Music: An Appreciation
10th Edition
by Roger Kamien
Part III
The Renaissance
2011 © McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Time Line
• Renaissance (1450-1600)
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Guttenberg Bible—1456
Columbus reaches America—1492
Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa—c. 1503
Michelangelo: David—1504
Raphael: School of Athens—1505
Martin Luther’s 95 theses—1517
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet—1596
The Renaissance
Rebirth of human creativity
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Time of exploration & adventure
Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and
Ferdinand Magellan
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Age of curiosity & individualism
Leonardo da Vinci
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Intellectual Movement – Humanism
Captivated by ancient Greece & Roman cultures
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Visual arts depicted realism w/ linear perspective and
illusion of space & depth
Catholic Church far less powerful
Education a status symbol for the aristocracy & upper
middle class
Ch. 1 - Music in the Renaissance
• Invention of printing widened the circulation of music
• Musicians worked in churches, courts, & towns
• Church remained an important patron of music
• Church choirs grew in size (all male)
• Musical activity shifted to the courts
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Town musicians played for civic processions, weddings
Musicians enjoyed higher status & pay
Composers sought credit for their work
Italy became leading music center
Characteristics of Renaissance Music
Words and Music
• Vocal music more important than instrumental
• Word painting
• Wide range of emotion w/o extreme contrasts
Texture
• Polyphonic
• Imitation among the voices
• Sounds fuller; expanded pitch range; consonant chords are favored
w/ use of triads
Rhythm and Melody
• Rhythm a gentle flow rather than sharply defined beat
• Melodic line has greater rhythmic independence
• Melody usually moves along a scale w/ few large leaps
Ch. 2 - Sacred Music in the Renaissance
Motet – Josquin Desprez
• Short polyphonic choral work
• Latin text usually overlaid with vernacular text
Mass – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
• Polyphonic choral composition of the Catholic church
• Made up of 5 sections:
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Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
Listening
Ave Maria…virgo serena
Josquin Desprez
Vocal Music Guide: p. 100
Basic Set, CD 1:76 Brief Set, CD 1:56
Four voice motet
Polyphonic imitation
Overlapping voice parts
Listening
Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass
by Palestrina (1525 – 1594)
Vocal Music Guide: p. 103
Basic Set CD 1:79 Brief Set 1:59
Rich polyphonic texture – 6 voices
Vocal imitation
Spirit of Gregorian chant
Palestrina’s work became the model for mass composers
Ch. 3 - Secular Music in the Renaissance
Vocal Music
Music was an important leisure activity
People were expected to play a musical instrument and read notation
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Madrigal
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for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love
Combined homophonic & polyphonic textures
Word painting & unusual harmonies
Renaissance Lute Song
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Song for solo voice and lute (plucked string instrument)
Popular instrument in the Renaissance home
Homophonic texture
Lute accompanies the vocal melody
Listening
As Vesta was Descending (1601)
by Thomas Weelkes
Vocal Music Guide: p. 105
Basic Set, CD 1:82 Brief Set, CD 1:62
Madrigal
Note text painting:
Pitches rise on “ascending”
Pitches fall on “descending”
“Running down”
“Two by two,” “three by three,” “all alone”
Listening
Flow My Tears (about 1600)
by John Dowland (1563 – 1626)
Vocal Music Guide: p. 106
Basic Set, CD 1:83 Brief Set, CD 1:63
Very popular Lute Song
(Recorded by rock star, Sting)
Expression of melancholy - descending four-note
pattern
Three brief musical sections: A B C
Instrumental Music
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Still subordinate to vocal music
Instrumentalists accompanied voices
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More music written specifically for instruments
Instrumental music intended for dancing
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Harpsichord, organ, or lute
Pavane or passamezzo in duple meter
Galliard in triple meter
Distinguished between loud & soft instruments
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Outdoor (loud): trumpet, shawm
Indoor (soft): lute, recorder
Ch. 4 - The Venetian School:
From Renaissance to Baroque
Focal point for music in Venice –
St. Mark’s Cathedral
 Giovanni Gabrieli and the Polychoral Motet
 Plaudite (Clap Your Hands)
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Vocal Music Guide: p. 112
Basic Set, CD 2:03