Cantus Firmus Technique and Expressive Qualities in Various Pieces
Q1. In no more than 500 words compare the use of the cantus firmus technique in Guillaume Dufay’s Agnus Dei from his Missa L’homme armé and Josquin de Prez’s Agnus Dei from his Mass L’homme armé.
The Cantus Firmus technique is an existing melody used as the basis for a polyphonic composition. The cantus firmus had been the most commonly used for writing masses throughout most of the 15th century. It is traditionally written in the alto clef and begins and ends on the tonic of the key or the final of the mode. All notes are of equal length and are not often repeated directly after one other. Only diatonic notes are used in the cantus firmus and the range is generally an octave. Some mass cycles from the early fifteenth century show that a unified mass was the aim of most composers.
Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474) was a French-Burgundian composer who often used this technique in his pieces. The four “cantus firmus” masses of Dufay’s late career are his most famous works today. Each mass contains five sections; the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus and the Angus Dei. Each movement shared a common musical theme, generally a cantus firmus. Missa L’homme Arme is one of Dufay’s most well-known masses.
Josquin Des Prez (1450-1521) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. The cantus firmus is the technique that Josquin used earliest in his career. Josquin's most famous cantus firmus masses are the two based on the L'homme armé tune, which was a favourite throughout the Renaissance period.
In Guillaume Dufay’s Agnus Dei, the message “Cancer eat plorus et redeat medium” with it’s translation “let the crab proceed full and return half” proposes the idea that the cantus firmus is to be sung twice. It is sung in full note values the first time and after that, in halved values including retrograde. The return of the Agnus Dei is then sung in a normal motion. And finally, the third Agnus Dei gives us an example of “canonic riddles.” Dufay used
The Cantus Firmus technique is an existing melody used as the basis for a polyphonic composition. The cantus firmus had been the most commonly used for writing masses throughout most of the 15th century. It is traditionally written in the alto clef and begins and ends on the tonic of the key or the final of the mode. All notes are of equal length and are not often repeated directly after one other. Only diatonic notes are used in the cantus firmus and the range is generally an octave. Some mass cycles from the early fifteenth century show that a unified mass was the aim of most composers.
Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474) was a French-Burgundian composer who often used this technique in his pieces. The four “cantus firmus” masses of Dufay’s late career are his most famous works today. Each mass contains five sections; the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus and the Angus Dei. Each movement shared a common musical theme, generally a cantus firmus. Missa L’homme Arme is one of Dufay’s most well-known masses.
Josquin Des Prez (1450-1521) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. The cantus firmus is the technique that Josquin used earliest in his career. Josquin's most famous cantus firmus masses are the two based on the L'homme armé tune, which was a favourite throughout the Renaissance period.
In Guillaume Dufay’s Agnus Dei, the message “Cancer eat plorus et redeat medium” with it’s translation “let the crab proceed full and return half” proposes the idea that the cantus firmus is to be sung twice. It is sung in full note values the first time and after that, in halved values including retrograde. The return of the Agnus Dei is then sung in a normal motion. And finally, the third Agnus Dei gives us an example of “canonic riddles.” Dufay used