Tonal types and modal attributions in late Renaissance polyphony: new observations

Abstract

The paper compares the modal features of Palestrina’s “Offertoria totius anni” and “Motecta festorum totius anni”, concluding that (1) in the modally ordered collection as well as in the non-modally ordered one some modal categories openly conflict with the corresponding modal outlines described by the theorist, and (2) certain modes are musically less clear-cut than others. It goes on proposing to subdivide the whole gamut of tonal types in three groups of increasing problematic natures with regards to modal representation. It concludes suggesting that this very problematic nature can be (used as) a useful tool for the analysis of tonal space of (late) sixteenth-century music and for a better understanding of the concept of mode itself.

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