Renaissance Music Study Guide

Quiz: 11/20/23

Burgundian School

A group of composers in what is now Northern and Eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands

Centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. 

Canon/Round

The follower's voice sings the same music as the leader's voice beginning anytime after the leader has started but before the leader stops 

Cantus Firmus

Fixed song; composers borrowed a melody from a popular song put it in the tenor line and augmented it; sometimes, the original text would be left in; used mostly in masses(made the congregation pay attention) 

Chant (or plainsong or Gregorian chant)

One line of music; monophonic 

Council of Trent (effect on music)

 The Council of Trent considered banning polyphonic music; seductive or impure melodies had been added to the mass (criticism of Luther) so Palestrina submitted sacred polyphonic music to a special commission to preserve polyphonic music 

Franco-Flemish music/tradition

Flemish composers; Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France- later influence moves to Germany, England and Spain, vibrant musical life and development of polyphonic compositions 

Homophonic

Common; one line of melody with instrumental accompaniment/similar voices 

Mass

 Polyphonic choral work with 5 sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei

Kyrie

(“Lord have mercy…”) 

Gloria

(“Glory to God in the highest…”) 

Credo

(“We believe…”) 

Sanctus

(“Holy, holy, holy…”)

Angus Dei

(“Lamb of God…”)

Monophonic

One line of music

Motet

Polyphonic choral work set to sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass

Example of motet

Hail Mary

Madrigal

A piece of several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love. Combines homophonic and polyphonic textures. More unusual harmonies 

Polyphonic

More than one line of music- harmony- more than one melody 

Saint Mark’s Cathedral

Became the center of Venetian musical life- style and ways of considering music suite

Pavane

Duple meter; a slow processional dance used to carry couples to the front of the court room to present themselves to the queen 

Galliard

Triple meter; an athletic dance, characterized by leaps, jumps, hops, and other similar figures 

Morris Dance

Peasant dance

Tarantella

Italian peasant dance 

Guillaume Dufay

1400-1474: Leader composer of the Burgundian school (from the Burgundy region of France); set up rules for using imitation to augment melody; first person to convert folk songs to sacred music= cantus firmus 

Josquin des Pres

A flemish composer from Belgium, contemporary of Leonardo Da Vinci and Columbus, “motivic cells”- short, easily recognizable melodic fragments which pass from voice to voice in a contrapuntal texture, giving a piece an inner unity

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:

Had 104 masses and some 450 other sacred works; for centuries, is masses are regarded as models of church music- saved polyphonic music- submitted sacred polyphonic music to a special commission to preserve polyphonic music 

Giovanni Gabrielli

The most important Venetian composer of the late Renaissance; choir director at St. Mark’s; invented orchestrated music (music for specific instruments)- polychoral motets, plaudite (written for large vocal and instrumental ensemble of 12 voice parts divided into 3 choirs: low, middle, and high register choirs) 

Recorder

Has a whistle-like mechanism in the mouthpiece to produce the sound

Viol (da gamba or da bracca)

Precursor of the cello- an over-large viola held between the legs (“gamba”) 

A viol da braccio (arm) was smaller held on the arm like a modern day viola

Shawm

The most important double reed instrument of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The shrill piercing tone of the medieval shawm made it suitable for use outdoors. Still found in Asian and European folk cultures today. Enlivened the palace courtyard and market square of the 16th century and added to the general din and confusion associated with them

Crumhorn

Played a serious role in all kinds of renaissance music from fences to madrigals to church music. Covered double reed instrument (similar to the Shawm) 

Organetto

Has limited air supply- could only play one note at a time. It was used for monophonic dance, music, or a single part in a motet, chanson, or other polyphonic work 

Cornetto/Zink

Has a fingering system similar to the flute or recorder- 6 finger holes  and a thumb hole, made of wood, covered in leather, made in two halves at leather helps keep it together, has a mouthpiece, can play high and low, sounds close to the human voice  

Hurdy Gurdy

Long enough to require two performers, one to crank, and one to push the keys. Single player instruments developed in the 13th century when the hurdy-gurdy became the ideal instrument for dance music 

Cornamuse

Covered at the bottom, around the bell have several little holes where the sound comes from. Similar to crumhorns in sound but are quieter, lovelier, and softer, they might just be named soft crumhorns 

Harpsichord

Used for both solo performance and accompanying in chamber groups and in large ensembles of the period; string instrument 

Sacbut

Trombone from the Renaissance and Baroque eras 

Lute

Held the highest respect of all musical instruments and was an ideal accompaniment for voice and other soft instruments 

Serpent

Probably invented in 1590 by Edme Guillaume, a canon at Auxerre; was used in sacred music to reinforce low men’s voices- later evolved into the tuba 

Rebec

An instrument of the lower classes, not the court. Bowing may have been an attempt to create an instrument similar to imitating a voice. Gave stringed instruments the sustaining power necessary to play a continuous melodic line 

Mountain Dulcimer

Fretted, generally played on the lap by plucking 

Hammer Dulcimer

Free-standing, trapezoidal, with horizontal strings struck by handheld “hammers”

Bower Dulcimer

Teardrop-shaped and played upright with a box