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MUS111 – HISTORICAL SURVEY
TEST #1 – FEB. 15, 2007
Answer Key
Listed below are the standard answers for each question – however, there may be other valid
answers that apply (and, indeed, many of you will find that you received marks for answers not
found below).
SECTION I - LISTENING QUESTIONS
1) Listening Example 1 (10 marks)
Josquin; Ave Maria; c.1485
Form of the composition – motet; Texture – polyphony
Typical of this composer (and used in this piece) is composition by the process of imitation
Describe the texture as it unfolds in the excerpt just played: point of imitation with entries
ranging high to low (soprano to bass); heard several times until full texture of all four voices is
reached; paired imitation of soprano and alto; paired imitation of tenor and bass; full four-voice
texture is heard at the end of the excerpt
2) Listening Example 2 (7 marks)
Leoninus; Viderunt Omnes; c.1180
Genre of the composition – organum; This composition is based on a preexisting
chant/plainchant/plainsong/Gregorian chant
Describe the melody and rhythm of the highest voice: the melody “undulates and cascades in a
virtuosic way”, it is free, rhapsodic, melismatic; the rhythm is unmeasured and can also be
described as “free and rhapsodic”
3) Listening Example 3 (8 marks)
Weelkes; As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending from The Triumphs of Oriana; madrigal
Describe in detail the word painting found in the excerpt just heard: “descending” = falling
scale/pitches; “ascending” = rising scale; “country swains” = simple, repeated notes; “running
down amain” = running musical line; “two by two” = two voices only; “three by three” = three
voices only; “all together” = all six voices
4) Listening Example 4 ( 8 marks)
Dufay; Lament of the Holy Mother Church of Constantinople; 1453
This piece is associated with the European court of Burgundy
Comment on the melody and rhythm of the tenor line and describe how it relates to the other
three parts in the piece: tenor is based on a preexisting plainchant to which rhythm is applied; the
chant provides melodic gestures for other voices; the tenor’s notes are of much longer
duration/held longer than the other vocal lines; diversity between voices – each voice has its own
rhythmic and melodic character; heterogeneous hierarchy of voices
5) Listening Example 5 (8 marks)
Machaut; Kyrie from Mass of Our Lady
Structural technique used in this piece: isorhythm
The cadences in this piece sound hollow/bare/not full because they lack the 3rd of the chord
Comment on the composer’s use of rhythm in this piece: isorhythm (repeating rhythmic pattern)
is found in both the tenor and contratenor; rhythmic contrast/diversity between vocal lines; use of
syncopation for heterogeneous effect; use of hocket to produce heterogeneous effect
6) Listening Example 6 (8 marks)
Hildegard; O Greenest Branch; c.1150; Text setting: nearly syllabic/neumatic
Describe the stylistic features of the melody: predominantly stepwise motion; narrow range;
avoids large leaps; gravitates around modal centre (G)
Comment on the composer’s use of rhythm in this piece: lack of measured rhythm; freely
flowing vocal line based on natural inflections of the Latin text; free rhythm; free-verse or prose
rhythm; notes are generally of one basic value
SECTION II – FILL IN THE BLANK
Provide a term that best describes the definition that follows. (10 marks)
mode
organum
quadrivium
Mass
melismatic
texture
Council of Trent
syncopation
reciting tone
drone
SECTION III – GENERAL QUESTIONS
List and describe three basic compositional principles of Palestrina discussed in class: (6 marks)
1) smooth, controlled melodic lines, primarily moving in stepwise motion with few leaps
-melodic lines flow smoothly and do not use strongly marked rhythms
2) careful control of dissonance; Palestrina avoided writing the kinds of strong dissonances that
the madrigal composers liked to use
3) varied texture: Palestrina continually shifts his musical texture from imitative polyphony to
homophony; in addition he will drop voices out and add them back in for musical variety
4) imitative entries: Palestrina varies the distance between his imitative entries (or ‘points of
imitation’), varies the number of voices involved, and varies the voice ranges used (for ex., he
may have an imitative entry between soprano and tenor, followed later by an imitative entry
between bass, alto and tenor); this type of variety helps to keep the music interesting
List five characteristics of Renaissance music: (5 marks)
1) the predominant sound is vocal polyphony, most commonly consisting of 4 or 5 lines
2) smoother sounding melodies that are homogeneous
3) imitative polyphony: using imitation between vocal lines as an organizing device in music
4) homophony - both chordal homophony and song texture
5) polyphony where all voices are equal in function
6) some pieces containing metre have no marked rhythms resulting in a floating quality
List five characteristics of Medieval polyphony: (5 marks)
1) heterogenous melodies
2) heterogeneous rhythms
3) hierarchy: each voice performs a different function
4) use of preexisting chant as a foundation in compositions
5) use of isorhythm
6) hollow cadences containing no thirds
7) an aesthetic that prefers diversity between voices, melodies, and rhythms that are playing
simultaneously
Describe the criticism of music brought forth by reformers at the Council of Trent: (3 marks)
At the Council of Trent the reformers agreed that music for the Church was becoming too
theatrical; the polyphony was too complex and elaborate, and as a result the congregation could
not hear the text that was being sung
List and describe the two main sources from which the Renaissance derived its inspiration:
(2 marks)
1) culture of ancient Greece and Rome
2) humanism