The Renaissance and Renaissance Music

Overview of the Renaissance

  • Definition & Spirit: Renaissance ("rebirth", 1350 – 1600) marked a revival of ancient Greek and Roman culture.

  • Core Focus: Focused on human experience, a scientific method based on observation, and arts guided by sensory experience.

  • Key Concepts: Humanism, exploration, classicism, reformation, education, and new attitudes.

The Last Supper by Leonardo da VinciThe School of Athens by Raffaello

Musical Characteristics & Techniques

  • General Features: Favors a cappella sonorities, consonant harmonies, carefully controlled dissonance, mixed textures, and subtle expression of feelings.

  • Paraphrase: Values the melodic character of chant by giving it specific meter, rhythm, embellishments, and sensuous appeal.

  • Homophony: Texture where the top voice dominates and lower voices support with chords in matching rhythm, creating a "block chord" feel.

  • Imitation (Imitative Counterpoint): Polyphonic texture where melodic voices enter sequentially with the same melody, transposed higher or lower with each entrance.

Score excerpt from Missa Pange Lingua by Josquin des Prez showing imitative entrances

High Renaissance Style & Expression

  • High Renaissance Style: Defined by a cappella texture, medium register, smooth melodies, consonant chords, metric structure without strong accents, and alternating imitation and homophony.

  • Accurate Declamation: Setting text to music so rhythms closely match natural speech.

  • Word Painting: Musical illustration of the meaning of words or phrases (e.g., rapid notes for "fly" or "glitter", high notes for "up", descending motives for "sigh", and dissonance for "grief," "cruel," or "harsh").

Musical score demonstrating word painting on the text Fly, Love, aloft to heav'n

Secular Music & Key Repertoire

  • Guillaume DuFay (d. 1474): Ave Ave Maris Stella (Marian antiphon contrasting chant monophony with paraphrased homophony).

  • Josquin des Prez (d. 1521):

    • Missa Pange Lingua (Kyrie & Agnus Dei; incorporates original chant across movements for unity).

    • El Grillo (Frottola published by Ottaviano Petrucci in 1505; uses word painting with rapid notes and register jumps to imitate a cricket).

  • Heinrich Isaac (d. 1517): Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen (1485 Tenorlied; uses clear homophony and accurate declamation to lament leaving Innsbruck for Florence).

  • Claudin de Sermisy (d. 1562): Tant Que Vivrey (c. 1520 Chanson with text by court poet Clément Marot during employment under King Francis I).

  • Adriano Banchieri (d. 1634): Capricciata e Contrappunto Bestiale alla Mente (c. 1608 Madrigal for Carnival from the madrigal comedy Festino nella sera del Giovedì grasso avanti cena).