THE HOCKET IN MEDIEVAL POLYPHONY

Abstract

T HE hocket, commonly described as the truncation of a melodic line with rests and the distribution of its tones between two or more alternating parts, was not, as some modern writers have intimated, a technique of purely subordinate import. Indeed, in certain music of the late ars antiqua, its use bespeaks a degree of ingenuity and sophistication rivaled only by the isorhythmic motet in its most advanced development. To misunderstand the hocket is to overlook much of significance concerning the craft of composition and the art of improvisation in the music of medieval Europe. Nevertheless, it has been misunderstood, although practical examples and theoretical explanations have been available for a considerable time. In this paper I shall attempt to explain the hocket as a compositional device with greater precision than has been done before, and to describe a previously unrecognized genre of hocket based on preexistent polyphony.