Between Cantus Firmus and Pervasive Imitation: Features of Working with Liturgical Sources in Early Tudor Composers Motets
Abstract
The article discusses the principles of working with a plainchant in the motets of the English composers of the second half of the 15th – early 16th century. The examination of these principles could clarify the interaction between various composition techniques, such as cantus firmus technique and pervasive imitation. The compositional methods could be divided into four groups. Three of them (demonstrated through Richard Davy’s In honore summae matris, John Browne’s O Maria Salvatoris Mater and Robert Fayrfax’s Magnificat Regale) demonstrate the same tendency, namely that the chant plays no main structural role in the composition. The principle of a fragmentary cantus prius factus device, when a plainchant is fractal and the cantus voice no longer serves as the base of a composition, should be particularly noted. This is an example of a transitional technique; it could have originated from John Dunstaple’s motets, while also containing some pervasive imitation characteristics. John Taverner’s four-voice Magnificat represents a later version of cantus prius factus interpretation: here pervasive imitation is combined with the cantus firmus technique, based on a clear and unflorid plainchant demonstration.
Keywords: Renaissance polyphony, cantus firmus, pervasive imitation, motet, Eton choirbook, compositional principles interaction
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.56620/RM.2026.1.045-060
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