Chapter 2: Sacred
Music
Journal Entry #7
What does a cappella music offer the
listener that instrumental music doesn’t?
Turn in entries #5, #6 and #7 when done.
CHARACTERISTICS, continued from
yesterday…
• What SHMRFT traits can you fill in so far?
– Text Painting?
– No extreme dynamic contrast?
– Little tone color contrast?
– Little rhythmic contrast?
CHARACTERISTICS, cont…
• Texture
– Polyphonic
• 4, 5, or 6 voices, nearly equal melodic
interest
– Imitation
• Each voice presents the same melodic idea
in turn (as in a round)
– Some homophonic texture is used,
especially in light music, dances
CHARACTERISTICS, cont…
– Fuller sound
• Bass register used for first time, increasing
number of octaves heard
• Composers began to think in chords, in
addition to individual melodic lines
– In Middle Ages, entire melody lines thought up
one at a time and then combined.
– In Renaissance, melodies were thought up in
relation to how they accompany each other
– Mild, relaxed
• Lots of stable, consonant chords, many
triads
• Very little dissonance
CHARACTERISTICS, cont…
– “Golden Age” of a cappella choral music
•
•
Little instrumental accompaniment
2 Main uses for instruments
1. To duplicate vocal lines to reinforce the sound
2. Play the part of a missing singer
Now what can you add to your SHMRFT traits?
CHARACTERISTICS,
cont…
• Rhythm
– Gentle flow, not
sharply defined
beat
• Each melodic line
held great rhythmic
independence
• Made it challenging
to sing – each
singer had to be
independently
strong
CHARACTERISTICS, cont…
• Melody
– Melodies generally easy to sing
• Moves stepwise, few large leaps
And your SHMRFT traits now?
LISTENING TO RENAISSANCE
• Sicut Cervus
– Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Chapter 2: Sacred Music
• 2 Main Forms
1. Motet
2. Mass
Motet
Mass
Shorter
Set to sacred
Latin text other
than the ordinary
of the mass
Longer
Style:
polyphonic
choral
works
Sacred
Text
Set to 5 sections:
Kyrie, Gloria,
Credo, Sanctus,
Agnus Dei
Chapter 2, cont…
• Josquin Desprez (1440-1521)
– Flemish (from what is
now Belgium)
– Spent much of life in
Italy
• Served dukes’ private
chapels, papal choir in
Rome, Louis XII of France,
several church positions
Desprez, cont…
– Composed masses, motets, secular vocal
pieces
– Strongly influenced other composers
– Praised for his skill
Desprez, cont…
• Ave Maria…Virgo Serena (1502)
(Hail, Mary…Serene Virgin)
– 4-voice motet
– Delicate, serene
– Polyphonic imitation
• Melodic phrase on “Ave Maria” presented by
soprano, then imitated in turn by alto, tenor, bass
• Next, “gratia plena” has different melody, also
passed from soprano down
Ave Maria, cont…
– Each voice
enters while
the
preceding
one is in the
middle of its
melody.
• Overlapping
creates
feeling of
continuous
flow
– Josquin varied
texture within a
piece
• Also imitation
between pairs of
voices (duets
between high
voices imitated by
duets between low
voices)
• Sometimes
almost
homophonic, like
at “Ave vera
virginitas”
• Also changes
from duple to
triple meter, then
back to duple
• Ends with
slow chords,
expressing
Josquin’s
personal plea
to the Virgin:
O Mother of
God,
remember me.
Amen.
Ave Maria, cont…
– Ave
Maria…Virgo
Serena
(Hail, Mary…
Serene Virgin)
Josquin
Desprez
– Josquin’s varied
texture within a
piece
• Also imitation
between pairs of
voices (duets
between high
voices imitated by
duets between low
voices)
• Sometimes
almost
homophonic, like
at “Ave vera
virginitas”
• Also changes
from duple to
triple meter, then
back to duple
• Ends with
slow chords,
expressing
Josquin’s
personal plea
to the Virgin:
O Mother of
God,
remember me.
Amen.
Chapter 2 cont…
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
(about 1525-1594)
– Most important Italian composer of Ren.
– Devoted to composing for Catholic
church
– Career in Rome; church positions,
including St. Peter’s Basilica
– Composed 104 masses, about 450 other
sacred works
Chapter 2 cont…
– Career best understood against the
backdrop of the Counter-Reformation.
• Early 1500’s, Catholic church was challenged
by Protestants (non-Catholic Christians).
• Sought to correct abuses, malpractices
• Sought to counter the move toward
Protestantism
• Led to convening of the Council of Trent
(1545-1563), which considered questions of
dogma and organization
Chapter 2 cont…
• Council determined that church music had
lost its purity
• Some complained that complex polyphony
had made it impossible to understand the
sacred text
• Some wanted only monophonic music
(Gregorian chant)
• Church music shouldn’t be written for the
empty pleasure of the ear, but to inspire
religious contemplation
• Palestrina’s restraint, serenity reflect
emphasis on more spiritual music
Chapter 2 cont…
– Palestrina’s music is
regarded as a model for
church music because of its
calmness, “other-worldly”
quality
– Even today, the technical
perfection of Palestrina is
studied as the model for
students of composition
and counterpoint (imitation)
Chapter 2 cont…
• Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass (15621563)
– Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
– His most famous
– Seen as a reflection of the Council of Trent’s
desire for clear projection of sacred text.
– A cappella, 6 voice parts
• Soprano, alto, two tenors, two basses
Chapter 2 cont…
– Kyrie – 1st section of the Mass
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy.
Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy.
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy.
• sounds fuller than Josquin’s Ave Maria
because it has two more voice parts
• Very singable, eased melody, much like a
Gregorian chant
• Leaps are balanced by steps
LISTENING TO PALESTRINA
• Missa Papae Marcelli
(Pope Marcellus Mass)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
VOCABULARY REVIEW
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Renaissance
Individualism
“Universal man”
Humanism
Realism
Linear Perspective
Text Painting/Word
Painting
• Imitation
• Consonance/Dissonance
• A cappella
• Motet
• Mass
– Kyrie, Gloria, Credo,
Sanctus, Agnus Dei
• Josquin Desprez
• Imitation
• Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina
• Protestant Reformation
• Counter-Reformation
• Council of Trent
UNIT III PRESENTATIONS
Exploration: Columbus, da Gama,
Magellan
Technology: Movable Type Printing
Press, Gutenberg Bible
Kalyn
Julian
Blake
Jacob
Religion: Martin Luther and the
Protestant Reformation
Dominique
Phil
Alec
Bilal
Kieryn
Claire
Chris
Taimoor
Art: da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael
Emma
Aaron
Sami
Ryan
Literature: William Shakespeare
Anna
Andrew
Nathan
Nick
HOMEWORK
• Complete the worksheet packet for
Chapters 1-2, due tomorrow.
– Answers can also be found in books, if you
need to take one home…