music 39A Composer styles

Josquin

-transparency

-total equality of voices

-imitation is clear and homophony

-composition based on duets (sometimes homophony)

-architectural

-texture that breathes, deuts, then trios, then full satb

-expressive text

-balanced symmetrical phrases

Dufay

-Short units

-Clearly articulated cadence points

-Single setting for each stanza

-Treble-dominated texture

-often soprano forward

-fauxbourdon

-clear, memorable melodies

Ockeghem

-Organic whole

-Cadence elided or evaded

-Contrasting section

-Greater equality among voices

-writes lower than most

-long melodic lines

-flexible counterpoint

-rhythmic freedom and subtle syncopation

-canons that don’t sound like canons

-thick textures

fourth generation

-Elements of Josquin's style appear, but in the context of

greater textural density

-Melodic contour and rhythmic profile are restrained

-Paired musical and poetic figures; rhetoric in counterpoint

-Strict canons and borrowings from plainchant are increasingly rare

Lassus

-everything all at once

-much thicker texture

-contrapunctual complexity

-word painty

-balance

Palestrina

-smoothness of music(floaty)

-balanced, non-dramatic imitation

-dissonance resolves predicatively

-rhythms are mostly equal values(almost like breathing)

-syllabic or lightly melismatic

-texture moves between duets and choir

-cadences are gentle

Machut

-motets

-isorhythm( repeating rhythmic patter, repeating melodic pattern)

-textures are layered, not blended

-voice feels independent

-melodies leap more, use wider intervals (more like chant)

-distinct rhythms and syncopations (feels bouncy or hiccuping)

-melismatic and clear poetic forms

-medieval color (feels like it should be sung in a cathedral)

Gombert

-continuous overlapping imitation

-extremely dense textures, 5-6 voices

-deep bass lines, a few soprano-dominated moments

-heavy textures

-melodic lines stretch on

-cadences are rare; if they happen, they are soft

-more suspensions, more dissonance

-repeated imitation, layered in every voice; reappears in every voice like an echo

Willaert

-controlled imitation

-paired duets that switch back and forth, then into full texture

-smooth, but still has some tension

-rich, expressive dissonance

-avoids madrigals, word painting, and flashiness

-Venetian color, music is arranged architecturally

-cadences are firm

Rore

-chromaticism

-text-driven; word painting, textural changes, musical gestures mirror poetry

-frequent texture changes to match text

-uses dissonance as emotional color

-melodic lines with emotional contour; lines feel like sighing, crying, pleading

-harmonic boldness

-cinematic madrigals