canticum novum

Question 1

what is tintinnabulation?

Answer 1

from the latin word for “bell”, this minimalist compositional style was developed by Arvo Part during the 70’s. One voice, called the tintinnabular voice arpeggiates the tonic triad while the other voice moves diatonically with conjunct motion. Works using this technique tend to have an introspective mood and a slow tempo. Experts believe this technique developed from Part’s fascination with chant.

Question 2

what is minimalism?

Answer 2

a musical style developed in the 60’s, in which melodic, rhythimc, and harmonic patterns repeat with little variation, creating a trance-like hypnotic effect. Generally the music is tonal rather than atonal.

Question 3

describe what mood the music creates

Answer 3

a light, nimble, joyous dance-like character leggiero

Question 4

how do the melodic lines resemble chant?

Answer 4

they are very conjunct and without a precise rhythm

Question 5

describe the rhythm of this piece

Answer 5

no note values are specified, but dashes at cadences indicate doubling or tripling the length of the note. It features prose rhythm, which is more of a naturally occuring rhythm that follows the inflections of the text

Question 6

describe the use of tintinnabulation

Answer 6

Bb triad figures are played by the organ and create a bell-like effect

Question 7

describe the harmonic language

Answer 7

consonant harmony with occasional dissonances

Question 8

describe some similarities between this and Medieval/rennaissance music

Answer 8

• emphasis of the voice rather than instruments
• use of the organ
• word painting
• use of monophony (at the beginning of each section)
• lack of note values