Tuba sacre/In arboris/Virgo sum

File:
vitrtuba.nwcMarch 20022.56 kB00:02:09
Composer:Vitry, Philippe de (1291-1361), French
About:http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/vitry.php
First Line:Tuba sacre/In arboris/Virgo sum
Genre:Medieval
Instruments:voices, but realized here for violin, English horn and trombone
Submitter:Hicks, Grant
Email:ghicks02 (e-mail)
Isorhythmic motet of the French "Ars Nova" period. De Vitry was the coiner of the term "Ars Nova", the new
polyphonic art of the 14th century as opposed to the earlier "Ars Antiqua".
"Isorhythm" was a method of composition that used repeating patterns of notes ("color") and rhythms ("talea").
In this motet the color length is an integer multiple of the talea length, but often this was not the case. The
Ars Nova motet was a composition in which each voice had its own text, often in different languages. The tenor
voice was derived from a fragment of a chant melody; is not clear whether in performance it was sung or played,
or both.
The first color (in the tenor voice) runs from m. 7 to m. 39 and contains three taleae - 7-17, 18-28 and 29-39.
The second color also has three taleae but in smaller note values.