CJ Replay: Bar Lines in Renaissance Music

“In summary, the presence of barlines in modern editions of Renaissance music does indeed help the modern singer by aligning the parts vertically; unfortunately, the need for ties to divide the original note values so as to fit the measure, and the vertical sonority that results from such an alignment of all the parts, are inimicable to the linear nature of sixteenth-century polyphony. The Renaissance singer typically saw only his or her own part and sang it as a linear melody which only incidentally aligned with otller melodies to create a concensus. In performing polyphony of the sixteenth century leave behind the appurtenances of the modern score in favor of the linear understanding of melodic shape and rhythmic accentuation imparted by the original notation.”

 

(from the Choral Journal article, “Josquin’s Ave Maria . .. virgo serena-Part Two: Rhythm & Accent,” by Chester Alwes.)