In Nomine

In Nomine

In Nomine is a title given to any of numerous short pieces of English polyphonic instrumental or vocal music during the 16th and 17th centuries.

This genre originated in the early 16th century from a six-voice mass composed before 1530 by John Taverner on the plainchant "Gloria Tibi Trinitas". In the "Benedictus" section of this mass, the Latin phrase "in nomine Domini" was sung in a reduced, four-part counterpoint, with the plainchant melody in the mean (alto part). At a time when there was little published music for viol consorts,Fact|date=December 2007 this attractive passage became popular as a short instrumental piece. Over the next 150 years, English composers worked this melody into "In Nomine" pieces of ever greater stylistic range.

"In Nomines" are typically consort pieces for four or five instruments, especially consorts of viols. One instrument plays the theme through as a cantus firmus with each note lasting one or even two measures; usually this is the second part from the top. The other parts play more complex lines, often in imitative counterpoint. Usually they take up several new motifs in turn, using each one as a point of imitation. However, there are "In Nomine"s composed for solo or duo keyboard instruments and even one for the lute: a fantasy titled "Farewell" by John Dowland (Edwards 2001).

Examples of the genre include compositions by Christopher Tye ( the most prolific composer of "In Nomines", with 24 surviving settings), Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, William Lawes, and Henry Purcell, among many others. They can vary in mood from melancholy to serene, exultant, or even playful or hectic (as in Tye's In Nomine "Crye," in which the viols seem to imitate the call of a street hawker).

Concert performance of the "In Nomine" lapsed in the eighteenth century but revived in the late twentieth century.Fact|date=December 2007

Media

* (PDF).
* (MIDI file, 8kb). The In Nomine theme is the highest part, above two other voices that alternate between polyphonic and homophonic textures.
* (MIDI file, 10kb). This five-part In Nomine by Orlando Gibbons was probably written for viols but is represented here with organ voices.

References

* Edwards, Warwick. 2001. "In Nomine". "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.

External links

* [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~davcooke/innomine.htm More examples of In Nomines] (MIDI files)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • nominé — nominé, ée [ nɔmine ] adj. • 1978; de l angl. nominee « personne désignée » ♦ Anglic. Dont on a cité le nom, le titre, pour être digne d un prix (en parlant d une personne, d une œuvre). Trois films nominés aux Oscars. N. Les nominés sont...… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Nomĭne — (lat.), 1) im Namen (eines Andern) od. in der Eigenschaft, als z.B. N. curatorio, als Vormund; N. mandatario, in erhaltener Vollmacht; 2) bei Lebensversicherungen die Person, auf deren Leben die Rente festgesetzt ist …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Nomĭne — (lat.), im Namen oder in der Eigenschaft (eines andern), z. B. curatorio n., als Vormund; n. mandatario, nach erhaltener Vollmacht; n. proprio, in eignem Namen …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • nomine — index nominal Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • nomine poenae — /nomaniy piyniy/ In the name of a penalty. In the civil law, a legacy was said to be left nomine paense where it was left for the purpose of coercing the heir to do or not to do something. The term has also been applied, in English law, to some… …   Black's law dictionary

  • nomine poenae — /nomaniy piyniy/ In the name of a penalty. In the civil law, a legacy was said to be left nomine paense where it was left for the purpose of coercing the heir to do or not to do something. The term has also been applied, in English law, to some… …   Black's law dictionary

  • nomine — See eo nomine …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • nomine — /nomaniy/ By name; by the name of; under the name or designation of …   Black's law dictionary

  • nomine — /nomaniy/ By name; by the name of; under the name or designation of …   Black's law dictionary

  • nomine damni — Under the name or designation of damages …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • nomine poenae — Under the name or designation of the word penalty …   Ballentine's law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”