Dissertation Index
Author: Wilde, Howard Title: Towards a New Theory of Voice-Leading Structure in Sixteenth-Century Polyphony Institution: University of London Begun: October 1991 Completed: July 1995 Abstract: This study arises from a broad dissatisfaction with the two prevalent strands of contemporary analytical thought on Renaissance music: on the one hand, the work of the post-Schenkerian school seeks to explicate large-scale structures according to an eighteenth-century model of cadential closure (determined by the Bassbrechung); on the other hand, it is impossible to formulate normative archetypes of structure with exclusive reference to contemporaneous concepts of mode, since these are too diverse and mutually contradictory. Instead, a set of hypothetical voice-leading archetypes is proposed; these are derived from the principles of sixteenth-century (two-part) cadence theory, but their normative status is analogous to that of the Ursatz in eighteenth-century tonality. The thesis falls into four sections: 1 A critical appraisal of the chief theoretical issues in the analysis of early music, with special reference to sixteenth-century modal theory and to later (Schenkerian) paradigms of tonal behaviour. 2 The formulation of a preliminary hypothesis derived from sixteenth-century cadence theory. 3 The testing of this hypothesis on some problematic works, principally drawn from the output of Palestrina. 4 A variety of analytical case-studies from Josquin to Gesualdo, in order to demonstrate the wider critical and historical potential of the proposed archetypes. Keywords: tonality, modality, Schenker, Palestrina, Josquin, Gesualdo |