9. Music of the Middle Ages; Isorhythmic motet {de Machaut}

Music of the Middle Ages
An Anthology for Performance and Study by
David Fenwick Wilson
ISBN 0-02-872952-8 Schirmer Books
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Part IX The Continental Motet in the Fourteenth Century
1. Guillaume de Machaut - Quant en moy/Amour et biaute/Amara valde (Isorrhythmic motet)
2. Guillaume de Machaut - De bon espoir/Puis que la douce/Speravi (Isorhythmic motet) (3:32)
The Hilliard Ensemble
Isorhythm (from the Greek for "the same rhythm") is a musical technique that arranges a fixed pattern of pitches with a repeating rhythmic pattern.
Isorhythm consists of an order of durations or rhythms, called a talea ("cutting", plural taleae), which is repeated within a tenor melody whose pitch content or series, called the color (repetition), varied in the number of members from the talea. The term was coined in 1904 by Friedrich Ludwig (1903-04, 223) to describe this practice in 13th century polyphonic motets, but it later became more widely applied, especially to periodic repetition or rhythmic recurrence in tenors and other parts of 14th- and early 15th-century compositions, motets in particular (Bent 2001).

[@aleksm.1863]

I've listened to this piece (M1) and this recording of it many times. It's absolutely beautiful. A lot of the magic for me comes, I think, from its flexible and organic centricity. The linear approach in conjunction with the perfect consonances gently pulls perception of a harmonic centre here, there and everywhere. There is no rigid, fixed, unambiguous 'tonic' (to use a later term). The music floats around, almost directionless, flirting with imperfect consonances and decorative dissonances before returning to its austere resolutions. Again, all this comes from the method of composition characteristic of Machaut and 14th-century harmony: composing line by line, melody by melody, and combining these rather than using a harmonic framework or thinking. I think there's wonderful potential for a return to this truly linear (by that I mean free from chordal thinking), restriction-driven approach to counterpoint. An example would be bitonal or polytonal contexts. You can even see proto-bitonal counterpoint in M1. (It's an avenue that I wish more big composers explored.) Erik Satie's music is, in my opinion, a significant, innovative and faithful continuation of mediaeval linearism in the modern age. 'Socrate' is his masterwork in that respect. I like the comment that says how this piece sounds modern in its bleakness. I agree. It's timeless like that, beautiful, a thin, transparent masterpiece -- understated, yet once you have a proper listen and a proper feel and think, you come away with such love and appreciation for it. I do, anyway.

[@MrPSaun]

I like this. The counterpoint is completely foreign to even the Rennaisance, which itself is foreign in ways to the Baroque, and so on. I find that really fascinating as an amateur composer and musician who has taken a deep interest in counterpoint since he was in high school almost fourteen years ago. This has such a simple beauty, but tight logic, that really sets an almost timeless atmosphere within space.

[@alexgibson1291]

I love me an ensemble that tells a story. Such beautiful talea

[@mr-wx3lv]

Following the processes of western music throughout history is fascinating. Actually this music sounds almost modern in its stark bleakness.

[@vaughangarrick]

I hear Pärt et al

[@AngusDavisonComposer]

This is absolutely phenomenal. What a strange but somehow perfect little piece

[@harryjoseph1802]

Freeze every note of this divine music into bricks and use them to rebuild the Notre Dame. Keeping this music alive is Europe's responsibility. Kudos to the ensemble for this lovely performance.

[@bertvsrob]

the newcomers will only burn it down again

[@pianodan10]

@@bertvsrob say who you mean by “newcomers”.

[@CarloRossi54523]

Isn't the US also a Western country?

[@ladym.loves.exo9]

​@@pianodan10 either the younger generations or immigrants maybe

[@tomdis8637]

Magnificent and a tantalizing precursor to the Olympian works of Dufay. As for Europe, whatever secularization and socialism have not eviscerated of God, Family, and Country, the vast migrant “soft invasion” will finish off. Gloomy, I know, but all the more reason to cherish these recordings, doubtless the last of their kind.

[@anthonyglise1345]

Outstanding! Thank you for posting!

[@catherineatieno8094]

Food for the soul ❤

[@claudiolazary8959]

maravilloso. gracias pot subirlo

[@brugelxencerf]

Beautiful

[@Grargsnir]

2:53 groundbreaking for the middle ages

[@PaulNieman]

exquisite!

[@MedievalRichard]

Splendid.

[@_PROCLUS]

Very rare and most beautiful … Thank you very much for the upload

[@yehudayannay]

great music in all times

[@sylvainpenard9354]

00:00 et 02:36 : ténor isorythmique 00:30 : hoquet

[@JohnSmith-kr4vm]

a e s t h e t i c

[@jordancollin7308]

a e s t h e T H I C C

[@nebiry3912]

Nia

[@Hexspa]

That last one is funky.

[@artofmusic303]

I find this music pleasant. Is it possible to detect isorhythmic technique just by listening? I don't think I can, without looking at the score. It seems very much like a composer's "inside game".

[@bartjebartmans]

It seems to me that they listened differently to music than we do. Their existence wasn't conditioned by tonal harmony we are used to. Ars Antiqua, but especially Ars Nova are light years removed from us, difficult to reconstruct but even more difficult to follow for the average listener. But you can bet that was not the case for the listener in those days. They knew the phrases of Chant or folk song used and recognized the melismatic effects and clever changes in meter. A professor once stated that he wondered if the medieval musician, singer and listener experienced intervals completely different from us as they didn't have the later developed tuning with equal temperament. Fifths and fourths were open, possibly wide, which made thirds and sixths dissonant to their ears. Seconds very close to our ears, maybe even micro seconds, in which what seems to clash to our ears on our instruments was not a clash at all for their kind of micro intervals. Not sure if I am making sense, as it has been a while I pondered this.

[@gato_luchito9825]

@@bartjebartmans what tunning did they used?

[@bartjebartmans]

@@gato_luchito9825 Pythagorean tuning was widely used in medieval and Renaissance times. This article explains it pretty good. www.early-music.info/octaves_tuning/tuning/tuning.htm#:~:text=Pythagorean%20tuning%20was%20widely%20used%20in%20medieval%20and%20Renaissance%20times.

[@mahmod2173]

👋👋

[@ratoci]

Hello, is there any chance to have the score for this piece? I cannot find on Imslp.....

[@alexistrevino9349]

In case you haven’t found the score, you can try taking a screenshot of every part of the score in the video, then you put them all together and thus you get the score.

[@Hexspa]

fangasmic

[@Sergio.GonzalezPrats]

Is there any chance somebody has this transcription? it's particularly interesting when it's written in 6/8

[@bartjebartmans]

I added the info under the video of publication.

[@millennial8441]

Many "hoquet" passages.

[@MadMusicologist]

Beautiful music appropriately performed: eternal beauty. But the notation is puzzleing me. A double dotted "Semi", according to todays notation conventions, equals to 7 semiquavers, not 9: the correcot notation therefore should have been a dotted semi with a dotted quaver, tied to the first note.

[@user-ji2hq1re8t]

Is this song monophonic or polyphonic?

[@diegoarevalo884]

Can you share sheet music?

[@bartjebartmans]

It says in the info under the video what edition it is. You can easily buy it on-line

[@rnhtube]

What do the slashes mean?

[@rodnystinvil3155]

Il est ou les cantus firmus

[@SuperKrawa]

lyrics please#

[@bartjebartmans]

Look at the score and you see the lyrics.

[@Zyzz0602]

whats the texture of this song?

[@whatsthatnoise5955]

smooth