Re-workings and Chronological Dynamics in a Thirteenth-Century Latin Motet Family

Abstract

This article examines a family of thirteenth-century discant and motets on the tenor LATUS, tracing complex relationships between the various incarnations of its shared musical material: passages of melismatic discant in two- and three-voices, a three-voice Latin conductus motet, a two-voice Latin and French motet, and a three-voice Latin double motet. I query conventional fundamentally linear models of discant-motet interaction, emphasizing the possibility of simultaneously filial and collateral interrelationships between versions: different motet texts can influence each other, while retaining independent connections with an earlier melismatic discant model. This leads to a reevaluation of traditional evolutionary and stylistic perceptions of sub-genres defined within the category of motet. The article addresses questions of compositional process, reflecting on the types of creative and scribal activities involved in the formulation of motets.