cantus firmus

There are numerous other examples of secular cantus firmi used for composition of masses; some of the most famous include: “Se la face ay pale” (Dufay), “Fortuna desperata” (attributed to Antoine Busnois), “Fors seulement” (Johannes Ockeghem), “Mille Regretz,” “Pange lingua” (Josquin), and “Westron Wynde” (anonymous).

One melody, usually a chant, served as a foundation for a second melody to move in a quicker, more florid manner above it. This chant was called the cantus firmus which is Latin for fixed song. The cantus firmus is any preexisting melody that is used as the foundation for a polyphonic composition.

In music, a cantus firmus ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.

The following characteristics are typical of all well formed cantus firmi: length of about 8–16 notes. arhythmic (all whole notes; no long or short notes) begin and end on do.

Cantus Firmus, in literal translation “firm chant” is a fixed melody taken from plainsong (which later became known as Gregorian chant), that composers of the 14th through 17th century used as the basis of polyphonic composition, against which other tunes are set in counterpoint.

In two-part counterpoint the cantus firmus is traditionally the lower voice as its rhythm is static and therefore serves to ground the composition.

The following characteristics are typical of all well formed cantus firmi: length of about 8–16 notes.

polyphony, in music, the simultaneous combination of two or more tones or melodic lines (the term derives from the Greek word for “many sounds”).

Cantus firmus: ("Fixed song") The process of using a pre-existing tune as the structural basis for a new polyphonic composition. Choralis Constantinus: A collection of over 350 polyphonic motets (using Gregorian chant as the cantus firmus) written by the German composer Heinrich Isaac and his pupil Ludwig Senfl.

Definition of 'polyphony' 1. multiplicity of sounds, as in an echo. 2. Music. a combining of a number of independent but harmonizing melodies, as in a fugue or canon; counterpoint.

Polyphonic music can also be called polyphony, counterpoint, or contrapuntal music. If more than one independent melody is occurring at the same time, the music is polyphonic.

The cantus firmus is given in F Lydian, i.e., it roughly corresponds to F major with a natural B instead of B flat.