Musical Analysis of Juan del Encina's Renaissance Works

Rhythmic and Folk Characteristics

The piece consists of a ternary rhythm in a beat of 3/4. This rhythm gives it a distinct folk dance character. The score is a descriptive transcription. In the original, the composer probably employed just two figures: the semibreves and breves; however, the author of the transcription has used black and white notation. It is very characteristic of the time to use hemiola, which provides a strong rhythmic tension, producing the effect of alternating a ternary rhythm every two binaries.

Incorporating barline action is necessary to link the two crotchets (negras) in order to maintain this rhythmic scheme. Another procedure is the rhythm in bars that form the final cadence, where the different voices invert their scheme of black and white notation, setting a game in the distribution of accents.

Melodic Structure and Texture

The song contains the characteristics of a popular song. It features a very small range and conjunct degrees. The structure is made of small patterns that repeat themselves, and its character is modal.

The texture uses a type of four-voice polyphonic writing, specifically homophony. All melodic importance is assumed by the soprano, while the other voices serve as accompaniment.

Vocal and Instrumental Arrangement

The piece is performed by a vocal ensemble. The score has the appearance of a composition for voices alone, although it was usual in interpreting carols to be accompanied by instruments that would be played by hand, doubling the voices. We hear the whole piece with instruments playing only in the introduction. The choruses are sung in four parts, which are doubled by instruments. These choruses alternate with couplets in which only the soprano part sings while the instruments perform the other voices.

Instrumentation Used

• Bowed strings: Different types of viols.
• Plucked strings: Vihuela and guitar.
• Woodwinds: Flutes, oboes, and bassoons.
• Brass: Horns and sackbuts.
• Percussion: Drum and tambourine.

The Carol Castellano Form

The form is that of a Carol Castellano (Villancico). Its structure derives from the Arabic zejel, in which there is an alternation of verse and chorus. This structure differs from that of the poem and affects only the music. Thus, the chorus is simply a repeating musical period after singing the verse, but each time it does so with a different theme. The music of the verse is taken from the second part of the chorus.

The musical genre is that of secular vocal music of the Renaissance (XV-XVI). Its author is Juan del Encina, specifically the piece "Hoy comamos y bebamos".