Music in The Renaissance 1450 1600 Music before

Music in The Renaissance (1450 -1600) Music before 1750 Mr. Gee Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Renaissance time line 1450 -1500 ■ Josquin Desprez: Ave Maria…Virgo 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 Luther’s 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 Luther’s 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 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 Maria…virgo 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 ■

Palestrina’s 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. Mark’s 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