The Evolution of the Motet
The Evolution of the Motet
The Evolution of the Motet
Throughout the history of music, there have been few styles that not only have opened doors to masterwork compositions in their own genres, but have also led the way to other musical techniques over the musical eras and one of these magical music styles is the motet. The motet can easily be confused with other musical structures but what separates the motet from other types of group-performance based styles of music is "a piece of music in several parts with words."1 This is the closest definition of motet as can be said without overgeneralization and will operate from the beginning of the 13th century well into the late 16th century and beyond. Some scholars believe the origins of the word are of the Latin word “movere” meaning “to move” while other scholars argue it is of the Old French word, “mot” meaning “ verbal utterance.” In my own belief, a motet is a polyphonic composition, usually performed without accompaniment, and was the most necessary art to transform from traditional music to a more improvised and worldly forms. The rise and fall of the motet can be cataloged between the early 13th century with Leonin and Perotin and its slow demise in the 18th century with Mozart. It played an integral role in the shape of church music and helped move music into madrigals and into the public’s secular eye. More specifically its fruition can be categorized into the three eras of music: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque. The motet developed from simple organum (a form of early polyphony based on an existing plainsong) into Mozart’s very famous “Ave Verum Corpus.” To truly understand what something has become, we must first see where its conception was and how it grew in its prenatal stages.
Before the motet, the music of the church was defined by Gregorian chant and the plain cantus firmus’. The rise of motets can be attributed to the supply of the text that represents a paraphrase of the
The Evolution of the Motet
Throughout the history of music, there have been few styles that not only have opened doors to masterwork compositions in their own genres, but have also led the way to other musical techniques over the musical eras and one of these magical music styles is the motet. The motet can easily be confused with other musical structures but what separates the motet from other types of group-performance based styles of music is "a piece of music in several parts with words."1 This is the closest definition of motet as can be said without overgeneralization and will operate from the beginning of the 13th century well into the late 16th century and beyond. Some scholars believe the origins of the word are of the Latin word “movere” meaning “to move” while other scholars argue it is of the Old French word, “mot” meaning “ verbal utterance.” In my own belief, a motet is a polyphonic composition, usually performed without accompaniment, and was the most necessary art to transform from traditional music to a more improvised and worldly forms. The rise and fall of the motet can be cataloged between the early 13th century with Leonin and Perotin and its slow demise in the 18th century with Mozart. It played an integral role in the shape of church music and helped move music into madrigals and into the public’s secular eye. More specifically its fruition can be categorized into the three eras of music: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque. The motet developed from simple organum (a form of early polyphony based on an existing plainsong) into Mozart’s very famous “Ave Verum Corpus.” To truly understand what something has become, we must first see where its conception was and how it grew in its prenatal stages.
Before the motet, the music of the church was defined by Gregorian chant and the plain cantus firmus’. The rise of motets can be attributed to the supply of the text that represents a paraphrase of the
Bibliography: Margaret Bent,"The late-medieval motet", Companion to Medieval & Renaissance Music. Oxford University Press, (1997) Pg. 44 Curt Sachs, Our Musical Heritage (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1948), 64,72. Blanche Gangwere, Music History During the Renaissance Period, 1520–1550. Westport, Connecticut, Praeger Publishers. 2004, Pg. 52 Alec Robertson, Dennis Stevens, ed., A History of Music Volume 2 (New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1965), Pg. 85.