Streaming complexity in the Renaissance Mass Ordinary cycle
Loading...
Date
2021-12-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ohio State University. Libraries
Abstract
Complexity of a piece should also be related to its intended use and context. The Mass Ordinary cycles of 15th- and 16th-c. Europe were works of exceptional formal consistency, and if complexity is relevant to the role of a Kyrie, Gloria, or Agnus Dei, this should be measurable from the scores of surviving examples. We evaluate an aspect of complexity generalizable to past church goers from the consequences of low-level auditory streaming principles. The streaming complexity estimate presumes that this music tends to be heard as an integrated stream within the rich scene of the church service unless the voices diverge through separation cues such as independent onsets and contrary motion. In a corpus of more than 200 mass cycles composed over 150 years, we find significant differences in average streaming complexity over time and between movements. The Agnus Dei tends to be more complex, the Credo, with a long text, is usually low, depending on the composer. Results suggest streaming complexity may indeed be tuned for the intended use of a work. By bringing musicological evidence into corpus analysis, we can consider this feature in relation to the role of music beyond present day patterns of consumption.
Description
Keywords
auditory streaming, Renaissance mass ordinary cycles, complexity, corpus studies
Citation
Future Directions of Music Cognition (2021), pp. 78-82