Music of the Renaissance (circa.

1400 – 1600)
Worksheet 1 – Secular Vocal Music
Objectives:
 To learn about the context of music in the Renaissance period.
 To learn about the different types of secular vocal music, and how they developed during the
Renaissance period.
 To become aware of the different composers of secular vocal music.
 To practice identifying the main musical features of a piece of music.

Context of music in the Renaissance period:

- The 15th and 16th century saw a renewal of interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture (Read page 4 and 5 of
History of Western Music (HOWM). Even though the ancient music could not be heard, as it had not been
written down, there was a great deal written about it, especially by Greek philosophers and theorists. They
learned from these writings that that music had the power to move the listener. The Greek philosophers even
believed that music had the power to change or affect a person’s morality and behavior.
- The ancient music that renaissance composers had read about was largely monophonic, – a single melody line,
rather like Gregorian chant. The music was based on modes, or ‘species’ that evoked different moods or
qualities depending on how the intervals making up the scale were treated.
- Ancient music did not have the complex contrapuntal texture that had been developed in the medieval period.
- Modern renaissance composers were starting to react to ‘humanism’ which was a movement that sought to
revive ancient learning. People were asked to judge their artwork, customs, and social structures by the
standards of the ancient philosophers.
- Read page 145 of HOWM to see one Renaissance composer’s reaction to the polyphonic music of the medieval
period.
- Crucially, the ‘humanism’ approach was to express and set the words of a text to music faithfully and
expressively.

How was ‘humanism’ reflected in music:

- Modes. The ancient Greek philosophers believed that composers could tap a listener’s emotions by the choice
of mode. Plato and Aristotle insisted that the various modes had different ethical effects. (Page 146, HOWM)
- Greater control of Consonance and Dissonance: There were stricter rules about dissonance could be used,
limiting them to unstressed beats and suspensions at cadences.
- Tuning systems. Tuning systems in the 15th century were not as developed as they are today (we use what is
known as equal temperament, which wasn’t fully formed until the late 17th Century). In the 15th C the tuning
system that was used focused on the intervals of the perfect 4th and 5th, 8ve. Imperfect intervals such as 3rds
and 6ths did not sound as pleasingly as we hear them today. This lead to theorists experimenting with different
methods of tuning, even to the extent that some keyboard instruments had two keys for notes that we would
expect to sound the same (e.g. G sharp and A flat).
- Musica Ficta: Musica Ficta was the practice by performers of adding a limited number of accidentals (mainly F,
C, G sharp, Bb and Eb) as they were performing in order to make the consonances sound sweeter and more
pleasant. This lead to composers contriving ‘Ficta’ scale patterns to accommodate these extra notes. Arguably
one of the early steps towards modern ‘equal temperament’.

Rebirth:
The term renaissance means rebirth in French. The term is mostly thought to reflect the restoration of the learning and
ideals of Ancient Greece and Rome. However, it also refers to the rebirth of ‘human’ rather than spiritual values.
Besides salvation in death, fulfillment in life was now a desirable goal; as it was no longer considered an evil to express
human emotions and enjoy the pleasures of the senses. Artists, writers, and musicians now turned to secular as well as
religious subject matter and sought to make their works understandable and delightful to people as well as God.
 Secular Vocal Music:
The term secular means that the music was not for use in church, and was not based on a religious theme. There were
several types of secular songs; the madrigal, the frottola (a ballett is the English version), the lute song, and the
Chanson.

The frotolla, or ballet:

- The Italian Frottola flourished in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
- It is a strophic song, homophonic in texture, with words set syllabically. However, it is often performed with
instruments playing the harmony part. The melody would always be sung in the top most voice.
- The English Ballet is a similar form. It is lighter in style than a madrigal, often with a dance like metre. They are
also homophonic with the melody in the topmost voice.
- Ballets and frotole (plural of frotola) are both strophic in form (verse, refrain), and the ballet will often have a fa-
la-la-la style refrain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNk9b_Bmns&feature=fvst – Now is the Month of Maying, Thomas Morley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf_8cEeIcIo – Marco Cara, Io non compro piu speranza. Page 152 (NAWM)

The Chanson:
- A vocal setting of a secular French poem, in four parts.
- Resembled the frotola in many ways.
- In effect these would be accompanied solo songs (like the frotola), although some scholars believe that all the
parts were sung.
- It was a light, fast, strongly rhythmic song for four voices.
- The text could be in any number of forms, and would be mostly set syllabically in duple metre.
- The texture would be homophonic with short points of imitation. The principal melody would be in the topmost
voice.

Page 190 – NOWM, Chanson: Tant que vivray. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW31yXZIrbM

The madrigal:
- The principal type of secular vocal composition.
- Madrigal poetry was more elevated and serious than that of the frotola. Many of the texts were by major
poets.
- Madrigals are ‘through composed’ – they do not have verses and refrains (not strophic). The composer made
up new music suited to the rhythm and sense of the words for every line of poetry.
- It was originally an Italian genre, but became popular in England after 1588 when a collection of Italian
madrigals translated into English, was published in England.
- Whilst the frotola was essentially a tune for singing poetry, marking the end of each line usually with a cadence
and two long notes, madrigals dealt more freely with the verses of the poem – they would use a variety of
homophonic and contrapuntal textures in a series of overlapping sections, each based on a single line of the
text.
- Composers took more liberties with their treatment of dissonance in Madrigals, including suspensions and the
observance of ‘musica ficta’. Composers actually used dissonance and chromaticism deliberately in order to
match the music with the meaning of the words – word painting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRJXhSsWFbg – Adrian Willaert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwCNMPjge_0 – Verdelot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3I_nMcyljc - Jacob Arcadelt (1505 – 1568) Il bianco e dolce cigno (p 155

NAWM). Listen out for the false relation between at A and Eb in bar, and the dissonant suspension in measure 4 to
5.
English Lute Song:
- Solo voice accompanied by a lutenist.
- Main composers were John Dowland (1562 – 1626), and Thomas Campion (1567 – 1620)
- Often the main subject was love.
- Melodies, especially those of Dowland are remarkable for their subtlety and sensitive text declamation.
- The lute parts were usually printed on the same page as the voice part, in vertical alignment, so that soloists
could accompany themselves. They were occasionally published in alternative versions where the lute part
would be re-written for three voices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkRrzAo9Wl4 – Flow my tears, by John Dowland. (Page 218, NAWM). Notice how
this piece has a modern sense of tonality, and certain passages can be identified as being in a major or minor key. Also
note the movement from the C to G sharp, that pervades the dark mood of each of the stanzas.

Task: listen to the pieces of music above, and describe the treatment of the texture in each of the examples. What
other observations can you make about these pieces of music? If these came up in an aural perception exam what
conclusions could you draw based on your observations?

Assignment:
- Choose one of the pieces above, and listen to it at least 5 times. Make a list of your initial observations about
the music, which should include texture, melody, harmony. How does the piece you chose to listen to reflect
the ideals of Humanism. You can refer to Grout’s History of Western Music, Chapter 7, for further detailed
reading.