2.  (1450-1600)  “rebirth” of human creativity › Exploration and adventure  Christopher Columbus (1492) › Curiosity and individualism  Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)  Painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist and musician  Humanism – dominant intellectual movement focusing on human life and accomplishments. › Not concerned with afterlife › Christians focused on the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome › Influenced art – artists attracted to mythology as subjects  Middle ages – more religious symbolism with a flat surface  Renaissance – realism with linear perspective

3.  Catholic church far less powerful › Due to Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther (1483-1546)  Church did not control education › Aristocrats considered education a status symbol › 1450 printing invented assisted with educational advancement

4.  Printing greatly assisted with the spread of music  Every educated individual was expected to be musically trained  Even Shakespeare saw the importance of music › Called for it over 300 times  Church choirs grew › Still all male  Musical activity became a greater part of royal life (courts) › Women were aloud to sing in Italian courts › 1 court may have as many as 60 musicians › Musicians traveled with nobility  Town musicians › Played for processions, weddings and religious services  Musicians gained social status during the Renaissance › Composers sought recognition

5.  Vocal music more important than instrumental › Words and music have a close relation › Music wrote to enhance meaning of text  Medieval composers did not do this › Word painting – musical depiction of specific words  Renaissance music – polyphonic › Choral pieces contained 4-6 parts equal to the melody › Imitation was common – each presents the same melodic idea › Homophonic texture used with chordal successions  Dances › Greater amount of texture compared to Renaissance music › Bass register used › Sound was stable with the use of consonant chords › No need for instrumental accompaniment  Golden age  A capella – unaccompanied voices  When instruments were used they duplicated the melody  Instruments were rarely used in Renaissance choral music  Gentle flowing rhythms with a defined beat › Melody moved generally in steps with few leaps

6.  Two main forms › Motet – polyphonic choral work set to sacred Latin text › Mass – longer composition that is a polyphonic choral compositions made up for the five sections of the mass

7.  Josquin Desprez (about 1440-1521)  Master of Renaissance music  International career  Born in Belgium › Spent most of his life in Italy  Served in duke’s private chapels  Louis XII of France was in patron later in life  Works – masses, motets, secular vocal pieces  Praised by music lovers

8.  Four-voice motet  Latin prayer to the Virgin Mary  Polyphonic imitation  Varies texture – amount of voices heard at once  Changes from duple to triple to duple meter  Tempo moves between calm to animated to calm

9.  Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (about 1525- 1594) › Devoted his work to the Catholic Church › Rome › Music director at St. Peter’s › 104 masses and 450 other sacred works › Wrote during the Counter-Reformation  Council of Trent (1545-1563)  Felt church music had lost its purity  Some wanted return to monophonic texture  Council ruled – music to composed “to give empty pleasure to the ear,” but to inspire religious contemplation › Palestrina’s works followed these constraints

10.  Most famous mass › Thought to convince Catholic leaders to keep polyphonic works in the church  We know this not true, but this mass was an example to what the church desired › Dedicated to Pope Marcellus II – reigned in 1555  Written for a cappella choir › 6 parts  Kyrie › Rich polyphonic texture › Imitation within parts › Curved melodies › Upward leaps with downward steps › Short text › Starts with a thin texture and with added voices thickens › 3 rd section is faster and louder

11.  Secular vocal music very popular  Music set to poems in various languages  Music printing assisted with the spread of music  Music written for solo voices or solo voices with the accompaniment of one or more instruments  Rapid shifts of mood

12.  Renaissance Madrigal › Madrigal – piece for several solo voices set to a short poem  Typically about love › Homophonic and polyphonic textures › More word painting and unusual harmonies › Originated in Italy around 1520 › Famous composers – Luca Marenzio and Carlo Gesualdo › During Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeares time many were published  Golden age of English music and literature  English madrigal much lighter mood than Italian model

13.  Thomas Weelkes (about 1575-1623) › English Madrigalist, organist and church composer  6 voices  Represents Vesta – Roman goddess of the hearth, Diana – Roman goddess of chasity, hunting and the moon, and Oriana the maiden queen (Queen Elizabeth)  Light mood  Word painting

14.  The Renaissance Lute Song › Solo song for voice and lute  Lute – a plucked strong instrument with a body shaped like a half pear › Versatile  Popular in England from the late 1590s – 1620s  Homophonic in texture

15.  Popular during Shakespeare’s time  Represents someone’s happiness that has been suddenly shattered  Poem written by Dowland  3 sections A, B, and C › Immediately repeated AA, BB, CC  Slow tempo, minor key, descending 4 note melodic pattern

16.  Instrumental music – became somewhat more important during the Renaissance › Accompanied vocalist › 16 th century brought the emancipated from vocal music  More instrumental forms  Instruments only used in specific purposes  Instrumental music intended for dancing

17.  Musicians separated instruments into different classifications by how loud or soft they were.  Instruments now are much louder with a brighter sound today  Important instruments of the time: recorders, shawms, cornetts, sackbuts, lutes, viols, organs, regals, and harpsichord.  Composers did not specify instruments › Todays standardized ensembles did not exist

18.  Pairing contrasting court dances in duple and triple meter  Terpsichore – collection of over 300 dance tunes › Greek Goddess of the dance  Dances originated in Italy › Popular in the 16 th and early 17 th centuries  Passamezzo › Stately dance, duple meter  Guilliard › Quick dance, triple meter

19.  16 th century Venice was a center of instrumental and vocal music  St. Mark’s Cathedral › Colorful and wealthy › Employed up to twenty instrumentalists and thirty singers › Music directors were some of the finest during the era  Venetian school – Adrian Willaert, Andrea Gabrieli, and Giovanni Gabrieli

20.  Giovanni Gabrieli (about 1555-1612) › Native of Venice  Most important Venetian composer of the late Renaissance › Works: organ and instrumental ensemble works and polychoral motets  Polychoral motets – motets for two or more choirs and instruments › Sonata pian e forte (1597) first instrumental ensemble piece with dynamics and instrumentation given by the composer › 2-5 choirs  Large amount of performers › Wide range of register, sonority, and tone color

21.  For a joyful ceremony  Latin texts  Large vocal and instrumental ensemble › 12 parts in 3 choirs › Instrumentation is left to performers