What is an Isorhythmic Motet?

[@Mihirishere]

You taught me more than my college professor and textbook did all semester, in 3 minutes and still had time to banter. Bravo Classic Nerd.

[@SundayMatinee]

Needs examples. That would make this 10x better.

[@Max-fi4jl]

Puttin' on the Ritz by Irving Berlin is a good example, the swing in the chorus is generated by this pattern. The melody takes 7 beats in a cycle and the backing instruments and chords take 8. This melody repeats twice totalling 14 beats before the last two beats ("fash-ion") move towards the dominant which lands on the start of the 5th bar ("sits"). 4 more bars to resolve ("put-tin' on the ritz"). Then repeat.

[@fietehermans9903]

Also, if you want a historical example of isorhythmic motets, check out the works of Philippe de Vitry. Even though part of his work was lost, and there have been a lot of misattributions in the past, the works we are certain of are very complex and perfect examples.

[@deannahorjus-lang9478]

Fantastic description and history, but could you add a few musical examples? That would be helpful.

[@donna25871]

Deanna Horjus-Lang Dufay wrote some incredible isorhythmic motets. Start with those.

[@mylinhdaley2212]

Studying for a music history exam. This really helped!!

[@TheMathSorcerer]

Oh wow, your bookshelf, just like mine almost, so cool!!!!!!!!!

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanx, Thomas. Always interesting. Your friendly Jazzerin. 🌹🌹🌹

[@gaylerhodes7011]

This was so helpful- thank you!

[@mMonazzzLindozz]

Hello !, I think you video is excellent, but look, I originally speak spanish and I wanted to show this video to my classmates, but they do not understand english very well, so I was wondering if I could add spanish subtitles to your Video, would you let me, please?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Sure! I've turned on community contributions, so you should be able to add Spanish subtitles. I'm sending you a private message with the link.

[@llanocano15]

awesome video!

[@1LaOriental]

Love this stuff, but still having trouble understanding ISO rhythms. 😞

[@kosmolove8454]

Ssshh!! Keep it down in the library!!

[@Hexspa]

0:40 - Rock guy here. You say "counterpoint: the art of putting two or more melodies together..." Isn't that polyphony whereas 'counterpoint' is more specific than that. I mention this since you're emphasizing broad vs. narrow terms. Thanks.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Polyphony is the existence of multiple melodic strands, whereas counterpoint is the art of crafting those melodies in ways that fit with each other as defined by more specific rules, which slowly but surely came into existence throughout the course of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. They're not identical definitions, but they overlap enough that, for the purposes of a video explaining isorhythmic motets, they're close enough.

[@tomdis8637]

Enter Conlon Nancarrow…BTW, good intro to isorhythmic motets. Dufay is my hero!

[@HanBurritoz]

Hey, why do some composers write big parts in 4/4 but using pretty much only triplets instead of using the 6/8 time signature?

[@ClassicalNerd]

This has always bugged me too, since 6/8 and 12/8 are both specifically built for compound rhythms. However, sometimes it's easier to have unmarked triplets if not all of the voices would benefit. The opening of the _Moonlight_ Sonata illustrates this; if the repeated-note melody that comes in were in 12/8, it would have to have awkward ties and unusual tuplets. Even in music that _would_ work exactly the same in a compound meter, I think it has a lot to do with emphasizing the strong-weak-mid-weak feeling that 4/4 more directly imparts. It's part of the psychological impact of a given notation.

[@aaronbrown6264]

@@ClassicalNerd A bar of 12 eighth notes in 12/8 at 100 bpm sounds noticeably slower than a bar of eighth note triplets in 4/4, 100 bpm,as well.

[@bexe2000]

thank you so much, you explained that really well :)

[@Gorboduc]

So..... What did it sound like?

[@mgamel777]

This may be a dumb question but what is the difference between this and an ostinato?

[@ClassicalNerd]

An ostinato is just something that repeats over and over-either a chord that's just reiterated over and over, or a bass line (such as one might find in a passacaglia or a chaconne, where there are variations over a steady baseline of several bars in length).

[@mgamel777]

Classical Nerd thank you very much!

[@allesvergaengliche]

thanks for the video. very educational. what's the Schubert bio on your shelf behind you?

[@ClassicalNerd]

That would be "Schubert: The Music and the Man" by Brian Newbould, who has done completions of Schubert's unfinished symphonies.

[@albertslevics772]

What's a multi-sectional motet?

[@Meiadus]

A term our music history teacher made up :)

[@albertslevics772]

@@Meiadus ahhhhhhh, I guess we're on the same page here :D Internet couldn't help with this one..

[@SFKelvin]

You need to put the genre in context of the Paris University and "educated" or "elite" knowledge transmission (and I would extend this to esoterica and the occult and even secret societies - so called "sacred geometries"). The music doesn't sound like anything - you can't "hear" isorhythm. It's something that is encoded into music - performed from high galleries far from the rabble, who even if they are exposed to this High Music, will be unable to divine its secret mysteries hiding in plain sight. You can then fast forward to the 20th century with "cunning theoretical spice" to note that the Darmsdadt summer courses were funded by the CIA and a similar covert/occult knowledge tradition developed in elite academies.

[@theangryginger7582]

meds

[@sterlingbidler]

cool vid

[@bungleboy1183]

Sounds sort of like proto-polyrhythms

[@kristianperezmcdougall1641]

what the hell did he say at 0:34 "a motet is a....???.."

[@ClassicalNerd]

"an _a cappella_ composition"

[@belenaldanav]

💛

[@youngjumbuk]

biblical

[@Hist_da_Musica]

tha nk you fo rth is gre at vi deo

[@donna25871]

No one did the isorhythmic motet better than Dufay.

[@martygriffiths7772]

Unless it's John Dunstable?

[@carlosandres7006]

And zero musical examples