1. Unit IV: The Renaissance
Chapter 14: The Renaissance Spirit

2. Renaissance Spirit Renaissance 15th & 16th centuries in Europe
worth of the individual
insatiable searching for knowledge
term borrowed from art history
“rebirth”
birth of modern Europe and Western society as we know it today

3. Renaissance Spirit Major Developments philosophical Historical
“humanism”
“rebirth” of classical learning
emphasis on human life now
Church less powerful
education considered status symbol
from religious to secular society
Historical
Columbus, Magellan….

4. Renaissance Spirit Inventions and Discoveries inventions Science
printing press
gunpowder
Science
universe revolves around the sun, not the earth
theology
Martin Luther and Reformation

5. Renaissance Spirit Painting
patrons include Church plus wealthy families (Medici)
secular subjects mixed with sacred
portrait painting
depth perception

6. “School of Athens” by Raphael (1483-1520)

7. Renaissance Spirit Sculpture “Renaissance” man
emphasize physical details of human figure
expressed, but controlled emotion
Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo

8. “David” by Donatello (1386?-1466)

9. “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

10. “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci

11. “David” by Michelangelo (1475-1564)

12. Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo

13. “Creation of Adam”

14. Renaissance Spirit Renaissance Musical Style
musical training = part of general education
more secular music

15. Renaissance Spirit characteristics of music
still more vocal than instrumental
“word painting”
polyphonic texture
more “consonant” harmony
gentle rhythms… conjunct melody
“a cappella”

16. Renaissance Sacred Music
Early Renaissance Mass
5 parts of Ordinary (Text, pg. 102)
Kyrie
from the Greek
ABA form (Kyrie - Christe - Kyrie)
Gloria
“Glory be to God on High”
Credo
“I believe in one God…”
longest text

17. Renaissance Sacred Music
Sanctus
“Holy, Holy, Holy…”… “Hosanna”
Agnus Dei
Lamb of God
sung 3 times
Requiem Mass
“Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine” (Grant them eternal rest, O Lord)
Dies Irae

18. Renaissance Sacred Music
Cantus Firmus Mass
“fixed melody”
cantus firmus = foundation of work
unify
initially, CF = from Gregorian Chant
to … same Gregorian CF for each of 5 parts
to … secular CF

19. Renaissance Sacred Music
Guillaume Dufay ( )
“G. duFay” (du - “fa” - y)
L’homme armeé Mass: Kyrie Text, pg. 104
secular CF “L’homme armeé” (The Armed Man)
Renaissance Motet
sacred form with a single, Latin text
used in Mass, etc.

20. Renaissance Sacred Music
3-4 voices
based on Chant or other melodies
Josquin des Prez (c )
Franco-Flemish (Netherlands) School
Ave Maria…virgo serena Text, pg. 106

21. Renaissance Sacred Music
High Renaissance Mass
musical settings for the Ordinary
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
Counter-Reformation
recapture minds of the people
Council of Trent

22. Renaissance Sacred Music
Objections
“noisy” instrument in service
secular popular songs in Mass
singers embellishing the chant
complex, polyphonic settings
Solution: Monophonic chant only!!
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina c
100 + masses

23. Renaissance Sacred Music
“Pope Marcellus” Mass
Pope Marcellus II
6 voices
a cappella
audible text
Text, pg. 110

24. Renaissance Secular Music
Instrumental dance music
last half of 16th century
written by professional composers
patterned after secular vocal works
Secular vocal music
2 types
Renaissance (15th century) Chanson
3 voices
courtly love text
“fixed form” of Middle Ages

25. Renaissance Secular Music
Renaissance Madrigal
vocal work for several solo voices set to short poem, usually about love
“word painting”
often include instruments
2 types: Italian and English

26. Renaissance Secular Music
16th C. Italian madrigal
3 composers
Luca Marenzio ( )
over 400
excessive word painting and dissonance
Carlo Gesualdo (c )
prince of Venosa
had wife and her lover murdered
Claudio Monteverdi ( )
12 years for Duke of Mantua
30 St. Mark’s in Venice

27. Renaissance Secular Music
8 books of Madrigals
Ecco mormorar l’onde (Hear, now, the waves murmur)
Text – nature
“word painting”
Criticized – use of “unprepared” dissonance
“high” voices vs. “low” voices
Ferrara – professional women singers
Text, pg. 118

28. Renaissance Secular Music
English Madrigal
Musica Transalpina (1588)
Italian madrigals with texts translated into English
Elizabethan age
Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, and Thomas Weelkes
English version lighter and more humor
“ballett” (“fa-la-la” refrain)

29. Renaissance to Baroque
“Fair Phyllis” (Text, pg. 121)
John Farmer
St. Mark’s
more than one vocal ensemble
“Cori spezzati”
divide choir and instruments
“Polychoral” music - antiphonal style
Giovanni Gabrielli
“Sonata pian’ e forte”
O quam suavis, Text, pg. 125