What to Listen For
Machaut: Ma fin est mon commencement (My end is my beginning)
Here’s what to listen for in Ma fin est mon commencement (My end is my beginning) a polyphonic
chanson by Machaut.
■ Three voices and wavelike melody with long melismas
This polyphonic chanson is sung by three voices. The wavelike melody contains long melismas, many
notes for one text syllable. Listen to three voices singing this music, which has wavelike melody
with long melismas: [0:00– 0:42].
■ Non-imitative polyphony
This work by Machaut is a polyphonic chanson, a multi-voice secular song. The texture of this par ticular song is non-imitative polyphony; the voices do no imitate one another’s music. Listen to the each
distinctive voice in the non-imitative texture of this polyphonic chanson: [0:00– 0:42].
■ Two sections of music (A and B) creating A-B-a-A-a-b-A-B form
This entire 5-minute song is made up of only two shorter sections of music—A and B. You will know
a part of the form is ending when you hear all three voices hold a chord and then pause. When
they begin singing again, they have moved to the next part of the form. In this song, you will hear
A music five times. Listen to the first time you hear A music: [0:00– 0:09]; the second: [1:23–1:31];
the third: [2:05–2:13]; the fourth; [2:47–2:55]; and the fifth: [4:10– 4:19]. You will hear B music three
times. Listen to the first time you hear B music: [0:42– 0:50]; the second time: [3:28–3:36]; and the
third time: [4:51– 4:59].
When you hear the A music the first, third, and fifth times, you also hear the text from the first
A section (it begins with “Ma fin”). Listen to the words “Ma fin” (vowel sounds “ah” and “ee”) at the
beginning of the first A: [0:00– 0:09]; the third A: [2:05–2:13]; and the fifth A: [4:10– 4:19 with fade-out].
The two other times you hear A music, you hear text different from “Ma fin.” When the text is
different from the first A music, then it is labeled with a lower case “a.” Listen to the word “Et”
(vowel sound “ay”) of the first “a”: [1:23–1:31]; and to the word “Mes” (vowel sound “eh”) of the second “a”: [2:47–2:55]. The same is true for the parts of the form labeled B and b.
So remember to listen for three voices singing non-imitative polyphony, a wavelike melody with long
melismas, and two sections of music (A and B) that are arranged to create an A-B-a-A-a-b-A-B form.
What to Listen For Tutorials by Jennifer Hund for The Enjoyment of Music, by Kristine Forney, Andrew Dell’Antonio, and
Joseph Machlis
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Copyright © 2015 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
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