The Rise of the Motet
The motet was originally thought to have risen in the thirteenth century upon being influenced and even deriving the fundamental foundations of Notre-Dame polyphony. What was a substantial point in the formation of the motet was the sudden …show more content…
The piece features three tenors in polyphony but however, were set within different voice range of triplum being the highest out of the three, the motetus settling within the middle range, and the tenor being the lowest range heard. Although the ranges set within the three parts tend to stay within the parameters, Cruce occasionally crosses the triplum voice well below the motetus but never below the tenor. The three voices: triplum, motetus, and tenor each carry a specific function within the piece. While the triplum carries the principle melody for the most part, the motetus acts as the countermelody, and the tenor being the harmonic support. With the voices being interchangeable at certain points in the piece, one of the other unique characteristic of the piece is the text being embellished. The motet that Cruce composed is an example of polytextuality where instead of using a single text throughout the piece the composer used two. The texts are found with the triplum and motetus but rather than being set in the Latin language like previous motets, Cruce uses two French love poems. While the stanza does not naturally match up, Cruz uses complex rhythms and meter to shorten or lengthen notes and occasionally rest. This would heavily imply that the piece was written …show more content…
The similarities end there as Cruce imbeds the one poem about joy within the motetus but begans to mention his unwavering loyalty to feudalism more than his love for his woman within the triplum. The poem of feudalism loyalty was a likely a result of the rising feudalism system that was taking placing in parts of Europe during Petrus time. Musical