centonization
{{short description|Compositional system in Christian Chant}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=April 2021}}
In music centonization (from Latin cento or patchwork{{r|Randel2002_123}}) is musical composition via the combination of pre-existing motivic units, typically in reference to Christian liturgical chant.{{r|GroveDict2001_Centonization}}{{r|Hoppin1978_69}} A piece created using centonization is known as a "centonate".{{r|Randel2002_123}}
The concept of centonization was borrowed from literary theory, and first applied to Gregorian chant in 1934 by Dom {{ill|Paolo Ferretti|it}};{{r|GroveDict2001_Centonization}}{{sfn|Treitler|1975|p=7}} it has since also been applied to Byzantine chant.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Levy |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Levy |others=Revised by Christian Troelsgård |editor-first1=Christian |editor-last1=Troelsgård |year=2016 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online |title=Byzantine Chant |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04494 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000004494 |ref={{sfnRef|Levy|Troelsgård|2016}} }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
Overview
Centonization, according to Ferretti's theory, is a very old and widespread technique. The musical modes used in Gregorian chant are supposed to reflect this use; according to the theory, the modes were more collections of appropriate melodic formulas than a set of pitches. Similar ideas appear in the music theory of other cultures; for example, the maqam of Arab music, the raga of Indian music, or the pathet of Indonesian music. These do not designate merely scales, but sets of appropriate melodies and specific ornaments on certain tones (they are sometimes called "melody types").{{r|GroveDict2001_Mode}} The originality of the composer lies in how he or she links these formulas together and elaborates upon them in a new way.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
Regardless of whether the application of the concept to other branches of Christian chant, or other types of music is valid, its use with respect to Gregorian chant has been severely criticized, and opposing models have been proposed.{{r|Hiley1993_745}}{{sfnm|Treitler|1975|1pp=14–5, 22–3|Treitler|1974|2p=356}} The term "centonate" is not applied to other categories of composition constructed from pre-existing units, such as fricassée, pasticcio, potpourri, and quodlibet.{{r|GroveDict2001_Centonization}}
See also
References
=Citations=
{{reflist|refs=
Hoppin, Richard (1978). Medieval Music. New York City: W. W. Norton.
{{cite book |last1=Chew |first1=Geoffrey |last2=McKinnon |first2=James W. |date=2001 |chapter=Centonization |editor1-last=Sadie |editor1-first=Stanley |editor1-link=Stanley Sadie |editor2-last=Tyrrell |editor2-first=John |editor2-link=John Tyrrell (professor of music) |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780195170672}}
{{cite book |last1=Powers |first1=Harold |last2=Wiering |first2=Frans |last3=Porter |first3=James |last4=Cowdery |first4=James |last5=Davis |first5=Ruth |last6=Widdess |first6=Richard |last7=Perlman |first7=Marc |last8=JonesStephen |last9=Marett |first9=Allan |date=2001 |chapter=Mode |editor1-last=Sadie |editor1-first=Stanley |editor1-link=Stanley Sadie |editor2-last=Tyrrell |editor2-first=John |editor2-link=John Tyrrell (professor of music) |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780195170672 |ref=CITEREFGrove Dict.2001 }}
}}
=Sources=
- {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Ferretti|1934}}|reference=Ferretti, Paolo Maria (1934). Estetica gregoriana ossia Trattato delle forme musicali del canto gregoriano. Rome: Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1977. {{ISBN|0-306-77414-3}} {{OCLC|2910922}}.}}
- {{cite journal |last=Treitler |first=Leo |title=Homer and Gregory: The Transmission of Epic Poetry and Plainchant |journal=Musical Quarterly |volume=60 |issue=3 |date=July 1974 |pages=333–72
|doi=10.1093/mq/LX.3.333 }}
- {{cite journal |last=Treitler |first=Leo |date=Spring 1975 |title='Centonate' Chant: Übles Flickwerk or E pluribus unus? |journal=Journal of the American Musicological Society |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=1–23|doi=10.2307/830914 |jstor=830914 }}