The conductus (plural: conducti) was a sacred Latin song from the Middle Ages. Its poetry and music were newly created, not copied from earlier works. It is not used in religious services because its Latin lyrics are not similar to earlier chants. The conductus was the northern French version of the versus, a type of music that was popular in Aquitaine. It first appeared in music collections from twelfth-century Aquitaine. However, many conducti were later preserved in Paris. Most conducti had one, two, or three voices. A few had four voices. Stylistically, the conductus is a type of note-against-note polyphony, called discant. Its structure could be either strophic (repeating the same music for each verse) or through-composed (with new music for each verse). The genre was popular from the early 1200s to the middle 1200s. It was one of the main types of vocal music during the ars antiqua period of medieval music history.
History
The conductus was probably sung while the book of religious readings was carried from its safe place to where it would be read. However, the origin of the word "conductus" is unclear. The word comes from the Latin verb "conducere," which means to lead, guide, or escort. One idea is that the term "conductus" was used because the music was performed during a procession. For example, a manuscript from the Institución Colombina in Seville shows that the conductus "Salve festa dies" was used in the same way as an ancient hymn during a procession to the altar. The hymn with the same name was also sung during such a procession.
The verb "conducere" can also mean "to bring together" or "join together." Another idea is that the term "conductus" was used because the music combined parts of a sequence or hymn. The conductus is based on a shorter version of a sequence or hymn. For example, the conductus "Orienti oriens" is taken from the sequence "Noster cetus iste letus."
The conductus likely began in southern France around 1150 and became most popular during the early 1200s with the Notre Dame School. It is the northern version of the "versus." Some sources use the terms "versus" and "conductus" interchangeably because both are Latin poems with repeating lines and stressed syllables. However, the conductus may differ from the Aquitanian versus because it includes a melodic flourish called a "caudae" at the end. This flourish can separate the text and change the structure, unlike Aquitanian melismas, which keep the music flowing smoothly.
Most surviving examples of conductus are found in the Florence Manuscript and the Wolfenbüttel 1099 manuscript. In early writings, the conductus was sometimes called "Benedicamus trope" or "benedictio." Early conductus pieces were simple and did not include the melodic flourishes known as caudae. These flourishes became more common in conductus written after 1200. Many conductus pieces from the 1200s in Notre Dame manuscripts are for two or three voices.
Most conductus pieces are anonymous, but some are linked to famous poets and musicians of the time, such as Philip the Chancellor, Walter of Châtillon, Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter of Blois, and Perotinus. For example, the text of the conductus "Beata viscera" was written by Philip the Chancellor, and its music is credited to Perotinus.
Common themes in conductus poems include the lives of saints, religious feasts, and the Nativity. Some poems also describe the actions of people who lived holy lives, like Thomas Becket. Later conductus pieces sometimes criticize the behavior of church leaders or discuss important historical events. For example, Philip the Chancellor's poem "Aurelianis civitas" is connected to a student protest in Orléans, France, in 1200. In the poem, Philip expressed sadness about the conflict and its harmful effects.
Musical characteristics
The conductus can have one voice or multiple voices, called monophonic and polyphonic compositions. The surviving collections show that monophonic conducti are about twice as common as polyphonic ones. However, polyphonic conductus became one of the main musical styles in Parisian polyphony. Some melodies from monophonic pieces were used as a base for writing with multiple voices.
The conductus can be written in strophic or through-composed form. Unlike the motet, the conductus does not use existing music. The composer created the structure from the beginning. In strophic form, each stanza has the same structure. In through-composed form, each stanza is different. Strophic style was common in earlier works, while through-composed style appeared after the year 1200.
In the conductus, voices sang together in a style called discant. This was different from the other main liturgical polyphonic style, organum, where voices usually moved at different speeds. The text in the conductus could be syllabic/neumatic or melismatic. Syllabic/neumatic style is called musica cum littera. Monophonic pieces are mostly syllabic. Melismatic style is called musica sine littera. Melismatic singing could be used for parts of the piece or the whole composition. A medieval theorist, Franco de Cologne, called the conductus discant. He encouraged composers to create a beautiful melody in the tenor voice. A source called Discantus positio vulgaris describes the conductus as a type of discantus.
The conductus is non-metrical, meaning it is not sung with a strict rhythm. A German editor, Guido Maria Dreves, who collected conductus poems, suggested that each syllable was likely sung with the same length. Later, when mensural notation replaced unmeasured notation in the conductus, its rhythm changed. The Metz fragment shows that conductus was copied into mensural notation between 1260 and 1300. After this, the conductus rhythm was expressed using rhythmic modes.
Performance
In religious ceremonies, the conductus was often used instead of the short prayer "Benedicamus domino," which was sung at the end of Mass or the Office. Conductus was connected to introducing readings during religious services. It helped signal the next part of the ceremony. Outside of religious services, conductus was sung during public readings in places like the chapter house and refectory of monasteries.
Medieval singers changed the repeated parts of the conductus, called refrains. These refrains helped singers know when to repeat the music and words. By altering the words and how fast or slow they sang them, singers could add new meanings to the conductus. Other changes included creating new links between the music and words or adjusting how long each word was sung. Conductus songs with many stanzas required singers to use their ability to improvise.
Reception history
The conductus was popular from the early 1200s to the middle of the 1300s. It was important in the thirteenth-century Parisian polyphony. Around the year 1300, the conductus became less popular. An early fourteenth-century theorist named Jacques of Liège, who strongly supported the ars antiqua style against the new "immoral and lascivious" ars nova style, expressed sadness that modern composers no longer cared about the conductus. The conductus remained most popular in Germany, where it was recorded until the fourteenth century. English conducti from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries often used the technique called rondellus.
References by medieval authors
Johannes de Garlandia, around 1250, said that "the conductus is known to have figures placed sometimes without text and sometimes with text; without text, as in caudae or conducti, with text, as in motets… It can be found in conducti or motets, either with or without text, as long as they are written correctly."
Franco of Cologne, around 1280, was the first to describe conductus as a type of discant. He wrote, "Both the tenor and the polyphonic superstructure must be invented by the composer."
Anonymous IV, around 1275, wrote about polyphonic conducti in his treatise. He observed that Perotinus’s conducti included both monophonic and polyphonic pieces, with or without caudae. He also noted that "all voices of conducti are usually written on five-line staves, not four-line staves like Gregorian chants."
Lambertus, around 1278, connected the caudae of conducti to a melismatic style. He stated, "These figures are sometimes used with text and sometimes without. With text, as in motets and similar pieces; without text, as in neumas of conducti and similar works."
Walter Odington, around 1300, described conductus as "several suitable melodies brought together." He explained, "Conducti are made up of a number of suitable melodies, known or created, in various modes, with phrases repeated at the same pitch or in other modes."
Johannes de Grocheio, around 1300, followed Franco’s definition and repeated that the tenor of the conductus is newly created. He wrote, "The cantus corona tubs is called by some a simple conductus… made from all long and perfect notes."