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Views from the Choir Loft

Allowed or Forbidden? • Parallel Fourths in Renaissance Polyphony

Jeff Ostrowski · August 6, 2020

HOSE WHO CLICK on #79075 will find marvelous items. The first is a special “Mode 7” version of the MAGNIFICAT combining versions from Father Guerrero, Father Morales, and Palestrina. (All are seventh mode, so they mix together well.) The score helps singers understand that the Mode 7 plainsong appears in each voice elongated (“in augmentation”) depending upon the movement. (In the live recording below, the final movement is omitted). Not only that, but rehearsal videos for each individual voice are provided at #79075. On top of all that, two (2) YouTube videos containing a discussion about this marvelous “Guerrero+” composition are linked to.

Before Covid-19 hit, our choir was learning this Magnificat. Here’s a recording made during one of our rehearsals:

Disclaimer: The microphones cannot capture the true beauty of choral singing, just as a Postcard cannot capture the true beauty of a sunset.

In the section by Father Cristóbal de Morales, we find parallel fourths. (The same exact thing happens in measures 29-30.) See for yourself:

But are parallel fourths allowed in Renaissance polyphony?

The student of Father Morales was Father Guerrero (who turned out to be an even greater composer than his teacher). In Missa Beata Mater, Father Guerrero uses parallel fourths:

Please let me know your thoughts about parallel fourths in the Facebook combox. Thanks!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Composer Cristobal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero Composer, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Last Updated: August 6, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The representative Protestant collection, entitled “Hymns, Ancient and Modern”—in substance a compromise between the various sections of conflicting religious thought in the Establishment—is a typical instance. That collection is indebted to Catholic writers for a large fractional part of its contents. If the hymns be estimated which are taken from Catholic sources, directly or imitatively, the greater and more valuable part of its contents owes its origin to the Church.

— Orby Shipley (1884)

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