The "harmonics" in three- and four-part motets of the 13th century. A corpus analysis

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Frank Hentschel
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 543210534

The polyphony of the 13th century marks a prepared but nevertheless striking change in the polyphonic musical practice of the Latin Middle Ages. Without diminishing the importance of the other genres, such as the organum, which continued to exist, or the conductus, the motet in the 13th century can almost be seen as a symbol of the changed polyphonic music. The complexity of its structure, the intertextuality of both musical and linguistic elements and its multilinguality have long attracted the attention of medievalist musicology. It is therefore not surprising that the motets of the 13th century, and especially those of the Codex Montpellier, are in many respects very well researched. Nevertheless, several aspects of the musical construction of the motets remain obscure. This includes the harmony. Despite all the illuminating studies on this aspect, we still cannot claim to understand the rules or conventions of their counterpoint or harmony in any comprehensive way. It is precisely in this respect that the research project applied for here would like to make a good deal of progress. The project will make methodical use of the fact that many of the motets repeat the tenor several times while the upper voices are changed. For this makes it possible to investigate what leeway was used in the "harmonisation" of identical tenors or to what extent the sounds used follow criteria of consistency. A hypothesis derived from the preliminary work is that the "harmonics" translate characteristics of the tenor's melodic phrases into sound: Beginning and ending notes are translated into stable, passing notes into unstable sounds, rhythmic properties are interpreted harmonically. There is some leeway, however, which in turn is used in a planned way in many motets. We have evidence, for example, that even certain dissonances in the tenor's repetitions recur structurally even in the case of differing melodies in the upper voices. Divided into subquestions, this hypothesis is to be tested or supported by means of a corpus study and, if applicable, differentiated and elaborated. The corpus consists of the three- and four-part motets with at least three tenor passages from the four important motet manuscripts Codex Montpellier, Codex Bamberg, Codex La Clayette and Turin, Bibl. Reale, vari. 42. For the project, the approx. 79 motets are to be analysed with the support of digital tools. A music historian and a collaborator from the Digital Humanities will therefore work closely together.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants