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Music in The Renaissance (1450-1600)

Music in The Renaissance (1450-1600). Music before 1750 Dr. Amante Community College of Rhode Island. Renaissance time line. 1450-1500 Josquin Desprez: Ave Maria…Virgo Serena (c. 1475) Arts and letters: Botticelli, La Primavera (1477) Historical events:

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Music in The Renaissance (1450-1600)

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  1. Music in The Renaissance (1450-1600) Music before 1750 Dr. Amante Community College of Rhode Island

  2. 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)

  3. 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)

  4. 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)

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass • A capella choir SATTBB • Kyrie – 1st section of the mass: Kyrie Eleison Christe Eleison Kyrie Eleison

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. The Venetian School: from Renaissance to Baroque • 16th century Venice – a center of instrumental and vocal music • Venetian School – music directors and organists of St. Mark’s Cathedral and their colleagues

  18. 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

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