16th century cadences, part 4: Lassus, bicinia with text n14

Another texted duet borrows from the Magnificat. "Fecit potentiam . . ." is in KJV "He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts" Luke 1:51. Here a short first phrase ("Fecit potentiam") is without cadence, but the second is very clear (for "in brachio suo"), involving three thirds and two 2-3 bass suspensions.

The conclusion again is the point of interest, however: now familiar rising gestures in connection with a 6-8 cadenza perfetta, but note that the approach in the upper voice is repeated, a less likely option than a more varied, but still mainly stepwise figure.

16th century cadences, part 3: Lassus, bicinia with text n15

The last of the texted bicinia uses the same text as n6. Here again I have shown beginning and ending only, and here again the opening phrase is quite long and without cadence in my excerpt (probably this does have something to do with text painting, since the text is about "filling the poor with plenty"; KJV: "He hath filled the hungry with good things"). And here again the focus of my interest is the ending, which offers a more elaborately embellished cadence than did n6, along with even more emphatic rising gestures.

16th century cadences, part 2: Lassus, bicinia with text n6

This and several subsequent posts provide examples of cadences in 16th century bicinia, or pieces in two voices. The object is to discuss features and treatments of the two versions of the clausula vera (also known as the cadenza perfetta), intervals 3-1 and 6-8. An introductory post is here: link.

Lassus published two sets of bicinia in 1577. The first set of fifteen of these are texted, another with twelve are not. Among the texted duets, numbers 6 and 15 use the same text, "Esurientes implevit. . ." [KJV: "He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away," Luke 1:53; from the Magnificat]. I am not an expert in 16th century text painting and will not comment on that element. Which is another way of saying that I don't see anything obvious in the particular choices of figures or cadence types.

The opening and closing measures are in the example below. The points of interest here are that Lassus is not afraid to use the 6-8 cadence to close (that is, he shows no prejudice in favor of 3-1), and the overall gesture in the upper voice is rising.

On the clausula vera (3-1 or 6-8)

The articulation of cadences in sixteenth-century European music relied on the formula of third to unison intervals (if the parts are flipped, then it's sixth to octave). In each example just the beginning of a phrase in two voices is shown, followed by the cadence.

Here is an example from literally thousands of pieces showing the treatment of these figures. This is the fifth of Thomas Morley's Duets for Two Viols. In the opening phrase (mm. 1-5), a sixth (marked in m. 4) "prepares" a suspension dissonance that resolves into the 6 of the cadence: asterisks mark the 6-8. In the second phrase, similarly, a third D-F "prepares" a 2-3 bass suspension and the cadential 3-1 follows (note that the lower notated voice is actually higher in pitch at this point).

And here are the final two phrases, in which the cadence types are reversed: 3-1 first, then 6-8. Again note that the second cadence has the lower notated voice higher in pitch. Indeed, it is one of the uncommon instances of a rising cadential figure in notated ("art") music in the centuries before 1800.

Far more common in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is to bring a string of parallel sixths down, often with suspensions, toward the 6-8. The example below is from the fifth of the texted bicinia (sometimes called "duets") of Lassus. Four sixth intervals in a row, three with suspensions, make for an inexorable drop to the cadence, and it is only the sudden turn to the final octave that stops the progression (and is a big part of the expressive and formal point).