# Bicinium > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bicinium > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bicinium.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicinium > Source revision: 1218053474 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Type of Renaissance and early Baroque composition}} thumb|Bicinium super Omnis arbor In [music](/source/music) of the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance_music) and early [Baroque](/source/Baroque_music) eras, a '''bicinium''' (pl. '''bicinia''') was a composition for only two parts, especially one for the purpose of teaching [counterpoint](/source/counterpoint) or singing. The term has had two usages in music history: # Recently, the term has come to mean any composition at all from the Renaissance or early Baroque period for two vocal or instrumental parts. # Historically, a bicinium referred specifically to a two-part composition used as a teaching tool, most often in [Protestant](/source/Protestant), [German](/source/German_language)-speaking areas. The term was first used in [Poland](/source/Poland), by [Jan z Lublina](/source/Jan_z_Lublina) in a treatise of 1540. Volumes of bicinia were published in the next several decades in [Germany](/source/Germany), the [Low Countries](/source/Low_Countries), and even in [Italy](/source/Italy), as the usefulness of bicinia as teaching aids became apparent. In addition, [Martin Luther](/source/Martin_Luther) had strongly expressed that children should learn both music and the [psalm](/source/psalm)s: bicinia with German texts from the Psalms fulfilled his purpose. Students could be expected to master singing a single part in a [duet](/source/duet_(music)) more easily than a part in a larger ensemble. Usually a bicinium was designed to be sung or played by students of the same age and ability, rather than for a single student and a teacher. This model of moving from two-part study, writing, and singing to three parts and then more was adopted by [Heinrich Glarean](/source/Heinrich_Glarean) in his ''Dodecachordon'' (1547), one of the most influential [music theory](/source/music_theory) and pedagogy treatises of the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance). In a similar manner, present-day music students typically learn counterpoint first by writing in two parts, and then later in three, only moving to four or more parts after mastering the earlier stages. A similar pedagogical composition for three voices is known as a '''tricinium''' (pl. '''tricinia'''). ==See also== *[Étude](/source/%C3%89tude) ==Further reading== * Articles "bicinium," "tricinium" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. {{ISBN|1-56159-174-2}} * [Wendelin Bitzan](/source/Wendelin_Bitzan), ''Never-ending Canon. Didactical Approaches to Two-part Imitational Passages from Josquin's Masses'', in: Rivista di Analisi e Teoria Musicale, Vol. 19, No. 2/2013, p. 111-118. {{ISBN|9788870968224}} * Andrea Bornstein, Two-Part Italian Didactic Music: Printed Collections of the Renaissance and Baroque (1521-1744). 3 vols (Ut Orpheus Edizioni, Bologna 2004). {{ISBN|88-8109-449-5}} — A study of the Italian duo throughout the Renaissance and the Baroque. ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120407095851/http://www.gardane.info/bicinium/ - Didactic two-part compositions of the Renaissance and the Baroque] A large site dedicated to bicinia, includes lists of composers and works, scores and an extensive bibliography. {{Musical ensembles}} {{Authority control}} Category:Renaissance music Category:Baroque music Category:Music of Europe Category:Music education --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bicinium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicinium) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicinium?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.