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Accentus

Missal, c. 1240, giving a portion of the Accentus (Historical Museum of Lausanne). Accentus (or Accentus Ecclesiasticus; Ecclesiastical accent) is a style of church music that emphasizes spoken word. It is often contrasted with concentus, an alternative style that emphasizes harmony. The terms accentus and concentus were probably introduced by Andreas Ornithoparchus in his Musicae Activae Micrologus, published in Leipzig in 1517. "Concentus might be chief ruler over all things that are sung...and Accentus over all things that are read," according to Ornithoparchus. The style is also known as liturgical recitative, though it differs in some important ways from other types of recitative. In the medieval church, the whole portion of the liturgical song performed by the choir (or by sections of it) was called concentus; thus hymns, psalms, mass ordinary, and alleluias were usually included under this term, as well as anything with more complex or distinctive melodic contours. On the other hand, parts of the liturgy which the priest, deacon, subdeacon, or acolyte sang alone were called accentus; this included the collects, epistle and gospel, the preface, and anything which was recited chiefly on one tone, rather than sung, by the priest or one of his assistants.…

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Article summary

Missal, c. 1240, giving a portion of the Accentus (Historical Museum of Lausanne). Accentus (or Accentus Ecclesiasticus; Ecclesiastical accent) is a style of church music that emphasizes spoken word. It is often contrasted with concentus, an alternative style that emphasizes harmony. The terms accentus and concentus were probably introduced by Andreas Ornithoparchus in his Musicae Activae Micrologus, published in Leipzig in 1517. "Concentus might be chief ruler over all things that are sung...and Accentus over all things that are read," according to Ornithoparchus. The style is also known as liturgical recitative, though it differs in some important ways from other types of recitative. In the medieval church, the whole portion of the liturgical song performed by the choir (or by sections of it) was called concentus; thus hymns, psalms, mass ordinary, and alleluias were usually included under this term, as well as anything with more complex or distinctive melodic contours. On the other hand, parts of the liturgy which the priest, deacon, subdeacon, or acolyte sang alone were called accentus; this included the collects, epistle and gospel, the preface, and anything which was recited chiefly on one tone, rather than sung, by the priest or one of his assistants.…

Key claims

  1. publication date: 1517 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "1517". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1278307353

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.