Ritual Meanings in the Fifteenth-Century Motet

The first large-scale study of how fifteenth-century motets were used across Western Europe, dispelling the mysteries surrounding these outstanding works.

Robert Nosow (Author)

9781316639559, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 February 2017

292 pages, 10 b/w illus. 12 tables 35 music examples
24.5 x 17 x 1.5 cm, 0.52 kg

'This book is a wonderful contribution to musicological scholarship that has the potential to move the discourse on late medieval music forward in interesting and productive ways.' Elizabeth Randell Upton, The Medieval Review

The first full-length study of how motets were used and performed in the fifteenth century, this book dispels the mystery surrounding these outstanding works of vocal polyphony. It covers four areas of intense compositional activity: England, the Veneto, Bruges and Cambrai, with reference to the works of Dunstaple, Forest, Ciconia, Grenon and Du Fay. In every documented instance, motets functioned as ceremonial vehicles, whether voiced in procession through the streets of a city or the chapel of a king, at the guild chapel of a parish church or the high altar of a cathedral. The motet was an entirely vocal genre that changed radically during the period from 1400 to 1475. Robert Nosow outlines the motet's social history, demonstrating how the incorporation of different texts, musical dialects, cantus firmus materials and melodic styles represents an important key to the evolution of the genre, and its adaptability to widely variant ritual circumstances.

Introduction
1. Motets in the chronicles of Henry V
2. The motet as ritual
3. Processions in the Veneto
4. The motet as ritual embassy
5. Motets for the citizens of Bruges
6. Contemplation
7. The canons of Cambrai
8. The dialogic motet
Appendix A. Accounts of Santa Maria dei Battuti
Appendix B. Foundations and charters at Bruges
Appendix C. Foundations at Cambrai cathedral.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD], Medieval & Renaissance music [c 1000 to c 1600 AVGC2]