LISTENING GUIDE

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LISTENING GUIDE
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)
Plainchant hymn, Pange Lingua
Date of composition: Thirteenth century
Choir
Duration: 2:24
Pan ge lin gua glo ri o si Cor po ris my ste ri um,
San gui nis que pre ti o si, Quem in mun di pre ti um
Fruc tus ven tris ge ne ro si Rex ef fu dit gen ti um.
The Pange Lingua hymn was written by Thomas Aquinas, one of the foremost scholars and
theologians of the late Middle Ages. The hymn is strophic: All four stanzas are sung to the same
music. Each stanza has six lines, and they seem to fall into pairs. The chant is in the E (Phrygian)
mode, but the only line that ends on E is the last one. This gives the music a sense of continuity until
the end. The chant is almost entirely syllabic, and the text urges praise for the miracle of Christ’s
birth and death.
We will listen to all four stanzas, but what is important here is the music; therefore, the entire text
is not given. Remember: All four stanzas have exactly the same music.
CD TIME LISTEN FOR
29 (29) 0:00 Stanza 1 (“Pange lingua ... ”)
0:33 Stanza 2 (“Nobis datus ... ”)
1:04 Stanza 3 (“In supremae ... ”)
1:39 Stanza 4 (“Verbum caro ... ”)
2:12 “Amen”
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LISTENING GUIDE
Josquin Desprez (c. 1440–1521)
Kyrie from the Pange Lingua Mass
TENORS
104
Date of composition: c. 1520
Sopranos, altos, tenors, basses
Duration: 2:51
CHAPTER 5
All of the three basic characteristics of Josquin’s style that we have discussed may be
heard in the opening Kyrie of Josquin’s Pange Lingua Mass:
1. Simple imitation: A point of imitation introduces each short melodic phrase.
2. Overlapping cadences: Just as the first group is completing its phrase and moving into a
cadence, a second group enters, and so on.
3. Paired imitation: One pair of voices sings a phrase of imitation, then another pair enters.
Let us first look at the phrase that provides the material for the first point of imitation. It is
derived from the first phrase of the plainchant hymn. Notice, however, that Josquin adds a short
turning passage between the last two notes to provide intensity and drive to the cadence. Notice, too,
the rhythm that Josquin has applied to the notes. It starts out with long notes (which stress the characteristic
E–F half step of the Phrygian mode) and increases in motion until just before the end. The
meter of this music is also very flexible. Composers of this era did not use measures or bar lines

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(as you can see from the facsimile of the original score). This creates a very fluid sound without the
regularly recurring accents that occur in later music.
The movement as a whole has three main sections:
1. Kyrie eleison.
2. Christe eleison.
3. Kyrie eleison.
Each section begins with a new point of imitation, and all are derived from the original hymn.
The “Christe” section is based on the third and fourth lines of the hymn, the final “Kyrie” section
on the fifth and sixth lines. Toward the end of the last section, Josquin adds new rhythmic material
to create a strong drive to the final cadence.
CD TIME LISTEN FOR
30 (30) 0:00 Kyrie eleison (Based on opening of hymn melody.) Tenors and basses; cadence
overlaps with entry of altos. Sopranos enter before final
cadence.
0:45 Christe eleison (Based on lines 3 and 4 of hymn melody.) Paired imitation,
overlapping entries.
2:02 Kyrie eleison (Based on lines 5 and 6 of hymn melody.) Sopranos, altos, tenors,
basses enter in turn; increase in activity before final cadence.

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LISTENING GUIDE
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525–1594)
Motet, Exsultate Deo
Date of composition: 1584
Sopranos, altos I, altos II, tenors, basses
Duration: 2:24
The motet Exsultate Deo was first published in Palestrina’s fifth book of motets in 1584.
This book contains twenty-one motets written for five voices. The text is from Psalm 81. Palestrina
uses only the first three lines of the psalm.
Exsultate Deo adiutori nostro, Sing out in praise of God our refuge,
iubilate Deo Iacob. acclaim the God of Jacob.
Sumite psalmum et date tympanum, Raise a melody; beat the drum,
psalterium iucundum cum cithara. play the tuneful lyre and harp.
Buccinate in neomenia tuba, Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
insigni die solemnitatis vestrae. and blow it at the full moon on the day of your
solemn feast.
In his setting, Palestrina concentrates only on these exuberant opening
verses of the psalm, rather than the fierce later ones. The music is bright
and joyful, filled with dotted rhythms and running eighth-note patterns,
which help to enliven the work. In addition, the composer uses some
word-painting (echoing the meaning of words in music), such as on the
opening word “Exsultate,” where the musical line rises triumphantly.
Ex sul ta te De o
With five independent musical lines, the number of possible combinations is large, and Palestrina
constantly varies the texture of his music. The clearest examples of this variation are when the
sopranos drop out briefly, leaving only the lower voices, or (on the words “psalterium iucundum”—
“tuneful lyre”) when only three voices are sounding. Exsultate Deo is full of imitation, but Palestrina
points up the entrance of new lines of text by having them sung homophonically by a pair of voices,
which adds an underlying structure to the work as a whole. Cleverly, he departs from this technique
toward the end of the motet on the words “Buccinate” (“blow”) and “tuba” (“trumpet”), where there
is very close imitation, suggesting the echoing of trumpet blasts.
This performance is by the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England. This choir, which has
been in continuous existence since the early sixteenth century, is made up of the same distribution of
voices as it was originally: sixteen boys and twelve men. So all the high voices you hear are those of boys.
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CD TIME LISTEN FOR
CHAPTER 5
31 (31) 0:00 Exsultate Deo Sing out in praise of [Imitation in pair of upper voices
adiutori nostro, God our refuge, alone; rising line on “Exsultate.”]
0:11 [Pair of lower voices. Cadence in
all five voices; overlaps with:]
0:28 iubilate Deo Iacob. acclaim the God of [Many entries, suggesting
Jacob. a crowd “acclaiming.”]
0:37 [Lower voices.]
0:49 Sumite psalmum et Raise a melody; beat [Quite homophonic, becoming
date tympanum, the drum, more imitative. Note dotted
rhythm on “tympanum.”]
1:04 psalterium iucundum play the tuneful lyre [Elaborate flowering of the voices
cum cithara. and harp. on “iucundum” (“tuneful”).]
32 (32) 0:00 Buccinate in Blow the trumpet [Multiple echoes on “Buccinate;”
neomenia tuba, at the new moon, homophonic climax on “neomenia.”]
0:13 [Running echoes on “tuba.”]
0:23 insigni die and blow it at the full [Slower, lower, more “solemn.”]
solemnitatis moon on the day of
vestrae. your solemn feast.

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LISTENING GUIDE
Thomas Morley (1557–1602)
Two English Madrigals
Date of composition: 1595
Two sopranos (Sweet Nymph Come to Thy Lover);
two baritones (Fire and Lightning)
Duration: 2:31
The texts for these short pieces were probably written by Morley himself. Each one contains
picturesque images, which the music captures beautifully. The first madrigal, Sweet Nymph,
compares the lover, singing his song to his beloved, to a nightingale, a favorite image for composers.
The second, Fire and Lightning, uses the imagery of thunder and storms to describe the “stormy”
nature of love. It is lively and frenetic, with a kicker at the end. Both are primarily imitative, with
very close imitation in some sections to liven up the proceedings or to intensify the sound. The very
last line of Fire and Lightning is suddenly homophonic to draw attention to the sting at the end. This
last line also exploits antithesis (“fair”/“spiteful”) to make its effect.
Both madrigals have such short texts that there are many repetitions of each phrase, and you will
hear many instances of word-painting. The fine performances here are by students Sarah Pelletier
and Suzanne Ehly, sopranos, and faculty members William Sharp and Mark Aliapoulios, baritones,
of the Boston University School for the Arts.
CD TIME LISTEN FOR
33 (33) 0:00 Sweet nymph come to thy lover, Imitation.
0:12 Lo here alone our loves we Touches of homophony on
may discover, “Lo here alone.”
0:20 (Repeat of first two lines)
0:39 Where the sweet nightingale Imitation; high notes and
with wanton gloses, close harmony on “gloses” [trills].
0:49 Hark, her love too discloses. High notes, very close imitation,
especially last time through.
1:03 (Repeat of last two lines)
34 (34) 0:00 Fire and lightning from heaven fall Lively; very close imitation.
0:08 And sweetly enflame that heart Smooth descending scales on
with love arightful, “sweetly.”
0:16 (Repeat of first two lines)
CHAPTER 5
0:31 Of Flora my delightful, Scales in opposite direction on “delightful.”
0:45 So fair but yet so spiteful. Last time through: homophonic, close
pungent harmony, dissonance on “spite-,”
incomplete sound on “ful.”
0:47 (Repeat of last two lines)
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LISTENING GUIDE
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1555–1612)
Canzona Duodecimi Toni
114
Date of composition: 1597
Two brass choirs
Duration: 3:53
CHAPTER 5
This work by Giovanni Gabrieli is divided into several sections and contrasts two brass
“choirs,” which are heard in dialogue. As in Josquin’s Pange Lingua Mass, the music is pushed forward
by overlapping cadences, one choir beginning as the previous choir ends. Sometimes the two
choirs play together. The piece features dynamic contrasts of loud and soft, which are characteristic
of late Renaissance and early Baroque music. A special effect involving dynamic contrast is “echo,”
in which the exact repetition of a phrase at a lower volume suggests distance.
The canzona is full of varied rhythmic patterns, but the most pervasive is the “canzona rhythm,”
LONG-short-short (hqq), which you will hear throughout the piece, in fast and slow tempos.
CD TIME LISTEN FOR
Introduction
35 (35) 0:00 Both brass choirs. Fairly slow, medium loud; canzona rhythm is prominent.
Section 1
36 (36) 0:15 Choir I. Faster tempo, same musical motive and rhythm, faster
tempo, homophonic.
0:20 Choir II, growing louder.
Section 2
0:27 Both choirs, loud, featuring flourishes by trumpets in imitation; cadence.
37 (37) 0:43 Second idea, quieter, mostly homophonic, echoes, passages of imitation
between choirs, lively rhythms; cadence.
Section 3
38 (38) 1:26 Third idea, loud, mostly homophonic, echoes, both choirs.
1:43 Trumpet flourishes, cadence.
1:49 Canzona rhythm; close imitation, cadence.
Section 4
39 (39) 2:10 Fourth idea, quiet, canzona rhythm, lots of imitation between choirs,
cadence.
2:35 Multiple echoes, from loud to soft, between choirs; crescendo . . .
3:02 Final idea, both choirs loud, leading to big climax.

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LISTENING GUIDE
Tielman Susato (fl. 1543–1561)
Ronde and Saltarelle
115
Date of composition: 1551
Recorders and percussion
Duration: 1:52
This example is a dance pair written by the Flemish composer and publisher Tielman
Susato. The ronde and saltarelle are both Renaissance dances in binary form. On the repeats, the
melodies are occasionally ornamented with trills and decorative figures.
The two dances use the same melody, but the ronde is in duple meter, whereas the saltarelle is in
triple meter; the effect of the meter change is dramatic.
CD TIME LISTEN FOR
Ronde
(40) 0:00
[duple meter: recorders and drum]
First phrase:
0:14 Repeat (ornamented)
0:29 Second phrase (higher):
0:36 Repeat (ornamented)
Saltarelle
(41) 0:43
[triple meter: recorders and tambourine]
First phrase:
1:05 Repeat (ornamented)
1:26 Second phrase (higher):
1:37 Repeat (ornamented)
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.
Complete CD
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