A Lesson From Lassus (P. Schubert) PDF

Society for Music Theory
A Lesson from Lassus: Form in the Duos of 1577

Author(s): Peter N. Schubert
Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 1-26
Published by: on behalf of the Society for Music Theory
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Lesson
from
Lassus:
Form
in
the
Duos
of
1577
Peter N. Schubert
When Lassus expressed the hope that his twenty-four little
duos might "in the future be of great benefit and training as
much to beginning musicians as to those more skilled in their
art," he could hardly have predicted just what a great future
they would have.' They were reprinted often in the decades
following their first publication, and are now among the bestknown examples of Renaissance polyphony.2 The twelve tex1The quote is from the dedication to the original edition, in Orlando di
Lasso, SamtlicheWerke,ed. Franz Xaver Haberl (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hirtel, 1894; facsimile, New York: Broude Bros., 1973), vol. 1, x: "tamMusices
tyronibus,quam eius artis peritioribusmagno usui & exercito sint futuri."All
examples in this article are based on this edition. The originalfull title of the
collection expresses the same pedagogicalaim: Novae aliquot et ante hac non
ita usitatead duas voces cantionessuavissimae,omnibusmusicissumme utiles:
necnon tyronibus quam eius artis peritioribus summopere inservientes
(Miinchen: Adam Berg, 1577).
2RISM 1577c lists nine editions through 1610 (Einzeldriicke vor 1800,
Repertoireinternationaldes sources musicales, vol. 5, ed. KarlheinzSchlager
[Kassel:Barenreiter, 1975], 274). The duos were firstcalled motets and ricercars in the 1579 edition, Motettied ricercari... a due voci (Venice: Angelo
Gardano, 1579); RISM 1579c. Wolfgang Boetticher lists didactic works in
which some duos were reprintedin "Eine franzosischeBicinien-Ausgabe als
frtihmonodischesDokument," in FestschriftKarl GustavFellererzum sechzigsten Geburtstag,ed. Heinrich Htischen (Regensburg: Gustav Bosse Verlag,
1962), 67-76. The twelve texted pieces can be found in modern clefs, and
with translations, in Gustave Frederic Soderlund and Samuel H. Scott, Examples of Gregorian Chant and Other Sacred Music of the 16th Century
(Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1971), and selections can be found in many
other anthologies. For more comment on these duos see WolfgangBoetticher,
Orlando di Lasso und seine Zeit (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1958), 460-67. For
ted duos (Nos. 1-12, hereafter called motets) can be found

in many anthologies and counterpoint textbooks, while the
pieces without text (Nos. 13-24, hereafter called ricercars)
are well known among instrumentalists. While their place as
etudes and examples of two-part counterpoint is secure, we
may still ask what they provide to those "more skilled in their
art." This study demonstrates that in these pieces Lassus is
giving a lesson on the one aspect of Renaissance music whose
omission from treatises most frustrates present-day analysts:
form.
Treatises teach how to make a theme suitable for each of
the various modes, how to treat consonance and dissonance,
how to imitate or invert a theme, on which notes to make
cadences, and how to write double counterpoint.3 But they
never tell us when in the course of a piece these devices and
more on didactic duos in general, see Paolo Emilio Carapezza'sintroduction
to MusicheRinascimentaliSiciliane, vol. 2 (Rome: Edizioni de Santis, 1971).
3Thedissonancetreatmentin the duos suggests a restrained,formal style.
There is only one dissonant lower neighbor at the semiminim level (No. 5,
m. 29). There are no dissonant third semiminimsagainst semibreves, and no
dissonant cambiatas, echapp6es, or 9-8 suspensions. (Note values in all of
the examples presented here are original.) Lassus's treatment of dissonance
is more restricted than that expressed in Part 3 of Zarlino's Le Istitutioni
harmoniche(Venice, 1558; facsimile, New York: Broude Bros., 1965; translation by Guy Marco and Claude Palisca as The Art of Counterpoint[New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1968]), where dissonant lower neighbors and
echappees are allowed. The cadences conform largely to Zarlino's prescriptions in Istitutioni,Part 4, translatedby Vered Cohen as On TheModes (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1983).

Music Theory Spectrum
techniques should be used. Each seems to be a detail; on the

relation of these details to large-scale form the theorists are
mute. The following close examination of the duos shows how
three contrapuntal features are used by Lassus in a way that
consistently articulates form.4 The descriptions of these tech4An attempt to define large-scale structurein the Lassus duos has been
made by Lyle Davidson in "TheStructureof Lassus'Motets a2 (1577)," Sonus
USA 2 (1982): 71-90. Davidson asks many of the same questions asked here,
but uses differentmethods (e.g., experimentsin perception) to answerthem.
He concludes that large-scale durations are organized according to the Fibonacci series. For a wide-rangingstudy of Lassus's techniques, see Lucie
Balmer, Orlando di Lassos Motetten(Bern and Leipzig: Paul Haupt, 1938;
facsimile, Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1978).
For studies of large-scaleform in terms of structurescreated from parallel
groups of durations, see Michele Fromson, "A Conjunctionof Rhetoric and
Music: Structural Modelling in the Italian Counter-ReformationMotet,"
Journalof the Royal MusicAssociation 117 no. 2 (1992): 208-46; Jean-Michel
Vaccaro, "Anthoine de Bertrand:Las! pour vous trop aymer," in Music Before 1600, Models of MusicalAnalysis, ed. Mark Everist (Oxford: Blackwell
Reference, 1992); and Pierre-PaulLacas, liner notes to "Orlandede Lassus
Moduli Quinque Vocibus 1571" performed by the Collegium Vocale &
Solistes du KnabenchorHannover, conductedby Philippe Herreweghe (n.p.:
Astr6e, Atelier de Recherche Valois, 1979). ChristopherReynolds's "Musical Evidence of CompositionalPlanningin the Renaissance:Josquin'sPlus
nulz regretz,"Journalof theAmericanMusicologicalSociety40 (1987): 53-81,
is the only recent study that invokes both contrapuntaltechnique (canon) as
a large-scale structuralelement along with durational structuresand recurrence of varied themes; see his note 3 for a list of other authors, going back
to van Crevel and Gombosi, who deal in proportional durations.
Other studies investigating contrapuntalcombination have not been so
much concerned with its contributionto form. Quentin Quereau refers to it
as a "complexof relationships"in "Sixteenth-CenturyParody:An Approach
to Analysis," Journal of the American MusicologicalSociety 31 (1978): 40741. Jessie Ann Owens has identified "contrapuntalevents" or "modules"in
"The Milan Partbooks:Evidence of Ciprianode Rore's CompositionalProcess," Journal of the American MusicologicalSociety 37 (1984): 270-98. Joseph Kermanused contrapuntalcombinationas an element in his concept of
"cell construction"in "Old and New in Byrd's Cantiones Sacrae," in Essays
on Opera and English Music, ed. F. W. Sternfeld, (Oxford, 1975). Both
Kermanand Reynolds ("MusicalEvidence of CompositionalPlanning")also
niques as given below were inspired by and are largely consonant with, but are not limited to, ideas found in several
roughly contemporaneous Italian treatises.
The three contrapuntal features associated with formal
structure are: 1) time interval of imitation, 2) fuga, or means
of melodic variation, and 3) varied repetition of entire contrapuntal "blocks." These features can be labeled in the score
of each piece, and then the labels can be strung along a time
line along with the cadences. The time line is like a cast made
from a wax positive; all the notes of the piece melt away as
in the "lost wax" technique, and a clear outline of the piece's
structure remains. The time lines reveal norms, as well as
some striking exceptions, for Lassus's compositional technique. Among his norms, Lassus maintains consistency
through relatively long stretches of music by retaining a single
time-interval of imitation; he employs certain types of fuga
(e.g., imitation at the sixth or inversion) to provide variety
in the middles of pieces; and he uses invertible counterpoint
to create brief ritornellos.
In doing such analyses, sections are demarcated in the
traditional way, on the basis of cadences. So the first step in
the analytic process is the identification of cadences. Lassus's
use of cadences is so consistent that their definition is, happily, fairly simple: the defining elements are a 7-6 or 2-3
syncopated semibreve suspension with at least one voice resolving to the expected goal note, whose duration must be
at least a semibreve. A few exceptions arise in the ricercars
because of their shorter note values. Here, the syncopated
note can be a semibreve, and the goal note can be only a
refer in passingto time-intervalof imitation, but do not employ this analytical

tool systematically.Indeed, some authorsdeny that contrapuntaltechniques
influence form; see Bonnie Blackburn, "On Compositional Process in the
Fifteenth Century,"Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety40 (1987):
274-78.

A Lesson from Lassus
semibreve.5The second step is the labeling of the three contrapuntalfeatures in the motets and ricercars.A score to No.
6 ("Qui sequiturme"), appearsso labeled in Appendix 1. The
third step is to string the labels along time lines. Appendix
2 presents the resulting schematic formal analyses of all
twenty-four pieces. The one fully annotated score and the
presence of similar notations on many musical examples will
enable the reader to verify the methods by which the schematic analyses were derived. Note that treating both motets
and ricercarsthe same way means disregardingfor the moment the impact of text on form; that subject is taken up
briefly at the end of this study.
From the schemas we can draw conclusions about the style
of the set of pieces in general and about the behavior of
individual pieces. In addition to answering questions about
structuralnorms for beginnings, middles, and ends, the schemas provide data to answer questions such as: How do the
ricercarsdiffer from the motets? In what ways does text influence form? Do large-scale features replicate small-scale
ones? How do contrapuntaltechniques contribute to effects
of tension and release? How do contrapuntaltechniques interact with modal shifts?6
5Anothercadence-likefigureappearsa few times. It consists of a resolving

leading tone in the lower voice while the upper voice holds a fifth above the
goal note (see No. 3, mm. 8-9 and No. 10, m. 26). Even though this figure
sometimes occurs at textual completions in the motets (the same interval
succession appears inverted in No. 2, mm. 16-17), it is not considered a
sectional marker in this study. Even if it were, its presence would not significantly skew the results.
6Harold S. Powers shows that Lassus's 1577 collection is organized by
mode in "Tonal Types and Modal Categories in Renaissance Polyphony,"
Journal of the American Musicological Society 34 (1981): 451-52. Powers's
modal assignments for the pieces is the point of departure for modal assignments in the present study.
TIME INTERVAL OF IMITATION
Very little of Lassus's melodic material in these pieces is

not repeated, and for the most part melodic materials recur
in imitation. Many long imitative segments are in effect quasicanonic, because every note in the following voice, or consequent, can be said to be determinedby a note in the leading
voice, or guide.7 The canon (i.e., rule) by which the guide
determines the consequent has two aspects: the means of
melodic variation(such as transpositionor inversion), and the
time intervalof imitation. We must say quasi-canonicbecause
Lassus often alters one of the two aspects of the rule.
In the musical examples presented here, the time interval
of imitation is indicated by a note value above the top staff.
A dotted line connects the firstnote of the theme in the guide
with the first note of the corresponding theme in the consequent. After a dotted line, it is assumed that every note in
the guide has a correspondingnote in the consequent distant
by the time intervalof imitationuntil some change takes place
(indicated with X, shading, or a new dotted line).
Imitationcreates a strong sense of periodicityif the themes
are phrased in lengths that are equal to (or are multiples of)
the time interval of imitation. In the opening of No. 18, for
instance, rests articulatetwo-breve phraseswithin each voice.
Because the time interval of imitation is a breve, a rest occurs
on every downbeat in mm. 3-8, articulatingregular brevelength periods. This sense of periodicity is fairly subjective;
it depends on features of the composed music and cannot be
mapped onto the time lines in the way that abstractfeatures
can.
The time interval of imitation can change in two ways.
First, notes (or durationalparts of notes) can be sounded in
one voice but not echoed in the other; such notes appear in
7The terms guide and consequent are cognates of the Italian guida and
consequenteas used in Zarlino's Istitutioni, Part 3, Chapter 51, 213.

MusicTheory Spectrum
Example 1. No. 2, mm. 17-24: reductionsin the time intervalof imitation

0
fl -f J
+3,
ir
'
rhythmic
unison
Cf
r r7
7
/
iI
rr
"( )
'rE
fa-fa
fa-fa
'f
fa-fa
fa-f rr-r (
"
r?er
Example2. No. 22, mm. 15-18: switchesbetween guide and consequent
Ir
17
16
I+5
'+-3
, +5
Jrb)
/+8
a/
a)
18
.
inv
+1'
\-3
+5
\-5
'\
d)
b)
parentheses in the score. Since they are sounded in the guide

but not in the consequent, the time interval of imitation will
shorten as the consequent, not echoing those notes, catches
up. The new time interval will equal the old time interval
minus the combined values not sounded. In Example 1, the
imitationbegins at a semibreve. But because of the shortened
note value in the upper voice at the beginning of the fourth
measure, the imitation continues at only a minim; another
shortened note value at the end of that measure brings the
imitationinto rhythmicunison in the fifth measure. Similarly,
in No. 6 (Appendix 1), the lower voice is following at a
semibreve beginning at the end of m. 9. Because a minim
value of the F on "-lat" in the upper voice (in parentheses
in m. 11) is not echoed, the lower voice is only a minimbehind
at "-in." If the total value of the guide notes without coun-
c)
d)
terpartsin the consequent exceeds the precedingtime interval

of imitation, the role of leader switches to the other voice,
as at d in Example 2 (and in No. 18, m. 37, not shown here).
Conversely, the time interval lengthens if values are added
to the consequent that were not sounded in the guide, as in
No. 6, Appendix 1, m. 7. If the role of leader switches voices
but the time interval remains the same, no new note value
appears in the scores or the schemas in Appendix 2.
Second, the time intervalof imitationchanges when a note
in one voice has two correspondingnotes in the other voice.
In this case, two dotted lines show the double correspondence
(as at b and c in Example 2; in No. 6, Appendix 1, m. 12;
in No. 8, mm. 24-25, not shown here; and in No. 18, m. 39,
not shown here). Some situations can be successfully explained in more than one way, but there are few cases in this

set of pieces where the differentiation between guide and

consequent is truly ambiguous.8
Imitation breaks off in two locations in these pieces: at
cadences and elsewhere. Approaching a cadence, imitation
is usually abandoned. This has the effect of disrupting the
periodicity of the time interval, and it may set up the sixths
(or thirds) that initiate the cadential voice leading. In the
analyses here, free counterpoint approaching a cadence is
indicated by shaded areas.
Free counterpoint not approachinga cadence is indicated
by "X." This is usually a matter of each voice going its own
way, sounding its own material for a short while. Breaking
out of imitation may lead to a new time interval or leading
voice (as in No. 8, m. 21), or it may briefly interrupt two
adjacent sections having the same time interval (as in No. 18,
m. 27). Sometimes shorter segments of free counterpoint
serve as substitutes for cadences, as discussed below.
Of the relatively infrequent longer non-imitative sections,
two types predominate:one type is based on a single melodic
fragment; the other type is dubbed a non-canonic fantasy.
These differ from the imitative sections in that the ongoing
development of the guide and the regular relationship between guide and consequent are broken.
There are two ways a single melodic fragment can be set:
in one, the fragmentis repeated in one voice againstdifferent
counterpointsin the other (as in Example 3a, where resulting
different vertical intervals are labeled); in the other, the fragment is repeated in a different voice against a different countermelody not participatingin imitation (as in Example 3b).
This type appears to resemble imitation in that a theme is
echoed in another voice, but differs in that the roles of guide
8An example of a situation susceptible of several interpretationsoccurs

in No. 19, mm. 17-20.
and consequent cannot be assigned.9 A melodic fragment

repeated and accompanied by the same countermelody constitutes a block, a topic to be discussed later.
In a non-canonic fantasy, multiple immediate repetitions
of a short theme are presented with rhythmic variation and
with irregularitiesin guide-consequent relations. Example 4
shows part of a non-canonic fantasy on a seven-note theme
(bracketed at each occurrence) with typical rhythmic variation and free counterpoint.10When such fantasies are indicated in the schemas in Appendix 2, the solmization syllables
of the theme are given along with the number of times the
theme is sounded. Some sections containing multiple repetitions of a theme, as in No. 18, mm. 14-19, are not called
non-canonic fantasies because the theme is not varied rhythmically and because the guide-consequentrelationshipis consistent. (A similar example in a motet occurs in No. 11, mm.
17-21.)
An ambiguous example is shown in Example 5. In mm.
1-9 the four-note solmization theme, repeated nine times,
is not varied rhythmically except for the conventional removal of half of the first semibreve (solmization themes
are discussed below under inganno).1 Of the three fantasies
9Cf. the discussion of ostinato in Balmer, Orlando di Lassos Motetten,
198ff.
'0The contrapuntal intention here is held to outweigh the function of
cadences to demarcate sections, so cadences within fantasies (like that in m.
37 of Example 4) do not figure in the schemas in Appendix 2. Intervallic
variation, like that found in Example 4 at the asterisks, is the subject of the
next section of this study.
"This convention is more common in the motets than the ricercars,and
may be present in order to let a singer breathe. An importantexample is No.
6 in Appendix 1, mm. 17 and 18. The "normal"form of the subject is a
semibreve on "sed," but the lower voice has a minim rest and a minim in m.
17; the bracket assimilates the rest to the note. This same principle allows
us to assimilate an extra minim to the first note in the lower voice at the
beginning of No. 6 (on "Qui"), shown with a bracket. Lassus no doubt did
not want the very beginningof No. 6 to sound the semibreve-levelsyncopation

settings
Example3. Two types of single-melodic-fragment
a. No. 15, mm. 15-16
656
10
558
b. No. 21, mm. 41-43

"I
n?:
i i
fragment
I
I1R I m7 7=;
r
F
III
\'
iI1 I
r 77Lo-,
contained among the ricercars,this one offers the most temptation to label as a straightforwardimitation (as has been
done hypotheticallyin Example 5). However, a close reading
of the constructionof this passage reveals unusuallyfrequent
intrusions of free counterpoint (indicated by Xs). This, coupled with the obsessive repetition of the theme over a relatively long period, characterizethis section overall as a nonimitative fantasy. While the following measures (10ff.)
contain the same theme in diminished values, the interruptions cease, and because both the rhythm of the theme and
various time intervals are maintained, these measures are
characterizedas imitative.
When the note values (indicating time intervals of imitation) and the Xs and hatched areas (indicatingnon-imitative
that would have resulted from a time interval of imitation shorter than a
semibreve.
-fragment
sections) are transcribedonto time lines, patterns in Lassus's

constructionsemerge. One turnsout to be a stylisticnorm for
the whole set of pieces: it may be called the acceleration
model.
The accelerationmodel is based on the gradualshortening

of the time interval of imitation on both the large and the
small scale. The small scale consists of sections between cadences, within which the time intervalbecomes progressively
shorter. The speeding up is not always uniform, but cadences
are most often immediately preceded by the closest stretto
of a given section. Note that the accelerationmodel has nothing to do with the rate of rhythmicactivitywithin a single line,
only with the length of time separating correspondingnotes
in the two lines.
Table 1 shows the successive time intervalsof imitationfor
all twenty-fourduos. Vertical lines indicate cadences and demarcate sections. Asterisks show shorter values followed by

Example 4. No. 23, mm. 33-39: a non-canonic fantasy

33
,I-
t
F
j_I-^r_
Ta
r
i r Rjjj Or
II
rf r r
I-
~ I~r'I~~ r1~~~
r~
'
(etc.)
J
I
I
[eF
Example 5. No. 20, mm. 1-10: a solmization theme in a non-canonic fantasy hypothetically labeled as imitative; N = natural hexachord;
H = hard hexachord;
S = soft hexachord
H
rere
Ire
N
fare
re
fa
- J r r o
8f f
4):
rr-
Trr
fa
longer values, which are deviations from the norm. These

occur in 15 out of 58 successions of adjacent time-interval
values (disregarding Xs) in the motets, and 19 out of 86 in
the ricercars, or about 24% overall. Nothing is entered for
duo No. 23 because it contains no imitation as defined here,
consisting instead entirely of repeated blocks and a fantasy.
Three of the deviations, all occurring in the third sections of

motets (bracketed in Table 1) can be accounted for by another formal model that conflicts with the acceleration model,
as discussed below.
The large scale is defined here by those time intervals of
imitation that begin each section. Table 2 collects these, with

Table 1. Time intervals of imitation within sections. Asterisks mark a longer value following a shorter value. Non-imitative material
approaching cadences is not shown. Other non-imitative phrases within sections are shown with X.
Duo No.
First Section
Second Section
J
Io
2
- o
m-*
1o x
~xJ
o J
oJ*
o*#oXJ
o
*M
.
0o*
X m X
13
*o
oJ*H
o,?
X * o
oJ
Jx*
*o
X g,
xJ
*o
xJxJxJ
-x
x*oJX*
oXo0
17
HXooJJ
18
19
202
oJ
JJ
O X O a*J
J *J
J*
*
JJ
X
o
213
22
*O
x J x*
xx*J
16
X
*oJ
X o
J,
Xm
142
52
X o
*oXo
12'
) X
,o
11
*o
o0
81
9
XoJ
MXo
~~~~41
* o
,J
0o
x4'
Fourth (& Fifth) Section(s)
Third Section
0
o*xxP
X*o
J*J
J*o
J J
J x
23 1,2
24
oJ*oXo
o0
1DuosNos. 8, 12 and 23 begin not with imitation,but with repeatedblocks. The value of the firstimitativesection after those combinationsappearsin
the leftmostcolumnsfor these duos. No. 4 ends with three repeatedblocks that do not figurein this table.
2The non-canonicfantasiesat the beginningsof Nos. 14 and 20 and at the end of No. 23 are not shown here.
3In the triple mensuration section of No. 21, p = perfect breve; i = imperfect breve.

Table2. Time intervalsof imitationat the beginningsof sections.

Asterisksshowa longervaluefollowinga shorterone. (Eachrow
below contains only the leftmost note value from each of the
columnsin Table 1.)
1
o0* M
2
3
o0
0'
4
5
0
0-
o*M
G*m
O0
0
9
10
mo
11
12
oo0
13
0
o
14
*
15
16
o0
17
o0
18
o0
19
20
21
22
22
o0
J*o
similar values aligned. (Nothing is entered for duo No. 11

because it contains only one section.) Here there is much
more consistency, with only 5 cases of deceleration (shown
with asterisks) out of 53 successions, or about 9%. No. 17 is
the best example of the generalizationthat in the acceleration
model, each section is a diminution of the preceding one.
Comparison of the motets with the ricercarsreveals that
the ricercarsoverall contain shorter time intervals: imitation
at the semiminim occurs only once in the motets, as opposed
to 36 times in the ricercars;imitation at the fusa never occurs
in the motets, but appears 4 times in the ricercars. This is
consistent with the greater use of short note values in the
ricercars.Also, non-canonicfantasysections occur only in the
ricercars.This may be due to the fact that rhythmicvariation
is a characteristicof fantasy;if it were used in motets, it might
well mutilate the text setting. For instance, the rests in midtheme in Example 4 might break up words. The norms for
rate of change of time interval of imitation help confirm the
decision to identify Example 5 as a fantasy, since it has an
unusuallylarge numberof intrusionsof Xs. Appendix 2 shows
clearly that no other opening section has that many interruptions of imitation; indeed, only two duos have any Xs at
all in their opening sections (Nos. 2 and 20 have one each).
In addition to helping to establish norms, the schemas in
Appendix 2 reveal some features specificto individualpieces.
For instance, in No. 17 the first three sections get progressively shorter, as do the stretches of free material leading to
the first three cadences, so that these durationsparticipatein
the accelerationmodel. Another strikinguse of time interval
of imitation as a structuringdevice is seen in No. 6, where
the time intervals form a palindrome: J o J J od. This
duo, to be discussed further below, is unique in startingwith
a short time interval of imitation, and in having the longest
one in the middle of the piece.
23
24

10
FUGA
The word fuga in the late Renaissance embraces not only

pitch intervalof imitation, but other variationtechniques that
are applied to melodic material (inversion, retrograde, and
inganno), whether the repetition occurs in a single voice or
in imitation between two voices. Here, however, the term
refers primarilyto the melodic relationship between the two
voices, which is indicated in the analytic scores by a dotted
line between the note in the guide and the correspondingnote
in the consequent, with the labels for the variousrelationships
placed next to the dotted lines. After a dotted line, it is
assumed that every note in the guide has a corresponding
note, in the same melodic relationship, in the consequent.
When that relationship changes, a new dotted line and label
are placed between the correspondingnotes. One of the most
striking features of Lassus's style is that melodic relationships change much more frequently than time intervals of
imitation.
The several kinds of fuga include transposition, fuga d'inganno, melodic inversion, and retrograde and retrograde in-
version. Transposition is indicated in analytic scores by a

numbernext to a dotted line connecting correspondingnotes;
each change of pitch interval of imitation calls for a new
number and dotted line. The plus and minus signs indicate
which voice is leading (e.g., "+4" means imitation at the
fourth above, the upper voice being the consequent; "-1"
means the lower voice follows at the unison). In rareinstances
when the voices are crossed, two signs are used (e.g., " + -3"
means the upper voice follows, beginning a third below the
corresponding note in the leading voice, as shown at a in
Example 2.
One special case of change of pitch interval is fuga d'inganno. This is a change of pitch interval of imitation in midtheme that maintainsthe solmizationsyllables of the original.
Inganno is special in that "themeness" resides in the solmi-
zation names of the notes the theme comprises. Since any

solmization name can designate two or three pitch classes, a
wide variety of melodic variation is possible.
Melodic inversionis shown in the analyticscores and schemas by "inv" and the pitch interval between the first notes.
Retrograde, although mentioned by contemporaneous theorists, seems never to be used in these duos between a leading
voice and its immediate consequent.12However, the retrograde of a theme may show up later in the piece, and be
imitated in inversion, a process which yields the retrograde
inversion of the original theme (e.g., No. 18, mm. 14-19).
Of the fuga types above, transpositionand inversion have
been fairly thoroughly examined in present-day studies.13
Fuga d'inganno, by contrast, seems to be less well known.
The term is believed to have been coined by Artusi, and
occurs in few other treatises.14In the Lassus duos, inganno
12RoccoRodio, in Regole di musica (Naples: Giacomo Carlino e Costantino Vitale, 1609; facsimile, Bologna: Forni, 1981), shows two examples
of retrograde ("fuga cancherizzata")using the famous la sol fa re mi theme
that Lassus uses as the subject for a non-canonicfantasy section in duo No.
14 (53).
13See, for instance, Imogen Horsley, "Fugue and Mode in 16th-Century
Vocal Polyphony," in Aspects of Medieval and RenaissanceMusic, ed. Jan
LaRue (New York: PendragonPress, 1966): 406-22; James Haar, "Zarlino's
Definition of Fugue and Imitation,"Journal of the American Musicological
Society24 (1971): 226-54; and Paul MarkWalker,"Fuguein GermanTheory
from Dressier to Mattheson" (Ph.D. diss., SUNY Buffalo, 1987).
'4See Giovanni Maria Artusi, La Seconda parte dell'Artusiovero delle
imperfettionidella moderna musica (Venice: Giacomo Vincenti, 1603; facsimile, Bologna: Forni, 1968), 45-57. This passage is discussed in John
Harper, "Frescobaldi'sEarly Inganni and Their Background,"Proceedings
of the Royal Musical Association 105 (1978-79): 1-12. Rodio, in Regole di
musica, 53, describes inganno as fuga in nome ("La fuga in nome e quella
la quale nomina le note per varij movimenti, come qui si vede, & molti la
chiamano, fuga d'inganno").Camillo Angleria does not use the term, but his
examples of variationedi fuga in Chapter 20 of La Regola di contraponto
(Milan: Giorgio Rolla, 1622;facsimile, Bologna: Forni, 1983) show a motive
whose different segments are transposed by various intervals. The relative

is often used along with rhythmicvariationin fantasysections.

This can be seen in Example 5, where the theme is the names
fa re re fa, but the hexachords from which those names are
drawn change constantly, creating very different melodic
shapes. 15
Recognition of inganno can help to solve ficta problems

such as that shown in Example 6, where the melodic variation
results from inganno. Some editors suggest flatting the first
B of m. 15. But if the upper line is sung with Bf there, then
both the guide and consequent can have the same solmization
syllablesfa mi la sol fa mi (albeit from different hexachords),
as shown.16
Change of transpositionlevel that does not maintain tone/
semitone position is often found in mid-imitationin the Lassus duos. The significanceof level of transpositionhas to do
with pitch and interval content. A transposed or inverted
theme can maintain the same ordering of interval qualities
(Example 7a); this is by far the most common type of inversion. Or the inverted theme can lie in the same space as
the original (i.e., having the same pitch-classes at both beginning and end, as in No. 6, Appendix 1, m. 11; and No.
18, m. 35, not shown here); this means it outlines the same
species of interval in the same location. Or it can have the
rarity of the idea is striking:Walker ("Fugue in German Theory") surveyed
some two dozen Italian and German theorists writing on fuga between 1550
and 1650, and seems never to have run across it.
15Thelow Bb requires a hexachord on low F. Such a hexachord, while
outside the Guidonian gamut, was sanctioned by many authors, as noted in
Karol Berger, Musica Ficta (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1987),
13-16. In mm. 5-6 the notes F-A-A-BI are clearly another kind of variant
of the initial motive, but one whose derivation is harder to define: the first
note can only be afa if a hexachordis imaginedon low C, which some authors
sanctioned;the second note can be a re only if B-naturalis imagined, yet there
are Bbs on both sides.
16Onecould conceive of this passage as fa mi re ut fa mi without altering
the conclusion regardinginganno and its influence on ficta. The only reason
not to is that most theorists appear to favor mutating on la.
11
Example 6. No. 12, mm. 15-16: solmizationand ficta

H
11
I,fa
mi la sol
II
fa
mi
18
fcr + r' p lo--
su-
-am_. " Vir--
;Y
rI
sufa
-.
-8
v
inv
-8
b
Io
mi la sol
1I
go
go
fa
I
S
-am
mi
Vir-
rF
go
same pitch-class at eitherthe beginning or end (Example 7b,

where the imitations begin on C; and also Example 6 on the
word "Virgo"). When the melody outlines a fifth, having a
beginning or ending note in common can (but does not always) produce the outline of the same species of interval in
a different location.l7 Finally, it can reproduce the intervals
17Twokinds of inversion are described by Angleria in La Regola di contraponto, Chapter 21, 79. Inversion maintainingintervals is called "proprio
roverso" while that lying between the same pitch-classes is called "roverso
contrario." He begins with a little passage showing the correspondence in
"proprioroverso" between the solmization syllable of the first note in the
originalmelody and the firstnote in the invertedmelody: "Se la fuga principia
in Ut, il suo roverso e il La; Se principia in Re, il suo roverso e il Sol; Se
principiain Mi, il suo roverso e il Fa; Se in Fa, e il Mi; Se in Sol, e il Re;
Se principiain La, si piglia l'Ut." Example 7a is a textbook case of proprio
roverso, the theme lying precisely within the hexachord. Rodio makes a similar distinction (Regole di musica, 52). Using la sol fa re mi (starting on A)
as a theme, he defines the inversion that maintainsintervals (startingon G)
as fuga contraria,and the inversion that begins on the same note (A), fuga
traversa;however, because he adds examples of both types transposeddown
a fifth, the second fuga traversa(now startingon D) occupies the same space
as the original, makingit equivalentto Angleria'sroversocontrario.For more
on "hexachordalinversion,"see James Ladewig, "Luzzaschias Frescobaldi's
Teacher: A Little-Known Ricercare," Studi Musicali 10 (1981): 247.

12
Example7. Two types of imitationby inversion

a. No. 7, mm. 9-11; S = semitone; T = tone
T T
S TT
.J J
I|8b-I_-I
F
~_
J J
inv
~(etc.)
"-^^-~~~_~~~~
T
T S
7
T
b. No. 3, mm. 16-19

0
o: /rrrTJ
fr
/,/inv
if+1
,/
o?
/'inv
+8.
of the original only in part (as in Example 2, mm. 17-18,

where only the firstfour intervalsare exactly the same). Note
that the labels used here do not specify which type of inversion is used. A label like "inv -9" is used here merely for
identification;what it means in terms of literally reproducing
the intervals of the original depends upon where in the diatonic arrangementthe melody falls and how large a range it
covers.
The structuralfunction of pitch and interval content of a
transposed or inverted theme can be linked to mode. If a
guide outlines the important notes of the mode, does the
consequent echo the same important notes of the mode, or
does it present a different species than the guide, suggesting
a different mode? For instance, in the passage of retrogrades
and retrograde inversions from No. 18, mm. 14-19, the intervals of the bracketed motives are maintained in order in
all cases, but all outline either second-species or third-species
fourths. Because neither of these species is proper to the

principal mode of the piece, their function may be one of
variation or of modal destabilization.
When types of fuga are added to the time lines, as shown
in the complete schematic reductions in Appendix 2, their
contribution to form becomes apparent. Generally, many
changes of fuga take place within a single time interval of
imitation. Thus the time intervalis a single unifyingconstraint
that can embrace a dizzyingvarietyoffuga types. Placingfuga
types against time intervals shows that imitative sections are
canonic with respect to rhythm much more consistently than
with respect to pitch. In addition, change of fuga type generally occurs more slowly in opening sections, so that it functions as yet another aspect of the acceleration model. For a
striking example, compare the first and second sections of
No. 22 in Appendix 2.
Imitation at an imperfect or dissonant interval and inversion tend to occur either in the middles of sections or at the
beginning of internal sections; thus these types of fuga are
used in ways that define middleness.18Why might this be?
One reason may have to do with modal stability. Imperfect
intervals of imitation and some transpositions of inversions
change mode-defining species of fourth or fifth, causing
modal instability. The use of foreign species to articulate a
middle may be likened to the modulations to more distant
keys in the development sections of tonal binary or sonatadesign movements.
18Arare instance of fuga at an imperfect interval at the beginning of a
piece appearsin Lassus'sPenitentialPsalmNo. 2, verse 11, where it expresses
a text about ineptitude (Lasso, The Seven Penitential Psalms and Laudate
dominum de caelis, ed. Peter Bergquist [Madison:A-R Editions, 1990], 35).

Another example from Lassus of imitation an unusual interval is cited by
BernhardMeier for a different expressive purpose in The Modes of Classical
Vocal Polyphony, translatedEllen Beebe (New York: Broude Bros., 1988),
323; originally published as Die Tonarten der klassischen Vokalpolyphonie
(Utrecht: Oosthoek, Scheltema & Holkema, 1974).

Change of species may occasionally be related to the note

of an internal cadence other than the final or cofinal, as in
Example 1 from duo No. 2 in Dorian. Here the species outlined in the lower voice is the Lydian fifth Bb-F (fa-fa),
which can be said to prepare the cadence on F.19
REPEATEDBLOCKS
A block of material is a contrapuntalcombination whose

vertical and melodic intervals are repeated. Some blocks occur within imitative textures; others contain unrelated melodic motions.20Blocks are indicated in the scores by boxes
beneath which are numbers representing the vertical intervals. The sense of periodicity is especially strong here, where
a whole two-voice passage is repeated. In keeping with a
general principle of Renaissance music, that of varied repetition, blocks of materialare almost never repeated unvaried
in the Lassus duos.21In the analyticalschemas, the boxes are
19Renaissanceauthors differ on the modal function of the intermediate
cadence on notes other than the finalor cofinal. Such cadences can apparently
be used to make reference to other modes, or can be members of a limited
class of cadences that are proper to the principal mode. Zarlino seems to
indicate the latter when he says that the proper cadences in the Dorian, for
instance, are to D, F, and A (see Istitutioni, Part 4, Chapters 18-19). The
cadence to F in that case might not signify F-Lydian but F-in-the-middleof-Dorian.
20In the latter case it can be thought of as a two-voice soggetto, to use
Zarlino's term. Zarlino describes the two-voice motive in Istitutioni,Part 3,
Chapter 26, and discusses using a two-voice combination as the basis for
adding another voice in Chapter 64. Anthony Newcomb refers to it as a
"double point" in the introductionto The Ricercarsof the Bourdeney Codex
(Madison: A-R Editions, 1991), xiii. See also Balmer, Lassos Motetten,159.
21SeeZarlino, Istitutioni,Part 3, Chapter55, and Giovanni MariaArtusi,
L'arte del contraponto (Venice: Giacomo Vincenti, 1598; facsimile, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1969), 58. In the duos, only two examples of immediate
exact untransposedrepetition without ornamentationare found: No. 20, mm.
22-23, and No. 24, a cadence with voice exchangein mm. 25-26. Ornamented
13
connected by arrows labeled with the type of variation used.

There are three principalmeans of variation, excluding mere
ornamentation:transposition,double counterpoint,and mirror inversion.
Transpositionsor "harmonic"sequences22are labeled in
the analyses by a plus or minus sign and the number of diatonic steps: "-3" means the block is transposeddown a third,
major or minor. In the schemas, when many short blocks
follow one another at the same transpositionlevel, the boxes
are run together and arrowsomitted; the numberthen applies
to each of the joints between boxes (e.g., No. 18, mm. 21-22
and 37-38). In many cases, especially in the motets, the transposed blocks do not succeed each other immediately, and
perhaps should not properly be called sequential (e.g., No.
6, Appendix 1, mm. 15-16 and 18).
Double counterpoint causes the vertical intervals in the
combination to change by transposing one or both of the
voices in the pair. If the voices change their relative positions
(upper becomes lower), it is called invertible counterpoint.
Invertible counterpoint is indicated in scores and schemas by
"ic" and the interval of inversion (e.g., "ic 12" means invertible counterpoint at the twelfth). Like transposition, it
can occur in imitative passages, or it can be applied to nonimitative two-voice combinations. Some longer instances that
have a clear structural function are discussed below, while
others occur as tiny fragments. One of the most technically
spectacular examples of the latter is from No. 20, shown in
examples include: No. 16, m. 32, and a block in No. 14, mm. 22-23, which
is repeated in mm. 26-27. These are labelled in the schemas. Balmer, Lassos
Motetten,119, cites an ornamentedscale appearingas a variationof the simple
scale elsewhere in the piece.
22"Harmonic"here refers to the vertical intervals, which are maintained
in the sequentialpassage. Artusi, in L'artedel contraponto,discussesthis type
of transpositionalong with permissibletypes of repetition (58). He says this
type of repetition consists of the same rhythmsand the same verticalintervals
but is varied by having different "notes" (i.e., it is transposed).

14
Example8. No. 20, mm. 17-19: blocks of invertiblecounterpointin a non-imitativetexture

-4
--
A'5
I"
In
-h
310
10
I
,
9 76
96
A'
'N
,~ -f I rI I 1 r
I
=i,.
7-r
wl-,
B
3
10 9
9
_ o
."
310
(8)
10
ic 12
ic 12
-5
Example 8. This passage, which at first seems to consist of

free counterpoint, contains a rare flurry of overlapping
combinations that must have cost some effort to compose:
combinations A, A' and B create a small-scale arch form,
shown by the arrows indicating contrapuntal procedures.
Note the alteration, at the asterisks in A', of one of the
melodies makingup combinationA; this alteration"corrects"
the seventh that results from invertible counterpoint at the
twelfth when the original combination contains the vertical
interval of a sixth. Another little variant is the addition of a
passing note in the last combination, B, creating an octave
(in parentheses).
Mirror inversion reverses both the melodic motions and
the relative positions of the voices, so that the sequence of
vertical intervals is maintained, as in Example 9.23 Mirror
inversion can be combined with invertible counterpoint, as
in No. 6, Appendix 1, mm. 8-11, or with retrograde, as in
Example 9.
23Zarlinorefers to this technique as "the second mode of double counterpoint" (Istitutioni, Part 3, Chapter 56).
Harmonic sequence is never used at the beginning of any

duo. Perhapsas in tonal music, it has a pushing-forwardeffect
inappropriatefor beginnings, where establishmentof tonality
and subject are necessary. Furthermore, the levels of transposition that would ensure modal stability (fourth and fifth)
are used least frequently overall. Table 3 shows the number
of occurrences of interval of transpositionof blocks, broken
down by genre.
Comparisonof the ricercarsand motets reveals quite different uses of harmonic sequence. The ricercarsfeature numerous short blocks, mostly transposedup or down a second,
almost always following each other immediately, and often
repeated more than once. In the motets the transposedblocks
tend to be fewer, longer, evenly divided among the possible
intervals, often separated by interveningmaterial, and rarely
repeated more than once. The sequences are often used in
the ricercarsto approachthe cadence (some are actuallypart
of the cadence), while in the motets they are less heavily
concentrated at the cadences.
One structuraluse of invertible counterpoint is to begin
a piece, as in Nos. 8, 12, and 23. In these cases the blocks

Example10. No. 8, mm. 23-36: repeatedblocks and largearch
Example 9. No. 19, m. 31: mirrorinversionand retrograde

31,
\/
II
1I
-I
23
23
""
F-r
e7
"-
r-r
llFF
irror
mirror -
15
r1
9:,
retrograde
K retrograde
rltrrre
B
K'r
.r1'I
Irr
~I~~
iclo-
f
2
27
A' "r IJ
,?
rJtp
A'
.b?
?o
f
B'
o
-9,~~~
,I'F1
J J j
At"
< ro
ial.isP
JJ
B"
CC -r J
X
v r
-5
Table 3. Transpositionlevels of transposedblocks (harmonic

sequence)
Motets
?+2
+3
4 or 5
Totals
14
Ricercars
36
44
Totals
42
58
are non-imitativecombinationsof substantiallength (21/2-31/2

breves) and are repeated in invertible counterpoint at the
twelfth or octave. Using invertible counterpoint at these intervals is ideal for the Renaissance composer because it generally maintains the same species of melodic interval in the
original and the inverted combinations, and it maintainsperfect vertical intervals in the same places in both as well.24
These blocks thus function to establish the mode clearly at
the beginning of the pieces.
Apart from these two uses of repeated blocks (harmonic
sequence at cadences and invertible counterpoint at openings), there is at least one other consistent structuralfunction
for repeated blocks. It is to create a kind of ABA'C phrase
that occurs in six of the twelve motets, and never in the
ricercars. Figure 1 (p. 19) examines short segments taken
24SeePeter N. Schubert, "Mode and Counterpoint,"in Music Theoryand
the Exploration of the Past, ed. Christopher Hatch and David Bernstein
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), 103-36.

16
from the analytical schemas in Appendix 2, aligned to show

their similar construction (actual durations are not represented). In each, A is a combination that recurs varied as A'.
B and C can have a variety of relationships: In Nos. 1, 3, 9,
and 12, B is a bit of free counterpoint (X) that functions as
an ouvert ending with C providing the clos ending. In No. 8,
B is a cadence (shaded) that recurs twice: once as B' (B
inverted at the octave and transposed down a fourth) and
once as B" (B' transposed down a fifth). Finally, in No. 10,
B is free counterpoint (albeit resembling a cadence) and C
has the ouvert ending.
This form is responsible for three of the instances of short
values followed by longer values that were shown bracketed
in Table 1 (Nos. 1, 3, and 12). If within A, or between A and
B, there is a reduction in the time interval of imitation, then
the longer value must be picked up again for the varied repeat
of A, causing a deviation from the acceleration model.
The operations by which the As are varied include invertible counterpoint and transposition at a variety of intervals. The second boxed combination in No. 8 in Example 10
(mm. 27-28) is the first inverted at the tenth. The lower voice
in the first box has been transposed up a fifth in the second,
maintaining the ut-fa (third-species) melodic intervals that
express the principal mode (Lydian). The upper voice in the
first box outlines a first-species re-sol fourth of Dorian that
had been introduced earlier, perhaps in connection with the
cadence on A in m. 17 (compare Example 1); when it is
transposed down a sixth in the second box, it also outlines
the Lydian fourth, so both voices regain the principal mode.
Note that A" (mm. 32-34) is not boxed in the example. Although it uses similar melodic material, the contrapuntal
combination is not the same.
The passage shown in Example 11 is complicated by a sort
of "false start" of A' in which the first part of A is sounded
alone before the remainder of A' is sounded. Rests interrupt
these two fragments of A, and the second fragment is trans-
posed. The effect is to build from B towards a little climax

on the D in m. 29: the high points in mm. 27-29 outline a
scale D-E-F-G
as the melody in the upper voice seeks to
reconstruct itself as it was in mm. 24-25 in a little drama not
unlike Romantic phrase construction.
A similar use of transposition in the A and B sections of
an ABA'C structure to create longer melodic arches arises
in No. 8, mm. 25-34 (in Example 10). The descending line
in m. 25 starts on D; in m. 30 the ascending line rises to C;
m. 33 has Bb as its highest point; and the last descending line
falls from A. The linear descent outlined by these high points
(circled) directs the modular repetitions towards the end of
the piece.
The significance of the passages in Figure 1 is that they
represent a structural use not just of melodic recurrence, but
of the repetition of the entire "harmonic" section. This is
different from the periodic repetition caused by imitation
because in imitation only one voice is the same in any two
adjacent segments. The recurring passage here is more like
a mini-ritornello, an abstract structuring device but at the
same time clearly bound up with repetition of the text (shown
at the right in Figure 1). Simple direct repetition of music and
text is not restricted to the ends of pieces, but instances of
the ABA'C repetition model shown in Figure 1 is used at (or
near, in No. 10) the ends of five of the twelve motets, so it
functions as a signal for the end of the piece.25
25PietroPontio, in his Ragionamentodi musica (Parma: Erasmo Viotto,
1588; facsimile, Kassel: Barenreiter, 1959), agrees with Zarlino on the necessity of avoiding repetition of the same consonances and melodic motions
"unless it is the repetition of an ending, as Cipriano did in the second part
of his canzone, Alla dolce ombra" ("Conviene ancora schivi che il compositore, & contrapuntista[se possibil sia] di non replicare l'inventioni per le
medesime consonantie, & movementi conformi;perche non rendano varieta
alcuna, eccetto se non fosse una replicatione d'un fine, come fece Cipriano
nella seconda parte della sua Canzone, Alla dolce ombra, ma replicata la
inventione per diverse consonantie, tal varieta sara molto laudabile," 146).

17
Example 11. No. 10, mm. 24-31

-4
24'r
rj
10
r?
10
101112
rr
656 1011
12
-2
MUSICAL STRUCTURE AND TEXT
In the foregoing, the motets were analyzed as abstract

musical structures on a par with the ricercars. Now we can
replace their texts and correlate them with some of the abstract musical features pointed out above. The uniqueness of
duo No. 6 (Appendix 1), for instance, with its short initial
time interval of imitation and palindromic structure, can be
related to the opening words "Qui sequitur me" ("He that
followeth me"). Close stretto is common in musical settings
of texts about following.26We may imagine Lassus beginning
with a short time intervalof imitation inspiredby the text and
then, in order to provide variety and to ensure the appropriate acceleration towards the final cadence, deciding to use
He follows this statement with an example anticipatingsome of those Artusi
would use later in L'Arte del contrapontocited in note 22).
26Horst Leuchtmann, in Die musikalischen Wortausdeutungenin den
Motettendes Magnum opus musicum von Orlando di Lasso (Baden Baden:
VerlagValentinKoerner, 1972), cites this duo on p. 147, and generalizes:"Wo
fuga schon eine Figurist (= Kanon), liegt es nahe, fugere und auchsequi durch
auffallende imitation auszudeuten" (61).
imitation at the breve in the middle of the piece. It is only

a short step from there to the idea of a palindrome.
Text may also account for fuga at imperfect intervals.
Again in No. 6 (Appendix 1), at the words "sed habebit"
there is imitation at the third and a short block transposed
up a third. These intervals of transposition allow the introduction of a third-species fourth (C-F in the lower voice at
mm. 15-16) to sound along with the second-species fourths
(E-A in both voices in mm. 17-18) that are proper to the
Phrygian mode of the piece. Lassus may have chosen this
mode for this text on account of the word "tenebris"("darkness"). The subtle infiltration of these fourths smooths the
transition to several fourth-species fifths and a third-species
fourth (F-C and F-Bb in the upper voice at mm. 17-20) that
express the word "lumen" ("light"; compare Example 1).27
27Tosay that the Lydian species express the word "lumen"is to extend
Meier's theory of melodic commixture. For Meier, excursions outside the
mode (whethercadentialor melodic) primarilyreflectwordshavingto do with
different types of change or of negative emotions; the most positive words
he lists are in the category of "blessed"and "humble.""Light"is not among
the words he lists as expressed by modal means, although he mentions it
briefly in the context of word-paintingby melodic ascent (The Modes, 240).

18
Here text expression and structure coincide, since the

"loaded" word and the foreign species occur in the middle
of the piece. The notion that imperfect interval of transposition is based on text is somewhat borne out by the fact that
invertible counterpoint at the tenth (in which one voice is
transposed by an imperfect interval) is used only in the
motets, never in the ricercars (as shown in Table 4).
Finally, text may be responsible for the only example in
a motet of a long harmonic sequence. It is at the word
"malum"("evil") at the end of No. 5. The setting consists of
a short block transposedfour times down a second. Meier has
pointed out that repetition and evil are associated.28Here
again, expression and structure coincide, since this type of
harmonicsequence is mostly used in the ricercarsto approach
a cadence, and the word "malum"occurs at the end of the
piece (however, we are forced to conclude that what is perfectly normal in a ricercar is evil in a motet). The examples
above are not only momentary madrigalisms,but show how
abstract long-range schemes can coincide with expressive
intent.
Leuchtmann,in Die musikalischenWortausdeutungen,cites this same example from Lassus'sduo No. 6 in his exhaustivelist (142), and also discusses
it in the text. For him, "lumen" is expressed by quick motion, and in the
phrase "lumen vitae" it expresses both "light"and "life," and its effect even
spills over into surroundingwords: "Lux. Licht und leuchten werden als
Bewegung iibertragen . . . Lux oder lumen erschienen ausgedeutet nur sehr
selten; im iiberwiegenden Teil bleiben sei [sic]-wenn auch verschiedene
Grinde fur das Ausbleiben beizubringen sind-unberiicktsichtigt. Ein
Beispiel aus Motette 6: die Bewegungbeginntschon bei 'habebit.'Hier stehen
in 'lumenvitae' zwei Worterzusammen,die-besonders vita-mit Bewegung
ausgedeutet werden. Es ist anzunehmen, dass die grosse melodische Bewegung fur beide Worter gilt" (51).
28Meierrecognizes repetition of "repeated tones, intervals, or melodic
phrases"for the purpose of expressingwords having to do with bells, trumpets, repetition, duration, and various negative emotions (The Modes, 24345). Leuchtmannsees evil as expressedby melodic descent (Die musikalischen
37), and cites this example from Lassus'sduo No. 5 (141).
Wortausdeutungen,
Table 4. Intervalsof invertiblecounterpoint

twelfth
octave
tenth
Totals
Motets
Ricercars
4
7
3
5
5
-
12
12
Totals
11
24
CONCLUSION
The young composer who could absorb this lesson from

Lassus would have mastered form as the assembly and repetition of many small parts that are varied by means of contrapuntaltechniques. Lassus'sown use of these techniques to
articulatebeginning, middle, and end can be summarizedas
follows. Beginnings are characterizedby a slow rate of change
of fuga and a slow time interval of imitation (an exception
might seem to be the fantasy beginnings, but in these Lassus
acquires fast-paced variation and change of fuga by trading
away the progressive melodic development of a guide). Another option for the beginning is the use of two-voice blocks
where repetition is varied by invertible counterpoint. Like
imitative openings that maintain a slow time interval of imitation, these blocks offer periodic phrasing, but the periods
are longer. Both types of opening ensure modal stability due
to perfect intervals of transposition.
Middleness for Lassus involves quickening the time interval of imitation and quickeningthe rate of change of fuga
types. In addition, certain specificfuga types (imperfect interval of transposition, inversion) are reserved for middles.
These features obtain on both the large and small scales, i.e.,
in the middles of pieces and in the middles of sections of
pieces. The imperfect intervals of transpositionare not only
used to add variety and to differentiate the middle of a piece
or section, but to destabilize the mode, sometimes with the

Figure 1. The ABA'C passages

Duo:
o
-4+5
No.1
A'
C(or B')
,0
A"
B"
or
"circumspectionem"
,sA:
-5-4-1
-4
Text:
B & C: "Dei"
end, mm.23-32
-3
0 oX
oe
-5 -6
-88
No. 3
A: "qui diligunt"
+5
B & C: "ilium"
end, mm.22-31
-
'ic 12
,mirror
x
,X
No.8
end, mm. 23-36
+1 -5
iclO10
ic8-4
"vobis"
X0
3
No. 9
A: "ego reddam"
I
~"'
:(s
-5
-5-
+6
A: "et tollat cru-"

5
-4
B & C: "-cem suam"
mm. 16-22
~same
XenA
o0+?
+8
+8-4
No. 10
end, mm.24-35
o
+8 +4 +8
''
A: "in gaudium"
B & C: "Domini"
inv
-12 -5
-2
0
No. 12
end, mm. 29-35
+5
+5,*+5
+5
'
'
?
-3
-3
A: "qui vitalem"
B & C: "dat odorem"
__
&I~~~~~~~~~~~~

19
20
effect of introducing a cadence on a less important degree

than the final or fifth.
Ends of ricercars differ from those of motets. In both,
repeated blocks are likely to be used, but in the ricercars
these repeated blocks are sequences, while in the motets, as
a consequence of text repetition perhaps, the repeated blocks
sometimes form more complex phrase structures in which the
blocks act as little ritornellos.
We have been inclined to hold our respect for contrapuntal
artifice at a healthy remove from our appreciation of music's
more immediate attractions. Yet it is contrapuntal technique
that is responsible for some of the most dramatic attributes
of Lassus's duos: the contrast between the consistency and
slow pace of beginnings with the intensification of quickening
time interval of imitation; the relaxation of tension after a
cadence with the new start at a relatively slow time interval
of imitation; the unpredictability of fantasy; the sense of beginning a block again after intervening material; and the
broad melodic arches created by transposed repetitions. All
these can be brought out by the performer. In addition to
refining our perception of the style and construction of these
duos, recognition of their contrapuntal features can also affect our hearing and performance.29
ABSTRACT
This article demonstrateshow contrapuntaltechniques contributeto
the formal structure of Lassus's twenty-four famous duos. Three
types of contrapuntalevents are identified in each piece: time interval of imitation, fuga (type of melodic variation), and "blocks"
(contrapuntalcombinations, usually varied by transposition or invertible counterpoint). Occurrencesof these events are mappedonto
time lines for all twenty-four pieces. The time lines suggest conclusionsregardingLassus'snormativeformalprocedures.These procedures can in some cases be related to text and, in others, taken
as suggestions for expressive performance.
29Manyother aspects of Renaissancemusic could be representedin some

shorthand manner and mapped onto the time-lines in Appendix 2, so that
furthercorrespondencesand conclusionscould be drawn.These could include
motivic derivation (how the various motives in a piece are related), contour
(the structuralfunctionof high and low melodic points), durationaland metric
structures, arch forms, and rates of rhythmicand melodic activity. On arch
form in Lassus, see Balmer, Orlando di Lassos Motetten, 115-30 and 247ff.,
and Lacas in the liner notes to "Orlandede Lassus Moduli Quinque Vocibus
1571." ChristopherReynolds has identified palindromicstructures("concentric order") made of thematic recurrences("mirrorpoints") in "MusicalEvidence of Compositional Planning," 58ff. The author wishes to thank his
seminar students at McGill University who worked through a few of these
duos and adapted the methods presented here for use on music in four or
more parts.

21
Appendix 1. Duo No. 6: "Qui sequitur me"
&O
Cantus
<- o;
- qui- tur
se-
QuiX\
-5\.
Altus
JJ.
aJ o
0o
se-
qui- tur
me,
qui
r *
\am- \
x
invx
-5xx\'5
^-J o
non
bu-
bris,
!0
15
--
-f
non
bu6
'
lat,
i?
sed_
bu-
\am-\
\
inv
_5\ -5\-4 x12
['
non
mirror
qui- tur
J
s~e-~
se-
me,~
~qui~
qui
me,
me,
I
qui- tur
tuer~ me,
me,
qui-
am6
) ?r; n
in \
lat
,^r
J"
/ te/+5
-ne-
o J c ';^
J.
te-
bu- lat
in
ne-
5
c
r -,r J
fr f,
3f.3
r,
se-
- qui- tur
-J
'ro
...
se-
qui
me,
10
lat,
am-
- qui- tur
se-
non
rJ
5-
qui
me,
Qui
7
-\
"
4J .L
, o
ha-
fr
be-
r
ha-
sed
-bit,
r
be-
-bit
"r
o
rf
sed
bris,
ha-
r
3 4
20
be-
sed
bit,
33
3-
ha-
be4
+3
I1
r-
Jiv^-rr
^--^-rr
/
,/+5
+4,/
4/
- fFr r'- rr
||.
+5 /
lu-
bit
f'r
men
'r
vi-
men
-,,rr r
mi-
rdj~~~~~
f,,
nus, di-
r
cit
rr,
,(r(r)
Do-
r
cit
fff
Do-
mi-nus,
di-
cit
rrr
-8
f
di-
cit
4
tae:
Do-
di-
rr
-
mi-
nus.
mi-
nus.
r\\\\\\\\\A-\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
frrJ-
J
^-^30
r8
| Eb1P
25
tae:
vi-
26
u-
f f f"
Do-
'
I~

rrz
22
Appendix 2. Time Line Analyses of the twenty-four duos. (Unconnected boxes indicate fragment settings.)
M= measure
T=time interval of imitation
B=repeated blocks
C=cadential note
F=fuga type
i= inversion
L:iii=free materialleadingto cadence
No. 1
M
T
F
10
L I
11111
15
+5
L_L
4
i
+5
+3 +5
30
25
20
1111111
E,l
-4
+5
I l
+x
-4
-5-4-5-4-5
-5-4-1
C
No. 2
M
5
L 1I
T
F
m
+5
1I
10
i
15
1111111
+4
111111111
-8
35
30
1111111111
X
+5
25
20
X
+4+1+4
F .-
o
:I::::::::::::::::::::::::::
+3
-5-4
-6
-5
-1
+5
ic12
C
No. 3
M
1
LII
T
F
11111
'I
-8
-5
-3
15
10
I I
-7
-5
':0
20
I
I 111
No. 4
M
5
L I
10
111111111111111111111111111
Eli
T
F
-8
-5
-1-5
-8
-1
-5-6
=ic
E
15
20
12-_mirror
D
25
30
I
liii
-8
-1
IO
s2,Zic
D
+5
LE
0o
-6
x o
-8
+2
30
1111111
i
i
+1 +8
ELI]
25
1
:'.''


No. 5
M
5
L
T
F
III_
10
i
15
i
ii
Ii
111111111111111111
-'
+4
+5
+6
+8
20
Ii
+5
30
iI
Ii
iI
J Ei x
25
I
-6
-5
-4
-5
-2
No. 6
M
L
T
F
5
i i
i I
10
i
i i
o
-5
j
-5
15
i
i
-5
~~~B
ii
20
25
j
Y
1=1
+3
H
-8
30
-8
+3AD
10
5
L 1
-4
No. 7
M
1H
-5 +5+4+5
Ej,,icl 0
T
F
111111111
i +5
-12
-5 i
-4
15
25
20
1111111111111
J7 - E
1111111
-8
-7
-5
-5
-2-5-4
+5
-8-4
J E:
-5
i -8
+-3
+6
-7
o x
Eo
+6 +3-5
+5
30
1
B
ic8 -3
C
No. 8
M
i
5
i111 i
10
15
20
i111 i
111
T
F
[:i
:
+6
J x
o
-5
+3
25
1
+6
xX
-5-6
30
i
-5
T
F
F
F
o
+8
111111
10
i
i
i
i
i
1111111111111
<
o J
+1 -5
1111111
X o
-4
-5
-1 -3
Eli
25
20
i
0o
-5
-5 -4
+-5+-4-5
30
i
35
I
+8
i
-12
I 1
c
+5
+4 +8 +3 +1+10
+4
-5-8
B
C
icF
15
[5EL0
61
+4
A
A
5
L I
ic8
Fi Cc8
F
No. 9
M
-5
ic12
35
i
-4A
F
same
A

23
24
No. 10
M
5
L
T
F
a'
-5
10
i
15
1 11
25
x
20
4
+4-5
'.
+8 +5
+8 +1
+8+4
30
xI
J x xJ:xE
+3+8
35
I
+8 +4
+8i-5
-12
-2
-1
-5
B
[t;,iclO+35-
No. 11
M
10
LIII
T
F
15
I
I
I
1111111111111111111
1_
1 II
-8
-5
-1-6
25
20
I
-4-8-11
i
-11
I1
-5
-8
i
-3
30
1_
GJ a
-6-10-4-8-2+3
-8
a
-5
iclO
11
35
11
111
X
-3
+5
B
-2
C
No. 12
M
5
L
10
T
F
11111111111
1
1
Z Z II
-ic
12-
20
I 1
-5
-8
25
I
I 1
X a
14:::.:::::.:.
-4
X=.E
-5
o
0-
+7
+5
i -4
-8
No. 13
M
5
L
III
35
30
i I
11111111111]
1
1 I
i ?
?J
xo x J H
+5
-3
:I
T
F
15
11111i
15
10
1
+5
25
30
J::l
-4 +8
+4
J xJx xJ E
Xo::
+8 +5
-4
+10+8
-3
-2
-6
+6+5+8
o
-8-12
-2
iD
No. 14
M
L
T
F
5
I I
1111111111111
10
15
'
(non-canonic fantasy:
23 entries of la sol fa re mi)
-6-5
25
111111111
-8
+8
-5
30
I
+5+12-8-4-8
+8
ornamented
11IC[D
II1[E ID
B
C
-2
G
Bb
-2
-2
x J xJxJ E
+8
+4
+8
-4-5
i-8
-5
Bb
20
I 11111
1111111
-2
-2
45
I
1
1
1111111111J
B
C
40
35
11111
11111111111111
J o
a
+8
20
1111111
-2
G

No. 15
M
L I
T
F
a
+8
+4 +8
15
10
5
j
111111111111111
1
1l
1
J Lim x -8-5-6
J
+8
5
L I
H
-8
35
-8
25
L
I11
i
+6
+5 +8
+5
J
+5
-8
1
-5
15
T
F
-8
10
5
1
LIII
a
-8
-5
11
0
i
-8
-9
-6
i
-11
-8-9-6
-11-5-4
5
11111111111111111
L 1III
0
-8
-2
-5
-8
-4
-8
i
+12
+8+5
+8-5-8-5
m
-2
-4+5
EJ
B
C
Bb
25
J Mo
JJ j E
-6i-6-8+5
+8
-2
20
15
10
40
I I
-8
-8-5
No. 19
M
-2 -2
-6
m
-2
-5
-3
35
j
XoJJEJ
-8
WmmII
=
+2
11
+5
Irrm
[
30
25
-5
-2
Bb
-12-8
-2
+2
11111
xJ
-8
1111111111
T
F
-6
-4
20
40
1I
J EJ
-5-7
15
-7
i -8
+1
-7-10-5-8
11111111111
-6
35
30
J JEJ
.o
mirror
No. 18
M
i
-10
J
+8
25
20
-8
-5
-8
Bb
I
X
+2
10
ic12
T
F
i-8
+1
+8
35
1
B
C
o Jx
oJ
3(0
II
X o
-8
1 1
IX
-8-5+4-6-8
Xo
-9
L I
Bb
20
Io
1::.
:::::
No. 17
M
IL oJ
-6
40
111111
0o
+5 -8
-8
15
,
-5
ic12
10
I
1111111111
-5-8
Eo
30
I
No. 16
M
1 1
1111111
T
F
1,
+8
25
I 8
20
1
25
30
I
EJ
-5-4-1-8-11-8
-8
rn
35
11
x
i
-7
JXoJ
i
+13
[m
mirror
+2
40
111111
Xo o E
+1 +5 i i+8
-12-12
%+39
retro.

+5
+8
-5
+2
-2
26
No. 20
M
10
15
T
F
20
I
1111111111
o YJ
9 entries of fa re re fa)
+1 -1-8+5+4+5+1+4+8+5+3-8
+8+5i+1+4
+12
No.21
M
M I
10
-1
20
15
I
'
J0J
-5
I ?i
i
+6
+3-5
EY
-8-1
JxJ
+1 +8
+1 -3-6-8
+8+1+5+li
+6 +6
-12
2 I 1I
1i
30
I 3
: x
+4
-4-8-5
253
25
i
xx
-6
+2
-2
+4
35
I
x
-5
5
L I
10
+5
+1+5+8+5-5
[m
[IDG]
mm
9
-5
20
25
Jj
-4
+6+5+1+5
-4-5+5
+8+1+5+-3+8i-3i
+1 -9
-5
-6-4-5-7-8
JEE
j
i
+1
+4+5
35
I
+8+5+3+7-4
40
IJ
J
+1+8+-2-4
-8
(Im ln]Fn]rTm
m
+2 +2 -2
G
C
No. 23
M
L I 1
5
1
15
10
11111111111111111111
20
25
-2
30
I
I [
'"-
50
31 entries of ut re ut fa mi re ut)
I
I
- ic 1 2
I
-ic 12
I
K-ic 8 -G
C
No. 24
M
10
5
III
I
-4
-5
i
-5
25
Fiii
111
JoXo:'.-liio
+8+5
35
3C
1111
111111
4
-5
20
15
I
k-mirror2
+1-8
i
-11
-5-1-5+4
+4
11111J
xJ
?EJ j_
E j
+1+8+5+8
-5
+4
-5
-8
B
G
GG
-2
T
F
=II
-2
30
I
III
-7-5
-3 -3
15
111111111111111111
iE
-5
45
40
I i
1111111
No. 22
M
T
F
-2
'
IrmI W
40
same
20
J
35
111111
+8-1-5-8
I H
+8+5+4
+3
30
111
[I]
-2[IM?T]
/m^
icl2 -4icl2c
T
F
Jx KEI
JIY
-5
25
111111


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A Lesson from Lassus: Form in the Duos of 1577

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ted duos (Nos. 1-12, hereafter called motets) can be found

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Music Theory Spectrum

techniques should be used. Each seems to be a detail; on the

refer in passingto time-intervalof imitation, but do not employ this analytical

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