Ave Maria Willaert Review by Andrea Angelini (ICB 03-2013)

7/28/2019 Ave Maria Willaert Review by Andrea Angelini (ICB 03-2013)

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Adrian Willaert, Master of Music at St Marks, Venice

Andrea Angelinichoral conductor,

teacher & ICB ManagingEditor

Transcription and Analysis of Ave Maria for four voices

The period 1550-1560 was a one o incomparable prosperity or Venice and her merchants.The economic boom beneited the publishing sector, bringing a rapid increase in thenumber o printing businesses. This reached its height at the end o 1560, when the industry

numbered 50 or 60 printing presses employing about 600 people. The avourable economic situationencouraged a number o beginners to try their hand at the business.

Francesco Rampazetto was active as a printer rom 1553 to his death in about 1577. He workedmainly on commission or other printers and booksellers. Like many o his colleagues he printed agreat variety o books on many dierent subjects, rom architecture to literature, and rom astronomyto history and music. Most publications were in the vernacular, but he also published books in Latin,

Greek and Spanish. From 1561 to 1568 he published at least thirty-two books o music and a book omusic theory.Many works he issued, such as the First Book of Spiritual Laudsby Giovanni Razzi (1563, Jacopo

and Filippo Giunti, Florence), the Third Book of the Muses for Four Voices(1563, Antonio Barr), andthe Second Book of Madrigals for Five Voicesby Pietro Vinci (Giovanni Comencino, Venice) conirm hisstatus as a contract worker or individual clients and other printers. The remainder o his irst editions

were directly commissioned by composers or third parties. In 1566 Rampazetto, at the request oFilippo Iusberti, a cantor at St Marks, printed Zarlinos motets or six voices. He also undertook toreprint well-known choral anthologies by amous composers o the time. One o these is the anthologyentitledMottetti del Fiore.

The ull title o the work isMottetti del Fiore a Quattro voci novamente ristampati, et con sommadiligentia revisti et corretti. Libro Primo. In Venetia, Appresso Francesco Rampazetto. In 4 obl. Cantus,Tenor, Altus, Bassus. In tutto opuscoli quattro.(Mottetti del Fiore or Four Voices, newly reprinted and

diligently revised and corrected. Book One. In Venice, by Francesco Rampazetto. Cantus, Tenor, Altus,Bassus. In all, our volumes.)

The Gregorian Antiphon to Ave Maria


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ICB Choral Technique

An original copy o the work is kept at the InternationalMusic Museum and Library in Bologna. It contains the ollowingtitles (the authors names are here quoted as they appear in thedocument):

In te Domine speravi ... LerithierLetetur omne seculum ... LupusFilie Jerusalem ... ArchadeltPanis quem ego dabo ... LupusBeati omnes ... Lerithier

Nisi Dominus ... LerithierDescendit angelus ... Hilaire PenetGloriosa uirgo ... N. PaignierDum aurora ... N. PaignierVirtute magna ... LassonTu es Petrus ... GoseDomine quis habitabit ... Jo. CourtoisBenedixit Deus ... Archadelt

Aue Santissima Maria ... N. GombertFuit homo ... N. GombertTanto tempore ... VerdelatHaec dies quam ecit ... Archadelt

Beati omnes ... LupusSponsa Christi Cecilia ... Loiset PietonQuam pulchra es ... Jo. LupiOmnis pulchritudo domini ... DambertNisi ego abiero ... DambertVir inclitus ... F. De LisProba me domine ... P. ManchicourtQuem dicunt homines ... RichaortIn conuertendo dominus ... LupusGabriel archangelus ... VerdelotPater noster ... Adrianus Wuillart

For the transcription the last motet was consulted. Its secunda

parsis an Ave Maria, with a variation preceding its oicialclassiication in the year 1571 on the occasion o the battle oLepanto. The text used by Willaert runs:

Ave Maria, gratia plena,Dominus tecum,benedicta tu in mulieribus,et benedictus ructus ventris tui, Jesus.Sancta Maria, Regina Coeli,dulcis et pia, o Mater Dei,ora pro nobis peccatoribus,ut cum electis te videamus.

This motet, printed in 1564, is one o Willaerts inest works.In his language, imitation is not merely artiice, but a techniqueenhancing the expressiveness o words and thoughts. Naturally,the act that Willaert lived in Venice, where the long list o dictatesissuing rom the Council o Trent (1545-1562) were struggling togain acceptance, aided him in developing a style o compositionunimpeded by papal intererence and much inluenced by thetaste or typically Venetian colour.

The motet, in the irst mode, Dorian, which corresponds to

the Gregorian Protus authentus, transposed toG, is set out in oursections which correspond to our verses making up this prayerto the Virgin. The verses are: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominustecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus ructus ventristui, Jesus; Sancta Maria, Regina Coeli, dulcis et pia, O Mater Dei;and ora pro nobis peccatoribus, ut cum electis te videamus. Theseverses, and the various sections into which they are subdivided,can be easily recognised, not only by the words which obviouslydistinguish each part, but also by the harmonic cadences whichdeine them. Below is the pattern o the cadences ound in thepiece the obvious predominance o G is numerically balanced bythe less usual subinalis1, where one would expect to ind more use

o D.Ave Maria B fat perect-authentic tenorizans2Gratia plena I G perect-authentic tenorizansGratia plena II F perect-authentic tenorizansDominus tecum I G plagal

Dominus tecum II G perect-authentic bassizans3

Benedicta tu I F tenorizansBenedicta tu II B fat tenorizansin mulieribus I D perect-authentic bassizansin mulieribus II G perect-authentic bassizansEt benedictus D phrygian tenorizansFructus ventris tui Jesus I B fat perect-authentic tenorizans

Fructus ventris tui Jesus II F perect-authentic bassizansSancta Maria I F perect-authentic tenorizansSancta Maria II C perect-authentic tenorizansRegina coeli F perect-authentic tenorizansDulcis et pia D plagalO Mater Dei D phrygian tenorizansOra pro nobis I F perect-authentic tenorizansOra pro nobis II C plagalpeccatoribus I C perect-authentic tenorizansUt cum electis te videamus I G perect-authentic bassizansTe videamus II G plagal

1 In an authentic mode, the tone below the inal.

2 in a cadence this is called: clausula tenorizans(probably because Gregorian melodies alwaysend with a stepwise motion down to thefinalis and the tenor was originally the voice thatholds the cantus firmus, the original Gregorian melody)

3 A jump in the bass in a cadence (in Dorian, Lydian and Mixolydian: V-I, in Phrygian thereis a problem) is called clausula bassizans.


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The tenor, immediately ater presenting the irst melodicextract, intones with long notes the Gregorian Ave Maria, andcontinues to do so in other sections o the piece: thus the entirecomposition can almost be said to be built on the cantus firmus4.

The irst verse, which can be urther divided into three parts(Ave Maria, gratia plena, and Dominus tecum) is imitative. The

initial interval o a ourth on Ave is a distinguishing eature and isrepeated by almost all the other voices, at times with a diminutionin value. At the end o the section it can be noted that all partsollow, on the words Dominus tecum the modulation o therhetorical igure, katabasis.

In the second section, on the words Benedicta tu inmulieribus, the composer gives the richest ornate counterpointin the entire piece. Note once more, in the tenor5, a ragment othe cantus irmus. The last part o the second section takes on aclearly rhetorical nature: the words Fructus ventris tui Jesus aredeclaimed mainly with long and white notes easily associated withthe mothers breast.

The third section contains a textual variation on the usual AveMaria. Ater the statement in bicinium6 style o the words SanctaMaria, the piece continues with mainly homophonic modulation,especially on the words Regina coeli which thus stand out vocally.

In the last section, where there is a return to the imitativestyle, the same ragment o text ut cum electis te videamus isrepeated three times; the melody is distinguished by an initialinterval o an ascending ith ollowed by repeated notes, and by

4 Acantus firmus(held tune) is oten a pre-existing melody orming the basis o a polyphoniccomposition. The plural is cantus firmi, although the corrupt orm canti irmi (resulting romthe grammatically incorrect treatment o cantus as a second- rather than a ourth-declension

noun) can also be ound. The Italian is oten used instead: canto fermo (and the plural in Italianis canti fermi).

5 In the polyphonic music o the 13th16th centuries, tenor reerred to the part holdingthe cantus firmus, the plainsong, or other melody on which a composition was usually built.The highest line above was termed superius(the modern soprano), and the third added voicewas termed contratenor. In the mid-15th century, writing in our parts became common, andthe contratenorpart gave rise to the contratenor altus(the modern alto) and contratenor bassus(the modern bass). The term tenor gradually lost its association with acantus firmusand beganto reer to the part between the alto and bass and to the corresponding vocal range.

6 In music o the Renaissance and early Baroque eras, abicinium (pl. bicinia) was acomposition or only two parts, especially one with a pedagogical purpose.

... Adrian Willaert, Master of Music at St Marks, Venice

the circulatio7 which seems to represent turning the gaze on thewords te videamus. Ater the perect-authentic cadence to G, thepiece ends with a characteristic plagal cadence built on thefinalis8held by the tenor (manubrium).

The extraordinary artistic height reached by Willaert in thismotet is owing to his command o the material and his ability

to develop the relationship between text and music by meanso simple technical devices shown in expression. It is interestingto observe how requently the moti-word is a developmento the initial theme and how the ree parts take the shape oa development in rhythmic melodic cells which oten leadback to this initial theme. This notable thematic unity is usedmost imaginatively in a number o contrapuntal and imitativetechniques, leading to a continuing evolution o the music whichis never repetitive.

Next page are the part-books taken rom Rampazettosanthology, and my transcription.

Translated from the Italian by Gillian Forlivesi Heywood, ItalyEdited by Graham Lack, Germany / Great Britain

7 The circulatio (circulo, circolo) is ormed by positioning two opposite (rising and alling:intendensand remittens) circulimezziadjacent to each other in such a way that, were the twohal-circles to be superimposed, a circle o notes would result. The igure is deined both as atext-explanatory musical-rhetorical igure as well as a simple ornament (figura simplex,Manier)

8 The musical modes delineate thefinalis, or main note, with regard to two ranges: theauthentic, which lies primarily above the main note, and the plagal, which dips signiicantlybelow it. In both cases, thefinalisis usually the pitch that literally inalizes the song on the lastnote; the irst note may or may not be the same as thefinalis.


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na,

na, Do

na, Do

na,

Do mi

mi nus te

mi nus

nus te

te cum,

cum, Do

cum,

Do

Do mi nus

mi nus

Do

mi nus

te

- - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

- - -

20

te cum,

mi nus te

te cum,

cum, Do

Do mi nus

Do mi nus

mi nus

te

cum, be

te

te cum,

cum,

ne di

cum,

be ne di cta

- - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - -

- - - - - -

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be ne

be

tu

di

cta tu

ne di

be ne

cta tu

be

cta tu

di

be

ne di

cta tu in

ne di

cta tu

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - -

30

in mu

mu li e

cta tu

in

li e

mu li e ri

ri bus,

ri bus,

in mu li

bus, in mu

e

li e

in mu li

in mu

ri

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

-

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - -

A. Willaert -Ave Maria2


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e

li e

bus, in mu li

ri

ri

ri

e ri

bus, et be ne

bus,

bus, et

bus,

di

et be ne

be ne di

et

ctus

di

be ne di

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- -

- - - - - - -

- - - - - - -

- - - - - - - -

- - - - -

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ctus

ctus fru

ctus fru

fru ctus ven

ctus ven

ctus ven

et

tris tu

tris,

tris tu i

be ne di

i Je

Je

- - - - -

- - - - - - -

- -

- - - - - - - - - -

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ctus fru ctus

sus. fru

fru

sus.

ven

ctus ven

ctus ven

et

tris, fru

tris,

tris tu i

be ne di

ctus ven

fru

Je

ctus

- - - - - - -

- - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - -

- - -

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tris tu

ctus ven

sus. fru

fru ctus

i

tris tu i

ctus ven tris

ven tris

Je

Je

tu i Je

tu i Je

sus.

sus. San

sus. San

- - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - -

-

A. Willaert -Ave Maria 3



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cta Ma ri

sus.

cta Ma ri

San

a,

San

a,

cta Ma ri

cta Ma ri

a, Re gi na

Re gi na

a, Re gi na

Re gi na

- - - - -

- -

- - - - -

- - - -

- -

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coe li,

coe li,

coe li,

coe li,

dul cis et

dul cis et

dul cis et

o

pi a, o

pi a, o

pi a, o

Ma ter De

Ma ter De

Ma ter De

Ma ter De

i, o

i, o ra pro

i, o

i,

- - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - -

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ra pro no

no

ra pro no

bis pec ca to

bis pec ca

bis pec ca

o ra pro

ri bus,

to ri bus,

to ri bus,

no bis

o ra pro

o ra pro

o ra pro

o ra pro

- - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - -

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no bis

no bis pec

no bis

no bis

pec ca to

ca to ri

pec ca to ri

pec ca to ri

ri

bus, ut

bus,

bus, ut

bus,

cum e le

ut cum e

cum e le

- - - - - - - -

- - - - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - - - -

A. Willaert -Ave Maria4


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ctis,

le ctis te

ctis te vi de

ut cum e

vi de a

a

ut

le ctis

mus,

cum e le

te vi de

- -

- - - - - -

- - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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ctis te vi de

a

mus,

a

ut

mus,

ut cum e

cum e le

mus,

le ctis te

ctis te vi de

- - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

- -

- - - -

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ut cum e

vi de a

a mus,

ut cum e

le ctis te

mus, ut

ut

le ctis te

vi de a

cum e le

cum e le

vi de a

ctis te vi de

ctis te vi de

- - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - -

- - - - -

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mus,

a

a

mus, te vi de

te vi de

mus.

mus, te

a

a

vi de a

mus.

mus.

mus.

- - - - - - -

- - - - -

- - - - - -

- - - - -

A. Willaert -Ave Maria 5

Ave Maria Willaert Review by Andrea Angelini (ICB 03-2013)

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Transcript of Ave Maria Willaert Review by Andrea Angelini (ICB 03-2013)