Orlande de Lassus’ collection of madrigals first caught my interest for research because of the sharp contrast which they present to the repertoire of two part Lassus motets that I will also be discussing in this paper. With four books for five voices published between the years of 1555-1567, the techniques of polyphony and use of recurring rhythmic thematicism throughout many of the madrigals that I researched presented a good opportunity to compare against the predominantly imitative two voice texture of the Lassus motet Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum which I was assigned (Harr). The use of differing phrases, melodic variation, and the poetic style of the text which is displayed in the madrigal which I chose in particular seems to contrast against the often strictly imitative, melismatic, and shorter nature of the motet. Though I wouldn’t necessarily argue that there are particularly unique points of compositional contention in this specific madrigal, it is perhaps still interesting to discuss the compositional choices made in the piece, why they are codependent upon one other, and why they are so significantly unique from those found in the motet.
Published in 1555, the Lassus madrigal Mia benigna fortun’e ‘l viver lieto was first published by Gardane in Venice, and is part of what the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians calls a “highly successful” and frequently reprinted first book (of four books) of madrigals for five voices (10. Petrarca). Predominantly characterized by Petrarchan sonnets, the musical and lyrical content of the first book is defined by both serious and expressive thematic material throughout; a characteristic, according to the New Grove, of many of the madrigals written by Lassus before his departure from Rome in 1555. The New Grove continues to characterize these Petrarchan sonnets as melodically elaborate and complex, making a free use of melodic material with little or no imitation used throughout many of the madrigals included in the first book (Harr). Among many reasons, I might suggest, it is both the secular nature of these madrigals (or, more specifically, their use for popular consumption) as well as the dense five voice texture which it is set in that gives reason for their clearly unique lyrical and musical style of composition.
Observe, for example, the madrigal’s stark contrast against Lassus’ sacred, two voice motets. Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum was published more than twenty years later in
An analysis of the music and text of Mia benigna fortun’e ‘l viver lieto, thus, as expected, proves that the piece does in fact fulfill all of the generalizations which the New Grove makes about the first book. Although all five voices make their first entrance in a typically imitative fashion (with the cantus entering first on a G above middle C, the quintus entering in strict imitation a perfect fourth lower, the tenor a whole note later in free imitation a perfect fourth lower than the quintus, followed by the altus also in strict imitation on the same pitch as the cantus’ entrance, and finally the bassus a breve after the altus’ entrance an octave lower than the cantus, in free imitation), this is in fact one of the only observable cases of strict imitation seen in the entire piece, and even here it only lasts for three bars, and has minor variations in melodic intervals in the tenor and bassus line. Of the next five succeeding phrases of the madrigal as well, only the fifth phrase (vòlti subitamente in dolgia e ’n pianto, page two, second system, Example 1) also begins in an imitative fashion, and none of the voices actually proceed in strict imitation. Rather, each voice enters with a vaguely similar rhythmic theme, but almost immediately proceeds to develop independent melodic material afterwards. As mentioned in the New Grove, in fact, the majority of this madrigal’s melodic content is “distinguished by a free use of material” where, instead of the technical capacity for imitation that many of Lassus’ other works demonstrates (including his motets, as I will soon discuss), the madrigal features a unique melodic line for each voice (Harr).
In lieu of strict imitation, I might suggest, is a sort of thematic unity created through recurring rhythmic imitation that not only helps to unify the polyphony of the madrigal’s five voice texture, but demarcates many (though not all) of the phrases in the piece. The first, fifth, and sixth phrases, in fact, all use recurring rhythmic themes as a means of designating a new phrase. The first, as mentioned earlier, employs a combination of strict and free imitation to create its staggered, polyphonic entrance, and thus by definition carries a high degree of rhythmic unity. The fifth phrase, however, is unique in that it does not employ any significant form of melodic imitation, yet still manages to create a staggered yet unified entrance by beginning each voice with the same rhythmic figure. Observe, the fifth phrase (vòlti subitamente in dolgia e ’n pianto, page two, second system, Example 1) begins with the
The sixth and final phrase (odiar vita mi fanno, et bramar morte, page two, third system, Example 2) again employs a similar use of rhythmic imitation without melodic repetition, but proceeds with the concept for more than half of the phrase. Notice at the start of the phrase, the tenor line first introduces the rhythmic figure: a half note, followed by a dotted half note, quarter note, and two half notes. In the succeeding nine bars of the phrase, this same rhythmic figure recurs in almost every measure, in every voice, at times simultaneously in two voices at once. Lassus, no doubt, created this sort of imitation to unify the phrase while maintaining its polyphonic texture. Each time the theme is imitated, however, it’s slightly melodically unique. When it occurs first in the tenor, the theme opens with an octave leap between the first half note to the dotted half note, yet when it is imitated in the bassus immediately afterwards, it begins with a leap of a minor sixth, and when it is imitated again in the tenor a bar and a half later, it begins with two consecutive Ds. A further analysis of this phrase shows that, in fact, the theme never occurs with the same melodic contour. Lassus creates here an imitative texture in these phrases without sacrificing the melodic variation that strict imitation does; a technique, as I will soon discuss, that proves to be quite relevant to the piece’s dense texture as well.
Lassus’ motet Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum, in stark contrast, is composed with a set of relatively unique compositional techniques. While the madrigal employs extensive melodic variation throughout the piece, the motet is composed in a much more melodically conservative fashion, using various forms of imitation throughout to create its polyphonic texture; a result, I might suggest of the use of a clearly thinner vocal texture in the two part motet, as opposed to the five part madrigal. The differences found between these two pieces, thus, is rooted not only in their differing aesthetic purposes (the motet for pedagogical uses, and the madrigal for popular consumption), but in their contrasting compositional settings as well.
Observe, for example, the recurring use of both strict and free imitation throughout the motet. An analysis of the melodic interval content of the first phrase of the piece (Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum, first through third system, Example 3) shows that it is almost entirely in strict imitation, excluding the melodic leaps employed to emphasize the change of words in the phrase. As analyzed in the score, each word of the phrase is intervallically identical to the one which it is imitating, with the word “Justi” imitated at an octave, the words “tulerunt spolia impiorum” imitated at a perfect fifth, and the word “impiorum” imitated at a perfect fourth on its second repetition. Further analysis of the succeeding two phrases of the motet, as well, prove to show that the second phrase (et cantaverunt, Domine, nomen sanctum, third through fifth system, Example 4), begins with a theme presented in the altus that proceeds to be imitated by the bassus in retrograde for four bars, and the third phrase (et victricem manum tuam laudaverunt partier, fifth through seventh system, Example 5) begins with a theme presented in the bassus which is then freely imitated in the altus for four bars.
Although neither the second nor the third phrase proceeds in imitation for more than a few bars, two details are apparent here. First, Lassus clearly goes out of his way here to exhaustively demonstrate as much imitative counterpoint as he can in a single piece of music, making use of three different types of imitative counterpoint in what is quite clearly an exemplary pedagogical tool (though also artistically valuable as well, no doubt), and second, these techniques of imitation are most clearly audible and perceivable because of the thin, two voice texture which it is written in. Unlike the dense, five voice polyphony of the madrigal which was analyzed earlier, the techniques of imitation are most audible here because the texture is so thin. I might suggest, even, that Lassus didn’t bother using any significant form of strict melodic imitation in his madrigal simply because the technique wouldn’t really be audible in the dense five voice texture which the piece employs. As appreciable as a strict imitation between two of five voices may be in a score, it is more than likely that such compositional prowess would be lost in texture in actual performance. I might suggest, thus, that the dense, five voice texture of the madrigal is exactly the reason why Lassus chose to employ a form of rhythmic imitation without really taking care to mimic any significant form of melodic imitation throughout; a conclusion, no doubt, made apparent in the madrigal’s comparison to the highly imitative nature of Lassus’ two voice motet.
While textual contrasts have the most significant influence over the techniques of imitation used in these two compositions, however, I would suggest that both lyric content and length play a simultaneous role in characterizing the two pieces’ syllabic settings as well. As mentioned previously, the New Grove lyrically characterizes the first book of madrigals for five voices as predominantly Petrarchan sonnets which by definition are serious and expressive in poetic fashion (Sadie, Petrarch, 498). Likewise, the bicenia motet Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum, as Tucker and Oost-Zinner discuss in their article, is set with a sacred text, is commonly used in liturgical settings, and is generally less verbose than the Lassus madrigal.
These two characterizing qualities, in fact, are extremely relevant to the fashion in which their texts are set. A lyrical analysis of the madrigal, for example, proves that the use of melismatic content in the piece is at best minimal, almost exclusively occurring at cadences and phrase endings (most likely as a means of signaling the end of a phrase, I would suggest). The lack of significant melismatic textual settings in the regular discourse of each phrase, however, is likely tied to the madrigal’s poetic lyric setting, and the importance which the audience’s ability to understand the lyrics of the piece has in the compositional process. A translation of the text proves, as expected, that the madrigal discusses serious themes of sadness, pain, and hatred for life:
Mia benigna fortuna e ‘l viver lieto,/ ( My kind fortune and joy in life,/)
i chiari giorni et le tranquile notti/ ( the bright days and the tranquil nights,/)
e i soavi sospiri e ‘l dolce stile/ (the sweet sighs and the amiable style/)
che solea resonate in versi e ‘n (that once resonated in my verses and my
rime,/ rhymes,/)
vòlti subitamente in dolgia e ‘n ( now suddenly change to pain and
pianto,/ weeping/)
odiar vita mi fanno, et bramar (make me hate life and long for
morte./ death./)
(
No doubt an elaborate poetic scheme at work in the madrigal’s text, it is apparent that the meaning of the text and the emotion portrayed through it is just as relevant (if not more relevant) than the musical aspects of the piece. Particularly considering that the madrigal was originally published in an entire collection of similarly poetic compositions, the desire to accurately portray the poetry of the Petrarchan sonnet which is used here is apparent in the piece’s lack of melismas which, though function well in melodic elaboration, tend to obscure the word being used when extended for long periods of time. To avoid such an obscuring of the text, thus, each syllable is represented by a single note at almost all times, making essentially every phrase and every stanza clearly audible in performance.
Likewise, the motet Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum employs a significant amount of melismatic settings, both at cadences and otherwise. In this case, it seems that the use of the melisma throughout the motet is not just a means of signaling a cadence, however, but as a consistently recurring tool of melodic development and elaboration. Particularly as the piece develops in climactic energy, the use of the melisma grows in frequency and length. Notice that the first phrase of the piece is relatively syllabic, and only features one melisma over the word “Justi,” sustained for two bars. As the piece develops, however, the frequency with which melismas are used and the duration with which they are stretched out over grow longer. The melodic peak of the piece, in fact, is emphasized in the last seven bars of the piece, featuring the longest melisma of the piece in the bassus, aptly creating the motet’s climactic point not just through melodic contour, but through lyric setting and extended melismas as well.
The use of melismas here, I would suggest, is a tool which Lassus chose to employ because of the relatively diminished emphasis on the text’s meaning. Although it is certainly true that its liturgical setting is not completely irrelevant, it is also true that the motet’s established pedagogical function plays an important role in the extensive use of melismas throughout as well. Considering in particular that this motet was originally published as a part of a collection of twelve pedagogical compositions (as mentioned earlier), the decreased emphasis on the text’s meaning certainly supports the composer’s choice to use the melisma as a compositional tool in developing the piece’s melodic and rhythmic contour. Although this is certainly not to suggest that all sacred compositions without expressed pedagogical function avoid the use of melismas, I would suggest that the melisma has more of a presence in the motet than in the madrigal because a proper interpretation of the text is not nearly as important in the motet as that placed on the madrigal’s Petrarchan sonnet.
This, in fact, is a textual contrast which, along with the other compositional choices brought up in this paper, sharply demonstrates the contrast between Lassus’ sacred, secular, and pedagogical compositions. As expected, the analytical findings done for this paper largely coincide with the existing historical evidence that stand to generalize the character of the two compositions in consideration here. Just as the New Grove indicated that the collection of madrigals that Mia benigna fortun’e ‘l viver lieto was initially published with are predominantly poetic, secular, and melodically elaborate, so my analytical findings of the piece demonstrate that not only are these indications true, but the compositional techniques employed all benefit these aspects in a codependent manner; the text setting is syllabic to benefit the elaborate lyric content, and the melodic elaboration (in lieu of strict imitation) is linked to the dense five voice texture of the piece.
Likewise, my research and analysis done with the bicenia motet Justi tulerunt spolia impiorum coincide in a similarly codependent fashion. Just as Tucker’s article and the New Grove both indicated that the motet originally served pedagogical purposes for two part contrapunctal writing, so my analysis confirms. Not only does the piece demonstrate textbook examples of strict and free imitation in two parts, but it also exemplifies the fashion in which melismatic text settings function in the development of climactic arrival points; the motet, in other words, is an exemplary pedagogical tool because of the compositional choices made. Thus, as I expected when I chose two clearly contrasting Lassus compositions, my analysis and comparison of these two pieces exemplifies two very different styles of composition which nevertheless both typify their era of music simultaneously. This is a curious finding, no doubt, considering that the two pieces were not only written by the same composer, but within twenty years of each other; a testament, perhaps, to the broad range of music which existed during the era.
Works Cited
. "Lassus." Grove Music Online.
Johnston, Charles, trans. Lassus: Il Canzoniere De Messer Francesco Petrarca. Harmonica Mundi, 2003. Print.
Oost-Zinner, Arlene, and Jeffery Tucker. "Lasso's Bicenia: Practice toward Perfection." Sacred Music 1st ser. 134 (Spring 2007). International Index to Music Periodicals. Church Music Association of
"Petrarca."
Sadie, Stanley, Margot Levy, and John Tyrrell. "Orlande De Lassus." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed. Vol. 14.
Sadie, Stanley, Margot Levy, and John Tyrrell. "Petrarch." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed. Vol. 19.
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