View source for Descant

{{Short description|Music that features a fixed vocal melody set to improvisations, often in counterpoint}}
{{for|the literary magazine|Descant (magazine){{!}}''Descant'' (magazine)}}
{{refimprove|date=January 2009}}
[[File:Soprano Clef - trimmed.png|90px|thumb|Soprano clef]]

A '''descant''', '''discant''', or '''{{Lang|la|discantus}}''' is any of several different things in [[music]], depending on the period in question; etymologically, the word means a voice (''cantus'') above or removed from others. The ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'' states: {{quote|Anglicized form of L. ''discantus'' and a variant of discant. Throughout the Middle Ages the term was used indiscriminately with other terms, such as ''descant''. In the 17th century it took on special connotations in instrumental practice.<ref>[[Willi Apel|Apel, Willi]] (1969). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=TMdf1SioFk4C&pg=PA228 Harvard Dictionary of Music]'', p.228. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|9780674375017}}.</ref>}}

A descant is a form of [[medieval music]] in which one singer sang a fixed [[melody]], and others accompanied with [[Musical improvisation|improvisations]]. The word in this sense comes from the term ''{{Lang|la|discantus supra librum}}'' (descant "above the book"), and is a form of [[Gregorian chant]] in which only the melody is notated but an improvised [[polyphony]] is understood.  The ''{{Lang|la|discantus supra librum}}'' had specific rules governing the improvisation of the additional voices.

Later on, the term came to mean the [[treble voice|treble]] or [[soprano]] singer in any group of voices, or the higher [[Pitch (music)|pitched]] line in a song. Eventually, by the [[Renaissance]], descant referred generally to [[counterpoint]]. Nowadays the counterpoint meaning is the most common.

Descant can also refer to the highest pitched of a group of instruments, particularly the descant [[viol]] or [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]].  Similarly, it can also be applied to the soprano [[clef]]. 

In modern usage, especially in the context of church music, descant can also refer to a high, florid melody sung by a few sopranos as a decoration for a hymn.

==Origin and development==
Descant is a type of medieval polyphony characterized by relatively strict note-for-note [[counterpoint]]. It is found in the [[organum]] with a [[plainchant]] tenor (i.e. low voice; ''vox principis''), and in the [[conductus]] without the requirement of a plainchant tenor. It is sometimes contrasted with the organum in a more restricted sense of the term (see [[#12-century Aquitanian polyphony|12-century Aquitanian polyphony]] below).<ref name="dictionaries">[[Rudolf Flotzinger]], "Discant [descant, descaunt(e), deschant, deschaunt(e), dyscant; verb: discanten]", §I. Discant in France, Spain and Germany, 1. Etymology, Definition, ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001); Janet Knapp, "Discant", ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', fourth edition, edited by Don Michael Randel, Harvard University Press Reference Library 16 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003) {{ISBN|978-0-674-01163-2}}.</ref>

The term continued to be used down to modern times with changing senses, at first for polyphony in general, then to differentiate a subcategory of polyphony (either in contrast to organum, or for improvised as distinct from written polyphony). By extension it became the name of a part that is added above the tenor, and later as the name of the highest part in a polyphonic setting (the equivalent of "cantus", "superius", and "soprano"). Finally, it was adopted as the name of the highest register of instruments such as recorders, cornets, viols, and organ stops.<ref name="dictionaries" />

"'''English discant''' is three-voice parallelism in first-inversion triads."<ref>John D. White, ''The Analysis of Music'' (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976), p.&nbsp;128. {{ISBN|978-0-13-033233-2}}. Emphasis added.</ref> However, because it allowed only three, four, or at most five such chords in succession, emphasizing contrary motion as the basic condition, it "did not differ from the general European discant tradition of the time".<ref name="SandersLefferts">Ernest H. Sanders and Peter M. Lefferts, "Discant: II. English Discant", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref> Because English discant technique has commonly been associated with such a succession of first-inversion triads, it has inevitably become confused with ''[[fauxbourdon]]'', with which it has "no connection whatsoever".<ref name="Kenney 1959">Sylvia W. Kenney, "'English Discant' and Discant in England", ''Musical Quarterly'' 45, no. 1 (January 1959): pp.&nbsp;26–48. Citation on pp.&nbsp;26 and 41.</ref> This misinterpretation was first brought forward in 1936 by [[Manfred Bukofzer]],<ref>''Geschichte des englischen Diskants und des Fauxbourdons nach den theoretischen Quellen, mit zahlreichen Notenbeispielen'' (Strasbourg: Heitz); Reprint edition, in ''Sammlung musikwissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen 21'' (Baden-Baden: V. Koerner, 1973) {{ISBN|9783873205215}}.</ref> but has been proved invalid, first in 1937 by [[Thrasybulos Georgiades]],<ref>''Englische Diskanttraktate aus der ersten Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts'', ''Schriftenreihe des Musikwissenschaftliches Seminars der Universität München 3'' (Munich: ''Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar der Universität München'').</ref> and then by [[Sylvia Kenney]]<ref name="Kenney 1959"/> and [[Ernest H. Sanders]].<ref>"Cantilena and Discant in 14th-Century England". ''[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]]'', 19 (1965):7–52.</ref> A second hypothesis, that an unwritten tradition of this kind of parallel discant existed in England before 1500, "is supported neither by factual evidence nor by probability".<ref name="SandersLefferts" />

==In hymns==
[[Hymn tune]] descants are counter-melodies, generally at a higher pitch than the main melody. Typically they are sung in the final or penultimate verse of a hymn.<ref>Service Music http://www.servicemusic.org.uk/descants/</ref>

Although the [[English Hymnal]] of 1906 did not include descants, this influential hymnal, whose music editor was [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], served as a source of tunes for which the earliest known hymn tune descants were published. These were in collections compiled by [[Athelstan Riley]], who wrote "The effect is thrilling; it gives the curious impression of an ethereal choir joining in the worship below; and those who hear it for the first time often turn and look up at the roof!".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Riley |first1=Athelstan |title=A Collection of Faux-bourdons and Descants for the French Ecclesiastical Melodies and Other Tunes in the English Hymnal |date=1916 |publisher=A.R. Mowbray |pages=104–105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VytGAQAAMAAJ |language=en |chapter=No. 560 The National Anthem}}</ref> An example of a descant from this collection (for [[God save the King|the British national anthem]]) goes as follows:
<score sound="1">
<< <<
\new Staff { \clef treble \time 3/2 \key g \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "choir aahs" \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \override Score.BarNumber  #'transparent = ##t
  \relative c''
  { g2 b e | d2. e4 | fis2 | g b, e | d2. fis,4 g2 | c2 c4( b) a2 | b1.
  d,2 g b | d2. a4 b2 | e c a | a2. b4 d2 | b d e | f2. e4 d2 | c d4( e) fis!2 | g1. \bar"|." }
}
\new Staff { \clef treble \key g \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ"
  \relative c'' 
  << { g2 g a | fis2. g4 a2 | b b c | b2. a4 g2 | a g fis | g1.
  d'2 d d | d2. c4 b2 | c c c | c2. b4 a2 | b c4 b a g | b2. c4 d2 | \tuplet 3/2 { e4 d c } b2 a | g1. } \\
  { d2 e e | d2. e4 fis2 | g g a | g2. fis4 e2 | e d d | d1.
  b'2 g b | a1 g2 | e a a | a2. g4 fis2 | g fis4 g e e | g2. g4 g2 | g g fis! | d1. } >>
}
\new Staff { \clef bass \key g \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ"
  \relative c'
  << { b2 b c | a2. d4 c2 | d e e | d e4 c b2 | c a a | b1.
  d2 d d | d1 d2 | c2 e e | d1 d2 | d c4 d c b | f'2. e4 d2 | e d c | b1. } \\
  { g2 e c | d c4 b a2 | g e' a, | b c4 d e2 | c d1 | g1.
  g2 b g | fis e4 fis g2 | a g fis | g fis4 g d2 | g, a4 b c e | d e d c b2 | c4 a b c d2 | <g g,>1. } >>
}
>> >>
\layout { indent = #0 }
\midi { \tempo 2 = 80 }
</score>

Among composers of descants during 1915 to 1934 were [[Alan Gray]], [[Geoffrey Shaw (composer)|Geoffrey Shaw]], and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Several of their descants appear in what is possibly the earliest hymnal to include descants, ''[[Songs of Praise (hymnal)|Songs of Praise]]'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1925, enlarged, 1931, reprinted 1971).

During the last quarter of the twentieth century, new editions of hymnals increased the number of included descants. For example, the influential ''Hymnal 1940'' (Episcopal) contains no descants, whereas its successor, ''[[The Hymnal 1982]]'', contains 32. Among other currently used hymnals, ''The Worshiping Church'' contains 29 descants; ''The Presbyterian Hymnal'', 19; ''[[The New Century Hymnal]]'', 10; ''Chalice Hymnal'', 21. The Vocal Descant Edition for ''Worship, Third Edition'' (GIA Publications, 1994) offers 254 descants by composers such as [[Hal Hopson]], [[David Hurd]], [[Robert Powell (composer)|Robert Powell]], [[Richard Proulx]], and [[Carl Schalk]].

In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, the ''[[Carols for Choirs]]'' collection, which features descants by [[David Willcocks]] and others to well known Christmas tunes such as "[[O come, all ye faithful]]" has contributed to the enduring popularity of the genre.

==12th-century Aquitanian polyphony==
This style was dominant in early 12th century [[Aquitaine|Aquitanian]] [[polyphony]], and can be identified by the following characteristics:
# Both the tenor and upper parts move at about the same rate, using the ''equalitas punctorum'' (an approximately equal rate of movement in all the voices) with between one and three notes in the upper part to every note in the tenor part.  At the end of a phrase however, in discant style, the upper part may have more notes, thus producing a more [[melisma]]tic passage at a cadence.{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}
# Throughout the discant passages, the two parts interchange between consonant [[Interval (music)|interval]]s: [[octave]]s, [[Perfect fifth|fifths]].{{Clarify|date=January 2015}}<!--Aren't fourths, thirds, and sixths consonances, also?-->
# Discant style is characterised by the use of [[rhythmic modes]] throughout each part.{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}<!--If true, this would be remarkable in the many 14th and 15th-century examples of discant.--> In earlier types of organum, rhythm was either not notated as in organum purum, or notated in only the upper voice part, however Notre Dame composers devised a way of notating rhythm using ligatures and six different types of rhythmic modes.

Examples of this can be found in some of [[Léonin]]’s late 12th-century settings. These settings are often punctuated with passages in discant style, where both the tenor and upper voice move in modal rhythms, often the tenor part in mode 5 (two long notes) and the upper part in mode 1 (a long then short note). Therefore it is easier to imagine how discant style would have sounded, and we can make a guess as to how to recreate the settings. It is suggested by scholars such as [[Donald Jay Grout|Grout]],{{Where|date=January 2015}} that Léonin used this non-[[melisma]]tic style in order to mirror the grandeur of [[Notre Dame Cathedral]] itself.

Current research suggests that the word 'discantus' was formed with the intention of providing a separate term for a newly developed type of polyphony.{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}} If true, then it is ironic that the newer term, "discantus", ended up being applied to the older note-against-note style, while the older word "organum" was transferred to the more innovative style of florid-against-sustained-note polyphony. This may have been partly because the 12th century was an era that believed in progress, so that the more familiar "organum" was kept for the style then considered to be the most up-to-date.<ref>[[Rudolf Flotzinger]], "Organum, §6: ‘Organum’ and ‘Discant’: New Terminology". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).</ref>

===Discant in three or four voices===
The development of modal rhythms enabled the progression from two part discant style to three and four part discant style. This is because, only voices, confined to a set rhythm can be combined effectively to make a set phrase. This was mainly related to [[Pérotin]], around 1200. The parts in these three and four part settings were not necessarily related to each other. Evidence suggests that the parts were either related to the tenor part, or composed independently. Either way, this formed the first ‘composition’, and provided a foundation for development, and a new style, ''[[conductus]]'' was developed from the three and four part discant ideas.

== See also ==
* [[Anglican church music]]
* [[Congregational singing]]
* [[Hymn tune|Hymn tunes]]
* [[Last verse harmonisation]]
* [[Organ (music)|Organ]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Clark Kimberling, "Hymn Tune Descants, Part 1: 1915–1934", ''The Hymn'' 54 (no. 3) July 2003, pages 20–27. (Reprinted in ''Journal of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society'' 29 (February 2004) 17–20.)
* Clark Kimberling, "Hymn Tune Descants, Part 2: 1935–2001", ''The Hymn'' 55 (no. 1) January 2004, pages 17–22.
* Crocker, Richard L. 1962. "Discant, Counterpoint, and Harmony". ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' 15, no. 1:1–21.
* Flotzinger, Rudolf. 1969. ''Der Discantussatz im Magnus liber und seiner Nachfolge: mit Beiträgen zur Frage der sogenannten Notre-Dame-Handschriften''. Wiener musikwissenschaftliche Beiträge 8. Vienna, Cologne, and Graz: H. Böhlaus Nachfolger.
* Flotzinger, Rudolf, Ernest H. Sanders, and Peter M. Lefferts. 2001. "Discant [descant, descaunt(e), deschant, deschaunt(e), dyscant; verb: discanten]". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.
* Hughes, Andrew. 1966. "Mensural Polyphony for Choir in 15th-Century England", ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' 19, no. 3 (Fall): 352–69. 
* Hughes, Andrew. 1967. "The Old Hall Manuscript: a Re-appraisal". ''[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]]'' 21:97–129  
* Kenney, Sylvia W. 1964. "The Theory of Discant". Chapter 5 of ''Walter Frye and the "Contenance Angloise"'', 91–122. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Reprinted, New York: Da Capo Press, 1980. {{ISBN|9780306760112}}.
* Knapp, Janet. 2003. "Discant". ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', fourth edition, edited by Don Michael Randel. Harvard University Press Reference Library 16. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01163-2}}.
* Scott, Ann Besser. 1970. "The Performance of the Old Hall Descant Settings". ''Musical Quarterly'' 56, no. 1 (January): 14–26.
* Spiess, Lincoln B. 1955. "Discant, Descant, Diaphony, and Organum: a Problem in Definitions". ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' 8, no. 2 (Summer):, 144–47.
* Trowell, Brian. 1959. "Faburden and Fauxbourdon". ''[[American Institute of Musicology#Musica Disciplina|Musica Disciplina]]'' 8:43–78.
* Waite, William. 1952. "Discantus, Copula, Organum". ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' 5, no. 2 (Summer): 77–87.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|descant}}
* [http://www.servicemusic.org.uk/descants Selection of hymnal descants]

[[Category:Melody types]]
[[Category:Musical terminology]]