Centonization

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In music centonization (from Latin cento or patchwork [1] ) is a theory about the composition of a melody, melodies, or piece based on pre-existing melodic figures and formulas. [2] A piece created using centonization is known as a "centonate". [1]

The concept of centonization was borrowed from literary theory, and first applied to Gregorian chant in 1934 by Dom Paolo Ferretti. [3] [4]

Centonization, according to Ferretti's theory, is a very old and widespread technique. The musical modes used in Gregorian chant are supposed to reflect this use; according to the theory, the modes were more collections of appropriate melodic formulas than a set of pitches. Similar ideas appear in the music theory of other cultures; for example, the maqam of Arab music, the raga of Indian music, or the pathet of Indonesian music. These do not designate merely scales, but sets of appropriate melodies and specific ornaments on certain tones (they are sometimes called "melody types"). [5] The originality of the composer lies in how he or she links these formulas together and elaborates upon them in a new way.[ citation needed ]

Regardless of whether the application of the concept to other branches of Christian chant, or other types of music is valid, its use with respect to Gregorian chant has been severely criticized, and opposing models have been proposed. [6] [7] The term "centonate" is not applied to other categories of composition constructed from pre-existing units, such as fricassée, pasticcio , potpourri , and quodlibet . [3]

See also

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Gregorian chant Form of song

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Ambitus (music)

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Melody type or type-melody is a set of melodic formulas, figures, and patterns.

Ionian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the major scale.

A Gregorian mode is one of the eight systems of pitch organization used in Gregorian chant.

Leo Treitler is an American musicologist born in Dortmund, Germany. He is distinguished professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

The Hypoaeolian mode, literally meaning "below Aeolian", is the name assigned by Henricus Glareanus in his Dodecachordon (1547) to the musical plagal mode on A, which uses the diatonic octave species from E to the E an octave above, divided by the final into a second-species fourth (semitone–tone–tone) plus a first-species fifth (tone–semitone–tone–tone): E F G A + A B C D E. The tenor or reciting tone is C, mediant B, the participants are the low and high Es, the conceded modulations are G and D, and the absolute initials are E, G, A, B, and C.

1st millennium BC in music – 1st millennium in music – 11th century in music

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Randel, Don Michael (2002). The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. p. 123. ISBN   0-674-00978-9.
  2. ↑ Hoppin, Richard (1978). Medieval Music. New York City: W. W. Norton.
  3. 1 2 Chew, Geoffrey; McKinnon, James W. (2001). "Centonization". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN   9780195170672.
  4. ↑ Treitler 1975, p. 7.
  5. ↑ Powers, Harold; Wiering, Frans; Porter, James; Cowdery, James; Davis, Ruth; Widdess, Richard; Perlman, Marc; JonesStephen; Marett, Allan (2001). "Mode". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN   9780195170672.
  6. ↑ Hiley, David. (1993). Western Plainchant: A Handbook. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 74-5. ISBN   0-19-816289-8 OCLC   25707447.
  7. ↑ Treitler 1975, pp. 14–5, 22–3; Treitler 1974, p. 356.
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