Computer-aided Analysis of Sonority in the French Motet Repertory, ca. 1300–1350

This article analyzes the distribution of three- and four-voice vertical sonorities in a repertoire of French ars antiqua and ars nova motets. Rather than selecting the subjectively important sonorities within a piece—an effort that would rely on the analyst’s judgment of the overarching contrapunta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Music theory online 2020-12, Vol.26 (4)
Main Authors: Desmond, Karen, Hopkins, Emily, Howes, Samuel, Cumming, Julie E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
13th century
14th century
Composers
Middle Ages
Musical performances
Polyphony
Syntax
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Summary:This article analyzes the distribution of three- and four-voice vertical sonorities in a repertoire of French ars antiqua and ars nova motets. Rather than selecting the subjectively important sonorities within a piece—an effort that would rely on the analyst’s judgment of the overarching contrapuntal goals—this study uses computational musicological methods to analyze and categorize the distribution of sonorities across individual motets and groups of motets that occur at regular time intervals across the course of the compositions. This study offers some preliminary observations and conclusions about sonority usage in the late medieval French motet repertoire.
ISSN:1067-3040
1067-3040
DOI:10.30535/mto.26.4.2