Listeining Journal 2 Response

In his entry on the Hilliard Ensemble's Motets et Chansons, Vince did a fine job. Especially notable is how he begins by listing all of Josquin's acclaimed compositions. At the end of the first paragraph, Vince wrote, “ During Josquin’s lifetime, his compositions were known internationally and were considered musical perfections, even by Martin Luther, who hailed Josquin as “…master of notes.” This is a good quote and would have been more powerful at the beginning of the entire paper.

Josquin was a master of writing music, not only the motet and chanson, but the frottola. Vince mentions “El Grillo,” but he did not mention the other two frottola on the recording, “Scaramella va alla Guerra” and “In te Domine speravi.” Both are similar in style to “El Grillo;” they all are homophonic and mostly syllabic with bits of polyphony to help word paint or drive to the cadences. I was a little disappointed that Vince did not write about the double entendre that can be found in “El Grillo” as the song is about a singer that Josquin knew who could hold a note for quite a long time. He depicts this in both the words about how a ‘cricket’ can hold the notes for a long time, but also through his word painting. I enjoy Josquin’s frottola more than his motets or chansons on this recording. They are just so lighthearted and fun, it would be hard to not love them.

I agree completely with Vince that, “Josquin artfully blends his techniques so his music does not sound technical, but captures the listener through beautiful colors and varied textures.” Josquin’s amazing textures are built from some amazing imitation and polyphony woven together with word painting. I think that word painting is a completely different art form and that Josquin was one of the first composers to master it.

Vince said that he has not listened to much vocal music, a statement that saddens me as vocal music is my favorite type of music. The human voice is so versatile, and Josquin does a expert job of showing it off. I am glad that Josquin has had a positive impact on Vince, and that he now knows how awesome the voice can be. Great paper, Vince!

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