Polyphony in Medieval Paris The Art of Composing with Plainchant

Polyphony associated with the Parisian cathedral of Notre Dame marks a historical turning point in medieval music. Yet a lack of analytical or theoretical systems has discouraged close study of twelfth- and thirteenth-century musical objects, despite the fact that such creations represent the beginnings of musical composition as we know it. Is musical analysis possible for such medieval repertoires? Catherine A. Bradley demonstrates that it is, presenting new methodologies to illuminate processes of musical and poetic creation, from monophonic plainchant and vernacular French songs, to polyphonic organa, clausulae, and motets in both Latin and French. This book engages with questions of text-music relationships, liturgy, and the development of notational technologies, exploring concepts of authorship and originality as well as practices of quotation and musical reworking.

List of figures; List of tables; List of musical examples; Acknowledgements; Manuscript sigla; Abbreviations; A note on transcriptions and numbering systems; Introduction; 1. Plainchant in polyphony: the gradual Propter Veritatem in organa, clausulae and motets; 2. Mini clausulae and the Magnus Liber Organi; 3. Texting clausulae: repetition and regularity on the Regnat tenor; 4. Transcribing motets: vernacular refrain melodies in Magnus Liber clausulae; 5. Framing motets: quoting and crafting refrains against plainchant tenors; 6. Intertextuality, song and female voices in motets on a Saint Elizabeth of Hungary tenor; 7. From Florence to Fauvel: re-reading musical paradigms through a long-lived Iohanne motet; 8. Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.

Catherine A. Bradley is Associate Professor at the Universitetet i Oslo. She has published widely on the earliest motets in journals including Speculum, the Journal of Musicology, Music Analysis, and Early Music History.