Abstract
In the notation based on the rhythmic modes, one remarks that the repetition of the modal cell is not always regular, the longae and breves sometimes being converted in smaller values (equipollentia), or conversely re-grouped into longer durations (extensio modi, according to W. Apel). The object of this study is a statistical examination of these irregularities in the vocal parts of 20 motets in the first rhythmic mode selected from the Bamberg manuscript. We will attempt to determine the causes of the equipollentia : the desire for diversity, the reconstruction insofar as possible of conjunct melodie motions, and the care to ornament (thus provoking a duplication of the formulae and their simultaneity between the voices). Not related to figuralism, the equipollentia does not threaten the mode's existence. It is most widely employed in the trochaic mode.
Published Version
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