Related Motets from Fourteenth-Century France

Abstract

Even the most enthusiastic admirer of fourteenth-century isorhythm would have to admit that the collection of French motets published in the series Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century must present a somewhat forbidding appearance to the casual reader. Certainly a large number of the surviving pieces are characterized by a uniformity of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic style which contrasts all too clearly with the remarkable diversity to be found in contemporary song repertories. And while, upon closer acquaintance, characteristics individual to particular works may increasingly be discerned, it remains surprising just how alike many of these pieces continue to seem to be. That this is not simply a failure on the part of the reader to distinguish more widespread differences between works becomes clear as soon as one begins to investigate their structures in more detail: far from each work being unique in itself, many of the motets surviving from the are nova are found to be related quite closely in matters of compositional detail. Thus instead of representing, as one might expect, widespread activity over a large geographical area, the motet repertory appears increasingly to be confined in matters of both form and content, and thus also, it might be argued, in place and date of origin.