1. What is Renaissance Music?

is European music written from about the year 1400 to 1600. This section of time is called

the Renaissance, a word which means “rebirth”. The Renaissance comes between the Middle
Ages and the Baroque times.
Putting music into time sections does not mean that there were quick changes of type. Music
changed slowly. Early Renaissance music was similar to Medieval music. Slowly music-writers
started to try new ideas. A lot of medieval church music had become very hard with lots of rules
about rhythms and clashes of notes to make dissonances. A lot of Renaissance composers wrote
music which was smoother and more gentle. The music was still polyphonic with each voice having
a share of melody. Music was starting to become less modal and more tonal. By the time the
Baroque period started composers were using a system of major and minor keys like we do today.
2. What are the Characteristic of Renaissance Music?

 Renaissance music is vocal and instrumental music written and performed in Europe during
the Renaissance era. Consensus among music historians – with notable dissent has been to
start the era around 1400, with the end of the medieval era, and to close it around 1600, with
the beginning of the Baroque period, therefore commencing the musical Renaissance about
a hundred years after the beginning of the Renaissance as it is understood in other
disciplines.
 Form 

•Mostly polyphonic, with the cantus firmus (chant melody) in the lowest voice. 
•All sorts of imitation between the voices, some of it very complicated, is an important to
organizing element. 
•Composers often use pre-existing music and often include the entire piece within a larger
composition. 
•Compositions have a number of sections. Often, each section is the setting of only one line of a
text, with rarely any repetition of music from one section to another. 
•Repetition and contrast are used in dance forms. 
 Melody 

•Melody is the most important factor in Renaissance music. Harmony and/or rhythm cannot be
easily separated from the melody. 
•Melodies, even those for instruments, are very vocal in style. The range is rarely more than one
octave. 
 Rhythm 

•Rhythm is free from strict meters, and the rhythmic phrases are generally long and overlap
between the voices. 
•Rhythms are often very complicated. 
 Harmony 

•Harmony is a result of the various lines sounding together, but not as a purposeful chord. 
 Texture 
 •Texture is mostly polyphonic, until the 16th century, when some sections are homophonic for
contrast and variety. 

FAMOUS COMPOSERS OF RENAISSANCE PERIOD

 Josquin des Prez (French: [ʒɔskɛ ̃ depʁe]; c. 1450/1455 – 27 August 1521), often referred to

simply as Josquin, was a French[2] composer of the Renaissance
. Josquin wrote both sacred and secular music, and in all of the significant vocal forms of the
age, including masses, motets, chansons and frottole. During the 16th century, he was
praised for both his supreme melodic gift and his use of ingenious technical devices.

 Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452 – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer

of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his
toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vico. La Rue
wrote masses, motets, Magnificats, settings of the Lamentations, and chansons, a diverse
range of compositions reflective of his status as the primary composer at one of Europe's
most renowned musical institutions, surrounded by other similarly creative people. Some
scholars have suggested that he only composed music for about the last 20 years of his life,
mainly when he was in the imperial service; but it has proven difficult to date any of his works
precisely, although it has been possible to suggest groupings based on a rough chronology.
[11]
 Stylistically, his works are more similar to Josquin than to any other composer working at
the same time. In fact, misattribution of doubtful works has gone both ways.

QUIMANJAN, MARY ROSE B.

W(10:00-01:00PM)