Key to some of the terms and signs used in the analyses
| Antecedent - consequent | very often a practice of using one phrase to be answered by another. |
| Augmentation | a musical figure that is played with longer note-values and yet is still recognizable. |
| Cantus Firmus(CF) | presents a melody in one voice (traditionally Tenor in the Renaissance) against which other voices are composed in counterpoint. See Fantasias 9, 14. |
| Canzonetta | a lighter madrigal texture, often with a characteristic rhythmic pattern such as Fantasia 7. |
| Canzona | an Italian term originally derived from French 'Chanson', but in 16th c. came to be used for a composition intended for instruments; often has distinctive rhythmic characteristics, as marked in the analyses of many Ferrabosco fantasias. |
| Chromatic | moving by semitone; usually this means melodically, but such is rare in Ferrabosco. Rather, he moves to more remote harmonic areas by use of Musica Ficta mi/fa relations. |
| Cross-relation | a close appearance of two notes from two different hexachords, for example Bb (from the F hexachord) and B natural (from the G hexachord), causing a modal 'clash'. See fantasia 12. |
| Diatonic | scalar or stepwise motion. |
| Diminution | a musical figure that is played with shorter note-values and yet is still recognizable. |
| Duo | another Ferrabosco trait, using two distinctive figures in counterpoint for a passage. |
| "Expressive" | this may appear to be a subjective opinion, but a glance at Fantasia 1, m.28 to m.30 can serve to illustrate the change from the Perfect 4th Eb / Ab to the altered diminished 4th e nat / Ab (marked as o4th). |
| Fauxbourdon | a texture usually associated with the earlier Renaissance (Dufay), a passage of parallel 6/3 chords in first inversion; see Fantasia 15, m.32, where the upper parts move in parallel 6/4 chords. |
| Hexachord | six notes, traditionally associated with solmization, that form the basis of modal scales, and eventually used as the basis of instrumental compositions on ut,re,mi,fa,sol,la. |
| Homophony | chordal motion, where all the parts move in the same rhythm. See fantasia 16. |
| Madrigal | a vocal composition, originally Italian but imported into England in late 16th c.. |
| Modes | in traditional Medieval and Renaissance music (carrying over somewhat into the Baroque),
the modal orders are set up as diatonic steps on each note of the standard scale. Ferrabosco
uses the following modes in these fantasias:
|
| Monothematic | usually associated with a ricercar type of composition, in which one thematic figure is exploited throughout |
| Musica Ficta | traditional modal device of using pitches that are outside of the central hexachords on C (c-d-e-f-g-a), F (f-g-a-b flat-c-d) and G (g-a-b natural-c-d-e). Ferrabosco uses the mi/fa Semitone to reach remote harmonic areas. |
| Passing cadences | used by many Renaissance and Baroque composers to shape phrases by employing cadential formulas, sometimes without completing the progression. The formulas usually have the Tenor part move downwards by step, the Alto or Soprano move upwards by semitone, and the Bass leap downwards a fifth or upwards a fourth. A deceptive cadence can prepare for the progression as above, but the Bass deflects usually to the 6th degree. In the analyses, letters are used to represent a chord on the 5th degree (called 'Dominant' in modern terms: (v) if minor or (V) if major; likewise (IV) represents a chord on the 4th degree (called "Subdominant"). These are the two strongest locations in the modal and tonal scales, other than (I) "Tonic". Ferrabosco has a trait of eliding some cadences by deflecting away from an expected arrival toward a related point a 3rd away. For example, see Fantasia 1, m.12g/Bb or m.20Db/bb. |
| Perfect | a cadence that progresses from V to I (dominant to tonic). |
| Plagal | a cadence that progresses from IV to I (subdominant to tonic). See fantasia 13. |
| Quilt canzona | a special type of canzona with many sections of different motives and textures. See fantasia 14. |
| Retrograde | a musical figure that is played backwards and yet is still recognizable. |
| Ricercar | an instrumental composition, usually more thorough in its imitative or polyphonic treatment than a Canzona. In the Renaissance, the Ricercar derived from the vocal motet. |
| Stretto | imitative entries that pile up closer to each other, thus producing excitement, climax. |
| Una nota sopra 'la' semper est canendum 'fa' | In modal music with hexachords, a conventional rule that usually requires that "one note above 'la' is always sung as 'fa' ". That is, the note above the 6th degree is a semitone. E.g., in d Dorian the notes are d-e-f-g-a-bb (and not b natural). See fantasia 15 for a more complex shift to eb at m.16. |
| Villanella | an Italian technique of composing in three voices, with the upper two often in parallel motion against a supporting lower voice. |