Chapter Six: Renaissance Music, 1450-1600

Renaissance Music • Intellectual and artistic flowering that

began in Italy, then to France and England• Inspiration from ancient Greece and Rome– Musicians turned to the Greek

philosophers, dramatists, and music theorists as no actual music survived from this time

– Emphasis on the enormous expressive power of music

• New alliance between text and music, with the accompanying music underscored and enhanced the meaning of the text

• Greater range of emotional expression

Humanism• Emphasis on personal achievement, intellectual

independence, discovery • Culture rejoiced in the human form in all its fullness

– Michelangelo’s David• New genre of painting – the portrait

– Depicted worldly individuals enjoying the good life

• The “Humanities:” The study of the arts, letters, and historical events than have enriched the human spirit over the centuries

Josquin Desprez (c. 1455-1512)• One of the greatest composersof the Renaissance • Worked in Italy, including in

Sistine Chapel in the Vatican• Excelled in writing Motets:

– Compositions for polyphonic choir with a Latin text on a sacred subject

– Intended for use during religious services• Use of more dramatic texts in the Old Testament• Vivid text required an equally vivid musical setting• Music was used to heighten the meaning of the text• Compared in greatness to Michelangelo

Ave Maria (Hail Mary), c. 1485

• Standard four voice parts: soprano, alto, tenor, bass

• Use of imitation: a polyphonic procedure where one or more musical voices enter and duplicate the melody

• A cappella: unaccompanied singing

• Music reflects the text

The Counter-Reformation and Palestrina (1525-1594)

• 1517: Martin Luther began the Protestant Revolution– Wanted to end the corruption in the Roman

Catholic Church

• 1545-1563: Council of Trent, led to the Counter- Reformation– Conservative changes changed religious

policy as well as art, architecture, and music– Church leaders wanted clarity in sung text

• Giovanni Palestrina

Giovanni Palestrina (1525-1594)

• Composed Misse Papae Marcelli (Mass for Pope Marcellus), 1555 • Conformed to all the requirements for proper

church music prescribed by the Council of Trent

• Simple counterpoint• Exceptional clarity of text• Clarity of expression through music

Popular Music in the Renaissance• 1460: Johann Gutenberg invented the

printing press• 1501: First printed book of music in Venice– Encouraged amateur music making

Dance Music• Collections of dance music were published • Pavane: Slow, gliding dance in duple meter

performed by couples holding hands• Galliard: Fast, leaping dance in triple meter

The Madrigal• Madrigal: A piece for several solo voices that sets a

vernacular poem to music; appeared c. 1530 in Italy– Usually four to five parts– Poems usually about love– Fun to sing: Written within a comfortable range,

triadic melodies, catchy rhythms, music full of puns

• Music expresses the meaning of the text– Word Painting: The process of depicting the text

in music by means of expressive musical devices; vivid imagery

– Also called Madrigalisms

As Vesta Was from Latmost Hill Descending (1601) – Thomas Weelkes

(1576-1623)• Included in Thomas Morley’s The Triumphs

of Oriana (1601)– Collection of 34 madrigals in honor of Queen

Elizabeth (1533-1623)– Oriana represents Elizabeth– Queen Elizabeth played lute and

harpsichord, and loved to dance

• Images from classical mythology • Use of word painting

Renaissance Music Melody Mainly stepwise motion within moderately narrow range; still

mainly diatonic, but some intense chromaticism found in madrigals from end of period

Harmony More careful use of dissonance than in Middle Ages as the triad, a consonant chord, becomes the basic building block of harmony

Rhythm Duple meter as common as triple meter; rhythm in sacred vocal music (Mass and motet) is relaxed and without strong downbeats; rhythm in secular music (madrigal and instrumental music) usually lively and catchy

Color Predominant sound is unaccompanied ( a cappella) vocal music; more music for instruments alone has survived

Texture Mainly polyphonic: imitative counterpoint for 4 or 5 vocal lines (Masses, motets, and madrigals); occasional passages of chordal homophonic texture for variety

Form Strict musical forms not often used; Masses, motets, madrigals, and instrumental dances are through composed (no musical repetitions, no standard formal plan