Paired T/B echo the S/A, with added alto to create a fauxbourdon. S/A are paired, overlapping the bass cadence of the previous section. V irgo serena pierces through the texture with a notable tenor leap of an octave.Ĭonception– The first appearance in this piece of the famous “paired voices” perfected by Josquin. Cadences overlap, a typical Josquin device. Strict four-part imitation at the unison and octave form the first phrase, becoming freely composed after that. Salutation – The well-known Ave Maria Gregorian melody is the basis for the opening. The text painting so remarkable that it clearly springs from Josquin’s own personal feelings about the text. But what makes the motet a true masterpiece is that Josquin seems to have infused his very self into every moment. The text is the basis for Josquin’s gifts of expression, and with each strophe he paints a distinct and specific texture that feels as though no other notes could possibly express the sentiments any better. It is an amazing amalgam of the compositional techniques that, by this point, Josquin had refined and distilled to a level rarely achieved. Each of the verses corresponds to a Marian Feast: Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, Purification, and Assumption.Īve Maria, Gratia plena, Dominus tecum, Virgo serena.Īve Maria…Virgo serena sounds as just as colorful, vital, and fresh today as it must have when it was composed. The text is a rhymed hymn of five strophes, introduced by a salutation to the Blessed Virgin, and ending with a personal petition to her. Josquin composed this motet sometime in the later part of the 15th century, with the actual date still up for debate. It is also an incredibly beautiful sounding piece. It remains to this day one of the benchmark works of the Renaissance, most notably for the use of imitation, transparency of texture, and deep personal expression. And so, for the very first motet in the collection, Petrucci chose Josquin’s Ave Maria…Virgo serena. 1 It stands to reason that if someone wants to sell a lot of books, he should put something in there that people want to buy. Was this really the most famous piece of music in 1502? Well, maybe, because when the important music publisher Petrucci assembled his first book of motets ( Motetti A), he chose this piece to stand at the head. Since May is the month dedicated to The Blessed Virgin, and we don’t talk about Josquin as much as we do some other composers, I thought I would write a little more about this important motet. My choice was Josquin Des Prez’ Ave Maria…Virgo serena. The same music is used at the end of the earlier Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), and at the end of the latter The Robe (1953).AST WEEK some of the Watershed contributors took part in a Zoom meeting to talk about a favorite piece of music or one that they find especially meaningful. The result was the novel The Song of Bernadette, which became an international success and a film classic.Īlfred Newman also wrote the score to The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Robe (1953) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He vowed to write a book about her if he and his wife escaped safely. During their flight from the Nazis, they stopped at Lourdes, the French city in which Bernadette Soubirous lived and reportedly saw the Virgin Mary. Until his death, author Franz Werfel (1890–1945) was married to Alma Mahler, widow of Gustav Mahler. Each appearance of “The Lady” (Linda Darnell), as she is referred to in the film, is accompanied by dramatic vocalization to signify to the audience the numinous character of the vision, that it is in fact the Virgin Mary, although Bernadette never explicitly states this. In the score, composed by Alfred Newman (1900–70), dramatic vocalization is used to heighten the significance of Bernadette’s visions. The townspeople believed it to be the Virgin Mary, leading local officials to try to suppress her and her followers for heresy. The Song of Bernadette, based on the novel by Franz Werfel, is the story of Bernadette Soubirous (Jennifer Jones), an adolescent peasant girl who in 1858 had visions of “a beautiful lady” in the city dump of Lourdes, France.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |