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Analysis of Various Music Pieces

            Music plays important role in communicating different social, cultural and political aspects of life. Different writers use varying styles, textures and music genres to ensure that their music pieces convey the desired message to the target audience. This paper analyzes various music pieces written as early as 14^th century. 

Alleluia, O Virga Mediatrix

Alleluia, O Virga Mediatrix is a music composed by a German Benedictine Abbess, Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard was born in 1098 and died on September 17, 1179. She was a composer, a poet and was also venerated a saint in the Roman Catholic Church (Flynn, 2019). However, her accomplishments in writings and songs were only rediscovered recently. She lived as a staunch Christian and kept the Christian values in an unclear hilltop monastery in the Rhineland. O Virga Mediatrix belongs to the Plainchant Genre. Plainchant is a monophonic or single sound that is melody free and often with unrestrained vocal line. The verse has complex sounds that can be heard in highly melismatic movements. There is a mix of vocals that brings out the significance of each verse. The music tells about the fertility and felinity with the fruit of Virgin Mary’s womb that later the fruit redeemed the entire world (Bingen, 2009). The music is exemplary, especially because of its arrangement and melismatic approach that brings out the mood and purpose.

Gaude Maria Virgo

Gaude Maria Virgo is a composition by Notre Dame School, one of the schools with long history in Paris, France. The song belongs to the broader organum genre and was composed for the Notre Dame Cathedral (Lütteken, 2019). Organum genre was initiated by Notre Dame School and its primary feature is that the new vocal lines are written over the typical polyphonic chant. Several melodies sound simultaneously (Notre Dame School, 2009). As per the title of the piece Rejoice Virgin Mary, the music is organized with cool harmony and vocals. Gaude Maria Virgo narrates of shepherdess who is pursued by a lover while giving praises to the Virgin Mary. Its melismatic style brings out the religious element.

Ma fin est mon Commencement

Ma fin est mon Commencement is among the French secular songs composed by Guillaume de Machaut. This secular song belongs to the Rondeaus genre, which is a 14^th century style of AB-aA-ab-AB. In this style, letters represented musical contents while capitalization indicates the textual content. Machaut hails from France and is prominent for the “first complete polyphonic Mass setting” (Martin & Mihalka, 2020). While translated as “my end is my beginning,” this song narrates the un-endless circularity of life (Machaut, 2016). The music has very nice rhythm and vocals.

Si Ch’io Vorrei Morire

This is an Italian secular song written by an Italian Claudio Monteverdi. The song is of Italian Madrigal, which is a 14^th century’s music style performed as a cappella and usually of a polyphonic texture. The song provides a sense of love words to a lover wishing for death while kissing the loved one (Montiverdi, 2018). The polyphonic feature gives the right mood for the song.

Ave Maria … Virgo Serena

Ave Maria is one of the music pieces by Josquin des Prez, prominent Italian writer and poet during the renaissance era. He is famous as the master of 16^th century’s Renaissance polyphonic style of music (Martin & Mihalka, 2020). Josquin’s Ave Maria is of the Motet genre. This is a polyphonic vocal music of the renaissance style and texture. Ave Maria sacred song that tries to demonstrate the significance of Mary in the salvation of humanity (Josquin, 2018). The change between polyphonic and homophonic styles makes the music very nice.

Pope Marcellus Mass

 This is the most prominent mass amongst all works of an Italian Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. He was a true religious and a faithful of the Roman Catholic Church who expressed his faith through music. Palestrina wrote this work of mass genre in honor of Pope Marcellus who reigned only for three weeks following his death and succeeded by Pope Paul IV in the same year 1555 (Martin & Mihalka, 2020). The mass is the main part of service in the Roman Catholic Church. This mass has an ordinary mass polyphonic texture (Palestrina, 2010).

Fair Phyllis

Fair Phyllis is among the typical music pieces of the polyphonic Madrigal genre and word painting. This genre involves pictorializing of words within a music piece. It is written by an Italian song writer, John Farmer. As a secular music, Fair Phyllis alternates from duple beat to triple beat subdivisions in different parts of the song (Farmer, 2012). 

Three Dances

Three Dances is a composition by Tielman Susato, a Flemish composer and instrumentalist. Susato lived in Antwerp and believed in the power of instruments in music. He was a good vocalist and instrumentalist. Three Dance has a polyphonic texture of the Dance Music genre (Susato, 2017) The blend between the instruments and other voices makes the music very nice and soothing.

Conclusion

As observed from all the above music pieces, the genre and texture of the song are important aspects of the songs. Besides, vocals and the tone as well as included melisma in the song help the listeners to connect with the mood and purpose of the song.