16th century cadences, part 6: Gastoldi, n12

Following up on yesterday's post about wedge shapes in cadences, here are opposing cadence figures, both for 6-8. The two cadences are at beginning and end of the piece. In the first case, motion is down in both voices and is especially pronounced in the tenor. In the second case, a stream of parallel motion is interrupted in the final few beats as the tenor reaches a high note, E4, and then descends firmly by step.

16th century cadences, part 5: Gastoldi, bicinium n3

Twenty years after the publication of Lassus' two set of duets, Giovanni Gastoldi published his first book of music for two voices. Like most pieces in the category of bicinia, these were most likely intended primarily for instructional purposes, rather than for performance. (The importance of the repertoire of didactic pieces is recognized and provides the pedagogical foundation for Peter Schubert's excellent textbook Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style (Oxford 2007, second edition).)

Among the internal cadences in the third duet are a pair that neatly illustrate my point today. In two of the three pieces by Lassus (from parts 2-4 in this series of posts), the voices largely approached the cadence in the same direction—up, of course, since I was bringing out the historically significant idea of rising cadence gestures.

Contrary motion is entirely possible, too: in the cadence pair below, the 3-1 is approached in a closing wedge, 6-8 in one that opens. Both express broadly basic motion in each of the cadences: 3 closing into 1, 6 opening out to 8.

It is important to note, however, that there is in fact no necessary directional bias in either of the two cadence types, 3-1 and 6-8. Subsequent posts will attempt to make that clear.