Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Music examples
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Historiography
- Part II Improvisation and composition
- 8 Oral composition in fifteenth-century music
- 9 Improvisation as concept and musical practice in the fifteenth century
- 10 How did Oswald von Wolkenstein make his contrafacta?
- 11 Making a motet: Josquin’sAve Maria … virgo serena
- 12 The origins of pervasive imitation
- Part III Humanism
- Part IV Music and other arts
- Part V Music in churches, courts, and cities
- Part VI Religious devotion and liturgy
- Part VII Theory and practice
- Part VIII Sources
- Part IX Genres
- Part X Reception
- Index
10 - How did Oswald von Wolkenstein make his contrafacta?
from Part II - Improvisation and composition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Music examples
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Historiography
- Part II Improvisation and composition
- 8 Oral composition in fifteenth-century music
- 9 Improvisation as concept and musical practice in the fifteenth century
- 10 How did Oswald von Wolkenstein make his contrafacta?
- 11 Making a motet: Josquin’sAve Maria … virgo serena
- 12 The origins of pervasive imitation
- Part III Humanism
- Part IV Music and other arts
- Part V Music in churches, courts, and cities
- Part VI Religious devotion and liturgy
- Part VII Theory and practice
- Part VIII Sources
- Part IX Genres
- Part X Reception
- Index
Summary
By the early fourteenth century, at the latest, most of the polyphonic music became the territory of specialists who underwent rigorous training inmensural notation. All fourteenth- and fifteenth-century composers of polyphony were literate, and they knew their mensural notation well. There is one exception, however the last great Minnesinger, Oswald von Wolkenstein. Oswald was born around 1376 and died in 1445 in Meran in South Tyrol. To be sure, it took scholars a long time to identify the models of Oswald's songs. All the same, given that so many of his compositions are contrafacta, one has to ask to what extent Oswald was an original composer of polyphonic music. There is general agreement among Oswald scholars that he was introduced to many of the models from which he made contrafacta at the Councils of Constance and Basel. Oswald's song is completely dominated by the text and the tenor melody.
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- The Cambridge History of Fifteenth-Century Music , pp. 164 - 182Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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