Meaning of Mensuration in Music
In music, **mensuration** refers to the measurement and organization of time and rhythm. It involves the use of **mensuration signs** or symbols to indicate the duration of notes and the overall rhythmic structure of a musical composition. These signs provide information about the relationship between different note values and the tempo of the music.
Mensural Notation and Canons
Mensuration is closely associated with **mensural notation**, a system of musical notation used in the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. Mensural notation represented different note values and rhythmic proportions using specific symbols and signs. These signs indicated the duration of notes and the relationship between different rhythmic values.
Mensuration can also be seen in the context of **canons**. In a mensuration canon, the follower imitates the leader by some rhythmic proportion. This can involve doubling the rhythmic values of the leader (augmentation or sloth canon) or cutting the rhythmic proportions in half (diminution canon) ).
Example of Mensuration in Music
An example of mensuration in music can be seen in the technique of **mensural canons**. Sometimes, music was written in such a way that the same line of music had to be performed under two or more mensuration schemes, typically leading to slower (augmented) and faster (diminished) versions of the same passage. In such cases, the music was typically notated only once, and several different mensuration signs were placed in front of it together, often supplemented with a verbal instruction of how it should be executed. This technique could be applied both successively and simultaneously.
Conclusion
In summary, mensuration in music refers to the measurement and organization of time and rhythm. It involves the use of mensuration signs to indicate the duration of notes and the overall rhythmic structure of a musical composition. Mensuration can be seen in the context of mensural notation and canons, where different rhythmic proportions and relationships are expressed through specific symbols and techniques.
A system devised in the 13th century which governs the rhythmic relationships in music. This system lead to the modern use of time signatures in music. It has to do with the divisions of time in the following manner:
- The relationship between the longa and the breve is called the modus;
- The relationship between the breve and the semibreve, the tempus;
- The relationship between the semibreve and the minim, the prolatio;
- These relationships can be either 3:1 (perfect) or 2:1 (imperfect). By adjusting these relationships and mixing them among each other, many different divisions of time (just like modern time signatures) were achieved.
Leave a Reply