Cadential Syntax and Tonal Expectation in Late Sixteenth-Century Homophony

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-83
Author(s):  
Megan Kaes Long
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Phrase Structure

Abstract This article explores the emergence of tonal languages in late-sixteenth-century homophony by considering the ways in which phrase structure, meter, and cadential rhetoric produce trajectories of expectation. Focusing on the English ballett and the French air de cour, two homophonic, secular, vernacular genres produced according to wildly different aesthetic criteria, it demonstrates how composers’ regulation of harmony and syntax transformed contrapuntal languages into tonal ones. Early tonal languages are thus defined here by the trajectories of expectation that such regulation establishes.

Halves Requiring Completion

2020 ◽  
pp. 99-139
Author(s):  
Megan Kaes Long
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Harmonic Component ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Text Setting ◽  
Listening Strategies

Sixteenth-century theorists did not describe phrase structure; they were concerned instead with counterpoint. But phrase was an unavoidable consideration in the fast-paced, syllabic environment of vocal homophony. Schematic text-setting ensured that homophonic phrases were concise and discrete, segmenting the musical surface into short, symmetrical units demarcated by efficient cadences. Melodic construction changed in turn, as composers focused on getting from cadence to cadence. These early experiments with phrase design had a strong harmonic component: through the analysis of over one thousand phrases, this chapter demonstrates how repertoire-wide norms privilege dominant–tonic relationships at the phrase level. Composers supported these harmonic trajectories with new melodic strategies that emphasized transposition and transformation of goal-directed motives. Ultimately, phrase structure—especially the nascent musical period—encouraged dynamic listening strategies that played a crucial role in the early development of tonality.

Maxims of Foreign Policy

Itinerario ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-79
Author(s):  
W.J. Boot
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Cultural Sphere ◽  
Japanese Identity

In the pre-modern period, Japanese identity was articulated in contrast with China. It was, however, articulated in reference to criteria that were commonly accepted in the whole East-Asian cultural sphere; criteria, therefore, that were Chinese in origin.One of the fields in which Japan's conception of a Japanese identity was enacted was that of foreign relations, i.e. of Japan's relations with China, the various kingdoms in Korea, and from the second half of the sixteenth century onwards, with the Portuguese, Spaniards, Dutchmen, and the Kingdom of the Ryūkū.

Leone de' Sommi and Jewish Theatre in Renaissance Mantua

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
Donald Beecher
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Social Negotiations ◽  
Renaissance Artist ◽  
The Way

This is a study of a Renaissance artist and his patrons, but with an added complication, insofar as Leone de' Sommi, the gifted academician and playwright in the employ of the dukes of Mantua in the second half of the sixteenth century, was Jewish and a lifelong promoter and protector of his community. The article deals with the complex relationship between the court and the Jewish "università" concerning the drama and the way in which dramatic performances also became part of the political, judicial and social negotiations between the two parties, as well as a study of Leone's role as playwright and negotiator during a period that was arguably one of the best of times for the Jews of Mantua.

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