ARS PERFECTA:

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ARS PERFECTA Sacred Music in the Late
Renaissance
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Palestrina, Lamentations
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I. Ars perfecta (The Perfect Art)

• Ars perfecta Catholic Sacred Music of the Late
  Renaissance

B. Dates ca. 1550 - 1600
C. Ars perfecta connotes esp. Josquin sacred
music of late Renaissance composers Lasso
(Germany), Byrd (England), Victoria (Spain)
and
Palestrina (Italy)
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II. Renaissance in Review Placing the Ars
perfecta historically
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II. Renaissance in Review Placing the Ars
Perfecta historically
A. Chronology
Early Ren 1. Dufay Binchois 1425-75 2.
Ockeghem, Busnois and Contemporaries
1450-1500 High 3. Josquin and
Contemporaries 1480-1520 4. Arcadelt,
Gombert, Willaert 1500-60 Late ARS
PERFECTA 1550-1600 5. Palestrina, Lasso,
Victoria, Byrd
Stable Features?
Changing Features?
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• Performing Forces?
• Texture?
• Tempo (Fast Slow Moderate)?
• Tempo (Steady Pulses or Fluctuating)?
• Number of Different Voices?
• Amount of Dissonance?
• Amount of Imitation?
• Phrases clearly set off or Run on?

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II. Renaissance in Review Placing the Ars
Perfecta historically
A. Chronology
Early Ren 1. Dufay Binchois 1425-75 2.
Ockeghem, Busnois and Contemporaries
1450-1500 High 3. Josquin and
Contemporaries 1480-1520 4. Arcadelt,
Gombert, Willaert 1500-60 Late ARS
PERFECTA 1550-1600 5. Palestrina, Lasso,
Victoria, Byrd
Stable Features?
Changing Features?
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III. Placing the Ars Perfecta Musically
1. Stable Traits from Early to Late

• preferred performance style, a cappella

• preferred texture polyphony some homophonic
  texture

• seamless, no sharp breaks, starts or stops, or
  silence

• tempo moderate and steady pulse

2. Changing Traits

• increasing preference for more voices (fuller
  textures)

• increasing use of imitation

• increasing control of dissonance

3. Imitative polyphony in many voices
careful control of dissonances A
Perfect Art
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IV. Sacred Music and Catholic Liturgy
Sanctus from the Mass, Eternal Gifts of Christ by
Palestrina
A. Mass vs. Offices (Hours)
B. Proper of the Mass vs. Ordinary of the Mass
(see Wright, p. 79)
C. The Texts of the Ordinary
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
Ite missa est (rarely set as polyphony)

• Masses often take titles from borrowed music
• cantus firmus, paraphrase, parody
  (a.k.a. imitation Mass)

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V. Palestrina and the Counter-Reformation
A. Council of Trent, 1545 - 1563
B. Controversies Surrounding Music

• Lack of standardization

• Use of profane melodies in cantus firmus
  compositions

• Complicated imitative polyphony renders sacred
• words unintelligible

C. Palestrina and the Myth of the Pope Marcellus
Mass
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No problemo!
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Palestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass, Gloria
Et in terra pax hominibus, bonae
voluntatis, Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te, glorificamus te Gratias agimus
tibi, propter magnum gloriam tuam . . .
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Palestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass Agnus
Dei
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VII. A Perfect Art The Musical Style of
Palestrina and the Late Renaissance
A. Melody
B. Harmony
C. Dissonance
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• Suspension
• Preceded by Consonance (Cons)
• I voice hangs onto its note while other voice
  moves(Diss)
• Suspended note catches up resolves down by step
  (Cons)

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V. A Perfect Art The Musical Style of Palestrina
and the Late Renaissance
A. Melody
B. Harmony
C. Dissonance Treatment
D. Texture
E. Pulse or Beat
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Wright Textbook, p. 100 Even today, courses for
advanced music students include practice in
composing in the pure contrapuntally correct
style of Palestrina. Thus, the spirit of the
Counter-Reformation continued to
influence musicians long after the Renaissance
had come to an end.