Renaissance Exam Vocab

Florence Cathedral

Completed by Brunelleschi, the dome was one of the first free-standing domes in Europe - an architectural marvel

Filippo Brunelleschi

Florentine architect who was the first great architect of the Italian Renaissance; built first dome over Cathedral of Florence

Contenance angloise

- Written by John Dunstable

- Style of polyphony

- Fauxboudon: first inversions (in the English/pan-consonant style)

Pan-consonance

emphasis on consonance (rather than dissonance)

John Dunstable

- Traveled to France in the wake of the invasion of King Henry V

- Wrote one isorhythmic motet: Veni creator spiritus/veni sancta spiritus

- Quam Pulcra Es

Guillaume Dufay

- early Renaissance composer

- one of the last significant isorhythmic motets, dedicated to the dome on the Florence Cathedral: Nuper rosarum flores

- Cantus Firmus mass: Missa L'homme arme

- First mass where tenor isn't the lowest voice

Cantus Firmus Mass

A pre-existing tune is used as the cactus firmus/structural voice

Paraphrase Mass

based on monophonic model, but sections of the tune appear as a point of imitation in all voices

Parody Mass

based on a polyphonic pre-existing piece and uses multiple parts of the original tune

Johannes Ockeghem

- Franco-Flemish composer

- 1st Music Dictionary

- 1st to use imitation as structural tool

- Missa Prolationum: mensuration canon, best contrapuntal work 15th century (Kyrie 4 time signatures)

Quattrocento Period

- 1400s in Italy

- Florence, secular was king

- Carnival songs, Lauda, Frottola

- Lorenzo de Medici: Sian galanti de Valenza

Carnival Songs

- led up to Lent

- wine, revelry, and carnal pleasure

- short, homophonic pieces in three parts

Lauda

- Sacred counterpart to carnival songs

- NOT in Latin, local vernacular

- Contrafactum

- Girolamo Savonarola

- Giesu sommo conforto

Contrafactum

something fashioned for something else. (putting christian lyrics to a secular song)

Frottola

- Secular, polyphonic settings of a variety of strophic Italian poetry

- Forerunner of madrigals

- Petrucci: 11 books of Frottola

- Josquin Des Prez: El grillo e bon cantore

Josquin des Prez

- Franco-Flemish composer

- Bridge between Dufay and Palestrina

- Mastered all compositional techniques of his day

- Sacred and secular music

- First to have his music published in series of prints

- Long contrapuntal lines

- Beautiful melodies

- Highly developed imitative techniques

- Concern for expressing the text

- Paraphrase Mass: Missa Pange Lingua

- Motet: Miserere Mei Deus

15th Century Motet

- Predominantly 3rd and 6ths

- Single text line

- Primarily sacred and set in Latin

- Homorhythmic and homophonic

- Fauxbourdon (basically first inversion chords)

- Burgundian lands

- Dufay and Dunstable

16th Century Motet

- Sacred, but NOT liturgical

- 3rds and 6ths, singable, five to six voices

- Seamless polyphony: long, overlapping phrases

- One line of text with imitation

Guttenburg Bible

Bible printed by Johanne Gutenburg. The first time scriptures were translated from Latin to German.

Petrucci

developed polyphonic music printing

Lied

German art song

Tenorlied

Existing tune placed in the tenor with other voices enhancing it with light polyphony

Martin Luther

- Nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenburg

- Did NOT want to start a new church, but reform the current one

- 1526: Luther published a Deutsche Messe (German Mass)

Lutheran Chorale

- German

- Congregational singing and accessibility

- Homophonic

- Eventually became more complex works (J.S. Bach)

- 16th century: remained 4-part, accessible, and strophic

Indulgences

Selling of forgiveness by the Catholic Church. It was common practice when the church needed to raise money. The practice led to the Reformation.

95 Theses

- nailed to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517 and is widely seen as being the catalyst that started the Protestant Reformation.

- It contained Luther's list of accusations against the Roman Catholic Church.

Reformation

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches.

Council of Trent

- 1545-1563

- Clergy in Italian Alps to address concerns of Martin Luther

- Beginning of the Counter Reformation

- TOO LATE

- Single most influential series of documents until the Second Vatican Council

- Addressed 2 main excesses in sacred music: imitation and parody

- Music must me simpler: NO more cantus firmus/parody Mass settings on secular tunes

- NO more instruments (A Capella Sistina - In the Style of the Sistine Chapel)

Palestrina

- 1525-1594

- Born in Palestrina, small town outside of Rome, devout Catholic

- Spent nearly all of his life in churches around the Vatican

- Maestro di capella (chapel master), later maestro compositore (master composer) at St. Peter's Basilica

- Determined to demonstrate to Council of Trent that polyphony could be used in easier ways

- SAVIOR OF CHURCH MUSIC

- Placed voices in trios/duets with counterpoint interwoven. Dominant text line

- Mature style and culmination of the high Renaissance

- Points of imitation

- Seen as a model of 16th Century counterpoint

- Prima Prattica vs. Seconda Prattica (like Ars Nova and Ars Antiqua)

- Missa Papae Marcelli (Mass for Pope Marcellus)

Points of Imitation

each phrase of text is assigned its own motive, which appears, in turn, in each voice. Eventually, a cadence is reached, then a new point is established.

Missa Papae Marcelli

- Written by Palestrina

- Written to demonstrate how polyphony could be used with the text still remained clear

- 6 voices in pairs, counterpoint interwoven

- Points of imitation

Thomas Luis da Victoria

- 1548-1611

- Contemporary of Palestrina, lived in Spain

- Similar to Palestrina, but very much his own language

- O Magnum Mysterium

Henry VIII

- King after reformation

- Wanted a catholic church with no pope

- Broke away from pope in 1534 to divorce Catherine of Aragon

- Head of the church in England

- Launched war against monasteries, destroyed books and music in them

Thomas Tallis

- 1505-1585

- Wrote 2 masses, 2 magnificats, 30 motets

- A Gentleman of the Chapel Royal

- Lots of English Anthems

- Was Catholic, but wrote for Catholic, Anglican, and Puritan

- Wrote a 40-voice motet: Spem in Alium

William Byrd

- Wrote 2 books of graduals, 3 masses, many smaller works

- Pupil of Tallis

- Underground Catholic composer

- O Lord, make thy servant, Elizabeth

Orlando Gibbons

- English Anthem: This is the Record of John

English Anthem

- Scared vocal composition, much like a latin Motet, invoking the Lord to preserve and protect the English King/Queen

- In English

- Imitative sections

- Rhythmically square

- More syllabic than motets

- Shorter phrases than motets

Contrapuntal sections with melismas still present

- Could be accompanied or unaccompanied

English Anthem: Verse Anthem

- Soloist + Tutti

English Anthem: Full Anthem

- No Soloist; All Tutti

English Virginals