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I've just been doing some research in to the musical Renaissance for the opening part of my Music Tech AS. Some of it is actually quite interesting. Below is a short essay, discussing the main features of the era. If nothing else, it could serve as something of an antidote to the 'I like this band, but I hate that band' threads which seem to have taken over.
Oh, and if you do bother to read it (and I don't expect you to), I would be genuinely interested to hear your opinions on either the era or the music (or the quality of writing!).
Cheers
------------------------------------------------
‘Renaissance Music’ is a term loosely used to refer to music composed between the mid-15th Century and the end of the 16th Century. With a literal meaning of ‘rebirth’, the term Renaissance is borrowed from the fields of literature and art, which was also undergoing a reawakening after the lengthy dull period of the middle ages.
One of the most obvious progressions made during the Renaissance period was that of moving from the older tradition of successive composition (i.e. the medieval tendency to work out one voice at a time) to simultaneous composition. Instead of only featuring a single voice, simultaneous composition became a texture of four parts, where each part was written for one of the principal ranges of the human voice – soprano, alto, tenor and bass. While the written songs tended to avoid the inclusion of instruments, simple instruments were often used in the performances, allowing a steady evolution of harmonies.
The main developers of these techniques were the composers of the Flemish School (increasingly international music heavily influenced by the French styles) and their successors. In particular, Josquin de Prés and his generation refined the musical technique of imitation, which became the accepted method of polyphonic writing in the first half of the 16th Century. This caused the previous method of writing – cantus firmus (polyphonic compositions based around a pre-defined fixed melody’) – to be regarded as old-fashioned.
The leading characteristic of imitative polyphony was the direct relation of the themes to the words, which, in secular music, was carried further in to the realms of word-painting (letting melodic devices echo the mood of the text) and word-symbolism – most obvious in the madrigal.
The ‘classic’ Italian madrigal became widely known and very popular towards the second half of the 16th Century. It was written in imitative polyphony, often in five parts, and frequently made use of word-painting and word-symbolism. Later madrigals, such as those composed by Montiverdi were less restrained in their use of word-painting and chromaticism, adding more dramatic effects to both the melodic line and the choral texture. Montiverdi’s works can also be used to illustrate how the imitative madrigal progressed to the madrigal for solos, duets or trios (accompanied by the continuo) – this came about as a result of dramatic expression on the part of the composer. Through such composers as Weelkes and Morley, the English madrigal quickly developed its own characteristics from that of the Italian madrigal; the distinctive secular songs composed by Byrd and Gibbons had heavily influenced it. However, the English madrigal relied less on the texts and more on the music itself.
Musical rhythms in the Renaissance era tended to be simpler and more controlled (less ‘florid’ than that of the early 15th Century), and dissonance became more regulated and orthodox. At the same time, instrumental pieces were beginning to emerge, due to the increase in the simplicity of printing sheet music. Also, the musical modes had begun to be replaced by the more standard keys of major and minor.
During the later Renaissance, many attempts were made to revive more old-fashioned musical practices – particularly those of the Greeks. The polyphonic style was heavily criticised by Galilei (who contributed to the creation solo song which heavily influenced the early operas), leading to the relatively brief emergence of monody – a solo song with instrumental accompaniment, such as the madrigal for voice and lute, rather than the more widely used a cappella madrigal.
Not all Renaissance music was secular, however. In particular, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is reputed to have ‘saved’ church music from - he was totally committed to keeping sacred vocal music alive and strong. Born near Rome, he was brought up in the ways of the Church and spent the majority of his career in various chapels. While he did write several secular pieces during his life, he later claimed to be embarrassed at having written them. Instead, he wrote ‘spritual’ madrigals – the same sort of music, but without being tainted by a secular text.
Overall, the Renaissance was the first major revolution in music for a long time. As a result, music was able to develop much more substantially, thanks to the work of the innovative composers of the 15th and 16 Centuries.
---------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading!
Oh, and if you do bother to read it (and I don't expect you to), I would be genuinely interested to hear your opinions on either the era or the music (or the quality of writing!).
Cheers
------------------------------------------------
‘Renaissance Music’ is a term loosely used to refer to music composed between the mid-15th Century and the end of the 16th Century. With a literal meaning of ‘rebirth’, the term Renaissance is borrowed from the fields of literature and art, which was also undergoing a reawakening after the lengthy dull period of the middle ages.
One of the most obvious progressions made during the Renaissance period was that of moving from the older tradition of successive composition (i.e. the medieval tendency to work out one voice at a time) to simultaneous composition. Instead of only featuring a single voice, simultaneous composition became a texture of four parts, where each part was written for one of the principal ranges of the human voice – soprano, alto, tenor and bass. While the written songs tended to avoid the inclusion of instruments, simple instruments were often used in the performances, allowing a steady evolution of harmonies.
The main developers of these techniques were the composers of the Flemish School (increasingly international music heavily influenced by the French styles) and their successors. In particular, Josquin de Prés and his generation refined the musical technique of imitation, which became the accepted method of polyphonic writing in the first half of the 16th Century. This caused the previous method of writing – cantus firmus (polyphonic compositions based around a pre-defined fixed melody’) – to be regarded as old-fashioned.
The leading characteristic of imitative polyphony was the direct relation of the themes to the words, which, in secular music, was carried further in to the realms of word-painting (letting melodic devices echo the mood of the text) and word-symbolism – most obvious in the madrigal.
The ‘classic’ Italian madrigal became widely known and very popular towards the second half of the 16th Century. It was written in imitative polyphony, often in five parts, and frequently made use of word-painting and word-symbolism. Later madrigals, such as those composed by Montiverdi were less restrained in their use of word-painting and chromaticism, adding more dramatic effects to both the melodic line and the choral texture. Montiverdi’s works can also be used to illustrate how the imitative madrigal progressed to the madrigal for solos, duets or trios (accompanied by the continuo) – this came about as a result of dramatic expression on the part of the composer. Through such composers as Weelkes and Morley, the English madrigal quickly developed its own characteristics from that of the Italian madrigal; the distinctive secular songs composed by Byrd and Gibbons had heavily influenced it. However, the English madrigal relied less on the texts and more on the music itself.
Musical rhythms in the Renaissance era tended to be simpler and more controlled (less ‘florid’ than that of the early 15th Century), and dissonance became more regulated and orthodox. At the same time, instrumental pieces were beginning to emerge, due to the increase in the simplicity of printing sheet music. Also, the musical modes had begun to be replaced by the more standard keys of major and minor.
During the later Renaissance, many attempts were made to revive more old-fashioned musical practices – particularly those of the Greeks. The polyphonic style was heavily criticised by Galilei (who contributed to the creation solo song which heavily influenced the early operas), leading to the relatively brief emergence of monody – a solo song with instrumental accompaniment, such as the madrigal for voice and lute, rather than the more widely used a cappella madrigal.
Not all Renaissance music was secular, however. In particular, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is reputed to have ‘saved’ church music from - he was totally committed to keeping sacred vocal music alive and strong. Born near Rome, he was brought up in the ways of the Church and spent the majority of his career in various chapels. While he did write several secular pieces during his life, he later claimed to be embarrassed at having written them. Instead, he wrote ‘spritual’ madrigals – the same sort of music, but without being tainted by a secular text.
Overall, the Renaissance was the first major revolution in music for a long time. As a result, music was able to develop much more substantially, thanks to the work of the innovative composers of the 15th and 16 Centuries.
---------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading – glad someone did! I tend to use ‘-‘ quite a lot, since I tend to type as I speak – with pauses. See, I just did it again. Although I know what you mean; my teachers tell me my essays are hard going as well. Maybe I should do something about it.
As far as those dates go, because nobody was particularly academic at the time (and I doubt they knew they would be studied in detail several centuries later!), no one bothered to write down the exact dates of compositions. Damn them.
But anyway, Mr Belldandy, thanks a lot for bothering to read. I’ll take those criticisms on board, and may come up with better posts as a result!
As far as those dates go, because nobody was particularly academic at the time (and I doubt they knew they would be studied in detail several centuries later!), no one bothered to write down the exact dates of compositions. Damn them.
But anyway, Mr Belldandy, thanks a lot for bothering to read. I’ll take those criticisms on board, and may come up with better posts as a result!
Well ,I read it, and kinda understood it (baring in mind I have musical knowledge that extends no further than the new video's on MTV and hated GCSE music with a passion). Kinda, basically, music went from one person singing it to multiple people who each had parts suited to a certain part of the overall music/song, and there were different styles of doing this and it also changed how music/songs were written down.
It reads well but I thought some of the sentences were overly long, mainly the ones you've used "-" in and brackets. The only other thing that I thought would make it better would be some actual dates, if possible, for some of the things you mention, jsut to break away from the 15th/16th century references.
Anyway, a nice post and better than what most are doing at the moment, even if I didn't understand a lot of it :)
~~Belldandy~~
It reads well but I thought some of the sentences were overly long, mainly the ones you've used "-" in and brackets. The only other thing that I thought would make it better would be some actual dates, if possible, for some of the things you mention, jsut to break away from the 15th/16th century references.
Anyway, a nice post and better than what most are doing at the moment, even if I didn't understand a lot of it :)
~~Belldandy~~
I've just been doing some research in to the musical Renaissance for the opening part of my Music Tech AS. Some of it is actually quite interesting. Below is a short essay, discussing the main features of the era. If nothing else, it could serve as something of an antidote to the 'I like this band, but I hate that band' threads which seem to have taken over.
Oh, and if you do bother to read it (and I don't expect you to), I would be genuinely interested to hear your opinions on either the era or the music (or the quality of writing!).
Cheers
------------------------------------------------
‘Renaissance Music’ is a term loosely used to refer to music composed between the mid-15th Century and the end of the 16th Century. With a literal meaning of ‘rebirth’, the term Renaissance is borrowed from the fields of literature and art, which was also undergoing a reawakening after the lengthy dull period of the middle ages.
One of the most obvious progressions made during the Renaissance period was that of moving from the older tradition of successive composition (i.e. the medieval tendency to work out one voice at a time) to simultaneous composition. Instead of only featuring a single voice, simultaneous composition became a texture of four parts, where each part was written for one of the principal ranges of the human voice – soprano, alto, tenor and bass. While the written songs tended to avoid the inclusion of instruments, simple instruments were often used in the performances, allowing a steady evolution of harmonies.
The main developers of these techniques were the composers of the Flemish School (increasingly international music heavily influenced by the French styles) and their successors. In particular, Josquin de Prés and his generation refined the musical technique of imitation, which became the accepted method of polyphonic writing in the first half of the 16th Century. This caused the previous method of writing – cantus firmus (polyphonic compositions based around a pre-defined fixed melody’) – to be regarded as old-fashioned.
The leading characteristic of imitative polyphony was the direct relation of the themes to the words, which, in secular music, was carried further in to the realms of word-painting (letting melodic devices echo the mood of the text) and word-symbolism – most obvious in the madrigal.
The ‘classic’ Italian madrigal became widely known and very popular towards the second half of the 16th Century. It was written in imitative polyphony, often in five parts, and frequently made use of word-painting and word-symbolism. Later madrigals, such as those composed by Montiverdi were less restrained in their use of word-painting and chromaticism, adding more dramatic effects to both the melodic line and the choral texture. Montiverdi’s works can also be used to illustrate how the imitative madrigal progressed to the madrigal for solos, duets or trios (accompanied by the continuo) – this came about as a result of dramatic expression on the part of the composer. Through such composers as Weelkes and Morley, the English madrigal quickly developed its own characteristics from that of the Italian madrigal; the distinctive secular songs composed by Byrd and Gibbons had heavily influenced it. However, the English madrigal relied less on the texts and more on the music itself.
Musical rhythms in the Renaissance era tended to be simpler and more controlled (less ‘florid’ than that of the early 15th Century), and dissonance became more regulated and orthodox. At the same time, instrumental pieces were beginning to emerge, due to the increase in the simplicity of printing sheet music. Also, the musical modes had begun to be replaced by the more standard keys of major and minor.
During the later Renaissance, many attempts were made to revive more old-fashioned musical practices – particularly those of the Greeks. The polyphonic style was heavily criticised by Galilei (who contributed to the creation solo song which heavily influenced the early operas), leading to the relatively brief emergence of monody – a solo song with instrumental accompaniment, such as the madrigal for voice and lute, rather than the more widely used a cappella madrigal.
Not all Renaissance music was secular, however. In particular, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is reputed to have ‘saved’ church music from - he was totally committed to keeping sacred vocal music alive and strong. Born near Rome, he was brought up in the ways of the Church and spent the majority of his career in various chapels. While he did write several secular pieces during his life, he later claimed to be embarrassed at having written them. Instead, he wrote ‘spritual’ madrigals – the same sort of music, but without being tainted by a secular text.
Overall, the Renaissance was the first major revolution in music for a long time. As a result, music was able to develop much more substantially, thanks to the work of the innovative composers of the 15th and 16 Centuries.
---------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading!
Oh, and if you do bother to read it (and I don't expect you to), I would be genuinely interested to hear your opinions on either the era or the music (or the quality of writing!).
Cheers
------------------------------------------------
‘Renaissance Music’ is a term loosely used to refer to music composed between the mid-15th Century and the end of the 16th Century. With a literal meaning of ‘rebirth’, the term Renaissance is borrowed from the fields of literature and art, which was also undergoing a reawakening after the lengthy dull period of the middle ages.
One of the most obvious progressions made during the Renaissance period was that of moving from the older tradition of successive composition (i.e. the medieval tendency to work out one voice at a time) to simultaneous composition. Instead of only featuring a single voice, simultaneous composition became a texture of four parts, where each part was written for one of the principal ranges of the human voice – soprano, alto, tenor and bass. While the written songs tended to avoid the inclusion of instruments, simple instruments were often used in the performances, allowing a steady evolution of harmonies.
The main developers of these techniques were the composers of the Flemish School (increasingly international music heavily influenced by the French styles) and their successors. In particular, Josquin de Prés and his generation refined the musical technique of imitation, which became the accepted method of polyphonic writing in the first half of the 16th Century. This caused the previous method of writing – cantus firmus (polyphonic compositions based around a pre-defined fixed melody’) – to be regarded as old-fashioned.
The leading characteristic of imitative polyphony was the direct relation of the themes to the words, which, in secular music, was carried further in to the realms of word-painting (letting melodic devices echo the mood of the text) and word-symbolism – most obvious in the madrigal.
The ‘classic’ Italian madrigal became widely known and very popular towards the second half of the 16th Century. It was written in imitative polyphony, often in five parts, and frequently made use of word-painting and word-symbolism. Later madrigals, such as those composed by Montiverdi were less restrained in their use of word-painting and chromaticism, adding more dramatic effects to both the melodic line and the choral texture. Montiverdi’s works can also be used to illustrate how the imitative madrigal progressed to the madrigal for solos, duets or trios (accompanied by the continuo) – this came about as a result of dramatic expression on the part of the composer. Through such composers as Weelkes and Morley, the English madrigal quickly developed its own characteristics from that of the Italian madrigal; the distinctive secular songs composed by Byrd and Gibbons had heavily influenced it. However, the English madrigal relied less on the texts and more on the music itself.
Musical rhythms in the Renaissance era tended to be simpler and more controlled (less ‘florid’ than that of the early 15th Century), and dissonance became more regulated and orthodox. At the same time, instrumental pieces were beginning to emerge, due to the increase in the simplicity of printing sheet music. Also, the musical modes had begun to be replaced by the more standard keys of major and minor.
During the later Renaissance, many attempts were made to revive more old-fashioned musical practices – particularly those of the Greeks. The polyphonic style was heavily criticised by Galilei (who contributed to the creation solo song which heavily influenced the early operas), leading to the relatively brief emergence of monody – a solo song with instrumental accompaniment, such as the madrigal for voice and lute, rather than the more widely used a cappella madrigal.
Not all Renaissance music was secular, however. In particular, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is reputed to have ‘saved’ church music from - he was totally committed to keeping sacred vocal music alive and strong. Born near Rome, he was brought up in the ways of the Church and spent the majority of his career in various chapels. While he did write several secular pieces during his life, he later claimed to be embarrassed at having written them. Instead, he wrote ‘spritual’ madrigals – the same sort of music, but without being tainted by a secular text.
Overall, the Renaissance was the first major revolution in music for a long time. As a result, music was able to develop much more substantially, thanks to the work of the innovative composers of the 15th and 16 Centuries.
---------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading!