View source for Quodlibet

{{Short description|Form of musical composition}}
{{About|a musical form|other meanings|Quodlibet (disambiguation)}}
A '''quodlibet''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɒ|d|l|ɪ|b|ɛ|t}}; [[Latin]] for "whatever you wish" from ''[[wikt:quod#Latin|quod]]'', "what" and ''[[wikt:libet#Latin|libet]]'', "pleases") is a [[musical composition]] that combines several different [[melody|melodies]]—usually popular tunes—in [[counterpoint]], and often in a light-hearted, humorous manner.

There are three main types of quodlibet:
* A ''catalogue quodlibet'' consists of a free setting of catalogue poetry (usually humorous lists of loosely related items).
* In a ''successive quodlibet'', one voice has short [[musical quotation]]s and textual quotations while the other voices provide [[Homophony|homophonic]] [[accompaniment]].
* In a ''simultaneous quodlibet'', two or more pre-existing melodies are combined.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last1=Sadie |editor-first1=Stanley |editor-link1=Stanley Sadie |editor-last2=Latham |editor-first2=Alison |title=Quodlibet |encyclopedia=The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music |location=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=1988 |page=608}}</ref> The simultaneous quodlibet may be considered a historical antecedent to the modern-day [[Mashup (music)|musical mashup]]. Simultaneous quodlibets are found in elementary music classes, referred to as Partner Songs.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bailey |first1=Betsy Lee |title=Echo Songs, Rounds, and Partner Songs |url=https://www.betsyleebaileymusic.com/echo-songs-rounds-and-partner-songs-singers.html |website=The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey |access-date=15 July 2024}}</ref>

== History ==
=== Renaissance ===
The quodlibet originated in 15th-century Europe, during a time when the practice of combining folk tunes was popular.<ref>{{cite dictionary |first=Vincent J. |last=Picerno |title=Quodlibet |dictionary=Dictionary of Musical Terms |location=Brooklyn, New York |publisher=Haskell House Publishers |year=1976 |page=304}}</ref> Composer [[Wolfgang Schmeltzl]] first used the term in a specifically musical context in 1544.<ref name=Maniates>{{Cite Grove |last1=Maniates |first1=Maria Rika |author1-link=Maria Rika Maniates |last2=Branscombe |first2=Peter |author2-link=Peter Branscombe |last3=Freedman |first3=Richard |title=Quodlibet |date=2001 |id=22748}}</ref>

The ''Por las sierras de Madrid'' by [[Francisco de Peñalosa]] (c. 1470–1528) is an [[Ensalada (music)|ensalada]] -an early form of the quodlibet- contained in the ''[[Cancionero Musical de Palacio]]'', a manuscript of the early 16th century. Composer [[Ludwig Senfl]] (1486–1542/43) was able to juxtapose several pre-existing melodies in a [[cantus firmus]] quodlibet; one such piece, "{{ill|Ach Elslein, liebes Elselein|de}}" / "Es taget", was noted for its symbolism rather than its humor.<ref name=Maniates /> In Spain, 1581 saw the publication of the [[Ensalada (music)|''ensaladas'']] of [[Mateo Flecha]] et al. The ''ensaladas'' were comical compositions that mixed literary texts in a way similar to the quodlibet.<ref>{{cite book|last=Apel|first=Willi|author-link=Willi Apel|title=Harvard Dictionary of Music |chapter=Ensalada |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMdf1SioFk4C&pg=PA294 |year=2000 |publisher=[[Belknap Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-37501-7 |oclc=21452 |edition=2nd |page=294 |url=https://archive.org/details/harvarddictionar0000apel }}</ref>

It was not until 1618, however, that anyone published a rigorous definition of the quodlibet: [[Michael Praetorius]] described it as "a mixture of diverse elements [[Musical quotation|quoted]] from [[Religious music|sacred]] and [[Secular music|secular]] compositions".<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Syntagma Musicum|Syntagma Musicum, Volume III: Termini musici]] |last=Praetorius |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Praetorius}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2016}} During the [[Renaissance]], a composer's ability to juxtapose several pre-existing melodies, such as in the cantus firmus quodlibet, was considered the ultimate mastery of [[counterpoint]].<ref name=Maniates />

=== 19th century to today ===
The quodlibet took on additional functions between the beginning and middle of the 19th century, when it became known as the ''potpourri'' and the ''musical switch''. In these forms, the quodlibet would often feature anywhere from six to fifty or more consecutive "quotations"; the distinct incongruity between words and music served as a potent source of parody and entertainment.<ref name=Maniates /> In the 20th century, the quodlibet remained a genre in which well-known tunes and/or texts were quoted, either simultaneously or in succession, generally for humorous effect.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Latham |first=Alison |editor=Alison Latham |encyclopedia=[[The Oxford Companion to Music]] |title=Quodlibet |edition= |year=2002 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=London |isbn=0-19-866212-2 |oclc=59376677 |page=1022 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198662129/page/1022}}</ref>

== Examples ==
=== Classical music ===
* The [[mass (music)|masses]] of [[Jacob Obrecht]], which sometimes combine popular tunes, [[plainsong]] and original music.
* The last (thirtieth) variation of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]]'s ''[[Goldberg Variations]]'' is a quodlibet.
* [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]]'s [[Quodlibet, BWV 524|''Wedding Quodlibet'']] or ''Quodlibet'', which is not a quodlibet by the above definition but a ten-minute procession of nonsense, jokes, [[pun]]s, obscure cultural references, [[word game]]s, and parody of other songs. At times, the music imitates a [[chaconne]] and a [[fugue]] while deliberately obscuring the counterpoint. It is unlike any of Bach's other works, though the sole surviving source is a [[fair copy]] manuscript in Bach's own handwriting.
* ''[[Gallimathias musicum]]'', a 17-part quodlibet composed by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] at the age of ten.
* [[Louis Moreau Gottschalk]] combined "[[Hail, Columbia]]" and "[[Yankee Doodle]]" at the end of his piano piece, ''The Union''.
* [[Symphony No. 4 (Ives)|Symphony No. 4]] of [[Charles Ives]], like most of Ives' music, includes frequent popular and band tunes which unfold independently from the rest of the music.
* Scherzo from [[Charles Ives]]' piano trio labeled "TSIAJ" (This scherzo is a joke), includes the American fraternity tunes "My Old Kentucky Home", "Sailor's Hornpipe", "The Campbells Are Coming", "Long, Long Ago", "Hold the Fort", and "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood", among others.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kirkpatrick|first=John|date=1984|title=Critical Commentary|url=http://www.charlesives.org/critical_commentary/cc3.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050311215705/http://www.charlesives.org/critical_commentary/cc3.htm|archive-date=2005-03-11|access-date=|website=Wayback Machine}}</ref>
* ''Quodlibet on Welsh Nursery Rhymes'' by Welsh composer [[Alun Hoddinott]].
* Pianist [[Glenn Gould]] improvised a quodlibet including "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" and "[[God Save the King]]".<ref name=gould-levendis>{{cite web |url=http://bopuc.levendis.com/weblog/archives/-2005/10/10/1955_glenn_gould_remixes_live_on_piano.php |title=bopuc/weblog: 1955, Glenn Gould remixes live, on piano<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> According to his account, Gould came up with this quodlibet while taking a bath.<ref name=gould-levendis />
* [[Peter Schickele]]'s ''Quodlibet for Small Orchestra'', ''Unbegun Symphony'', ''Eine Kleine Nichtmusik'', and others.
* [[Allan Sherman]]'s "Variations on [[How Dry I Am]]" from the album "[[Peter and the Commissar]]".
* ''[[Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne]]'' (1976) by [[Ernest Tomlinson]]. The composer claims that the piece references 129 works.<ref>Grant, M.J (2021). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=w8tUEAAAQBAJ&dq=Fantasia+on+Auld+Lang+Syne+Tomlinson&pg=PT134 Auld Lang Syne: A Song and its Culture]'', end of Section 7.3</ref>

=== Popular music ===
* The [[Grateful Dead]]'s medley "That's It for the Other One", on their album ''[[Anthem of the Sun]]'', includes the [[Movement (music)|movement]] "Quadlibet for Tender Feet" (sic).
* Scholar [[Alan W. Pollack]] has pointed out that [[The Beatles]]' "[[I've Got a Feeling]]" is a quodlibet of sorts.<ref>[http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/igaf.shtml Notes on "I've Got A Feeling"] by Alan W. Pollack</ref>
* "[[I Believe (1953 song)|I Believe]]" &ndash; Stan Beard and Barry Tucker published a quodlibet [[arrangement]] of this popular sacred song with Bach-Gounod "[[Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)|Ave Maria]]" in 1972.
* [[Nina Simone]]'s 1958 interpretation of "[[Little Girl Blue (song)|Little Girl Blue]]" is a quodlibet, combining the Rodgers and Hart melody and lyrics with the melody of the popular carol "[[Good King Wenceslas]]".

== See also ==
* [[Contrast (music)]]
* [[Mashup (music)]]
* [[Medley (music)]]
* [[Parody music|Musical parody]]
* [[Potpourri (music)]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Quodlibet|short=x}}

{{Appropriation in the Arts|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Classical music styles]]
[[Category:Musical forms]]
[[Category:Humor in classical music]]