Part 2:
THE RENAISSANCE ERA
The Renaissance Era
~1425 - 1600
• French word for "rebirth"
• A recovery or ideals from antiquity after the Middle
Ages (or "Dark Ages")
• Humanism
– human interests and values
– science, philosophy, literature, painting,
sculpture, and music
• Arts and sciences were revived.
The Renaissance Era
• Economic growth
• Kingdoms, duchies, city-states got bigger and richer
- increased demand for the arts
• "Renaissance Man"—knowledge of a variety of arts
and sciences
• Human reason and individuality
• Movable type: mid-15th century
• Music printing by 1500
Religion
• Protestant Reformation:
– Martin Luther
– Composer William Byrd, a Catholic in Protestant
England
• Counter-Reformation:
– attempts to hold onto the Catholic liturgy and
doctrine in the face of Protestantism
– Music to move the souls of the faithful
Portrait of Martin Luther
by Lucas Cranach the Elder
•Theologian and a composer
• Wrote "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"
•German monk who nailed a list of
complaints against the Catholic Church on
the door of a church in Wittenberg
Music
• Words and music together in unity
• Polyphony
– equal voice parts
– 3, 4, 5, or even 6 parts
• Full, rich sound with intricate texture and rhythm
• Strong attention to text being sung, even when
polyphonic melodies were complex
Musicians accompany
dancing lord and lady
Renaissance art was inspired by
rediscovered classical Greek models:
sense of perspective, considerable detail
in the faces, realistic portrayal of the
individual figures
6
Josquin des Prez
The Cricket
The Cricket
• Polyphonic
– Soprano (highest range, usually female)
– Alto (second-highest range, usually female)
– Tenor (second-lowest range, male)
– Bass (lowest range, male)
• Voices move together rhythmically throughout much
of the piece
The Cricket
• Counterpoint:
– Each voice melodic; not melody +
accompaniment
– Can be intricate and complex
– From the Latin, contrapunctum, meaning "noteagainst-note"
– In this recording, all 4 voices are male. The
upper two voices are sung in falsetto
– Written so it could be played on instruments OR
sung. Typical in the Renaissance Period
Playing and Singing
As shown here, songs were often
performed with instruments
doubling or filling in one or more of
the vocal lines
The Cricket
• Music written to a humorous poem; enhances the
spirit of the poetry
• Uses word painting
– long notes on "hold a long line"
– chirping sounds which imitate a cricket
– Humorous "drunken" music
– long melisma on "love"
• Form: Three parts = ternary form
– Described as ABA: contrast (B is in contrast to A
both textually and musically) and return (to A)
Josquin des Prez
•
•
•
•
•
ca. 1450-1521
Much of his life is shrouded in mystery
Greatest composer of the early Renaissance
An international celebrity in his time
Hired by Duke of Ferrara to be a composer for his
court
• There may have been several composers named
Josquin
A Bovine Quartet
Medieval and Renaissance scribes often inserted humorous
vignettes into otherwise very serious manuscripts
Josquin des Prez
Other Compositions
– Missa Pange Lingua (a Mass)
– Missa La Sol Fa Re Mi (another Mass)
– Ave Maria. . . virgo serena (4-voice motet)
– Illibata Dei virgo nutrix (5-voice motet)
7
Thomas Weelkes
Since Robin Hood
Since Robin Hood
• A song about an actual event that took place in
1599:
– William Kemp: an English actor and friend of
Shakespeare
– danced from London to Norwich, a distance of
some 140 miles, over the course of nine days.
– A feat of shameless self-promotion
– Danced the Morris dance—from the same
tradition as Tielman Susato’s Moorish Dance (see
Web Bonus chapter 2)
Since Robin Hood
• Madrigal—most important type of secular song
• Texture: polyphonic throughout; 3 voices
• Rhythm: declamatory; voices move together mostly
in the same rhythm
• Melody: The melody in the top voice was well known;
the lower two melodies are distinctive
• Word painting (or madrigalism):
Since Robin Hood
Poetic Meter
• Opening: iambic (shortLONG or weak-STRONG)
• Second section =
trochaic (LONG-short or
STRONG-weak)
• Third section = iambic for
one line; anapestic for 2
lines (short-short-LONG or
weak-weak-STRONG)
Musical Meter
• Opening lines: duple
meter—beats 1 and 3 are
emphasized in a 4-beat
measure
• Second section shifts to
triple meter—accented
words get 2 beats; later,
music returns so duple
meter but notes are
syncopated
• Third section: duple meter,
first line syncopated
Chichester Cathedral
Where Thomas Weelkes served as
an organist
Thomas Weelkes
• ca. 1575-1623
• English composer, lived during age of Shakespeare,
and during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I
• Professional musician with a degree in music from
New College, Oxford
• Fascinated with Italian poetry and music
• Also wrote sacred music
• Organist at Chichester Cathedral
– Lost his job at the Cathedral
because of blasphemy and
drunkenness
Other Composers of Madrigals
English:
Italian:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
William Byrd
John Farmer
Orlando Gibbons
Thomas Morley
John Wilbye
Jacob Arcadelt
Cipriano de Rore
Luzzascho Luzzaschi
Lucca Marenzio
Claudio Monteverdi
Musicians as Spies
In Elizabethan England at the end of the sixteenth century, playing
an instrument provided the perfect cover for gathering intelligence.
8
William Byrd
Sing Joyfully
Sing Joyfully
• A sacred work to be sung in church
• Text is based on first 4 verses of Psalm 81.
• This is an anthem—English equivalent of Catholic
motet
• A cappella choral music
• Form: Sectional with cadences sometimes elided
– Each new section of the text has a new musical
idea
– Elision: new line of text and music begins before
previous one has completely stopped
The sound of the All-Male Choir
Women were not generally permitted to sing in church choirs until
well into the eighteenth century. Boy sopranos and altos have a
different sound quality than female voices.
Sing Joyfully
• Texture:
– polyphony in 6 voices
– Uses imitative counterpoint—
• one voice introduces a melody/text, and is
imitated by the other voices in succession.
• First voice and subsequent voices continue to
sing as other voices enter.
– A rich and luxuriant sound that gives a
heightened sense of spirituality
– The challenge is to exploit the potentials of 6
voices without obscuring the text
Sing Joyfully
• Word painting examples:
– "sing joyfully"—lively, upward-moving musical
theme
– "blow the trumpet"—fanfare-like singing, with
echoes
– "For this is a statute for Israel"—singing in
declamatory style (all in rhythm together) as if
declaring a law
• Performers: all male choir; women not allowed to
sing in church
Queen Elizabeth I
being carried through the streets of London by her courtiers.
William Byrd, a Roman Catholic, had to be careful in the court of
the Protestant Queen.
William Byrd
• 1542-1623
• An English Roman Catholic in the Protestant court
of Queen Elizabeth I
• Suffered harassment because of his faith
• Had a monopoly on the printing of music in England
for a short time
• Wrote a great deal of music for the Protestant
(Anglican) church
• Some other compositions
– Mass for Four Voices
– O Lord, Make Thy Servant Elizabeth- a motet
– "This Sweet and Merry Month of May"- a madrigal
Palestrina presents his
first book of masses to
Pope Julius III
•Palestrina was a
contemporary of William Byrd
•Lived in Italy
•Was a composer of the
Counter- Reformation—a
Catholic movement that was a
response to the Protestant
Reformation
Other Composers of Sacred
Renaissance Music
England:
• Thomas Tallis
Germany:
• Martin Luther
• Johann Walter
Italy:
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Spain:
• Tomás Luis de Victoria
9
Rhyming Singers
of the Bahamas
My Lord Help Me to Pray
My Lord Help Me to Pray
• A polyphonic piece from the Bahamas (19th century)
• Sung by sponge fishermen passing time on their
boats
• A type of rhyme singing
– Based on gospel texts
– Sung in 3 parts, each with different words
– Resembles polytextual works of 13th century
Cathedral of Notre Dame in this respect
– Lead singer is called the rhyme
My Lord Help Me to Pray
• An African-American syncretism
• Texture:
– 3 parts:
• Rhyme singer (leader)
• Treble singer
• Bass singer
– Call-and-response
• as the song progresses, the calls and
responses overlap to create a thick polyphonic
texture
My Lord Help Me to Pray
• Intonations:
– Rhyme line: varied, improvised, descending
– Treble line: 2 halves—a ascends and pauses;
tone; b descends and resolves on lowest tone
– Bass line: 2 essential tones that provide basic
harmonic support
• Rhymed couplets
• Call: changes; ex. "Oh Lord, what a faithful soul"
• Response: always "My Lord, help me to pray."
• Later: an embellished version of The Lord’s Prayer,
while Treble continues to sing the response.
Bob Marley
The Caribbean islands are filled with rich and varied musical styles.
Marley, a performer, composer, and political activist, popularized
reggae, a style closely associated with the Rastafarian religion.
Call and Response
Find a piece that contains a lead
vocalist who states the melody
(“call”) and a vocal group that
responds to him or her
(“response”).
Example: Nelly Furtado and
Timbaland, “Promiscuous” (2006)
Furtado sings a verse and then
Timbaland responds.
Web Bonus
2
Tielman Susato
Moorish Dance
Moorish Dance
• Music for Dancing—popular during Renaissance
Period
• William Byrd and Tielman Susato both important
composers of dance music
• Moresca = Moorish Dance
– depicted combat between Moors (Muslims) and
Christians
– Used as entertainment, in parades, or between
acts of dramatic entertainment
– Similar to English Morris dancing—facial masks,
bells on legs
Moorish Dance:
Ensemble
Winds
•
•
•
•
•
3 recorders
4 shawms
1 curtal
4 sackbuts
2 cornettos
Strings
• 2 violins
• 4 viols
• 5 guitars
Percussion
•
•
•
•
tabors
bells
1 tambourine
cymbals
As in the violin family, viols
come in many different sizes
Sackbut and cornetto were
forerunners of the trombone
and trumpet, respectively
Moorish Dance
• Prominent instruments =
– highest (recorders)
– loudest (sackbuts and cornettos)
• Percussion: provides steady beat for dancing
• Dance Music:
– Must have steady beat to facilitate the steps
– Repetition and alternation of musical ideas
Moorish Dance
– Form = Binary
• ||: A :|| ||: B :|| or AABB
• Then repeat all, adding an additional A section
at the end (i.e. AABBAABBA)
• In the B section the recorders drop out and the
sackbuts and cornettos come to the fore
Tielman Susato
•
•
•
•
Lived ca. 1510 – ca. 1570
A music publisher as well as a composer
Lived in Antwerp (now located in Belgium)
By 1543 he had established a music printing
business—the only one in the Low Countries
(Belgium and the Netherlands)
• Promoted local composers by
publishing their works
Music Publishing
The invention of moveable type in the 15th century made mass production
possible. In the early 16th century, Ottaviano Petrucci developed an efficient
method of printing music (with staff lines, notes, and text on the same page).
Brass Instruments
Find a piece that makes prominent
use of brass instruments.
Example: Shakira, “Hips Don’t
Lie” (2006)
Throughout this song the Columbian
singer-songwriter Shakira samples a
prominent brass section from the song
“Amores Como El Nuestro” (1992) by
the salsa singer Jerry Rivera.
Comparison of Eras
Middle Ages
Renaissance
• Texture: monophonic
and polyphonic
• Texture: mostly
polyphonic
• Melody: flowing,
conjunct; sectional with
cadences; based on
Medieval modes
• Melody: smooth with
more disjunct motion;
sectional with
cadences; based on
Medieval modes
Comparison of Eras
Middle Ages
Renaissance
• Rhythm: free and
metrically structured
• Rhythm: relatively
smooth and flowing w/
structured framework
• Timbre: no sharp
distinction between
instrumental and vocal
music
• Timbre: no sharp
distinction between
vocal and instrumental
music; new instruments
• Harmony: byproduct of
counterpoint
• Harmony: byproduct of
counterpoint
Comparison of Eras
Middle Ages
• Form: based on
repetition, variation,
and contrast
• Word-Music
Relationships: syllabic
settings to project texts;
melismatic settings to
emphasize words
Renaissance
• Form: based on
repetition, variation,
and contrast; mainly
sectional; binary form
for dances (AB)
• Word-Music
Relationships: limited
use of word painting