The Renaissance
(1450-1600)
The Renaissance
• This time period was known as a “rebirth” of
human creativity.
• Period of world exploration: Columbus, de
Gama, and Magellan
• Rise of individualism and art
• Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo
• Culture modeled after ancient Greece and Rome
The World in 1400
Musical Changes in the Renaissance
• Every educated person was trained in
music
• Church choirs grew in size
• Musical activity shifted from churches to
courts
• Composers began receiving credit for their
work
Characteristics of Renaissance Music:
Texture
• Mostly polyphonic in nature (multiple
melodies of equal importance)
• Richer harmonies than in the Middle Ages
• This period is known as the “Golden Age
of A’Capella” (unaccompanied choral
music)
Sacred Music in the Renaissance
• Two main forms are the motet and the mass.
• Mass- choral work set to a specific text called
the “ordinary:”
1. Kyrie 2. Gloria 3. Credo 4. Sanctus 5. Agnus Dei
• Motet- choral work set to any sacred Latin text
other than the mass text.
Ave Maria... Virgo Serena
• Four-voice motet by Josquin Desprez
• Varied texture based on how many voices
are singing at once.
Giovanni Palestrina and the Mass
• 1525-1594
• Held several important
church music jobs
• Wrote 104 masses and
over 450 other sacred
choral works
• The simplicity and beauty of
his works reflected the
church’s desire to be able
to focus on the words and
not overly ornate singing.
Pope Marcellus Mass: Kyrie
• Palestrina’s most famous mass
• For six-voice a capella choir
• As you listen, focus on the simplicity of the
music that enables the words to be heard.
Secular Vocal Music in the
Renaissance
• An important form was the madrigal, a
piece for several voices set to a short
poem.
• Uses word painting and unusual
harmonies
• Often about love
As Vesta Was From Latmos Hill Descending…
• 1601 madrigal by Thomas Weelkes
• Written to honor Queen Elizabeth I, known
as “Oriana.”
• Listen for word painting, such as:
•
downward motion on “descending.”
• Voices moving downward on “running down”
• 2 voices on “two by two,” 3 voices on “three by three”, etc
• One voice on “all alone”
Instrumental Music
• Instrumental music was
gaining importance
• Most instrumental music
was intended for court
dancing
• Very formal, for etiquette and
socialization
• There was no standardized
orchestra- people used
what instruments were
available.
Basse Danse and Branle Gay
• Two Renaissance dances
• Listen to the sounds of the instruments
– Both in triple meter
– The first is slow, the second quicker
Passamezzo and Galliard
• 1612 Renaissance Dances by Pierre
Caroubel
• Passamezzo was a stately dance in duple
meter (two beats to a measure)
• Galliard is a quicker dance in triple meter