Music in The Renaissance
(1450-1600)
Music before 1750
Dr. Amante
Community College of Rhode Island
Renaissance time line
1450-1500
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Josquin Desprez:
Ave Maria…Virgo Serena (c. 1475)
• Arts and letters: Botticelli, La Primavera
(1477)
• Historical events:
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Fall of Constantinople (1453)
Gutenberg Bible (1456)
Columbus reaches America (1492)
Renaissance time line
1500-1600
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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:
Pope Marcellus Mass (1563)
• Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa (c. 1503)
• Michelangelo, David (1504)
• Raphael, School of Athens
(1505)
• Titan, Venus and the Lute Player
(c. 1570)
Renaissance time line
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1500-1600
Thomas Weelkes: As Vesta Was
Descending (1601)
• Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1596)
• Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses, start of the
Reformation (1517)
• Council of Trent (1545-63)
• Elizabeth I, queen of England (1558-1603)
• Spanish Armada defeated (1588)
The Renaissance
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Rebirth, or renaissance of human creativity
Period of exploration and adventure (Columbus,
Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan)
Curiosity and individualism (Raphael, Leonardo
da Vinci). Interest in realism
Humanism
Catholic Church is less powerful than during
Middle Ages – Martin Luther’s Protestant
Reformation
More books are printed in Europe
Music in the Renaissance
1450-1600
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Every educated person is expected to be
trained in music
Renaissance town musicians: higher pay
and status
Flemish composers: parts of the
Netherlands, Belgium, and northern
France. Germany, England and Spain –
other countries with a vibrant musical life
Characteristics of
Renaissance music
Words and music
• Vocal music is more important than
instrumental
• Music enhances the meaning and emotion of
the text. Word painting: musical
representation of specific poetic images
• Moderate, balanced way of expression: no
extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone color or
rhythm
Characteristics of
Renaissance music
Texture
• Chiefly polyphonic. 4, 5 or 6 voice parts
with equal melodic interest
• Imitation is common
• Homophonic texture is also used
• Fuller sound than medieval: bass
register
• Mild and relaxed: consonant chords.
• Golden age of a cappella
Characteristics of
Renaissance music
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Rhythm and melody
Rhythm is a gentle flow: Each melodic line
has great rhythmic independence
Melody usually moves along a scale with
few large leaps
Sacred music in the Renaissance
2 main forms: Motet and Mass
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Motet – polyphonic choral work set to sacred
Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass
Mass – polyphonic choral work with 5 sections:
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Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
Josquin Desprez (1440-1521)
and the Motet
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A Flemish composer from Belgium,
contemporary of Leonardo Da Vinci
and Columbus
Ave Maria…virgo serena: 4-voice
motet
Texture is varied: polyphonic and
homophonic
Duple/triple meter change
Palestrina (1525-1594)
and the Mass
Italian Renaissance composer
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
 104 masses and some 450 other
sacred works
 For centuries, his masses are
regarded as models of church music
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Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass
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A capella choir SATTBB
Kyrie – 1st section of the mass:
Kyrie Eleison
Christe Eleison
Kyrie Eleison
Secular music
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Vocal music: groups of solo voices with the
accompaniment. Word painting was common
Madrigal – a piece for several solo voices set to a
short poem, usually about love. Combines
homophonic and polyphonic textures. More
unusual harmonies
Originated in Italy around 1520. Became popular
in England. English madrigals are lighter and
more humorous than Italian
As Vesta Was Descending by Thomas Weelkes
(1575-1623), and organist and church composer
The Renaissance Ballet (Fa-La)
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A simpler type of secular vocal music
A dance-like song for several voices
Mostly homophonic in structure. Fa-la
syllables are used as refrain
Now Is the Month of Maying (1595) by
Thomas Morley (1557-1603), English
composer
Each stanza:
AA – refrain – BB - refrain
Instrumental music
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Instrumental music becomes more independent
Most music is for dance:
• Pavane or passamezzo– duple meter
• Galliard – triple meter
Harpsichord, organ, lute, recorder, trumpet,
cornett, sackbut (early trombone), viol, regal
(small organ with reed pipes), shawm (ancestor
of the oboe)
Instrumental form of theme and variations
The Venetian School:
from Renaissance to Baroque
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16th century Venice – a center of
instrumental and vocal music
Venetian School – music directors
and organists of St. Mark’s Cathedral
and their colleagues
Giovanni Gabrieli (1555-1612)
and the polychoral motet
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The most important Venetian composer of
the late Renaissance before Monteverdi
Polychoral motets – motets for 2 or more
choirs, often with instrumentalists
Plaudite (Clap Your Hands), 1597. Written
for a large vocal and instrumental
ensemble of 12 voice parts divided into 3
choirs: low, middle and high register
choirs
The homophonic structure of this piece
brings it closer to Baroque style