Rota (music)
Encyclopedia
A rota is a type of vocal round
of the 13th and 14th centuries, probably only in England
.
In the rota, as opposed to the rondellus
, the voices entered one at a time, each singing precisely what the previous voice sang, exactly as in the modern round. The most famous example is the anonymous six-voice Sumer is icumen in (summer is coming in) of the 13th century.
Very few notated rounds have survived, but fragmentary sources and frequent mentions in other writings indicate that the practice was widespread. Most likely rounds were learned and memorized; notation would not have been considered to be necessary. Many scholars believe that the practice predates the 13th century. In fact the existence of a related, but somewhat different tradition in the rondellus in France at the same time implies that the practice may have come to England at the time of the Norman Conquest, and mutated in the two hundred years between that event and the oldest notated examples of the rota.
Round (music)
A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody , but with each voice beginning at different times so that different parts of the melody coincide in the different voices, but nevertheless fit harmoniously together...
of the 13th and 14th centuries, probably only in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
In the rota, as opposed to the rondellus
Rondellus
In music rondellus is the formalized interchange of parts or voices according to a scheme, often used in English conducti and frequently in English motets of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, but never used for an entire piece...
, the voices entered one at a time, each singing precisely what the previous voice sang, exactly as in the modern round. The most famous example is the anonymous six-voice Sumer is icumen in (summer is coming in) of the 13th century.
Very few notated rounds have survived, but fragmentary sources and frequent mentions in other writings indicate that the practice was widespread. Most likely rounds were learned and memorized; notation would not have been considered to be necessary. Many scholars believe that the practice predates the 13th century. In fact the existence of a related, but somewhat different tradition in the rondellus in France at the same time implies that the practice may have come to England at the time of the Norman Conquest, and mutated in the two hundred years between that event and the oldest notated examples of the rota.