Secular Song and the Rise of National Styles in the 16th Century &
Music of the Reformation
Frottola (Frottole)
Secular composition set syllabically and homophonically in four parts, with the melody in the
upper voice. These works are marked by clear rhythmic patterns and simple diatonic harmonies.
Parts could be all sung, or lower parts could be played instrumentally to accompany the treble
voice. The religious counterpart to the frottola was the Lauda (Laude)
Example: Marco Cara, Frottola: Io non compro più speranza
Italian Madrigal
A through-composed setting of a short poem with 7- and 11-syllable lines, with different music
used for each phrase of text — no connection other than name to the madrigal of the trecento.
No refrains or other features of the formes fixes.
Major Madrigal Poets
•
Pietro Bembo (1470-1547)
•
Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533)
•
Battista Guarini (1538-1612)
•
Torquato Tasso (1544-1595)
Early Madrigal Composers
•
Philippe Verdelot (c. 1480-1545)
•
Jacques Arcadelt (c. 1505-c. 1568)
Example: NAWM 52: Jacques Arcadelt, Madrigal: Il bianco e dolce cigno
Mid-Century Madrigal Composers
•
Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565)
Example: NAWM 56: Madrigal: Da le belle contrade d’oriente
Late-Madrigal Composers
•
Luca Marenzio (1553-1599).
•
Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545/7-1607)
 Concerto delle donne established by Duke Alfonso d’Este of Ferrara in 1580.
•
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Example: NAWM 58: Luca Marenzio, Solo e pensos (1599)
Example: C. Monteverdi, “Cruda Amarilli”, Quinto libro de madrigali (1605)
Other Italian Secular Vocal Music
1. Villanella (also called canzon villanesca)
2. Canzonetta (= little song)
3. Balletto
Secular Song Outside Italy
“Parisian Chanson”
Publisher: Pierre Attaignant (c. 1494-1551)
Composers:
•
Clément Janequin (c. 1485-c. 1560)
•
Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490-1562)
Example: NAWM 60: Claudin de Sermisy, Chanson: Tant que vivray
The English Madrigal

Nicholas Yonge’s Musica transalpina (1588)
Composers:
•
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
•
John Wilbye (1574-1638)
•
Giles Farnaby (1563-1640)
•
John Farmer (1570-1605)
•
Thomas Weelkes (c. 1575-1623)
•
Thomas Morley (1557-1602)
Morley’s Dedication of the Triumphs of Oriana (1601)
Example: NAWM 60: Thomas Weelkes, “As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending” (1601)
As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending
She spied a maiden Queen the same ascending
Attended on by all the shepherd’s swain
To whom Diana’s darlings came running down amain
First two by two, then three by three together
Leaving their Goddess all alone, hasted thither
And mingling with the shepherds of her train,
With mirthful tunes her presence did entertain.
Then sang the shepherds and nymphs of Diana:
Long live fair Oriana!
Rise of Instrumental Music
1. Canzona (Canzone de sonar or canzona alla francese) – based on the Parisian chanson
2. Ricercare – based on the polyphonic motet
3. Dances (NB: Pavane-Galliard and Allemande-Courante) – based on familiar dance
characteristics
4. Improvisatory Pieces (e.g., Prelude, Praeambulum, Toccata, Fantasia, improvised ricercares,
etc.
5. Variations
The Reformation and
Counter Reformation
Martin Luther
(1483-1546)
John Calvin
(1509-64)
Henry VIII
(1491-1547)
Music of the Reformation in Germany
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
German Mass (1526)
Sources of Lutheran Music:
1. New compositions
2. Music borrowed directly from the Catholic Church
3. Contrafacta
2. Lutheran Chorale (Choral or Kirchenlied)
Four collections published in 1524
Polyphonic Chorale Settings
•
Johann Walter (1496-1570) produces a volume of chorale settings and
motets in 1524
Georg Rhau (1488-1548) is the main publisher for Lutheran Church music before 1550.
Reformation Church Music Outside Germany
 John Calvin (Jean Calvin) (1509-1564)
Psalter: rhymed metrical translations of the Book of Psalms set to:
a) new music,
b) popular song,
c) plainchant.
Psalm texts translated by Clément Marot and Théodore de Bèze, set to music in 1562 by Loys
Bourgeois (c. 1510-c. 1561)
Representative composers
•
Claude Goudimel (c. 1505-1572)
•
Claude le Jeune (c. 1628-1630)
•
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1571-1621)
C. Goudimel, “Apres avoir constamment attendu,” (Ps. 40), Pseaumes de David (Bk 5) (Paris:
Ballard, 1562).
Late Renaissance
1. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
2. Orlando di Lasso (c. 1532-1594)
3. William Byrd (1543-1623)
The Counter-Reformation
The Council Of Trent 1545-1563
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/26-1594)
•
The model composer of the stile antico or prima prattica
•
Choirmaster at the Cappella Giulia at St Peter’s in 1551
•
Works: 104 Masses, 250 motets, many other liturgical compositions, 50
spiritual madrigals, 100 secular madrigals
The Palestrina Style
Johann Fux, Gradus ad Parnassum (1725)
•
Melody
•
Counterpoint and Harmony
 Cambiata (voice leaps from a dissonance down a third to a consonance)
•
Rhythm
•
Texture
The Palestrina Style
Johann Fux, Gradus ad Parnassum (1725)
•
Melody
•
Counterpoint and Harmony
 Cambiata (voice leaps from a dissonance down a third to a consonance)
•
Rhythm
•
Texture
G. P. da Palestrina: Credo from Pope Marcellus Mass (NAWM 47b)
G. P. da Palestrina, Heu mihi Domine (1563/1590) (Motet from Matins of the Dead)