Phyllis: thanks for interesting reply (tho I'm not sure it was mainly to
me). What I meant by 'folk music' was mainly things like hymn tunes,
which I don't see much of in l7th century Eng. anthems, & dancing songs
(like Sellinger's Round). But then, the Eng. Reformers didn't insist on
the congreg. participating in the service quite as much as Luther did.
Thus you wd NOT get a chorale prelude based on music that wd be vary
familiar to the congregation. And the Eng. insisted on being BOTH Catholic
& Prot. in a way the Lutherans did not; thus the music wd tend to be a
little more 'clericalist' -? Or am I way off base here? Pardon Tillinghast
On Sat, 28 Nov 1998, Phyllis Jestice wrote:
> Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 08:25:41 -0800
> From: Phyllis Jestice <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Choral music
>
> I suspect the distinction of "folk" or "non-folk" for sixteenth-century
> choral music may be unhelpful. After all, the greatest of both the German
> and English choral composers of the period followed the most approved
> writing techniques of the Renaissance--simple melodic lines with mostly
> step-wise progressions, small ranges, very little dissonance except on
> passing tones, and emphasis on being able to understand the words. After
> that, it's up to the inspiration of the individual composer. It seems to
> me that the union of comprehensibility (a la Claude Goudimel, for example)
> and the more open sonorities of English composition from the fifteenth
> century created the most moving music ever written. De gustibus non
> disputandum est. But I just want to note that my not-very-good church
> choir sang a Christopher Tye anthem last Sunday. The congregation gave us
> the gift of full attention, and afterward a woman said to me that it made
> her cry. Every choir I've sung in, Episcopal and now Lutheran, has done a
> lot of Tudor music, because it's so singable and so accessible to the
> ordinary listener. And, sixteen years ago, I converted to Christianity
> while listening to Gibbons' Nunc Dimittis.
>
> Phyllis
>
> Phyllis G. Jestice
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
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