The other way in which composers established prestige, of course, was through the sheer virtuosity of
their composing, manifested at once in their contrapuntal control of very complex rhythmic textures and in
their notational ingenuity. Fig. 9-5 shows the original notation of Philippus’s ballade. It is not a
particularly outlandish example of ars subtilior notation, but a representative one. Comparison with Ex.
9-21 will show the kinds of rhythmic stunts composers like Philippus enjoyed contriving and how they
were achieved. As usual in this style, the tenor plays straight man to the cantus and contratenor, its
relatively steady tread supplying an anchor to ground their rhythmic and notational subtleties.
EX. 9-22 Philippus de Caserta, quotation from En remirant in Ciconia’s virelai Sus un fontayne