonority G3-D4-E4 at the end of the second, each lending impetus to the musical motion forward into the next unit. The momentary partitions of M7|5_M3 and M6|5_M2 add a bit of color to the stable consonances, and the directed resolutions briding from one unit to the next could be described as _cadentiae_ in a medieval meaning of that term: apt progressions from more tense to more concordant intervals.
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1.2. A different style
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Taking the same framework for the two outer voices, we can also arrive at a passage from one of the most famous F-G-F pieces of the era, here transcribed in a 6/8 or 6/4 meter with two main beats to each measure:
1 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 | 1 ...
F4 E4 D4 E4 F4
C4 Bb3 C4
F3 G3 F4
(Maj6-8 + min3-5)
From a conventional Continental point of view, we start at "home" on the F trine, and move to "away" on a mildly unstable sonority: the split fifth G3-Bb3-D4, with its two unstable thirds, 5|m3_M3. Then the E4 in the upper voice gives us the momentary sixth sonority G3-Bb3-E4 or M6|m3_4, resolving in usual fashion to arrive back at our trinic "home" on F (Maj6-8 + min3-5).
In fact, however, this is the opening of the English round _Sumer is icumen in_, if one starts with the entry of the first voice singing the main canonic melody above the repeated _pes_ in the lower two voices. (If we elect to sing the pes voices alone first to give a feel for the "ground bass" pattern, then this passage would be a bit after the opening.)
While this three-voice passage at the beginning of the canon might suggest an F-G-F theme of trine-split fifth-trine, as more voices enter it quickly becomes clear that we have a different vertical style with pervasive tertian sonorities as the norm, the kind of thing reported by Anonymous IV for the "Westcountry" of England. This kind of writing, where thirds are treated as stable and conclusive, contrasts with other kinds of styles in England as well as on the Continent where these intervals are regarded as mildly unstable, and often participate in directed progressions to stable sonorities such as trines.
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1.3. A diversion after midnight
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Getting back to the latter kind of style, we could harmonize the framework of the outer two voices in many ways, for example this:
1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 ...
F4 E4 D4 E4 F4
C4 D4 C4 B3 C4
F3 G3 F4
(Maj7-5 + Maj3-1) (Maj6-8 + Maj3-5)
This solution might come out of the same stylistic milieu as our first example adapted from Montpellier: as in that example, the quick directed resolutions leading from one rhythmic unit to the next help move the harmonic rhythm along, and also to provide moments of unity knitting the voices together in their often diverse motions.
The theme of alternating between F and G can be a taking off point for lots of ideas. For example, here's something I came up with very early this morning as a kind of belated midnight discant diversion, with "r" in this notation showing a rest:
1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 |
D4 E4 F4 r G4 D4 E4 F4
D4 B3 C4 E4 D4 C4 B3 C4
G3 F3 G3 F3
(Maj6-8 + Maj3-5) (Maj7-5) (Maj6-8 + Maj3-5)
Again I'm showing the directed resolutions because this is an aspect of technique in lots of motets and the like which it seems to me it wouldn't hurt to do my part in emphasizing. Certainly I wouldn't want to suggest this kind of harmonic rhythm -- directed tension at the end of a unit resolved at the beginning of the next -- as any kind of "rule"; it's just a common and useful technique.
Other nuances here are the rest in the highest voice, followed by its entry to supply the octave of a complete trine, and then by a turn of phrase in this voice yielding a momentary sonority of G3-C4-D4, or 5|4_M2. From any usual standpoint this kind of sonority in the middle of a unit is quite incidental, and one might well have the voices proceed in the same way for melodic reasons quite apart from this vertical detail. However, I must confess to a weakness for 5|4_M2, and find it a nice touch of color.
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1.4. Adam de la Halle: An artful contrast
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A complete three-voice rondeau by Adam de la Halle might illustrate the F-G-F theme in another guise while also demonstrating an artful use of form to give shape to the "home-away-home" scenario.
Readings of the rhythmic fine points in this rondeau, _He, Diex! quant verrai_, can vary, so that this version is only one possible solution, with each of the indicated semibreves dividing a breve taken as having equal duration (e.g. triplets at the end of the second unit):
Musical Form: AB AAAB AB
A | B
1 2 3 + | 1 + 2 3 + + | 1 2 3 + | 1 + 2 + 3 | 123 ||
C4 F4 G4 A4 G4 F4 E4 D4 E4 F4 G4 F4 E4 D4 B3 C4
F4 F4 E4 D4 E4 E4 D4 C4 B3 C4 D4 C4 D4 E4 F4
F3 F3 A3 G3 A3 G3 G3 F3
Here the middle voice has the main melody, and we have a "departure and return" kind of scenario starting on F and eventually returning there. Of special interest, and marking a pivotal point in both the vertical structure and the form, is the unstable split fifth sonority G3-B3-D4 or 5|M3_m3, strategically situated at the middle of the piece.
This mildly unstable sonority, which Jacobus as a passionate advocate for this late 13th-century era will note as a pleasant element of style when aptly handled, marks a pregnant pause in the form: it occurs at the end of the "A" section of the rondeau, and signals that there is more to come.
Moving into the "B" section, we first proceed to another split fifth sonority on A, the step above G, which leads by a very transient sixth sonority A3-C4-F4 or m6|m3_4 to a momentary resolution on a G trine (min6-8 + min3-5), then bringing the music back home with a usual cadence from a sixth sonority on G to F (Maj6-8 + Maj3-5).
A neat touch of cadential strategy occurs in the portion of the musical form -- AB AAAB AB -- where the "A" section is thrice repeated. Here the conclusion of this section is directly followed by a return to the beginning -- resulting in another standard 13th-century cadence (voice-crossing disregarded for the moment):
D4... F4
B3... C4
G3... F3
(Maj3-5)
In this formula for a G-F cadence, or more generally a cadence where the lowest voice descends by a step, the lower third of the _quinta fissa_ (here major) expands to a fifth, while the outer fifth expands to the octave of a complete trine. While not quite as "efficient" as cadences where all unstable intervals resolve by stepwise contrary motion -- here the upper minor third resolves by similar motion to the upper fourth of the trine, and the highest voice leaps by a third -- this progression is common, and serves as a close in motets.
Here it serves at once to resolve the suspense caused by the conclusion of the "A" section on an unstable sonority, to reaffirm the contrast between F as "home" and G as "away," and also to give the piece a pleasant profile through the minor third motion D4-F4 in the highest voice of this formula. The actual voice-leading here involves a crossing of parts:
D4... C4
B3... F4
G3... F3
As a kind of lead-in to Part II, I'll briefly note two possible roles for the step A in this piece on F.
In the "A" section at the second unit, the trine A3-E4-A4 might be considered a momentary "home away from home": it is approached by a transient Maj2-4 resolution between the upper voices. When the A trine does play this role, it might be considered as something of a polyphonic equivalent of a confinal -- or, I might say, co-center. For example, we might have F as center or final, A as co-center, and G as an active step contrasting with either.
In the "B" section we see another possible role for the step A, by no means necessarily incompatible with the previous role: a step in cadential progressions leading to G, which in turn leads to F. Thus if we try to come up with a simplified version of the "B" section, we might get something like this:
... 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 ||
E4 F4 G4 E4 F4
C4 D4 B3 C4
A3 G3 F3
Here a sixth sonority on A resolves to a trine on G, and the upper voices then move to another sixth sonority on G which resolves to F. One might say that A is to G somewhat as G is to F.
In this piece, we might call F the "ultimate" goal, and G the "penultimate," since it is the step with the cadential sixth sonority leading directly to this goal.
Since the step A in this sequence likewise has an unstable sonority resolving to a trine on the step G, we might if so inclined call it "the penultimate of the penultimate."
Of course, this simplified version of the "B" section disregards Adam's elegant ornamentation of the close, and also the variety brought about by the voice-crossing. As Richard Crocker has well said in regard to the 13th-century motet, the composers are adept in finding rich variations on standard passages and progressions.
Influences proposed for these three-voice rondeaux of Adam include the conductus, the polyphonic rondellus, and improvised accompaniments of monophonic dance songs. If the last influence were significant, these masterpieces might record some of what improvising musicians were doing -- or one version of this, as adapted by a composer skilled in both the trouvere song and the motet.
At any rate, the F-G-F or more generally "adjacent home and away steps" theme is a fertile start for improvising or composing: the dilemma remains, of course, as to which types of improvised polyphonic techniques, or possibly newly composed arrangements, one considers appropriate for a given genre in a given performance situation, with "HAP or HEP" questions[1] likely playing a role in one's choices.
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1.5. An aside: Fluidity and oscillation
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Having traced out some of the possibilities of the F-G-F theme, I should add that in some pieces we have a fluid oscillation or "see-sawing" between F and G in which either might prove to be "home."
Part of this picture is that just as G is a favorite penultimate for a center on F, so F is an adjacent degree and common penultimate for a center on G. Consider this final cadence of a kind often found, for example, in conducti:
C4 D4
A3 G3
F3 G3
(Maj3-1 + min3-5)
Here a split fifth on F, 5|M3_m3, resolves to a stable fifth on G; thus G is the ultimate, and F the cadential penultimate.
In some pieces, there's a charming fluidity, moving back and forth between F and G and eventually settling on one or the other at the final cadence. This happens in a most elegant motet, _On parole/A Paris/FRESE NOUVELE, Montpellier #319.
The piece opens with a trine on F, and soon displays a felicitous point of form facilitated by the structure of the French tenor, apparently a street cry advertising "Fresh strawberries, wild blackberries" -- or, it has been suggested by one commentator, possibly recording some kind of political slogan.
To see (and hear) this point of form, let us consider the progression at the conclusion of the first statement of the tenor melody, measures 7-9 in a modern transcription barred in 3/4:
1 2 3 + | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 |
A4 A4 G4 F4 G4 D4 E4 F4
E4 D4 C4 D4 r C4
A3 G3 r F3
Here we start with a trine on A, with the upper voices moving by the end of the unit to a very quick sixth sonority resolving to a trine on G (min6-8 + min3-5). While the lower two voices pause at the end of the measure, the note E4 in the highest voice exerts a very satisfying pull to the full trine on F.
This formula thus might resemble the "B" section of the rondeau by Adam de la Halle (Section 1.4): there is again a descent in the lowest voice of A-G-F, with A leading to a momentary resolution to G, and G to a trine on F.
However, the second and third rhythmic units of this example actually splice together the conclusion of the first statement of the tenor, ending on G, as marked by the rest, and the commencement of the next statement starting on F. At the conclusion of this delightful motet, one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have heard, we settle agreebly on a final cadence to G:
1 + 2 3 + | 1 2 3 ||
G4 A4 A4 G4 F4 G4
A3 B3 C4 D4
A3 G3
In addition to illustrating the fluid interplay between F and G, this piece has a feature making it appropriate to quote here: in the first excerpt, the melodic turn in the highest line of G4-D4-E4-F4 provides one not unlikely source for my own use of this figure (Section 1.3).
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Note
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1. "Historically Appropriate Performance" (HAP) aims to do, and do well, what reasonably _may_ have been done in a given era and genre; "Historically Educated Performance" (HEP) seeks to canvass period sources and then do something that "fits the music in an informed way," quite possibly using new techniques, or techniques of a group such as the Studio for Early Music which some might hold more typical of 1970 than 1270.
Continued in Part IIA
Most appreciatively,
Margo Schulter
2004, Copyleft
Index of articles:
Medieval Sonorities and Instruments, some of the content preceding the main essays (not done)
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