YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION

POLYPHONY AND WORD-SOUND IN ADRIAN WILLAERT’S LAUS TIBI SACRA RUBENS
mentioned lines 2 and 4 plus the concluding lines 9 and 10. As we have seen, verse
2 – quam Christo a loto spongia pressa tulit – is mainly characterised by the presence
of hard-sounding consonants or consonantal combinations, that perfectly support
the meaning of the text. If we now take a closer look at the music, we can see
that Willaert has carefully tried to imitate this poetic effect, more exactly through a
specific organisation of the rhythm.
The rhythmic structure of the second verse is dominated by a rigorous alternation
of entrances on the stronger (first and third minim) and weaker parts (second
and fourth minim) of the measure. Willaert (See Example 1) clarifies his intentions
right from the start of this line (bar 14), by creating an inextricable link between the
quintus and cantus. The quintus invariably sings his syllables on the stronger parts
of the measure, whereas the cantus systematically follows this voice after a minim,
thus producing a constant verbal echo. This technique functions as the perfect vehicle
for expressing and stressing the emotional content of this verse, since it guarantees
the presence of hard consonants and consonantal combinations on each minim.
Willaert’s purpose is manifested even more clearly from bar 15–16 onwards, when
the altus and tenor join the polyphonic fabric, making use of the same rhythmic principles.
It is obvious that the number of sonic effects increases in proportion to the
growing number of voices. What is more, thanks to the increased number of voices,
the linking of different consonantal combinations takes place not only on a successive
(horizontal) level, but on a simultaneous (vertical) level as well: see for instance
the fourth beat of bar 15 (ChriSTo + QUam) or the third beat of bar 16 (SPongia +
QUam).
The gradual heightening of this sonic effect reaches a climax on the third beat
of bar 17, where three hard consonantal combinations can be heard simultaneously:
SPongia (cantus), PRessa (quintus) and CHRisto (tenor). It is interesting to note that
this climax has been carefully prepared: after the rhythmic standstill at the beginning
of bar 17 – for the first time in this motet all voices share the same rhythmic value,
namely a semibreve – the sonic outburst on the second half of this measure can be
said to be twice as powerful. In bar 18 Willaert reintroduces the same, more or less
moderate spread of entrances as at the beginning of this verse. On the last beat of bar
19, however, a new wave of successive and simultaneous sound clusters starts. 16 As
in bar 17, this climax is preceded by what could be called a textural recession, namely
a cadence on g. In short, the specific spreading of the rhythm and the careful organisation
of the contrapuntal texture (i.e. the alternation of rich and low textural activity)
allow Willaert to create a polyphonic web that is perfectly suited to intensifying
the emotional and sonic content of the text. Table 1 summarizes the spreading of the
consonantal combinations in the second verse.
16 This term comes from MILLER, Word-Sound and Musical Texture, p. 69.
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