Quadricinium
Four-part piece; also the name for the four voices of a choral setting.
What it means
A quadricinium is a four-part piece, also the name for the four voices of a choral setting. The term is formed from Latin (quattuor, four, and canere, to sing) and follows on from the bicinium (two-part) and the tricinium (three-part).
Musical use
Above all in the 16th century such pieces were popular in collections for schools and choirs. They served choral teaching: pupils learned, on short, clearly built settings, to lead their voice in an ensemble. Later the term became rarer and is used today mainly for historical collections.
The quadricinium should be distinguished from the two-part bicinium and the three-part tricinium, from the motet, which usually has more voices and larger dimensions, and from the four-part choral setting in the wider sense, which is not a fixed genre.
Performance practice
When you sing a quadricinium, practise each voice singly and listen to the other three. In four parts, pay attention to clean intonation and even sound; the voices should complement one another and not cover one another.