In collaboration with other colleagues, Sethus is preparing a book on modal theory and its application to late Renaissance compositions. He considers that the attribution of a polyphonic work to a mode implies a complex interpretative process. The criteria for this identification are not exclusively objective and fixed in the score, but always include an ‘ideological’ and symbolic dimension. Modal analysis thus depends on the theoretical frameworks that it invokes – the octoechos, the neo-classical theory of the 12 modes, etc. – and on the theoretical interpretation of the work, which transcends the work. This means that it is not the attribution of a work to a mode that is important from a musicological and compositional point of view. Instead, the question is to determine how, through the prism of different theoretical models and analytical points of view adopted, a mode manifests itself in the work, unfolds over time and governs its compositional framework (or whether, on the contrary, the work lies outside the theoretical frameworks of the modality).
In the book he aims to write with his colleagues, Sethus is charged with writing a chapter on the modal cycle "Lagrime di San Pietro" by Orlando di Lasso. To this end, Sethus and his colleagues (Leonhard, Bernhard, Harold, Siegfried, Frans Robert and Alexander) carried out individual analyses and entered them into the framework of the Tonalities pilot.
In contrast to the other pieces which do not pose major problems, the last work in the cycle, Vide homo, is highly ambiguous from a modal perspective and thus of particular interest for this book. Several modal hypotheses have been formulated by Sethus and his colleagues based on various immanent and transcendent criteria. Sethus must now examine these individual points of view in the light of the score and of the theoretical models implied. Then, he will have to confront all these points of view to propose a well-argued interpretation.
Competency questions
CQ1: To which modes Vide homo has been assigned to in Tonalities? Leonhard, Bernhard, Harold, Siegfried, Frans and Alexander relate the motet to the tonus peregrinus. Robert, however, considers the work to be written in the mixolydian mode.
CQ2: Are the criteria on which these interpretations are based true in the score and, if so, to what extent?
What are the cadence points in the work?
What are the part’s ranges? Do they correspond to modal octaves?
What is the final of the bassus?
What is the last chord?
Are there any melodic patterns related to modality?
To what diatonic environment does the work belong to?
What are the part’s clefs and keys?
Are the theoretical models on which these criteria are based – for example the Zarlinian cadential scheme ^1-^3-^5 – in line with this work?
What is the tension between the expected theoretical criteria and their actual realisation in the work?
CQ3: Can one assume that the modal ambiguity evidenced by the analytical interpretations is intended? Harold sees, for example, the use of modes in Lagrime as a religious symbol. Alexander suggests that Tansillo's texts set to music by Lassus can be read as an examination of conscience, advocated by post-Tridentine spirituality. Can these hypotheses be substantiated on the basis of Polifonia's analytical and heritage knowledge?
Where does the work appear within the cycle?
What do we know about this cycle and its place in Lassus' output?
Which poetic text is set to music?
Has this poetic text been set to music before?
CQ4: Apart from Lasso’s possible exegetical intentions, what does this work tell us about the status of the modes at this moment in the history of composition?
Is the modal ambiguity observed here frequent in Lasso’s output?
Do other works come close, in terms of their inner properties, to what is observed here?
Is the ambiguity observed here specific to particular groups of works?
ID of the story
Sethus#1_ConflictingTheoreticalInterpretations
WP
Pilots
TONALITIES
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life changer
Persona
Sethus
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Scenario
In collaboration with other colleagues, Sethus is preparing a book on modal theory and its application to late Renaissance compositions. He considers that the attribution of a polyphonic work to a mode implies a complex interpretative process. The criteria for this identification are not exclusively objective and fixed in the score, but always include an ‘ideological’ and symbolic dimension. Modal analysis thus depends on the theoretical frameworks that it invokes – the octoechos, the neo-classical theory of the 12 modes, etc. – and on the theoretical interpretation of the work, which transcends the work. This means that it is not the attribution of a work to a mode that is important from a musicological and compositional point of view. Instead, the question is to determine how, through the prism of different theoretical models and analytical points of view adopted, a mode manifests itself in the work, unfolds over time and governs its compositional framework (or whether, on the contrary, the work lies outside the theoretical frameworks of the modality).
In the book he aims to write with his colleagues, Sethus is charged with writing a chapter on the modal cycle "Lagrime di San Pietro" by Orlando di Lasso. To this end, Sethus and his colleagues (Leonhard, Bernhard, Harold, Siegfried, Frans Robert and Alexander) carried out individual analyses and entered them into the framework of the Tonalities pilot.
In contrast to the other pieces which do not pose major problems, the last work in the cycle, Vide homo, is highly ambiguous from a modal perspective and thus of particular interest for this book. Several modal hypotheses have been formulated by Sethus and his colleagues based on various immanent and transcendent criteria. Sethus must now examine these individual points of view in the light of the score and of the theoretical models implied. Then, he will have to confront all these points of view to propose a well-argued interpretation.
Competency questions
CQ1: To which modes Vide homo has been assigned to in Tonalities? Leonhard, Bernhard, Harold, Siegfried, Frans and Alexander relate the motet to the tonus peregrinus. Robert, however, considers the work to be written in the mixolydian mode.
CQ2: Are the criteria on which these interpretations are based true in the score and, if so, to what extent?
CQ3: Can one assume that the modal ambiguity evidenced by the analytical interpretations is intended? Harold sees, for example, the use of modes in Lagrime as a religious symbol. Alexander suggests that Tansillo's texts set to music by Lassus can be read as an examination of conscience, advocated by post-Tridentine spirituality. Can these hypotheses be substantiated on the basis of Polifonia's analytical and heritage knowledge?
CQ4: Apart from Lasso’s possible exegetical intentions, what does this work tell us about the status of the modes at this moment in the history of composition?
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