UNIT 3. RENAISSANCE MUSIC

3.1.Introduction

The term Renaissance (=rebirth), appeared todesignate the artistic manifestations of the 15thand 16th centuries that looked for recovering theideal of beauty and proportion, taking inspirationfrom the ancient Greek and Roman classic arts.

In music, however, there was no rebirth (becausethe music from Antiquity was unknown), only astylistic evolution that began in the period of theArs Nova. But the composers took subjects andGreek and Roman mythology as inspiration fortheir musical performances.

Humanism was the cultural movement

that marked the whole Renaissance. After a long period of theocentrism, mankind

turned back to the centre of the universe. This idea, along with changes in religion

(Protestant Reform by Martin Luther and the Catholic Counter-Reformation) are

important to understand the evolution of music.

3.2. Musical characteristics

Music was developed a lot during this period and used to spreadinformation at important events in public acts. It was an importantpart of education of cultured people too.

Its main characteristics were:

• It is mainly polyphonic music. There are always many voices.

• There is always an equilibrium between the voices. One voice isnever emphasized more than another.

• Rhythm is regular and beats softly, except in dances.

• The lyrics are important and the music is used to emphasise them.

• According to the Humanism, the secular music became asimportant as religious music, and they increased the use of theinstruments.

• The appearance of the printing press made the spreading of musiceasier. There is a frequent change of scores between differentmusic centres.

• The figure of the composer came out of anonymity and acquiredgreat social importance. The most famous were employed bypatrons in order to belong to a chapel.

• Kings and Queens used musicians and their music to impress theirvisitors (with this they demonstrated that their kingdom was veryrich, it was the same reason for they built great palace forexample), so they tried to employ the best musicians of the world,and they paid big sums of money.

3.3. The importance of instrumental music

Medieval music uses the voice as a fundamental component and the instruments accompany to reinforce the voice.

In the Renaissance, instruments began to be more important and compositions of purely instrumental music began to appear.

• One important type of instrumental music was the dance: ballroom dancing was very popular, such as the pavane and the galliard amongst others.

Galliard dance in group example

Other types of instrumental compositions were the following:

• Musical compositions developed from vocal music such as the tiento, canzona and the ricercar.

• Variations are a series on a gradual modifications of a melody.

• Improvisations, in which there is not a set rhythm, melody or structure and it is the improvisation whichmakes the music. Fantasias and toccatas were the most important forms of improvisation.

3.4. Religious vocal music

The two greatest forms of Catholic religious musicare the mass and he motet:

a) The mass is a form of music based on the unionof sacred texts that use eucharistic liturgies.One of the techniques used to compose musicwas called cantus firmus, in which thecomposer chooses a pre-existing Melody as thebase over which the build a polyphoniccomposition and an entire mass.

b) The motet is a polyphonic composition withoutaccompaniment. In the Renaissance, motets donot overlap different lyrics as they used to inthe Middle ages.

The main composers were:

✓ From Italy: Giovani Pierluigi da Palestrina andOrlando di Lasso.

✓ From Spain: Tomás Luis de Victoria and Cristóbalde Morales.

3.4. Secular vocal music

Secular music became more important, since Humanistic ideas highlighted the importance of human beings’ life. This vocal music was often accompanied by instruments.

Madrigal was the most important musical form. It’s a polyphony of four or five voices, sometimes sung a capella, sometimes with instrumental accompaniment. Its themes were related to human beings’ emotions . One of the most important composers of madrigals was Carlo Gesualdo.

Other forms of secular music were: the chanson from France, the lied from Germany, and the romance, the ensalada and the villancico from Spain.

One relevant villancicos creator was Juan del Enzina.

E.g.: ¡Cucú, cucú!, Hoy comamos y bebamos.

3.4. Secular vocal music

Who financed secular music?

Patrons: Wealthy people who financially supported and protected artists. Nobles and aristocrats were the mail patrons of the Renaissance.

Diagram