"Propter Veritatem," meaning "Because of Your Rectitude," was composed by Leonin and is included in the major work accredited to him, the "Magnus Liber." This chant served as the centerpiece for the Mass of the Assumption in the Middle Ages, which celebrates the ascension of Mary into Heaven
Considered one of the most interesting and enigmatic chants of the period, the piece demonstrates astounding traits of dexterity and harmonic expansiveness. Propter Veritatem's melodic arch is downright impressive. Among the many melismas, he contains one melisma that stretches out to 27 notes from one syllable.
The text of the chant is in two parts. The opening session speaks to Mary of all the virtues that she possesses, and then it starts a responsory verset. The verset is usually taken from the Book of Psalms, but for Mary's highest feast the text is taken from the Song of Songs.
Leonin is the first known composer of polyphonic organum, which is chant with several parts. It is assumed that he was French, and was employed at the cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris.
All the information we have of Leonin comes from a theorist known as Anonymous 4, who was probably a college student writing on the current musical situation of the time, giving us insight into what it like to be a musician in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
James LaVelle
I felt that this was sensibly laid out and well written. In your initial version, I felt you used some fairly technical terms that might confused the lay reader, but you changed those as we spoke and I felt the changes were very good. As something to think about, you should consider whether you think the biographical information about Leonin would make more sense after the first paragraph, rather than at the end. I'm not sure that it would, but it's something to consider.
ReplyDeleteGood job, JJ!