Soggetto cavato

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Soggetto cavato is a composition technique developed by Josquin des Prez , which the music theorist Zarlino later called in his Le istitutioni harmoniche of 1558 soggetto cavato dalle parole - literally "theme taken from the words". The technique is based on the use of the solmization syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la by Guido of Arezzo , which are used to denote pitches. Josquin combined the vowels of the solmization syllables with the vowels of the text that he set to music. In the case of the Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae , he set the words "Hercules Dux Ferrarae" to music; each of the vowels of these three words is connected with the corresponding solmization syllable, the syllables then determine the pitch:

Man - right

cu - ut

les - right

Dux - ut

Fer - right

ra - fa

ri - mi

ae - re

results in the tone sequence re - ut - re - ut - re - fa - mi - re.

After the Soggetto cavato was derived from the text, the composer used it as a cantus firmus for his work. The Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae is the first and best known example of a Soggetto cavato. Josquin wrote more, such as a secular piece in which he set the sentence "Vive le roy" (Long live the king, ut, mi, ut, re, re, sol, mi - the syllable ut for the letter v) to music. His Missa La sol fa re mi uses a Soggetto cavato with a connected story: It seems that Josquin's employer, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza , when he was temporarily in financial need, the composer's request for payment with an insuring “Lascia fare a me” (Leave it to me) dismissed. Josquin's friend, the poet Serafino d'Aquila, then translated the comment into its musical equivalent and incorporated this into a sonnet that he sent to the composer. One of Josquin's thoroughly composed chansons , “Mi lares vous”, uses the first three syllables mi, la, re in four of the five voices. And finally, his motet Illibata Dei virgo uses the name Maria in a poem on the Virgin (theme la mi la).

The Soggetto Cavato technique was used by other composers for similar reasons. Five such masses were dedicated to Duke Ercole II (Latinized Hercules) of Ferrara, two by Cipriano de Rore , one by Lupus , one by Maitre Jan and one by Jaquet of Mantua . The pieces are all inspired by Josquin's mass. Josquin quotes Jaquet several times and is structured in the same way as his piece. Jaquet wrote another mass, Missa Ferdinandus dux Calabriae , which is also based on a Soggetto cavato.

Lupus also wrote another mass with a Soggetto cavato, dedicated to Emperor Charles V, Missa Carolus Imperator Romanorum Quintus .

Few other composers who did not write their own “Hercules Mass” used the idea of ​​the Soggetto cavato. Vaet wrote a work on Stat felix domus Austriae and dedicated it to Emperor Ferdinand of Austria. Adrian Willaert used a suction ghetto cavato in two motets for Duke Francesco II. Sforza of Milan. One of Willaert's untitled masses may also be based on a Soggetto cavato.

With the strict cantus firmus composition, the Soggetto cavato technique also fell into disuse. Composers used a similar process from the Baroque era onwards, by “translating” proper names into tone letters and creating musical motifs from them; the best known example is BACH .

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  • Lewis Lockwood:  Soggetto cavato. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  • Paul Moor: Josquin des Pres: Plainchant; Missa Panga lingua; Missa la sol fa re mi. In: High Fidelity 38, 3 (March 1988), pp. 63-64.