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:”

• Motet- choral work set to any sacred Latin text other than the mass text.

1. Kyrie 2. Gloria 3. Credo 4. Sanctus 5. Agnus Dei

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