Renaissance Flashcards
Low Rennaissance
-Early Renaissance 15th C
-Limited Imitation
1 or 2 dominant voices (parts) (Higher voices)
High Renaissance (Late)
- 16th C
- Systematic Continuos Imitation
- Equality of Voices (Parts)
- Reflection of the text
- Construction of rhythms that reflect speech patterns
- Increased use of homophony
Humanism
• Renaissance
• Movement in Ren to revive ancient Greek and Roman culture
• Study things pertaining to human knowledge and experience
• Musical Humanism
o Greek Theory: Boethius
o Wanted expressiveness represent in their works
o Accurate representation of text in the music
Johannes Tinctoris
Renaissance
Painting in the Renaissance
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Systematic or Continuous Imitation
• Renaissance
• Point of Imitation
o 16th century technique allowing all voices to present motive idea
o Each line is set imitatively with a new melody
• Following section begin to overlap each other
o Occurs in masses, motets, madrigals, and chansons
o Used by Palestrina
o Also used in instrumental works
• Ricercar, canzona, fantasia, cappricio
Word Painting
- Renaissance
* Using musical gestures to reinforce or suggest images in a text, such as rising on the word “ascend”
Guillaume Dufay
- Renaissance
- Regarded as the greatest composer of the time by his contemporaries
- Wrote masses, motets (isorhythmic, polytextural)
Cyclic Mass
- Renaissance
- All movements of the mass are based on the same borrowed tenor line
- Ockenghem Missa De plus en plus
Tenor (AKA Cantus Firmus) Mass
• Renaissance
• Polyphonic Mass
• Uses the same Cantus Firmus in each Mvt
o Generally in the Tenor
• Plainchant melody used (borrowed) as the cantus firmus
Paraphrase Mass
- Renaissance
- Polyphonic Mass in which each Movement is based on the same Monophonic melody (normally a chant) which is paraphrased in most all voices rather than being used as a cantus firmus in one voice.
- Phrases of from the hymn melody are adapted as motives that are treated in points of imitation
- Results in a cyclic mass because the same motives appear in each section
Josquin des Prez
- Renaissance
- 16th Century
- Straddles low and high Ren. Periods
- Helped begin the high Ren. Period
- Composer of Motets (Pater noster, Ave Maria)
- Composer of Masses
- Spent time serving the Sforza family
Lauda
- Renaissance
* Italian sacred (devotional) song
Contrafactum
- Renaissance
- The practice of replacing the text of a vocal work with a new text while the music remains essentially the same.
- Secular -> Sacred
- Sacred -> Secular
- Martin Luther hymns are representative
- French Chanson is representative
Frottola
- Renaissance
- 16th Century Italian Polyphonic song
- Very Structured
- Strophic
- Syllabic, homophonic, diatonic
- Melody in the upper voice
- More lively than the Carnival Song
Balletto
- Renaissance
- 16th Century Italian song
- For singing and dancing
- Homophonic, Strophic
- “Fa la la la” Refrains
Italian Madrigal
- Renaissance
- Dominant musical form of the 14th C.
- Initially written in Italian by non-Italians
- Ciprano de Rore, Orlando Lass, Claudio Montverdi
- Through-composed
- Written for various occasions
- Complete representation of the text
- Became more complex and performed by Professionals
English Madrigal
• Renaissance
• Late 16th century
• Englich desires fashions of Italian culture: art & music
• Simple texts
• Dance-like style
• Vocal music: both polyphonic and homophonic textures
• Ex. As vesta was – Thomas Weelkes
o Considered one of the most prominent composers of England
Thomas Morely, Thomas Weelkes
Influence of Italian madrigal and Balletto
Chanson (Renaissance)
• Renaissance • French secular song based on love poems • Primariy homophonic • Bar Form AAB • No word painting • Some transcribed for instruments • 15th C. Instrumental lines written for accompaniment o Generally mirrored the vocal line
Luther Reformation
• Renaissance
• 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on the church door
o Opposed church indulgences
• Money accepted to lessen time in purgatory
• Against church Heirarchy
o All persons had the right to commune with God
o Wanted everyone to participate in church
• Wrote chorales to facilitate this
Chorale
• Renaissance
• Congregational song or Hymn
• Originally in German and credited to Martin Luther
o Luther placed value on congregational singing
o Some were new material, many based on Psalms
• Strophic, metrical, common language
• Bar form; AAB
• Short phrase structure followed by a fermata
• Initially monophonic
• Easy to memorize – familiar to all saints
• Johann Walther
o Friend of Luther
o Arranged & published hymns for 4 parts
o Original hymn book was for choir
• Choir – Latin, Congregation - German
Chorale Motet
- Renaissance
- Setting of a chorale to the style of 16th century motet
- Very elaborate for choir
- Simple for the congregation
Counter-Reformation
- Renaissance
- Catholic church began to make changes because of the Luther reformation
- Council of Trent
Council of Trent
• Renaissance • 1545-1563 • Catholic response to the Luther Reformation • People had to be more involved services • Not willing to get rid of Latin • Mass virtually unchanged • People gathered in buildings called oratorios o Speak their own language o Talk of biblical items • Wanted the music to be cleaner o Less dissonance o Reduce chromaticism o Reduce counterpoint o Wanted cleaner text o New music was needed
