"Rondellus", Canon, and Related Types before 1300

Author(s): Robert Falck

Source: Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Spring, 1972), pp. 38-57
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society
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 Rondellus,Canon, and Related Types before
1300
BY ROBERT FALCK

has for many years led a rather shadowy double

THE TERM rondellus
life in musicological literature. On the one hand, it is and has been
used to mean the Latin equivalent of the French rondeau (English, rounde-
lay)-a poetic form including initial and/or end refrain with a corre-
sponding musical form. It is typical of modern musicology's desire for
terminological precision that rondellus is most often used to describe such
pieces in the Latin language, while rondeau is reserved for French-lan-
guage songs. Whether such precision is justified by the theoretical litera-
ture of the i3th and early i4th centuries is doubtful to say the least.
On the other hand, rondellus is used to describe a special composi-
tional technique which certainly involves voice exchange and possibly
round canon as well. Here too, modern musicology has attempted to
define the term more precisely than medieval theory did. The central
question is whether rondellus may be used to describe any and all in-
stances of voice exchange, whether it should be limited to entire composi-
tions such as those in the Worcester fragments, or whether it can mean
round canon as well.
A final question-potentially the most interesting one-is whether
these meanings are somehow related. Beyond the fact that all share the
"round" characteristic brought about by recurring phrases of music and
lines of poetry, this possibility at first seems to be a remote one. While
voice exchange and certain kinds of round canon are obviously similar,
and indeed identical in construction, the poetic-musical form of the ron-
deau seems to have no direct connection with these. As shown in the
following pages, though, there are areas in which these types are related
indirectly.
A very timely article for the present discussion is a report published by
Hans Eggebrecht and Fritz Reckow concerning the proposed Hand-
wvorterbuchder musikalischen Terminologie.' One of the sample articles
included in that report is "Rondellus/Rondeau-Rota," by Reckow, and its
thoroughness seems to preclude further discussion of the subject." Here
no fewer than forty-four quotations from musical theorists, grammarians,
and poets of the I3th to the I6th centuries are divided into three cate-
1 "Das Handw6rterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie," Archiv fiir Musik-
wissenschaft, XXV (1968), 241-77.
2
Ibid., pp. 257-71.
 CANON,AND RELATEDTYPES
RONDELLUS, 39
gories. The poetic-musical form rondeau is described in thirty-seven
sources, while six deal with voice exchange and round canon, and a single,
late source describes the method of performing rondeaux as round dances.
Only six of these sources are early enough to throw any light on the prob-
lem in the I3th century, and four of these are from music theorists.8
Reckow regards rondellus as a clearly established Latin term for
rondeau from the middle of the I3th century, voice-exchange rondellus
being a distinctly special, local, and transitory meaning. While the periodic
or "round" character of each type is mentioned, no connection between
them is implied. The author also points out that after the I6th century, the
terms rondellus and rondeau are no longer used in the older sense. While
this is unquestionably true of writings which describe contemporary
practice, the older meaning first reappears in the historical writing of
Charles Burney. He describes the medieval rondeau, or roundelay, citing
Franco of Cologne as his authority. A few pages later he mentions Walter
Odington's description of the voice-exchange rondellus but is apparently
unable to distinguish between them.4 This is the first indication of the
confusion and misunderstanding which was to come. Even as recent a
scholar as H. E. Wooldridge could not clear the air, and he is in fact the
first and only writer to consider the possibility that both meanings of
rondellus describe the same kind of music. In support of his contention he
cites a three-part rondeau of Adam de la Halle which could conceivably
be read as a round canon.5 Hugo Riemann's Geschichte der Musiktheorie
only further compounded the confusion by grouping rondellus, rondeau,
rotula, rota, and Radel together under a single rubric in the index. In the
text, he describes only the voice-exchange technique after Odington.6
The habit of using rondellus as a special term for Latin rondeaux may
be traced to Friedrich Ludwig, who described the monophonic songs in
the eleventh fascicle of F7 as "Rondellus-artig" both in the Repertorium8
and in the Adler Handbuch.9 Heinrich Besseler, in his Musik des Mittel-
alters und der Renaissance, seems to be following Ludwig when in the
index, he describes rondellus as the Latin term for rondeau, and in the text
he quotes an example from F fascicle I I.10When we look up the "Kanon
(round)," we read only that it is "an English canon, as described by
3Franco of Cologne, John of Garland, Johannes de Grocheo, and Walter
Odington, who are quoted in full and discussedbelow.
4General History of Music (London, 1776-79), new ed. by Frank Mercer
(London and New York, '935), I, 515,519.
5 Oxford History of Music, I (Oxford, 1901), 319-24.
6 Hugo Riemann, Geschichte der Musiktheorie imnIX.-XIX. Jahrhundert, 2nd
ed. (Berlin, I920), p. 199.
7 Florence, Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana, Pluteus 29, i.
8
Repertorium organorum recentioris et motetorum vetustissimi stili, I, I (Halle,
1910), 124.
9 Guido Adler, ed., Handbuch der Musikgeschichte, 2nd ed. (Berlin, 1930), I,
183-84.
10 Die Musik des Mittelalters und der Renaissance (Potsdam, 1931), p. 117.
40 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICALSOCIETY

Walter Odington."11More recent music histories continue to use the word

with both meanings, but normally Odington's description of the voice-
exchange type is the only primary theoretical evidence cited. Even Apel,
in his study of "Rondeaux, Virelais, and Ballades in French I3th-Century
Song," feels compelled to apologize for using the terms rondellus to de-
scribe the Latin rondeau.12
Although the reference by Franco of Cologne to the rondellus as one
of several types of discantus which have the same text in all voices was
known as early as Burney, it was not cited until relatively recently as
evidence for the existence of the rondeau in the middle of the I 3th
century.
Discant is made either with text, or with and without text, in two ways: with
the same or with different [texts]. Discant with the same text is found in
cantilenae,rondelli,and in some ecclesiaticalchant.13
Reckow14 and Jacques Handschin15 are agreed that Franco is referring
here to polyphonic rondeaux either of "secular origins" (Reckow) or,
more explicitly, to "compositions like the three-part 'rondeaux' of Adam
de la Halle" (Handschin). Actually Franco's words are not so unequivocal
and may be open to a wider variety of interpretations, as we shall see.
The only medieval theorist who gives a description of the rondellus
which is not only precise but which can be made to fit the strict rondeau
is Johannes de Grocheo.
Cantilena is frequently called rotunda or rotundellus by many people, be-
cause it turns back upon itself like a circle and begins and ends in the same
way. However, we call only those songs rotunda or rotundelluswhose parts
have no music other than that of the responseor refrain.16
He says that such songs have no lines of melody other than those of the
refrain, a description which is no more cumbersome than many found in
more recent texts. A bit further on he also makes it clear that the rondel-

11 "Englischen Singkanon, wie ihn Walter Odington beschreibt." Ibid., p.-70.

12 This JOURNAL, VII (1954), 127, fn. 12. In the second edition of the Harvard
Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass., 1969), the second meaning of rondellus is
"Modern (or medieval?) name for a type of Latin song that is structurally similar
to the medieval rondeau" (p. 740). The term is certainly medieval but should not
be restricted to the Latin variety.
13 Edmond de Coussemaker, Scriptorum de musica medii aevi (Paris, 1864-67),
I, I30. "Discantus autem fit cum littera, aut sine et cum littera, hoc est dupliciter:
cum eadem, vel cum diversis. Cum eadem littera fit discantus in cantilenis, rondellis,
et cantu aliquo ecclesiastico."
14 Op. cit., p. 260.
15 "The Summer Canon and Its Background," Musica disciplina, III (1949), 83.
16Ernst Rohloff, Der Musiktraktat des Johannes de Grocheo (Leipzig, 1943),
pp. 5o-5I. "Cantilena vero quaelibet rotunda vel rotundellus a pluribus dicitur,
eo quod ad modam circuli in se ipsam reflectitur et incipit et terminatur in eodem.
Nos autem solum illam rotundam vel rotundellum dicimus, cuius partes non habent
diversurn cantum a cantu responsorii vel refractus."
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 41

lus is a poetic as well as a musical form.17 It is only slightly disquieting

that he calls it rotunda or rotundellus rather than rondellus.
John of Garland offers the only additional information on the rondellus
in the I3th century. As in Franco, the rondellus is not described but is
merely cited to illustrate a point.
Color is repetition in the same voice of an unknown melody which becomes
known, and through familiaritybecomes pleasing. And this manner is used in
rondelli and popular cantilenae.Repetition in diverse voices is the same melody
repeated at different times in different voices. And this manner is found in
triple and quadruple[organum] and conductus and many others.18s
In describing the various ways in which color, or repetition, may be
employed in discantus, he cites the rondellus as an example of repetition
"in the same voice." While this statement is less complete than Grocheo's,
it contains nothing which contradicts it. The most interesting thing about
Garland's little essay on color is that in the sentence immediately follow-
ing, he describes another kind of repetition "at different times in different
voices," which may occur in three- or four-part organa, conductus, and
many other kinds of pieces ("multis aliis"). Without being explicit,
Garland strongly suggests that the two phenomena are related. What he
says, in effect, is this: "On the one hand, we have repetition in a single
voice, as in the rondellus. On the other hand, we have repetition by various
voices in succession." To this we might be tempted to add: "which is also
a kind of rondellus."
Walter Odington's description of rondellus is not essentially different
from Garland's. He adds some details, noting that the voice-exchange
rondellus may be with or without text.
Discant indeed has many forms. And if what one sings, all others declaim in
order, this is called rondellus,that is, round or circular. And this with text or
without. ...
Rondelli are composed thus: think up the most beautiful melody possible, and
arrangeit accordingto one of the modes describedpreviously,with or without
text, and let this melody be declaimedsingly.19
The musical example which follows the second of the paragraphs quoted
is clearly a voice-exchange rondellus of the type found in the Worcester
17
Ibid., p. 51I, lines 41-43.
18Coussemaker, Scriptorum, I, 116. "Repetitio eiusdem vocis est color faciens
ignotum sonum esse notum, per quam notitiam auditus suscipit placentiam. Et isto
modo utimur in rondellis et cantilenis vulgaribus. Repetitio diverse vocis est idem
sonus repetitus in tempore diverso a diversis vocibus. Et iste modus reperitur in
triplicibus, quadruplicibus et conductis, et multis alis ...."
19 Ibid.,
pp. 245, 246-47. "Habet quidem discantus species plures. Et si quod
unus cantat, omnes per ordinem recitent, vocatur hic cantus Rondellus, id est
rotabilis vel circumductus; et hoc vel cum littera vel sine littera. .. "
"Rondelli sic sunt componendi: excogitetur cantus pulchrior qui possit, et dis-
ponantur secundum aliquem modorum predictorum, cum littera vel sine, et ille
cantus a singulis recitetur."
42 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

fragments, but the text of both paragraphs could describe canon equally
well.20 The same is true of Garland's definition, which could equally well
be read as a description of canon, while his musical example is, as clearly
as Odington's, voice exchange. Our reluctance to understand either Oding-
ton's or Garland's statements as referring to round canon are conditioned
largely by the absence of any music earlier than 1300 which fits their
description.

The only substantial collection of music prior to 1300 which corre-

sponds to Grocheo's description of rotundellus is the eleventh fascicle of
F. Actually, Garland's more general formulation of repetition "eiusdem
vocis" is more compatible with this collection, since many of the songs
contain music which is not part of the responsorium, contrary to
Grocheo's requirement. Nevertheless, fifty of the sixty songs are either
six-line or, less commonly, eight-line rondeaux. Of the remaining ten,
four have end refrains,21and six no refrain at all.22As pointed out earlier,
it is this collection, and no other, for which the term rondellus is most
often used in modern literature. It must be made quite clear that there is
no justification for this practice any more than there would be for using
motetus only for Latin motets. Reckow makes it abundantly clear that
roandellusis simply a Latinized version of r.ondeau and that when ex-
amples are cited, they are virtually always French songs.
Of the six songs in the eleventh fascicle of F which have no refrains,
four are strophic songs which, like the rondeaux in the same collection,
depend heavly on the repetition of a few melodic phrases. It is the re-
maining two songs which form the principal object of this study.
Leto leta concio and O quanto consilio are distinguished from the
rest of the collection in the following ways. First, there are no extra
strophes recorded for these songs. Second, both songs are through-
composed, which would disqualify them as rondeaux according to the
contemporary definitions reviewed here. I hasten to add that this is not
strictly true for O quacnto consilio, but Leto leta concio is entirely
through-composed, and even O quanto consilio stands in sharp contrast
to the usual procedure in this collection of repeating two or at the most
three phrases of melody for six to eight or more lines of text. The third
peculiarity which attracts our very special attention is that each song
ends with what appears to be a cue, directing the singer back to the be-
20 Reckow
(op. cit., p. 268) distinguishes two examples in Odington's text. The
custos in each part, however, lead clearly to the "second" example, Ave mater
domini. The mixture of melismatic and syllabic sections is entirely consistent with
the practice of the Worcester repertory.
21 Ecce mundi gaudium, fol. 470; Nicholae presulum, fol. 471; Gaudeat ecclesia,
fol. 471; Nicholaus pontifex, fol. 471.
22 In rerum principio, fol. 469; Gaude Syon devoto, fol. 469v; In hoc statu gratie,

fol. 470; Leto leta concio, fol. 470o; O quanto consilio, fol. 47o6; O summi regis,
fol. 470v.
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 43

ginning of the piece. For both songs the first two words ("Leto leta"
and "O quanto"), with their music, form the cue.2- What could this
possibly mean? In her edition of these songs, Yvonne Rokseth simply
reproduced the cue as she found it and added an editorial "etc."24 Does
this mean that the whole song is to be repeated, or only a part of it, as
an end refrain? If the former, why was the cue considered necessary at
all? If the latter, how are we to decide when to stop? If these cues do not
indicate refrains and make no sense as simple repeats, what do they mean?
A close look at the musical and poetic structure of each song suggests
an answer which is as simple as it is surprising.
Each poem has an even number of lines, and the music of each may
be divided into exactly parallel halves. To begin with the simplest case,
we may turn our attention to the melody of O quanto consilio. In the
first half of the melody, all of the tones, with the exception of the
ornamental A at the cadence on "miseratio," lie within the upper
tetrachord of the F mode. In the second half, from "Nobis ab initio,"
all of the tones but one lie in the lower pentachord of the same mode.
Further, all of the lines in the first half cadence on C, and those in the
second half cadence on F. In short, the two halves fit together perfectly
in two-part counterpoint. What we have here is not a rondeau, but a
round canon, the execution of which is shown in Example i. This solu-
tion not only explains the peculiar nature of the piece in relation to the
remaining contents of the fascicle but also makes sense out of the cue in
the notation. Furthermore, the canonic realization of the song has strik-
ing affinities to both kinds of rondellus. On the most obvious level, it
is a voice-exchange piece like the examples given by Garland and Oding-
ton. In addition, the monophonic beginning is not unlike an initial re-
frain, which would be balanced by a monophonic performance of the
second half at the end. Finally there is nothing in Franco's rather sparse
information about the rondellus which is not consistent with Example
i. Both voices do indeed sing the same text, although they sing different
parts of its simultaneously.
Leto leta concio is at once more problematic and more interesting.
The two halves of its melody are not so obviously complementary as
those of O quanto consilio, but will make two-part counterpoint which,
while undistinguished, is no worse than many examples of two-part con-
ductus. Leto leta concio, however, may be further divided into four
phrases of equal length, each of which may be combined with any other
in acceptable two-part counterpoint. As shown in Example 2, these
phrases may also be combined in four-part discant. Again, what we have
23
One other song (Salva nos, fol. 470) uses its first two words with their music
as a cue, but this is merely a shorthand method of indicating the recurring (and
ratherlong) refrain.
24Yvonne Rokseth, "Danses cl6ricales du XIII
si~cles," Melanges 1945 des Publi-
cations de la Faculte des lettres de Strasbourg (Paris, 1947), pp. io6, 125.
44 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICALSOCIETY

Example i

f I. ,

O quan-to cn - si li - o De - i mi - se-
-
2.

No - bis ab i - ni - ti - o per -vi dit in

ra - ti- o gra - ti - e ve - ni - e

IfKI I I 11 -. I.1 1 1
- i - o sa - luI. - tis vir - tu
I
- tis
fi

glo - ri - e dans or - - tum

et pa - cis dans por - - tun O quan - to

Example 2

Le - to le - ta con - ci- o hac di - e

re - so-net tri- pu- di-o gra - ti - e

8
hoc in na - ta - ii - ti-o vox son - net

or- tu dat rex glo - ri- e ve - ni - e Le - to le - ta

 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 45
here is not a monophonic rondeau but a four-part round canon.
We cannot ignore the dissonances which result from the combination
of all four phrases of the melody and the awkwardness of some combina-
tions of phrases, particularly the first and second. It must be pointed out
that there are few examples of four-part, note-against-note discant pieces
in the repertory represented by F, and some of these are a good deal
more dissonant than this example.25Not only is the counterpoint in Leto
leta concio acceptable by contemporary standards, it can also be shown
to be quite skillful in its construction.
The treatment of the two cadences is the crucial point in this demon-
stration. The first cadence (Ex. 2, m. 2) closes on the normal root-fifth-
octave on F with the fifth doubled. When the canon is reduced to three
voices, it is the doubled fifth which drops out, and the cadence remains
the same. When the second voice drops out, the equally common octave
on F results. The second cadence (m. 4) is constructed in exactly the
same way. As the number of voices is progressively reduced, the fifths
drop out first, until the canon ends monophonically on G. The obvious
cadence to the final of the mode, F, which results from the repetition
indicated by the cue in the MS, suggests that this is a perpetual, or circle
canon.
The presence of Leto leta concio in the Hortus deliciarum, a MS of
mixed contents which was written about i 8o and destroyed by fire in
I870, makes this piece even more valuable as a historical document.26
This means that it is at least sixty years older than the earliest date pro-
posed for the Summer Canon, and the latter's status as a "first" must now
be qualified in several important respects.

Are the two songs discussed above isolated examples in the repertory
of medieval music? Where should one look to find similar pieces, and
what similarities is one likely to find? One potential source would be the
large collection of French refrain songs compiled by Friedrich Gennrich
from the period represented by the Latin songs in the eleventh fascicle

25The only really comparable examples are the three

four-part conductus in
the first fascicle of F. These are: Deus misertus, fol. 8'; Mundus vergens, fol. 9;
Vetus abit, fol. io-i o. The text of Deus misertus is also preserved in Oxford,
Bodleian, Rawlinson C 5ro, fol. 12, within a collection otherwise devoted exclusively
to two-part conductus. Could it be that all of the four-part conductus were really
two- or three-part pieces converted by the compilers of F to complement their
collection of four-part organa and clausulae? A cursory examination of their music
shows them to be virtually unperformable as four-part pieces. Vetus abit was pub-
lished in the Oxford History of Music, I, 304-7. Mundus vergens is transcribed in
Analecta hymnica, Vol. XXI, p. 207.
26
In addition to Rokseth's transcription, cited above in fn. 23, the text of Leto
leta concio has been published by Hans Spanke, "Das lateinische Rondeau," Zeit-
schrift fiir franzdsische Sprache und Literatur, LIII (1930), I20, where its presence
in the Hortus deliciarumis noted. For the latter MS see Josef Sz6verffy, Die Annalen
der lateinischen Hymnendichtung (Berlin, 1964-65), II, I42ff.
46 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

of F.:27Amongthe 1,276 songslistedby Gennrich,JohannesWolf found

one which seemed to him to be a three-part canon.28 Gennrich rejected
this suggestion,however, on the grounds that the resultingparallelthirds
are very unlikely in medieval French music.29 The canonic realization
of this song is given in Example3 followingGennrich'stranscription."0
Example 3

He dieus che - le I etc.]

He dieus che - le [etc.1

He dieus che - le [etc. 1

[etc.i

' I retc.1

0P ==#[etc.]

I would agree with Gennrich's reasons for doubting this solution and add
that a canon at the distance of one perfection would be very different
from the known examples of canon, including those discussed above. In
those examples, as well as in the Summer Canon, complete phrases of
music with correspondingly complete lines of poetry are combined in
a way that is exactly analogous to voice exchange. Such a "close" canon
would be very unlikely, and I think that we must reject Wolf's hy-
pothesis.
The most logical place to continue our search would be in the collec-
tion in which our two canons are found-the eleventh fascicle of F. Be-
27 Friedrich
Gennrich, Rondeaux, Virelais und Balladen, 2 vols. (Dresden, 192 I;
Gottingen, 1927).
28Johannes Wolf, Handbuch der Notationskunde (Leipzig, 1913), I, 255-
29 Friedrich Gennrich, Grundriss einer
Formenlehre des mittelalterlichen Liedes
(Halle, 1932), pp. 84-85. Gennrich complains of parallel thirds and sixths, but I
fail to discover any of the latter.
30 Loc. cit.
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 47
fore beginning our search, though, we must know just what it is we are
looking for. While there are no other songs in the collection which are
round canons, there are characteristics which are shared by a number of
these songs as well as by a number of polyphonic conductus.
Both Leto leta concio and O quanto consilio are made up of various
combinations of seven-, three- and, in one case, six-syllable lines. Leto
leta concio is the simplest in construction, and its poetic form is as
follows:

7a3b 7a3b 7a3n 7a3b

0 quanto consilio is similar, but includes six-syllable lines:

7aa 3bb6c 7aa 3dd 6a

There are only two other songs in the eleventh fascicle of F which
are similarly constructed. One of these is made up entirely of seven- and
three-syllable lines and is transcribed in Example 4.31 The similarity of
Example4

Ex - ul-te -mus so - bri- e Chri- sto re - gi glo - ri- e

Na - tus est flos gla- ti - e se - pul - ta

Chri - sto re - gi glo - ri-e laus mul - ta

this song to our two canons lies in the alternation of seven- and three-
syllable lines, with a separate rhyming syllable for each type. There
can be no thought of canon or voice exchange here, but in rhythm and
general style Exultemus sobrie is similar to O quanto consilio. The strik-
ing thing about the three-syllable lines in all of the songs considered thus
far is that, with few exceptions, they are single words, and, in all cases,
they have the character of exclamations, whose meanings are independent
of the seven-syllable lines which they follow.32 In all of the examples
given here, these lines have been transcribed as three longs with a rest.
Thus the following rhythmic scheme is common to all of the examples:

31 F, fol. 468.
32 The exceptions are the last line of
Ex. 4 ("laus multa") and the first and
third lines of Leto leta concio (Ex. 2, "hac die" and "vox sonnet").
48 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

J J JI J I.H J. I. -?

No justification has yet been offered for this interpretation of the

rhythm, but examples discussed below will show that it is, indeed, the
most likely one.
One more song from the eleventh fascicle of F may be cited here.
Gaude Syon devoto33 begins with three pairs of lines alternating seven
and three syllables, all set to the same music.34 These lines are shown in
Example 5. Again, the three-syllable lines are single words and seem to

Example 5

Gau - de Sv- on de - vo - to gau - di -

fi - de - i - unm ex - ul - tet con - ti - o
qui - a Jo-seph Ra - che - lis gre - mi -

be exclamations, although not so independent in meaning as those in the

examples above.
A number of similar examples are also found in the polyphonic con-
ductus repertory. The well-known Veris ad imperia is like the songs
considered so far in several important respects.35It is shown in Example 6.
Like Leto leta concio, Veris ad imperia is composed primarily of
alternating seven- and three-syllable lines. Further, the upper voices are
a strict rondellus for the first fourteen measures, and the lower two voices
are exchanged briefly in measures 19-20 and 25-26. As in the previous
examples, the three-syllable lines are transcribed as three longs and a rest.
In this case, however, there is strong evidence for the correctness of this
solution. Manfred Bukofzer has pointed out that another conductus,
which appears only a few leaves further on in F, quotes the beginning
of Veris ad imperia note for note in all three parts.36An important dif-
ference, however, is the substitution of a five-syllable line in place of
the exclamation eya of the original. The conductus in question is Legis
in volumine, the first two lines of which are shown in Example 7. This
33 F, fol. 469v.
34 The two remaining lines have ten syllables each and therefore do not fit
the scheme. The lines shown in Ex. 5 may, in fact, be read as ten-syllable lines
as well, since there is neither rhyme nor obvious caesura after the seventh syllable.
The whole case is therefore somewhat doubtful but is included here for the sake
of completeness.
35F, fols. 228'-29. Transcriptions have been published by Janet Knapp, Thirty-
five Conductus, Collegium musicum, Vol. VI (New Haven, 1965), p. 36, and
Friedrich Gennrich, Formenlehre, p. 85.
36s"Interrelations between Conductus and Clausula," Annales musicologiques,
I (1953), 69-70. Legis in volumine is found in F, fols. 234-34'.
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 49
Example 6

Ve - ris ad im - pe - ri- a e - - a

01 F
!W

lb.

re - nas-cun - tur om - ni- a e - y - a

a - m-ris pro - e - m a e -
y - a

cor- da pre-munt sau - ci- a que - re - la

50 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICALSOCIETY

me - lo - di- a gra- ti - a pre - vi -

cor - da mar - cen - ti - a me- di - a

vi - ta ver - nat flos in - tra nos

Example 7

Le - is in vo - lu - mine clau - sa l - tu - it

SLe- gis in vo- lu- mi-ne clau- sa la - tu- it

 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 51
Example 8

Ste- pha- ni sol - lemp- ni- a gau - di - a

mun- do fe - rant ho - di - e glo - ri - e

di- es fes- tas a- gi-tur co - li - tur

gau - de-a - mus i - gi - tur Do - mi - no

52 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

- . Ir
%

ve-nit ser-vos sol-ve-re ce - li pan-dens a - di-tum ab

* MS a third lower.

would seem to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the transcription

is and
given here of the three-syllable lines in Veris ad imperia correct,
it at least offers support for the transcriptions of Leto leta concio, 0
quanto consilio, Exultemus sobrie, and Gaude Syon devoto.
Another conductus which is unique in F, and which has not been
consideration.
published, clearly belongs to the group presently under
Stephani sollempnia is composed entirely of seven- and three-syllable
lines, the latter preserving the exclamatory character observed in the
8 to
pieces examined thus far.37 It is transcribed in Example according
the principles set forth above. While there is no strict voice exchange
in this example, the three-syllable lines do exchange a limited number of
melodic patterns in an informal way. The triplum employs only two such
is
patterns, the duplum and tenor both four. Thus, every combination
different, but they are made up of recurring patterns, which would seem
to be a refinement of the strict voice exchange.
c f c' f f
behgg
adgde
One more example from F may be discussed briefly here. Novus annus
bodie (Ex. 9) is a more complex piece than most discussed here, but
37F, fols. 249-49v.
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 53
its opening measures at least may be quoted as yet another version of the
seven-plus-three construction.38 Here the seven-syllable line stands at
Example 9

No - vus an - nus ho - di - e

mo - net nos le - ti - ti - e

_f2
r

"

"

lau - des in - co - ha - - - re

38F, fols. 218v-I9v. The transcription of both Ex. 9 and Ex. 8 in the first
rhythmic mode calls for some comment here. It has long been the practice to
choose between the first and second modes according to the general principle that
ligatures should fall on the long value rather than on the short value. While this
undoubtedly produces a smoother rhythmic flow, there are no compelling reasons
for applying this principle in all cases. In fact, Crucifigat oinmes, a three-part
conductus from the same collection as Exx. 8 and 9 (F, fols. 23 v'-32, and elsewhere),
is demonstrably in the first mode (see Heinrich Husmann, "Das System der modalen
Rhythmik," Archiv filr Musikwvissenschaft, XI [1954], I1-13) and consistently
54 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

the beginning, but the three-syllable line has been replaced by a brief
melisma. A further refinement is the six-syllable line which concludes
our example. In addition, there is voice exchange between the upper
parts, but this is employed more subtly, since the voices exchange within
the phrase rather than from one phrase to the next. Finally, the beginning
of the refrain (not shown here) is announced by the syllables "Ha ha
he," which are obviously an exclamation.
We have by now gotten rather far away from the subject which
concerned us in the first part of this study, and one final example from
the most celebrated of all medieval compositions will bring us back full
circle. The Summer Canon (Ex. Io) has all of the features of the ex-
amples discussed above and combines them both simultaneously and
successively.39 The first two lines are seven and five syllables respectively,
a combination already known to us through Legis in volumine (Ex. 7).
Elxample Io

Su - mer is i - cu- men in Ihu - de sing cu - cu

Su - mer is i - cu - men in

Sing cu cu Sing cu cu nu

Sing cu cu nu Sing cu cu

As we learned there, five syllables may be substituted for three syllables.

In the Summer Canon, we have even more direct proof of this, because
divides the short value rather than the long in much the same way as do Exx. 8
and 9. Further, it may be argued that dividing the long value in either first or second
mode tends to destroy the distinctive character of the mode, while the division
of the short value enhances that character.
39 London, British Museum, Harley 978, fol. i iv. I use the "reformed," modal
version of the Summer Canon here rather than Manfred Bukofzer's transcription in
duple rhythm (Sumer is icumen in: A Revision, University of California Publications
in Music, Vol. II, 2 [Berkeley, 1944], pp. 83-88). While Bukofzer's explanation of
what was done to the notation is perfectly clear, he is less convincing when it
comes to explaining why this was done. Hence, one may still regard the changes
as a clarification of the rhythm rather than a revision. See ibid., pp. 105-6. As
Handschin points out (op. cit., p. 73), "the difference between binary and modal
is . . . not so radical as has often been assumed."
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 55
this five-syllable line ("lhude sing cucu") is combined contrapuntally
with the three-syllable line of the Pes ("Sing cucu"). Moreover, the
seven-syllable line ("Sumer is icumen in") is combined both with the
five- and the three-syllable lines. Later six-, eight- and four-syllable lines
are all accomodated rhythmically by the two-measure, three-syllable Pes.
Even if we ignore the Pes, substantial differences between the Summer
Canon and Leto leta concio may be noted. Leto leta concio exchanges
only four phrases of melody among four voices whereas the Summer
Canon has twelve with the same number of voices. We have already
shown that there are convincing reasons for supposing that Leto leta
concio is a round canon. As shown below, at least one repetition by the
voice which starts the canon is necessary to exhaust all possible combina-
tions of voices and melodic phrases. Of course, all of these combinations
12341234

abcdabcdab
abcdabcda
a b c d a. b c d a
abcdabcd
sound the same, but in spite of the much larger number of vertical com-
binations in the Summer Canon (twelve to one), there is more harmonic
variety in Leto leta concio. In fact, the Summer Canon would work
equally well as a twelve-part canon, plus the Pes, because every com-
bination of voices, whether two or fourteen, produces exactly the same
two harmonies.
Because all possible combinations of the twelve phrases in the Summer
Canon could never be exhausted, no matter how many times it was
repeated, the question of whether or not it is a circle canon is somewhat
obscured. As shown below, however, only twelve combinations result
from repeating each voice in circular fashion, and the same twelve are
repeated when the fourth voice starts at the beginning again:
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Io 11 12 I1
a b c d e f g h i j k 1 a b c d [etc.]
a b c d e f g h i j k 1 a b c [etc.]
a b c d e f g h i j k 1 a b [etc.]
a b c d e f g h i j k 1 a [etc.]
Bukofzer's transcription ends with the ninth combination shown, and
he argues against regarding the piece as a circular canon because of the
"striking accumulation" of parallel unisons which would result from
continuing beyond one full repetition of the first voice.40 These latter,
however, appear only once (phrases k and b), whereas the one instance
of parallel unisons noted by Bukofzer (lines g and h) occurs three times
in succession. There is another factor, however, which may be noted in
favor of Bukofzer's interpretation. The ouvert cadence at the end of
40 Bukofzer, Sumer is icumen in, p. Io04.
56 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Leto leta concio which leads directly back to the beginning is obviously
missing in the Summer Canon. While Leto leta concio is literally end-
less, the Summer Canon could, conceivably, end anywhere.
Despite the very great differences between them, however, the Sum-
mer Canon is like both Leto leta concio and O quanto consilio in several
ways. All three share the "tonality" of F, with one flat in the key signa-
ture, and all are confined within the octave f-f', with the exception of the
final g' in Leto leta concio. The characteristics noted here and elsewhere
in this study agree with the description given by Walter Wiora of the
typical Liedkanon of medieval and more recent times.41A number of the
examples quoted by Wiora are, as he points out, similar in style to the
Summer Canon.42 We may add that they are also similar to Leto leta
concio, in that all begin either on f' or c' and descend by scale-wise
motion to the fourth below at the end of the first phrase. If Wiora is
right, the Summer Canon and Leto leta concio both belong to a large
family whose descendents may be traced at least to the 17th century.

Beyond the family relationship between the Summer Canon and

Leto leta concio as "Song-canons," there is another family of pieces
which has been uncovered here, the extent of which may be much larger
than has been indicated in these pages. I refer to the group of Latin con-
ductus, both monophonic and polyphonic, which are characterized by
alternating seven- and three-syllable lines. The songs noted in this category
were related either to the rondellus as rondeau or to the voice-exchange
rondellus, although in the case of Stephani sollempnia (Ex. 8) this connec-
tion is admittedly tenuous. While none of them employed both rondeau
form and voice exchange, the existence of a group of related pieces which
are in turn related to both types is certainly suggestive. If we employ Gar-
land's more general formulation of repetition "eiusdem vocis," more of
the pieces cited here would qualify as rondellus. The most striking case
of such repetition among these pieces is in Veris ad imperia, and it may
be observed that it is precisely the repetition of the tenor melody which
allows for voice exchange in the duplum and triplum. The same is true
to a lesser extent in Novus annus hodie, and the Summer Canon is also
based on a repeated Pes.
Another thing which all of the songs cited have in common is their
association either with popular feasts or a particular season which is as-
sociated with such a feast. Leto leta concio, 0 quanto consilio, Exultemus
sobrie, and Gaude Syon devoto are all Advent songs, and Stephani sol-

41"Der mittelalterliche Liedkanon," Kongress Bericht der Gesellschaft fuir

Musikforschung (Liineburg, 1950), pp. 71-75. The important characteristics are
(i) line-against-line counterpoint, as opposed to stretto, (2) major tonality, and
(3) octave ambitus.
42
Ibid., p. 74. Another such family of a simpler type includes Garland's example
of repetition "in tempore diverso a diversis vocibus" (p. 73).
 RONDELLUS, CANON, AND RELATED TYPES 57
lempnia is associated with the same season. Novus annus hodie is, like
many of the songs in the eleventh fascicle of F, a New Year's song, and
Veris ad imperia, like the Summer Canon, is a spring song. The question
which must arise here is whether these pieces all represent a "popular"
style and whether they must be considered secular in origin. Only two
of them have vernacular texts associated with them,43 but we should
not be misled by the Latin texts and their association with sacred feasts.
Manfred Bukofzer has warned that "we must not make the mistake of
assuming that, in the Middle Ages, everything religious is not popular
and that everything secular is popular.""44 The family likenesses pointed
out by Wiora among a number of popular "Song-canons" strongly sug-
gest that these are popular pieces, and other more recent canons such as
"Three Blind Mice" and "Frere Jacques" also employ the characteristic
combination of three-syllable lines with longer lines. The line "Three
blind mice" functions, in fact, much like the Pes of the Summer Canon.
Finally, the questions of national origin and chronology should be
mentioned. Canon and voice exchange are commonly regarded as a
peculiarly English specialty, and the priority of the Summer Canon as the
earliest example of its kind has led to the assumption that only in England
was this particular form of music known before the
r4th century. The
discovery of two round canons from the second half of the I2th cen-
tury, one of which (Leto leta concio) may even be German, must lead
to a revision of our thinking on this subject. It is curious that a piece as
obviously unique as the Summer Canon is found in a single MS and is
nowhere mentioned in a theoretical source. Is it possible that Walter
Odington did not know the piece, or may we ask whether it was even
in existence at the time when he wrote his treatise? The
lengthy rubric
which accompanies the Summer Canon
explaining its method of per-
formance suggests that it was a novelty in England regardless of its date
of composition. If this was a manner of performance
indigenous to the
British Isles, why is such an explanation
necessary? Leto leta concio,
which lay hidden in a collection of monophonic
songs without any
special performance instructions, suggests that the round canon had been
at home on the continent long before it was introduced into the British
Isles.

University of Toronto

4 In addition to the Summer Canon, Veris ad imperia is a contrafactum of the

Provenqal spring song A l'entrada del tens clar. See Gennrich, Formenlehre, pp.
85-88.
4 "Popular Polyphony in the Middle Ages," The Musical Quarterly, XXVI
(1940), 36. A few pages earlier (p. 34) he remarks on the occurrence of canon in
popular music both inside and outside the European tradition. Wiora (op. cit.,
pp. 72-73) makes the same observation and provides a musical example of a non-
European canon.