The Renaissance Era (ca 1450-1600)

Renaissance (“rebirth”)

The period ca. 1450-1600 in European history when people turned from the Church to science, pursuing greater individualism, resulting in continuous changes and developments in musical style.

Renaissance origins

Many Church scholars fled from Constantinople in 1453 to Rome, bringing their knowledge of Greek and Hebrew which revived interest in classical antiquity, the visual arts, and music. During this period there was also much grow in astronomy and mathematics, and the invention of the printing press in 1440 allowed music to be reproduced and disseminated (leading to a greater exchange of international styles and influences).

Renaissance features

• A greater use of thirds and fifths in triadic harmony within modal context.

• The development of tonality (toward the end of this era).

• Rich polyphonic texture with imitative counterpoint, complemented with homophonic passages for clear text declamation.

• Vivid word painting (due to the close relationship between text and music).

Franco-Flemish School (aka “the Dutch School” or “the Netherlanders”)

A group of composers who flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries, emerging as musical leaders (including Johannes Ockeghem, Joaquin des Prez, and Jacob Obrecht) by their development of a highly contrapuntal style of imitative vocal polyphony (especially through the Motet and the Mass), and by composing works of lasting significance (works which influenced composers throughout Europe).

Imitative Counterpoint

A type of polyphony associated with the Renaissance style where the motive or theme is passed from one voice to another. Originated from punctis contra punctum, or “note against note.”

Points of Imitation

A series of thematic entries in imitative counterpoint where a motive or theme is passed from one voice to another.

Homorhythmic Texture

All voices sing in the same rhythm, resulting in a chordal or homophonic texture, so that the text (set syllabically) is delivered clearly, while at the same time drawing the listener’s attention to the top voice.

Motet (15th century developments)

A work that is now based on a single text, with a focus on clarity and more direct communication. It became a developing and flourishing genre that composer could use to experiment with new approaches to contrapuntal writing.

Motet (15th century features)

This is a sacred yet non-liturgical genre which features a polyphonic texture of imitative counterpoint that is often contrasted with homorhythmic sections, generally written for four voices with one Latin-based text (so no polytextuality), and makes use of a new era of harmonic language, that of thirds and sixths.

Josquin des Prez (ca 1440-1521)

Similar to Michelangelo, this composer was one of the most significant composers of the Franco-Flemish School, hailed as the greatest composer of his generation. He pursued his career in Italy, under the patronage of the Sforza and d’Este families and in the service of several prestigious churches (including the Sistine Chapel).

His music employs modal and triadic (3rds and 6ths) harmonies, often spiced with dissonance. He was a great master of contrapuntal techniques (canonic writing and imitative counterpoint), expressing the meaning of the text in his vocal settings by employing a syllabic text setting and a closer matching of musical stresses through accentuation of the text and vivid word painting. This resulted in works filled with rich emotional expression, an embodiment of the humanism of his time.

Ave Maria… virgo serena

A motet written ca 1470-1480s in honour of the Virgin Mary. Each stanza reflects a different aspect of her qualities so is musically treated uniquely (“paratactic form”). The opening melody is loosely based on the plainchant melody “Ave Maria” of the sequence of the Feast of the Annunciation.

Musically it features points of imitation, paired imitation, triadic harmony, textual clarity, fairly simple rhythm, and open intervals (fifths and octaves on important cadences).

Mass developments

• Monophonic chants

• 12th and 13th centuries, the chants (especially the Proper) served as the basis for organum.

• 14th century, polyphonic Mass Ordinary began

• Renaissance, polyphonic Mass Ordinary, to explore a wide range of contrapuntal techniques.

Renaissance Mass features

• Unified polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary (4-6 voices)

• Secular songs used as a source for the cantus firmus

• Movements could be linked thematically (same motive:cantus firmus throughout all sections)

• Could be freely composed, with all new material

• Composers combined imitative counterpoint with homorhythmic passages for variety and interest in the text setting.

Compositional devices

Parody, paraphrase, various canonic procedures, and soggetto cavato dalle vocali di queste parole (“a subject carved out of vowels”).

The Reformation

The 16th-century Christian reform in Europe led by Martin Luther, resulting in the formation is Protestantism.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

A German priest who in 1517 posted his “Ninety-Five Theses,” or list of protests to the Catholic Church, which led to the Protestant Reformation. He founded the Lutheran Church, translated his version of the Bible into German, and replaced the elaborate polyphonic settings of the Mass with simple German monophonic hymns.

The Counter-Reformation

The mid-16th century reaction of the Catholic Church to the Protestant Reformation, which included convening the Council of Trent.

Council of Trent

A series of meetings of the highest Catholic Church officials in Trento, Italy, from 1545-1563, which condemned Protestantism and reaffirmed the doctrines of Catholicism, included these points on liturgical music:

1. The text should be clear and intelligible.

2. The counterpoint should not be overly dense or thick.

3. Except for organ, instruments should not be used.

4. Use of the secular cantus firmus was banned.

5. Displays of virtuosity should be avoided.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)

The most important Catholic composer of the 16th century, associated with the Counter-Reformation, who composed reverent, spiritual works (reflecting his own deep Faith) in a polyphonic, a cappella style which is balanced with homorhythmic textures for chordal declamation.

His approach to Masses included a cantus firmus, parody, paraphrase, and canon, with individual vocal lines for 4-6 parts that move by step or narrow leap, carefully avoiding or immediately resolving dissonance. He achieved textual clarity through chordal texture, clear-cut phrases, and musical accents that corresponded with the text. His style, named after him, has served as a model for counterpoint students to this day.

Gloria from Missa Papae Marcelli

A polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary from 1567 which was written to exemplify the ability to write polyphony with textual clarity. This work is through-composed for 6 voices, although all are rarely heard together, which allows for texture changes through different combinations of voices. The counterpoint is restrained, with a limited and controlled use of imitation. The predominantly syllabic and homorhythmic text setting makes the words easy to understand, and allows the work to deliver the spiritual message with the music enhancing rather than distracting from it.

Madrigal

A popular secular vocal genre that flourished in the 16th century, based on an intimate relationship between poetry and music. It features vivid word painting, and paved the way for the emergence of opera at the end of the 16th century.

Word painting

A musical pictoralization in vocal music where the music reflects the meaning of the text, and is employed in madrigals, operas, and oratorios.

Nonsense syllables

Syllables with no meaning (ex. “fa-la-la” or “nonny-nonny-no”), a characteristic feature of the English madrigal.

Chromaticism (khroma, colour)

Melodies or harmonies that include all of the notes available within the octave, in either tonal or modal context.

Ballett (“little dance”)

A 16th-century Italian and English strophic song type embraced by English madrigalists that generally is in simple dance-like style and often included “fa-la-la” refrains.

Madrigal origins

A secular dance that flourished in small aristocratic courts in Italy (Venice, Ferrara, and Mantua) before gaining widespread popularity in Europe and England. Initially it was homophonic, focusing on bringing pleasure to the performers (amateur musicians), then later evolved into a more complex polyphonic texture with increased chromaticism for an aristocratic audience, until (in the final decades of the 16th century and the early 17th century) it assumed a highly mannered, virtuosic style (the personal expression of the composer), and finally (in the early 17th century) it featured elements of the Baroque style (ex. basso continuo, and a dramatic, declaratory style).

Madrigal features

The musical expression of poems of a lyric or reflective character about love and desire, politics, humour, and satire, which were through-composed with the prominent word painting of ideas, images, and emotions. The late style featured chromaticism as an expressive device.

Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)

An aristocratic Italian composer and lutenist who in his madrigals employed an intensely emotional, highly mannered experimental style, extravagant word painting, the frequent use of repetition, and (shockingly in his time) exaggerated chromaticism with a high level of dissonance, abrupt harmonic shifts, and chord changes. He wrote his own texts, which often reflected guilt and remorse, and employed a virtuosic style which required skilled performers.

He wrote six books of madrigals (including Il sesto Libro di Madridigali). In his personal life he murdered his wife and her lover.

Moro, lasso, al mio duolo

An Italian polyphonic work from 1611 for 5 a cappella voices which exemplifies the complexity and refinement its genre achieved as it evolved and developed. The exaggerated use of chromaticism and word painting employed (ex. the descending chromatic line representing death and grief, and the greater rhythmic activity on vita reflecting the energy of life) is representative of the highly mannered late-Renaissance style.

Musica Transalpina (music beyond the Alps)

The first printed collection of Italian madrigals in England (the first volume containing 57 pieces by 18 Italian composers) which was published in London in 1588 after being compiled by the editor and singer Nicholas Yonge. The enthusiasm for Italian madrigals had spread to England in the 1580s, and this collection inspired English composers to write madrigals in their mother tongue.

Thomas Morley (ca 1557-2602)

Am English composer, organist, virtuoso keyboardist, and music publisher who is best known for his English madrigals, balletts, and canzonets, which demonstrate both homorhythmic and contrapuntal textures, the use of nonsense syllables, easily singable melodic lines, and which generally have a light-hearted character. The style of William Byrd influenced his sacred vocal works.

He wrote Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke in 1597, a work giving instructions to performers and composers, providing valuable information about 16th-century performance practices.

(He lived in England at the same time as Shakespeare.)

My Bonny Lass She Smileth

Am English madrigal from 1595 which exemplifies the different character the English madrigal took (which, unlike the Italian madrigal, used pastoral texts and nonsense syllables). It was based on the Italian madrigal Questa dolce sirena (Giacomo Gastoldi) written four years prior, but was transformed into an English ballett with strophic form, a largely homophonic texture, and a dance-like character.

This madrigal has a lively, light-hearted mood, and its largely syllabic text setting and homorhythmic texture project the text with clarity, with the homophonic verses alternating with the imitative “fa-la-la” refrains.

Variations

A work based on the statement of a melody followed by a series of transformations, achieved through changes of melody, harmony, or rhythm.

Harpsichord

A keyboard instrument whose sound is generated by small quills which pluck the strings inside the instrument, and such generally has 2 manuals.

Virginal

A generic term for all plucked keyboard instruments in England which were generally smaller and lighter than the harpsichord, some being able to be placed on a tabletop or even held in a player’s lap.

Idiomatic writing

A compositional style that was developed in the late Renaissance and Baroque eras, which highlights the unique technical capabilities of an instrument. (*Opposite of “generic.”)

Keyboard Music origins

At first, the organ was the predominant keyboard, as it enjoyed an exalted position in the Roman Catholic Church from the earliest days. The earliest notated music is in the Robertsbridge Codex (1325), although the pieces are not idiomatic (written for 2 octaves and included arrangements based on vocal models and dances in the Italian style). In the 17th century though, keyboard instruments (organ, harpsichord, clavichord) emerged as prominent instruments, each with its own repertoire, which the growth of music publishing helped greatly to develop.

Whole consort

Instruments of one family.

Broken consort

Mixed combinations of instruments.

The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book

A historically significant collection of English keyboard music from the early 17th century, named after the patron who donated the manuscript to Cambridge University in 1816, but which in fact was likely compiled by Francis Tregian (an amateur musician). This collection is included nearly 300 idiomatic, virtuosic keyboard works which range in style from dances to fantasies, preludes, arrangements of songs and madrigals, to variations, which therein represent the English keyboard composers of the time.

(*The works were often given fanciful names, such as The King’s Hunt and The Ghost.)

William Byrd (1540-1623)

An important English virginal composer and the Renaissance composer and singer of the Chapel Royal, who composed sacred works for both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Church, in English and in Latin, as well as songs for solo voice accompanied by consort of viols (a distinctly English genre) and idiomatic keyboard works (which are well-represented in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book).

The Carman’s Whistle

A solo-keyboard work from before 1591 that is based on a popular 16th-century tune that was in a lilting compound meter, had 4 phrases in AA1BB1, and whose melody consisted mostly of steps, skips, and narrow leaps. The composer of the keyboard work follows the theme by 8 variations of texture and rhythm.