Chapter 5

Question 1

Cantus Firmus

Answer 1

(fixed song) new name for tenor in a Motet. In a motet, Tenor (cantus firmus) lost its identity as chant and became raw musical material

Question 2

Choirbook format

Answer 2

Began with motets. Motets were printed in large choirbooks to be read by multiple people at once. Some parts on left page, some on right.

Question 3

Clausula

Answer 3

Section in a larger polyphonic work in discant style (i.e. the tenor
is also moving!)
* Usually in modal rhythm
* From Latin word for “clause” or “phrase”

Question 4

Polyphonic Conductus

Answer 4

Piece for 2-4 voices on rhymed, metrical strophic poems in Latin, usually on a sacred or serious topic but not Biblical.
* Newly composed tenor
* Homorhythmic (all voices sing together in same rhythm)
* Primarily syllabic, with some melismatic portions, esp. at
beginning and end.

Question 5

Counterpoint

Answer 5

Multiple independent lines working together

Question 6

Discant (note against note)

Answer 6

A type of organum. Note-against-note or 1-3 notes to each tenor note

Question 7

Drone

Answer 7

earliest polyphony from folk, other traditions: melody against
sustained pitch (final of mode or 5th above)

Question 8

Duplum

Answer 8

Often called motetus in a motet. The first voice above the tenor.

Question 9

Franconian Notation:

Answer 9

A type of early rhythmic notation. double long, long, breve, semibreve

Question 10

free or florid organum

Answer 10

free or florid organum: upper
voice has many more notes
than the lower, usu. 3-15 notes
per tenor note (also called
“double organum” or “pure
organum”) this became the
more common style

Question 11

homorhythmic

Answer 11

All voices sing together in the same rhythm. A characteristic of polyphonic conductus.

Question 12

Leonin

Answer 12

Cathedral of Notre Dame. Leoninus (fl. 1150s-ca. 1201)
compiled book of two-voice
polyphony called Magnus liber
organi.

Question 13

Magnus liber organi (Great
Book of Organum)

Answer 13

book of two-voice
polyphony called Magnus liber
organi compiled by Leoninus (fl. 1150s-ca. 1201)

Question 14

Motet

Answer 14

This genre originated as a clausula and became an
independent piece.
* Latin or French words added to upper voices (compound title); sacred
and/or secular; layers of meaning. different words at the same time
* Melismatic polyphonic style; rhythmic patterns (but not rhythmic modes)
* 2 to 4 voices
* Duplum is often called the “motetus”
* ***Tenor (borrowed chant) is now called “cantus firmus” (fixed song)

Question 15

Motetus

Answer 15

Duplum voice in a motet.

Question 16

motion: parallel, contrary,
oblique, similar

Answer 16

Types of motion in an organum.
Parallel: two voices moving in the same direction by the same interval
contrary: two voices moving in opposite directions
oblique: one voice drones / repeats while the other voice changes
similar: same direction, different intervals

Question 17

Musica enchiriadis (Music
Handbook)

Answer 17

Book in which polyphony was first described (9th c)

Question 18

Notre Dame

Answer 18

Notre Dame, a gothic cathedral in
Paris, was associated with
polyphonic music of the late 12th and
early 13th centuries. Leoninus and Perotinus

Question 19

Oblique organum

Answer 19

Oblique organum: organal voice moves below original chant with a different
melody; several different intervals (including dissonances) may be used

Question 20

organum

Answer 20

polyphonic composition based on chant, another vocal line is
added beneath the original chant (9th c. onward).

Question 21

Early organum

Answer 21

Two types:
Parallel - organal voice added a 5th (or 4th) below original chant, moves parallel to chant
Oblique - organal voice moves below original chant with a different
melody; several different intervals (including dissonances) may be used

Question 22

Mature Organum

Answer 22

after 1100. Discant (1-3 notes per tenor note) or Florid (3-15 notes per tenor note) Organums.

Question 23

Perotinus

Answer 23

Cathedral of Notre Dame. Perotinus (fl. 1200-1230)
expanded Leoninus’s book,
expanded organum from two to four
voices.

Question 24

Polyphony

Answer 24

Polyphony: 2+ independent melodies together.
Started as a manner of
performance, became standard
oral composition (improvised
tradition)
* First described in Musica
enchiriadis (Music Handbook, 9th c)
* Added voice could provide
commentary (gloss) on chant (like
a trope)
* 11th to 13th c: developed into written
tradition; new developments in
theory and notation

Question 25

Quadruplum

Answer 25

The fourth voice in a chant. Organum quadruplum has 4 voices

Question 26

Rhythmic modes

Answer 26

the rhythmic modes were set patterns of long and short durations (or rhythms).

Question 27

Tenor

Answer 27

Lower voice now is called “tenor” after tenere which means “to hold” in Latin. Formerly called principal or chant voice. the foundation for composition in an organum.

early organum: chant (tenor) is above organal voice.
mature organum: chant (tenor) is below organal voices

Question 28

Triplum

Answer 28

The third voice in a chant. Organum triplum has 3 voices.