Introduction to the Renaissance Flashcards
What was the Renaissance?
A period of time ca 1450-1600 that involved the rebirth of Classical ideals that included a time of continued change and development in music (Renaissance)
What was the Contenance angloise and which composer did it have a large effect on?
A musical style developed in England that involved major 3rds and 6ths, which resulted in a richer triadic sound. It had a profound effect on the music of Guillaume Dufay (Renaissance)
What is the Madrigal?
A genre of secular vocal music from Italy during the Renaissance where the music had strong connections to text (usually from a poem) as well as vivid word painting. It was very popular throughout Europe, especially in Italy and England (Renaissance)
What is Word Painting?
A musical technique in which music would complement the imagery of a text, usually a poem and was used in response to the prevalence of increasingly expressive poems (Renaissance)
How did the invention of the printing press affect music?
It allowed for widespread distribution and accessibility to music, making composers have an easier time marketing their music and increasing the popularity of music. (Renaissance)
What is counterpoint?
A type of polyphony that involved small leaps and steps, resolution of dissonance, and imitation that came from Latin punctis contra punctum (note against note) (Renaissance)
What is the Gradus ad Parnassum?
A treatise written by Johann Joseph Fux in 1725 that contains a summarized method to write Renaissance counterpoint. Since he modelled this summary after the composer Palestrina, this style would come to be known as the Palestrina style and be taught to many famous composers (Renaissance)
What was the Franco-Flemish school?
A school of composers from France, Belgium and the Netherlands that made large developments to imitative vocal polyphony (Renaissance)
Who was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina?
He was an Italian composer of the 16th century that mainly composed polyphonic Roman Catholic sacred music. He produced a highly refined style of counterpoint that resulted from his careful treatment of music and used it to compose various motets, masses and other types of sacred music. He used musical techniques such as Paraphrase and Parody. He is known for his smooth Palestrina counterpoint that uses dissonance with care and avoids chromaticism. Even in a time when the church was considering banning polyphony due to text obscuring, Palestrina showed through one of his masses (Missa Papae Marcelli) that polyphony did not at all obscure the text, saving sacred polyphony (Renaissance)
Who was Josquin des Prez?
He was a Franco-Flemish composer of the 15th and 16th centuries that wrote all kinds of vocal music, including motets, mass, chansons, and madrigals. He was a master of contrapuntal techniques and imitation, as well as writing homorhythmic passages. Even though he was French, his musical style was cosmopolitan European through his various travels throughout the continent, with his music including 3rds and 6ths, as well as dissonance. Additionally, his careful treatment of each stanza of a poem(paratactic form) and word painting allowed for his polyphony to still allow for a pristine clarity of text. (Renaissance)
Who was Carlo Gesualdo?
He was an Italian nobleman and composer that was known for his highly dissonant works that involved complex chromaticism. In his motets and madrigals, these techniques formed a very distinctive sophisticated style of music. Often reflecting a very sad, remorseful mood because of his sad life, he only composed his 6 books of Madrigals which featured extravagant word painting and a wide display of all of his other signature techniques. (Renaissance)
Who was Thomas Morley?
A student composer of William Byrd that brought Italian styles of music into England. His work was largely based on Italian polyphony but he had no taste for dissonance and preferred homophonic textures for his balletts and madrigals. He was the author of the Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke, which he published in 1597. Outside of composition, he was also a virtuoso organist, which he demonstrated in his keyboard compositions (Renaissance)
Who was William Byrd?
An English composer who composed music for both churches, as he was a Catholic living in England. However, because he was Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite composer, his life was never in much danger. He composed motets, masses, viol consorts (early violin) and keyboard music and even though he never composed madrigals, his works did influence the madrigals that came after him, particularly those of his student, Thomas Morley (Renaissance)
