Dictionary of Music - Birding America

canzonetta 63sixteenth centuries, the highest voice-part in a compositionhaving more than one part.cantus firmus (kan′təs fûr′məs) pl. cantus firmi(kan′təs fûr′mē) Latin: “fixed song.” An alreadyexisting melody that is used as the basis of a compositionwith other voice-parts. The composition maybe for voices (with or without instrumental accompaniment),for an instrumental ensemble, or for asingle instrument (usually organ or harpsichord).The melody used as the cantus firmus may comefrom Gregorian chant, from a Lutheran chorale(hymn), from a popular song, or from practicallyany other melodic pattern, including a fragment of ascale. From the thirteenth century through thebaroque period (ending about 1750), when COUN-TERPOINT was basic to nearly all musical composition,the use of a cantus firmus was very common.The organa, clausulae, and motets of the thirteenthand fourteenth centuries were almost always basedon a cantus firmus, taken either from Gregorianchant or from well-known songs of the time. TheEnglish composers of the early Renaissance, especiallyJohn Dunstable and Leonel Power, are creditedwith being the first to use a single cantus firmusto unify all the movements of a Mass. During the fifteenthand sixteenth centuries most Masses andorgan music came to be constructed in this way. Forexample, Masses based on the tune of the songL’Homme armé (“The Armed Man”), shown in theaccompanying example, were written by many ofthe major composers of the time, including Dufay,Ockeghem, Busnois, Obrecht, Josquin, and Palestrina.(A more recent use is Peter Maxwell Davies’sMissa super l’homme armé, 1968, rev. 1971.) By theseventeenth century, Lutheran chorales were used ascantus firmi by many German composers, particularlyin organ chorales and in the choruses of cantatas,oratorios, and Passions. Another favorite cantusfirmus was the hexachord ut re mi fa sol la (thesix-note scale C to A). Until about 1650 the cantusfirmus was most often found in the tenor (lowest)voice-part and, from the fifteenth century on, it frequentlywas set in long notes of equal value. Inorgan music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuriesthese long notes usually appeared in the bass.Occasionally, however, the cantus firmus formed thedescant (highest voice-part), in which case the simplebasic melody was ornamented (shorter, decorativenotes were added).fig. 50 p/u from p. 66canzona (kän tsô′nä) pl. canzone (kän tsô′ne)Italian: “song.” 1 A medieval Italian or Provençalpoem of several stanzas given a polyphonic settingsimilar to that of a FROTTOLA (def. 2). 2 A sixteenthcenturyItalian composition for voice similar to themadrigal (see MADRIGAL, def. 2) or to the VIL-LANELLA. 3 In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,a lyric poem in stanza form that was oftengiven a polyphonic setting by Italian madrigal andfrottola composers of the time. 4 From the seventeenthcentury on, any solo song with keyboardaccompaniment, the Italian counterpart of theFrench CHANSON (def. 1) and the German LIED (def.1). 5 In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, animportant instrumental form, written for a keyboardinstrument or instrumental ensemble and based onthe style of the contemporary French polyphonicchanson (see CHANSON, def. 2). Because it generallyincluded sections in contrasting style, the instrumentalcanzona is considered a forerunner of the sonata.The most important composers of such canzonaswere Giovanni Gabrieli and Girolamo Frescobaldi.canzonetta (kän tsô net′ tä) pl. canzonette Italian:“little song.” Also, English canzonet (kan zonet′). 1 From the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, ashort secular song either for solo voice or for two to