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Renaissance Sacred Music: Josquin Desprez & Palestrina

Explore the characteristics, composers, and impact of Renaissance sacred music, focusing on Josquin Desprez and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Learn about motets, masses, and the evolution of church music during this period.

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Renaissance Sacred Music: Josquin Desprez & Palestrina

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  1. Characteristics • In Renaissance music, rhythm is more a gentle flow than a sharply defined beat • Each melodic line has great rhythmic independence • Pitch patterns in Renaissance melodies are easy to sing, usually they move along a scale with few large leaps

  2. Sacred Music • The two main forms of sacred Renaissance music are the motet and the mass • Both forms are similar in style, but a mass is a longer composition

  3. The Motet • The Renaissance motet is a polyphonic choral work set to a sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass • The composer that was most famous for the motet is JosquinDesprez • Deprez lived from 1440-1521 • He was a master of Renaissance music

  4. The Motet • Desprez was born in the province of Hainaut, which is part of Belgium • He sepent most of his life in Italy, serving in dukes’ private chapels and in the papal choir at Rome • In his later years he worked for Louis XII of France and held several church posts in his native land

  5. The Motet • Desprez’s compositions included masses, motets, and secular vocal music • All his compositions strongly influenced other composers and were praised enthusiastically by music lovers

  6. The Mass • The Renaissance mass is a polyphonic choral composition made up of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei • The main composer for the mass during this time period is Giovanni Pierluigida Palestrina • Palestrina was from Italy

  7. The Mass • Palestrina lived from about 1525 to 1594 • He devoted himself to music for the Catholic Church • His career was centered in Rome, where he held important church positions, including that of music director for St. Peter’s cathedral • Palestrina’s music includes 104 masses and about 450 other sacred works

  8. The Mass • The Jesuit order (1540) and the convening of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) attacked church music • The arguement was that it used secular tunes, noisy instruments, and theatrical singing • Some complained that complex polyphony made it impossible to understand the sacred texts

  9. The Mass • The council wanted only monophonic music, Gregorian chant, for the mass • The council finally decreed that church music should be composed to inspire religious contemplation, not to please the ear • The restraint and serenity of Palestrina’s works reflect this emphasis on a more spiritual music

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