Inmusic, acantus firmus ("fixed melody") is a pre-existingmelody forming the basis of apolyphoniccomposition.
The plural of this Latin term iscantus firmi, although the corrupt formcanti firmi (resulting from the grammatically incorrect treatment ofcantus as a second- rather than a fourth-declension noun) can also be found. The Italian is often used instead:canto fermo (and the plural in Italian iscanti fermi).
The term first appears in theoretical writings early in the 13th century (e.g., Boncampagno da Signa,Rhetorica novissima, 1235).[2] The earliest polyphonic compositions almost always involved a cantus firmus, typically aGregorian chant, although by convention the term is not applied to music written before the 14th century.[3] The earliest surviving polyphonic compositions, in theMusica enchiriadis (around 900 AD), contain the chant in the top voice, and the newly composed part underneath; however, this usage changed around 1100, after which the cantus firmus typically appeared in the lowest-sounding voice. Later, the cantus firmus appeared in the tenor voice (from the Latin verb 'tenere', to hold), singing notes of longer duration, around which more florid lines, instrumental and/or vocal, were composed or improvised.
Composition using a cantus firmus continued to be the norm through the 13th century: almost all of the music of theSt. Martial andNotre Dame schools uses a cantus firmus, as well as most 13th centurymotets. Many of these motets were written in several languages, with the cantus firmus in the lowest voice; the lyrics of love poems might be sung in the vernacular above sacred Latin texts in the form of atrope, or the sacred text might be sung to a familiar secular melody.
In the 14th century, the technique continued to be widely used for most sacred vocal music, although considerable elaboration began to appear: while most continental composers usedisorhythmic methods, in England other composers experimented with a "migrant" cantus firmus, in which the tune moved from voice to voice, but without itself being elaborated significantly. Elaborations came later, in what was to be known as theparaphrase technique; this compositional method became important in composition of masses by the late 15th century. (Seeparaphrase mass.)
Thecyclic mass, which became the standard type of mass composition around the middle of the 15th century, used cantus firmus technique as its commonest organising principle. At first the cantus firmus was almost always drawn fromplainchant, but the range of sources gradually widened to include other sacred sources and even sometimes popular songs. The cantus firmus was at first restricted to the tenor, but by the end of the century many composers experimented with other ways of using it, such as introducing it into each voice as a contrapuntal subject, or using it with a variety of rhythms. During the 16th century the cantus firmus technique began to be abandoned, replaced with the parody (or imitation) technique, in which multiple voices of a pre-existing source were incorporated into a sacred composition such as a mass. Yet while composers in Italy, France, and the Low Countries used the parody and paraphrase techniques, composers in Spain, Portugal, and Germany continued to use the cantus firmus method in nationally idiosyncratic ways.[4]
Probably the most widely set of the secular cantus firmus melodies was "L'homme armé". Over 40 settings are known, including two byJosquin des Prez, and six by an anonymous composer or composers in Naples, which were intended as a cycle. Many composers of the middle and late Renaissance wrote at least one mass based on this melody, and the practice lasted into the seventeenth century, with a late setting byCarissimi. There are several theories regarding the meaning of the name: one suggests that the "armed man" represents St Michael the Archangel, while another suggests that it refers to the name of a popular tavern (Maison L'Homme Armé) nearDufay's rooms in Cambrai. Being that this music arose shortly after theFall of Constantinople in 1453, it is possible that the text "the armed man should be feared" arose from the fear of theOttoman Turks, who were expanding militarily towards central Europe.[5] There are numerous other examples of secular cantus firmi used for composition of masses; some of the most famous include: "Se la face ay pale" (Dufay), "Fortuna desperata" (attributed toAntoine Busnois), "Fors seulement" (Johannes Ockeghem), "Mille Regretz", and "Westron Wynde" (anonymous).
German composers in theBaroque period in Germany, notablyBach, usedchorale melodies as cantus firmi. In the opening movement of Bach'sSt Matthew Passion, the chorale "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" appears in long notes, sung by a separate choir of boys "inripieno".
Several writers have used "cantus firmus" as a metaphor. Kate Gross used it for those childhood pursuits that give her happiness and define her - pursuits that she calls the "enduring melody" of her life.[7]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer also uses the metaphor for love for God in his "Letters and Papers from Prison".[8]
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