The Renaissance

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The Renaissance

• 1450-1600

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The Renaissance a timeline

• 1453- End of the Hundred Years War, with France
  expelling English invaders
• 1454- Gutenburg prints the Bible using a moveable
  type printing press
• 1485- Henry VII takes the throne as the first
  king of the Tudor dynasty in England
• 1492- Columbus reaches the Carribean
• 1495- Da Vinci completes The Last Supper

3
The Renaissance a timeline

• 1503- Da Vinci completes the Mona Lisa
• 1504- Michelangelo completes the David
• 1517- Martin Luther puts forth his ninety-five
  thesis
• 1543- Copernicus develops a heliocentric model of
  the Solar System
• 1545 to 1563- Council of Trent creates reforms
  for the Roman Catholic Church in response to
  Protestentism
• 1594- Shakespere completes Romeo and Juliet

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Humanism A return to the Ancient Greeks and
Romans

• Humanism is a revival of ancient standards of
  learning in grammar, poetry, rhetoric, history,
  philosophy, and music
• People judged their accomplishments by the
  standards of the Greeks and Romans
• This movement affected how composers expressed
  and set text to music

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Renaissance Concepts

• Word Painting- the music somehow represents the
  words
• Example Descending from Heaven might be a
  descending melodic line
• Renaissance music is mostly Polyphonic- a choral
  piece may have four, five, or six parts
• Homophonic music was used in lighter pieces, such
  as dance music
• Bass register used for the first time
• Composers began to think in terms of chords
• Melodic lines are independent of one another

6
Renaissance Concepts

• Melodic lines are independent of one another
• Renaissance music is mostly Polyphonic- a choral
  piece may have four, five, or six parts
• Homophonic music was used in lighter pieces, such
  as dance music
• Bass register used for the first time
• Composers began to think in terms of chords

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Renaissance Sacred Music Josquin des Prez

• Composed 18 masses, 100 motets, and 70 secular
  pieces
• Strongly influenced later Renaissance music
• Popular throughout Europe during his life

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Josquin Ave MariaVirgo Serena

• Motet- Any sacred piece not based on a text from
  the Mass Ordinary
• Listen for imitative entrances
• Listen for changes from polyphonic to homophonic
  texture
• Listen for imitative duets
• How is this different from Medieval polyphonic
  music?

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Palestrina and the Renaissance Mass

• Music director at Saint Peters in Rome
• Wrote 104 masses and 450 other sacred works
• Music reflects new requirements from the Council
  of Trent- the text had to be the central focus of
  the music

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Palestrina- Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass

• Listen for how much clearer the text sounds
• Much simpler than Ave MariaVirgo Serena
• Each section started with a thinner texture,
  which then fills out as the other voices join

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Secular Vocal Music in the Renaissance

• Secular Music vocal music, helped by the
  development of music printing, became very
  popular.
• Every educated person was expected to play an
  instrument and read music
• Word painting was extremely common, as were
  unusual harmonies
• The standard vocal genre was the madrigal, which
  originated in Italy around 1520

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The Madrigal

• A vocal piece for several voices set to a short
  poem
• Combines homophonic and polyphonic textures, like
  a motet
• Uses word painting and unusual harmonies more
  than motets do
• Usually about love.
• Madrigals published in the thousands in Italy
  during the 16th century, and sung by aristocrats
• Spread to England in 1588- English madrigals were
  lighter, more humorous, and were simpler than
  their Italian counterparts.

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Two Madrigals

• Solo e pensoso by Luca Marenzio
• Typical Italian madrigal
• Listen for the chromatic scale in the top voice
• The jagged melody represents the poets eyes
  darted to and fro looking for a hiding place

• As Vesta Was Descending by Thomas Weelkes
• Typical English madrigal.
• Listen for the word painting. What does Weelkes
  do?

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Instrumental Music

• Instrumentalists accompanied voices or played
  music intended for singing
• Largely adapted from vocal music
• Performed polyphonic vocal pieces, published with
  the indication to be sung or played
• Instruments used included the harpsichord, organ,
  or lute.

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Instrumental Music

• In the late 16th century, instrumental music
  started to become independent of vocal music
• Developed instrumental forms, such as theme and
  variations
• Mostly dance music, such as the galliard, in
  triple meter, and the pavane, in duple meter
• Instruments used included the harpsichord, organ,
  or lute.

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Instruments of the Renaissance

• Distinguished between soft indoor and loud
  outdoor instruments
• Composers did not indicate what instruments
  should be used
• Standardized Orchestra did not exist
• Large courts might employ thirty instrumentalists
• Instruments include.

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Trumpet
Shawm
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Cornett
Sackbut
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Lute
Viol
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Organ
Harpsichord