CHAPTER 5
1. Why do you think Josquin achieved an unprecedented level of fame? What aspects of
sixteenth-century society contributed to his reputation? Thinking back to previous
chapters, consider how his reputation reflects changing attitudes about the role and
status of the individual composer.
We can find many reasons to account for Josquin’s ascendance. He was one of the first
composers to benefit from print culture: Printing enabled Josquin to achieve recognition
previously withheld from composers whose work circulated solely in manuscript, an
expensive medium. Further, Josquin’s individualistic style, which would have been
considered hubris in an earlier time, was instead lauded by the emerging movements of
humanism and Protestantism, both of which prized individualism.
2. What evidence do we have of Josquin’s reputation among later composers and
theorists? Which composers wrote parodies of his works, and how would you
characterize them?
The simplest and most powerful evidence we have of Josquin’s reputation among later
musicians is the imitation and reproduction of his music which they undertook. In his
Dodecachordon, for example, Henricus Glareanus reprinted Ave Maria . . . Virgo Serena in
its entirety for use as an example.
Both Antoine de Févin and Ludwig Senfl composed parodies of Josquin’s works. These
works are parodies in an obsolete sense: They are closer to what we would term “homage” or
“tribute” than to our modern concept of parody. They imitate, rather than mock, and
“imitation Mass” is perhaps a more accurate term.
3. Explain the various ways that Josquin’s setting of Ave Maria reflects the declamation,
syntax, and semantic content of the words.
The Ave Maria’s declamation is maintained by a carefully syllabic setting which restricts
long note values to stressed syllables and relegates melisma to the ends of phrases. The
regular use of points of imitation to begin each quatrain clarifies the text’s syntax, and the
semantic content of the Ave Maria is illustrated by such features as the unison texture which
accompanies the shift to the first person.
4. What is the concept of ars perfecta? What are its characteristics, as codified in
Zarlino’s theoretical writings?
Ars perfecta is a concept which proposes that music is a perfected art, and precludes further
artistic progress. An essentially humanist concept, its notion of perfection was based on
classical ideals: balance, clarity, and force of statement.
Zarlino’s treatise Le institutioni harmoniche put forth the inclusion of the triad (the harmonia
perfetta) as a basis for the ars perfecta. This represented a significant innovation: previous
harmonic concepts relied upon the two-voice structure of discant. This broadening of
harmonic scope provided a theoretical basis for the inclusion of larger vocal forces, another
tenet of the ars perfecta.
5. Why did Zarlino call Adrian Willaert “the new Pythagoras”?
Adrian Willaert was the master of ars perfecta, a consummate technician who embodied the
classical ideas of structure and balance. Willaert was also a noted theorist and pedagogue.
Naturally, in drawing a comparison, the humanist Zarlino reached for Pythagoras, the
eponym of classical harmony and founder of the oldest musical school.
6. How would you characterize the earliest written instrumental music, as reflected in
the works of Jacques Buus?
Buus’s instrumental music adheres to the standards of ars perfecta put forth in earlier vocal
music. It exhibits the same attention to polyphonic craftsmanship which had been previously
tailored to suit the declamation of text. Nevertheless, Buus’s style is still exemplarily
instrumental in its exhaustive focus upon technical, rather than textual, possibilities.
7. Describe the views about church music articulated by the Council of Trent. In what
ways is Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli consistent with these recommendations?
The Council of Trent promulgated the need for clearly intelligible text in the Mass setting
and stressed the sacred, rather than aesthetic, function of church music. Palestrina’s Missa
Papae Marcelli conforms to these standards through several strategies. Palestrina composed
the Missa Papae Marcelli without the base of a pre-existing tune, as in the popular cantus
firmus mass. This allowed him to avoid the sometimes difficult motivic contortions required
in such works and instead focus on clear melodic exposition. The Missa Papae Marcelli also
exhibits a large amount of homorhythm, which allows more verbose portions of the Mass,
such as the Gloria and Credo, to retain their intelligibility despite the vocal forces involved.
8. What circumstance gave birth to the myth that Palestrina saved church music? Why
do you think people were drawn to this legend in the centuries after Palestrina’s death?
Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli was published shortly after the Council of Trent proposed
radical changes to church polyphony. The Mass seems to adhere to the Council’s suggestions
so thoroughly that some have assumed it was a direct response on Palestrina’s part.
The popularity of the myth could have multiple sources. Masterpieces such as the Missa
Papae Marcelli often accumulate such legends about them, willful attempts to add to their
musical grandeur by further attaching historical and cultural significance. The myth also
provides a simple and clear (even if dubious) explanation of the dramatic change which
Catholic polyphony undertook in Palestrina’s time. This is no doubt appealing to some.
9. What stylistic traits in the music of Palestrina came to define the stile antico? How
does Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum (1725) attest to the continuing importance of this
style?
A regular treatment of rhythm and dissonance combined with clear point of imitation is at the
heart of the stile antico. Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum, a contrapuntal learner’s text of 1725
which reduces Palestrina’s style into five “species,” proved the lasting pedagogic importance
of the style.
10. Describe William Byrd’s position as a Catholic in Protestant England. How was
Byrd’s music influenced by Catholicism, particularly after his retirement from the
Chapel Royal?
William Byrd was what is termed a recusant, a covert follower of Catholicism in Protestant
England. In the face of official persecution, Byrd hid his religious affiliation while serving in
Queen Elizabeth’s Chapel Royal, composing new music for the emerging Anglican Mass.
After retiring from the Chapel Royal, Byrd took to composing for the Catholic service, and
the furtive nature of recusancy began to influence his music in predictable ways. No longer
could he compose for expert choristers: His music became intimate and restricted to a limited
number of voices. Understandably, much of this later music also takes on a plaintive tone,
reflecting the oppressed position of the recusants.