What is Talea and color in music?

Isorhythm, in music, the organizing principle of much of 14th-century French polyphony, characterized by the extension of the rhythmic texture (talea) of an initial section to the entire composition, despite the variation of corresponding melodic features (color); the term was coined around 1900 by the German …

What is an Isorhythmic pattern?

Isorhythm (from the Greek for “the same rhythm”) is a musical technique using a repeating rhythmic pattern, called a talea, in at least one voice part throughout a composition.

What are Isorhythmic motets?

EYE-soe-rih-thmik moe-TET. [English] A form of motet of the Medieval and early Renaissance eras that is based on a repeating rhythmic pattern found in one or more of the voices. The tenor is usually the voice with the repeating rhythmic structure.

What is color in Isorhythm?

Color (isorhythm) In isorhythmic compositions, a composition technique characteristic of motets in the 14th and early 15th centuries, the term color refers to a sequence of repeated notes in the cantus firmus tenor of a composition.

What is the rhythmic pattern of a motet?

The author of the motet follows the melodic line of Gregorian chant but adds a rhythmic pattern that repeats throughout the tenor with the exception of the closing measures: The rhythmic pattern is called talea. From bar 13, the composer repeats the same notes of the Gregorian chant in bars 1 to 12. This melodic pattern is called color.

How is the talea used in an isorhythmic composition?

The isorhythmic construction was often varied through the use of strict or free rhythmic diminution in the repetition of the color. (Hoppin 1978, p. 363) The talea in early isorhythmic compositions was usually a short sequence of only a few notes, often corresponding to a rhythmic mode.

Who was the composer of the isorhythmic motet?

The isorhythmic motet. These motets, written during the Ars Nova period of the 14th century, feature the isorhythmic principles of talea and color. Composers include Machaut and Philippe de Vitry. An example of an isorhythmic motet is Garrit Gallus/In nova fert/Neuma, attributed to Philippe de Vitry in the first half of the 14th century.

How many bars are there in an isorhythmic motet?

Structural plan of the tenor of a late medieval isorhythmic motet with threefold diminution, Sub Arturo plebs by Johannes Alanus. There is a color of 24 longae (48 bars in modern notation), divided in three taleae. The color is repeated three times, each in a different mensuration. Its length is subsequently diminished by the factors of 9:6:4.