Alexander Agricola and intuitive syllable deployment

Abstract

Perceived wisdom is that ‘few of Agricola's compositions are word-orientated’, while the scribes that transmit his music align notes and words in ways that cannot necessarily be taken at face value. Both observations are probably true, though not in the perjorative way we may be inclined to assume. A common complaint of present-day editors is that there seem to be no consciously formulated sets of rules from Agricola's time regarding how syllables might be deployed to notes. So much the better for us, for we can learn a great deal about unfamiliar and apparently untheorized processes and practices through analysis of what individuals do instinctively. This article approaches the matter of syllable deployment in composed music of Agricola's time as one that at every stage in transmission—from composer through scribe to singer—is intuitive rather than consciously learnt. Approaching Agricola's music and its notational presentation this way we can come to understand his intentions when composing with words not in terms of ‘expressing their meaning and emotions’ (as Vicentino would put it half a century after Agricola's death), but in allowing them to serve as catalysts in the creation of works he had every reason to suppose would be evaluated on the basis of their musical expression alone. We can also appreciate why the idea of an archetypical syllable deployment for any given Agricola work may often be a chimera, and hence why the practices of scribes (and by implication singers) may be interpreted in the light of their several perceptions of the music's inherent phrasing and articulation. The ontology of Agricola's vocal music here implied, and that of syllable deployment in transmission and performance, is entirely consistent with the tenor of contemporary writing about music. This lends no colour to the view that at this time syllable deployment is either systematically taught or judged.

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