Sunday, October 2, 2011

Alleluia: Justus ut palma

This is an example of parallel organum.  The beginning of the text is is "Allelulia".  It consists of two voices singing  either 4th or 5ths apart.  I like this sound.  It is not something that I hear often.  The next two alleluias were sung by one man and both very melismatic.  The last syllable of Allelulia (the "ia") would go on for several lines.

 The next part of the text "Justus ut palma."  It again started with 2 voices singing in 4ths or  5ths and then the single male voice took over and sang some other text that was extremely melismatic, the same syllable would be sung over 10 or 12 notes.

The final part of this song returned to the beginning with the two voices singing Allelulia in 4ths and 5ths and the single voice finished the song.

I was interested in hearing this type of recording so that I could hear the very beginning of polyphony and how it developed.  This example showed the earliest form and I am hoping to understand the progression as it develops into more complex forms of polyphony.

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