Dutch theorist and composer, Johannes Tinctoris (1435-1511) once wrote:
Est igitur concordantia duarum vocum mixtura naturali virtute dulciter auribus conveniens dictamque concordantiam arbitror metaphorice a con et corde, sicut enim ex coniunctione duorum cordium sibi mutuo consentientium amicitia dulcis efficitur, ita ex mixtura duarum vocum inter se convenientium concordantia suavis constituitur.
Translating as:
There is a concordance of the two voices, sweetly fitting for the ears. Its metaphorically said that in the con and heart, and out of the union of two of our hearts is made of their sweet, sympathizing friendship. Thus, the combination of two of the voices to one another is a pleasant concordance.
This excerpt implies that one cannot merely compile notes together and obtain music; there has to be some sort of sense-appealing cooperation between the notes for the resulting sounds to be considered musical, a belief that Thomas Clifton emphasized in his 1983 writing, Music as Heard. Tinctoris noticed for a sense of order in the musical world and created a set of aesthetic norms for counterpoint that informed music composition for centuries to follow. Corelli's Concerto Grosso No. 8., composed in 1690, roughly 200 years after the writing of Tinctoris's counterpoint rules, followed all but one rule, having the highest note happen only once; the avoidance of slow trills, contrary motion, voice crossing, excessive spacing between notes, consecutive non-triadic leaps in the same direction, parallel perfect octaves and fifths, and the having the leading tone resolve to the tonic. Italian violinist and composer, Arcangelo Corelli, adhered to the majority of Tinctoris' rules, which provided aesthetic value to the performance and composition of music and undoubtedly influenced the "tokens" found in his Concerto Grosso No. 8. A token defines a piece of music as that which makes it unique and distinguishes it from other musical works. This specific Concerto by Corelli characterizes itself via its fast-paced tempo, use of particular cadences, constant motion in the bass, numerous suspensions, and the intertwining, repeating, and overlapping upper violin voices.
The continuous movement of eight notes of the cello in the bass voice, mimicked by the viola, serves a substantial role in the uniqueness of the Corelli. While the two upper voices give off a Renaissance feel with their lack of leaps and compliance to Tinctoris's counterpoint rules, the bass follows a more Baroque feel with its constant motion that resembles other works in the Baroque era, such as Vivaldi's Concerto in D minor Op. 3 No. 11 RV56. Since the melody lies within the upper voices, the removal of the constant bass motion would not drastically handicap its recognition to an audience, but would rather move it back in time, make it feel empty, and possibly make the score unrecognizable.
The Corelli is driven forward with the help of two tokens; its numerous suspensions in the upper violin voices and its clever use of cadences. The suspended notes create a sense of tension and anticipation by emitting an unstable sound that feels the need to resolve, followed by a more stable and soundly note that helps "catch up" to the rest of the piece and therefore driving it forward. The suspensions also create syncopation and place an emphasis on the 1st and 3rd beats of each measure. The few cadences present in the Corelli drive the piece forward in a different way- they generate short, but powerful vibes of either incompleteness or completion. The first cadence, located before the repeat sign in the 21st measure, is a half cadence. Ending on a V chord, the half cadence creates unresolved harmonic tension and an incomplete sound, hinting that the piece is not over and therefore, moving it forward. The second cadence, the perfect authentic cadence, ends the piece with a tonic chord and produces a complete and final sound implying that the piece is over. Although the half cadence only occurs twice in the Corelli, it is a strong driving force due to its presence in a monumental section of the piece, the measure before the repeat sign, and due to the fact that this piece was written in the Baroque era. French composer and theorist of the Baroque era, Rameau, claimed that chords were the primary elements in music as opposed to melody and themes. Due to the half cadence's strength and placement both in the piece and in its historical context, the cadence becomes equally important as the suspensions that occur throughout the piece. If both these elements were removed from the Corelli, the piece would retain its recognizability, but would consequently sound incomplete and relaxed.
The two violins that harmonize the upper voices manifest themselves as a token by carrying the main melody and driving the piece forward with the 1st violin’s imitation of the 2nd violin.
In this excerpt from the Corelli, the 2nd violins' begins the piece with a G that moves down to an F# and in the next measure, resolves back up to the G (and abides by Tinctoris's counterpoint rule stating that the leading tone must resolve to the tonic.) This exact phrase, starting at the same beat as the 2nd violin, repeats itself with the 1st violin in the second measure. This "1st violin lag" appears once again in this excerpt in measures 4 and 5, repeating and overlapping with the exact 2nd violin's notes in the 3rd and 4th measures. Just like the suspensions and half cadences, a suspense-filled climate is created with the fusion of the audience's desire for the phrases to end along with the anticipation of new phrases or a conclusion to come. Without these overlapping repetitions that continuously leave the audience hanging, hardly any tension would be built and the aura of anxiety that emanates throughout the piece would vanish. More importantly, without the mere presence of the two violins, the piece would be unrecognizable both on paper and when heard.
The most significant token in the Corelli consists arguably of its tempo, played in "Allegro." Literally, "Allegro" translates from Italian to English as "cheerful." Musically, Allegro is a speed at which a piece is performed that is defined as "quick, lively, bright, merry, and fast," from its metronomic tempo ranging from 120-160 bpm. Although the Corelli is in a minor key, generally associated with feelings of gloom and sadness, it does not project the expected unhappy and dark feelings, but rather creates a juxtaposing atmosphere filled with anxiety, tension, excitement, and even a hint of joy. If the Corelli were performed in Grave, less than half its actual speed, the tone of the piece would drastically change, destroying the edginess and enthusiasm that radiates in Allegro and instead, producing the typical sorrow-filled ambience that could possibly make the Corelli unrecognizable when heard.
The longetivity of this work suggests that the excitement, joy, anxiety, and tension felt while listening to Corelli's Concerto Grosso No. 8. are likely experienced by many of its audiences. However, within these broad affective categories, the listener interprets, views, and experiences these ejected emotions in his or her own way. By adhering to counterpoint rules, using specific chords, suspensions, imitations, and a specific tempo and bass line, the tokens Corelli created portray these timelessly universal feelings. With both Renaissance and Baroque influences, the Corelli manifests conventionalities from both eras that help contribute to its graceful, balanced, delicate, but yet powerful and tense air. These conventionalities influenced the uniqueness of each token if which, were eliminated from the Corelli, would prevent it from being the Corelli.