Italy - Renaissance Flashcards
To become familiar with the salient characteristics and notable composers of Italian Renaissance music.
Which composers’ work appears in the list?
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Carlo Gesualdo
Orlande de Lassus
Antonio Lotti
Jacques Arcadelt
Which Mass appears in these listening examples, and who wrote it?
Missa Papae Marcelli, Palestrina
Whose madrigals appear in these listening examples?
Gesualdo, Arcadelt, & de Lassus
Describe the notable characteristics of early Italian Renaissance music.
Polyphonic
Focus on music over text
Occasional colla parte
What were the main centers of composition in Italy?
Venice and Rome
Why is Palestrina significant?
Codifying rules of counterpoint
Tasked with writing rules for music in Catholic church
What were Palestrina’s rules of counterpoint? (4 rules)
Flow of the music must be dynamic
Melody line should have only a few leaps
Leaps must be followed by contrary stepwise motion
Dissonances only on weak beats and passing notes
Describe the attributes of early, middle, and late madrigals.
Early: uncomplex polyphony & moments of homophony
Middle: thicker textures, more homophony, rhythmic variety
Late: texts set in declamatory style
Which styles are associated with Monteverdi’s early and late madrigals?
Early: stile antico/prima prattica
Late: stile moderno/seconda prattica
What is the name of the practice in which texts are swapped without changing the musical composition?
Contrafactum
Where in Italy were specialized centers of activity for madrigals?
Ferrara & Mantua
What were the most common compositional genres in Renaissance Italy?
Masses, motets, and madrigals
Which genres became popular in Italy at the end of the Renaissance?
Canzonets, villanellas, & ballettos
Describe the attributes of early, middle, and late Italian Mass settings.
Early: tenor cantus firmi
Middle: lots of imitation
Late: intelligibility of text, word painting, declamatory
How were later secular genres - villanella, canzonet, and balletto - characterized?
Homophonic and comedic
