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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Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek harmoniai ; one of the medieval musical modes; or—most commonly—one of the modern modal diatonic scales, corresponding to the piano keyboard's white notes from D to D, or any transposition of itself.

Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode.

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The Phrygian mode can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek tonos or harmonia sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern conception of the Phrygian mode as a diatonic scale, based on the latter.

Subject (music)

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Neume System of medieval musical notation

A neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation.

Chorale settings refer to a wide variety of musical compositions, almost entirely of Protestant origin, which use a chorale as their basis. A chorale is a simple melody, often based on Gregorian chant, written for congregations to sing hymns. Chorale settings can be vocal, instrumental, or both.

The Hypolydian mode, literally meaning "below Lydian", is the common name for the sixth of the eight church modes of medieval music theory. The name is taken from Ptolemy of Alexandria's term for one of his seven tonoi, or transposition keys. This mode is the plagal counterpart of the authentic fifth mode.

The Hypophrygian mode, literally meaning "below Phrygian ", is a musical mode or diatonic scale in medieval chant theory, the fourth mode of church music. This mode is the plagal counterpart of the authentic third mode, which was called Phrygian. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance this mode was described in two ways: the diatonic scale from B to B an octave above, divided at the mode final E ; and as a mode with final E and ambitus from the A below to the C above. The note A above the final had an important melodic function. The melodic range of the ecclesiastical Hypophrygian mode therefore goes from the perfect fourth or fifth below the tonic to the perfect fifth or minor sixth above.

Hypodorian mode

The Hypodorian mode, a musical term literally meaning 'below Dorian', derives its name from a tonos or octave species of ancient Greece which, in its diatonic genus, is built from a tetrachord consisting of a semitone followed by two whole tones. The rising scale for the octave is a single tone followed by two conjoint tetrachords of this type. This is roughly the same as playing all the white notes of a piano from A to A: A | B C D E | (E) F G A. Although this scale in medieval theory was employed in Dorian and Hypodorian, from the mid-sixteenth century and in modern music theory they came to be known as the Aeolian and Hypoaeolian modes.

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.