Illibata Dei Virgo Nutrix by Josquin Deprez
OK, this is going to sound a bit strange and perhaps cabalistic, but I want to tell you about a peculiar feature which appeared in Renaissance music during the late 15th century: It's called soggetto cavato. The literal meaning of the term is 'taken-out subject'. What it means in practice is that a musical subject (a melody) is derived from its lyrics.
It's all about solfege. The original six syllables--ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la--include the five vowels, with 'a' appearing
on both fa and la. A word or a series of words can thus be represented in melodic form by giving each vowel
its corresponding solfege syllable.
Let's say I wanted to represent my full name--Robert William Worth--in a musical line. Assuming that we omit the second 'i' in my middle name (because it functions only to create the glide 'ly' following the double-'l'), the vowels in my name (in sequence) are: O, E, I, A, O. Well: O=so, E=re, I=mi, A=fa or la, and O=so.
Thus my name can be represented in this odd way by either 'so-re-mi-fa-so' or 'so-re-mi-la-so'.
(I like the second option better for its vaulting inclusion of la before settling back to so.)
Now if someone wanted to write a song about me (highly unlikely, but you never know), he/she could set my name to music with this little melody. More subtly, and perceptible only to those in on the secret, they could imbue the melody of the song with my [musical] name (perhaps at times in transposed, inverted or retrograde forms),
without ever introducing the actual words of my name.
Sound far-fetched? Yup. But consider this: In the early years of the 16th-century, Josquin Desprez served in the court of Ercole I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara, in northern Italy. During this time, he honored his patron by composing a setting of the mass. In the opening 'Kyrie', he introduces a motto in long notes which becomes the central theme of the piece, repeated and transposed and stretched and compressed: Re, ut, re, ut, re, fa, mi, re. This is a musical rendering, as per the rules of soggeto cavato, of the duke's title in Latin: Hercules Dux Ferrariae. If you don't believe me, see and hear for yourself here.
Why the (riveting) lecture, you ask? It's naught but a prelude to today's motet, Josquin's inimitable motet 'Illibata Dei Virgo Nutrix'. The piece is based upon a unique (I use the word advisedly) poem in praise of the Virgin Mary. One unusual feature is that the choir singing the piece is actually invoked in the poem: 'As in gathering sound our voices make their heartfelt prayer'; and 'Strengthen us who sing 'la-mi-la' to your praise'.
Now this isn't just any choir being invoked here: It's the choir of the Sistine Chapel, in which Josquin was a singer in the late 15th-century--he even carved his name into the choir stall (probably during a long sermon)--and for which he almost undoubtedly wrote 'Illibata'.
Did you notice 'la-mi-la' in the lyrics quoted above? As per the subject line of this message, that's 'Maria' rendered according to the rules of soggetto cavato. The alto line is assigned this subject and this subject only--at different pitch levels and increasing in speed--throughout the piece, reminding us over and over, ever more passionately,
that this is a hymn in praise of Mary.
But this is not the only unusual feature of this motet. We are pretty sure that the composer wrote the poem, because he embedded his name in it. Take a look at the text-translation sheet attached, which includes a note about the acrostic. In addition, though not as clear, it is highly probable that the second stanza of the poem contains a further acrostic referring to Josquin's birthplace, Conde sur l'Escaut. (See attached article if you don't have anything to do today.)
All of these hidden structural pieces aside, 'Illibata' is just a great piece. You don't actually have to know anything. All materials for a good time are attached. Listen--sing--absorb--grok. It'll make your life better.
OK, this is going to sound a bit strange and perhaps cabalistic, but I want to tell you about a peculiar feature which appeared in Renaissance music during the late 15th century: It's called soggetto cavato. The literal meaning of the term is 'taken-out subject'. What it means in practice is that a musical subject (a melody) is derived from its lyrics.
It's all about solfege. The original six syllables--ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la--include the five vowels, with 'a' appearing
on both fa and la. A word or a series of words can thus be represented in melodic form by giving each vowel
its corresponding solfege syllable.
Let's say I wanted to represent my full name--Robert William Worth--in a musical line. Assuming that we omit the second 'i' in my middle name (because it functions only to create the glide 'ly' following the double-'l'), the vowels in my name (in sequence) are: O, E, I, A, O. Well: O=so, E=re, I=mi, A=fa or la, and O=so.
Thus my name can be represented in this odd way by either 'so-re-mi-fa-so' or 'so-re-mi-la-so'.
(I like the second option better for its vaulting inclusion of la before settling back to so.)
Now if someone wanted to write a song about me (highly unlikely, but you never know), he/she could set my name to music with this little melody. More subtly, and perceptible only to those in on the secret, they could imbue the melody of the song with my [musical] name (perhaps at times in transposed, inverted or retrograde forms),
without ever introducing the actual words of my name.
Sound far-fetched? Yup. But consider this: In the early years of the 16th-century, Josquin Desprez served in the court of Ercole I d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara, in northern Italy. During this time, he honored his patron by composing a setting of the mass. In the opening 'Kyrie', he introduces a motto in long notes which becomes the central theme of the piece, repeated and transposed and stretched and compressed: Re, ut, re, ut, re, fa, mi, re. This is a musical rendering, as per the rules of soggeto cavato, of the duke's title in Latin: Hercules Dux Ferrariae. If you don't believe me, see and hear for yourself here.
Why the (riveting) lecture, you ask? It's naught but a prelude to today's motet, Josquin's inimitable motet 'Illibata Dei Virgo Nutrix'. The piece is based upon a unique (I use the word advisedly) poem in praise of the Virgin Mary. One unusual feature is that the choir singing the piece is actually invoked in the poem: 'As in gathering sound our voices make their heartfelt prayer'; and 'Strengthen us who sing 'la-mi-la' to your praise'.
Now this isn't just any choir being invoked here: It's the choir of the Sistine Chapel, in which Josquin was a singer in the late 15th-century--he even carved his name into the choir stall (probably during a long sermon)--and for which he almost undoubtedly wrote 'Illibata'.
Did you notice 'la-mi-la' in the lyrics quoted above? As per the subject line of this message, that's 'Maria' rendered according to the rules of soggetto cavato. The alto line is assigned this subject and this subject only--at different pitch levels and increasing in speed--throughout the piece, reminding us over and over, ever more passionately,
that this is a hymn in praise of Mary.
But this is not the only unusual feature of this motet. We are pretty sure that the composer wrote the poem, because he embedded his name in it. Take a look at the text-translation sheet attached, which includes a note about the acrostic. In addition, though not as clear, it is highly probable that the second stanza of the poem contains a further acrostic referring to Josquin's birthplace, Conde sur l'Escaut. (See attached article if you don't have anything to do today.)
All of these hidden structural pieces aside, 'Illibata' is just a great piece. You don't actually have to know anything. All materials for a good time are attached. Listen--sing--absorb--grok. It'll make your life better.