Music in The Renaissance

(1450-1600)
Music before 1750
Dr. Amante
Community College of Rhode Island
Renaissance time line
1450-1500

Josquin Desprez:
Ave MariaVirgo Serena (c. 1475)
Arts and letters: Botticelli, La Primavera
(1477)
Historical events:
Fall of Constantinople (1453)
Gutenberg Bible (1456)
Columbus reaches America (1492)
Renaissance time line
1500-1600
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:
Pope Marcellus Mass (1563)
Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa (c. 1503)
Michelangelo, David (1504)
Raphael, School of Athens
(1505)
Titan, Venus and the Lute Player
(c. 1570)

Renaissance time line
1500-1600
Thomas Weelkes: As Vesta Was
Descending (1601)
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1596)
Martin Luthers ninety-five theses, start of the
Reformation (1517)
Council of Trent (1545-63)
Elizabeth I, queen of England (1558-1603)
Spanish Armada defeated (1588)

The Renaissance
Rebirth, or renaissance of human creativity
Period of exploration and adventure (Columbus,
Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan)
Curiosity and individualism (Raphael, Leonardo
da Vinci). Interest in realism
Humanism
Catholic Church is less powerful than during
Middle Ages Martin Luthers Protestant
Reformation
More books are printed in Europe

Music in the Renaissance
1450-1600

Every educated person is expected to be
trained in music
Renaissance town musicians: higher pay
and status
Flemish composers: parts of the
Netherlands, Belgium, and northern
France. Germany, England and Spain
other countries with a vibrant musical life



Characteristics of
Renaissance music
Words and music

Vocal music is more important than
instrumental
Music enhances the meaning and emotion of
the text. Word painting: musical
representation of specific poetic images
Moderate, balanced way of expression: no
extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone color or
rhythm
Characteristics of
Renaissance music
Texture
Chiefly polyphonic. 4, 5 or 6 voice parts
with equal melodic interest
Imitation is common
Homophonic texture is also used
Fuller sound than medieval: bass
register
Mild and relaxed: consonant chords.
Golden age of a cappella

Characteristics of
Renaissance music
Rhythm and melody
Rhythm is a gentle flow: Each melodic line
has great rhythmic independence
Melody usually moves along a scale with
few large leaps

Sacred music in the Renaissance
2 main forms: Motet and Mass

Motet polyphonic choral work set to sacred
Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass

Mass polyphonic choral work with 5 sections:
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei

Josquin Desprez (1440-1521)
and the Motet
A Flemish composer from Belgium,
contemporary of Leonardo Da Vinci
and Columbus
Ave Mariavirgo serena: 4-voice
motet
Texture is varied: polyphonic and
homophonic
Duple/triple meter change
Palestrina (1525-1594)
and the Mass

Italian Renaissance composer
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
104 masses and some 450 other
sacred works
For centuries, his masses are
regarded as models of church music

Palestrinas Pope Marcellus Mass
A capella choir SATTBB
Kyrie 1
st
section of the mass:
Kyrie Eleison
Christe Eleison
Kyrie Eleison
Secular music
Vocal music: groups of solo voices with the
accompaniment. Word painting was common
Madrigal a piece for several solo voices set to a
short poem, usually about love. Combines
homophonic and polyphonic textures. More
unusual harmonies
Originated in Italy around 1520. Became popular
in England. English madrigals are lighter and
more humorous than Italian
As Vesta Was Descending by Thomas Weelkes
(1575-1623), and organist and church composer
The Renaissance Ballet (Fa-La)
A simpler type of secular vocal music
A dance-like song for several voices
Mostly homophonic in structure. Fa-la
syllables are used as refrain
Now Is the Month of Maying (1595) by
Thomas Morley (1557-1603), English
composer
Each stanza:
AA refrain BB - refrain
Instrumental music


Instrumental music becomes more independent
Most music is for dance:
Pavane or passamezzo duple meter
Galliard triple meter
Harpsichord, organ, lute, recorder, trumpet,
cornett, sackbut (early trombone), viol, regal
(small organ with reed pipes), shawm (ancestor
of the oboe)
Instrumental form of theme and variations


The Venetian School:
from Renaissance to Baroque
16
th
century Venice a center of
instrumental and vocal music
Venetian School music directors
and organists of St. Marks Cathedral
and their colleagues


Giovanni Gabrieli (1555-1612)
and the polychoral motet
The most important Venetian composer of
the late Renaissance before Monteverdi
Polychoral motets motets for 2 or more
choirs, often with instrumentalists
Plaudite (Clap Your Hands), 1597. Written
for a large vocal and instrumental
ensemble of 12 voice parts divided into 3
choirs: low, middle and high register
choirs
The homophonic structure of this piece
brings it closer to Baroque style