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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
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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 composers of 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
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 MissePapaeMarcelli(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