1. Music: An Appreciation 10th Edition by Roger Kamien
Part III
The Renaissance
2011 © McGraw-Hill Higher Education

2. Time Line Renaissance (1450-1600) Guttenberg Bible—1456
Columbus reaches America—1492
Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa—c. 1503
Michelangelo: David—1504
Raphael: School of Athens—1505
Martin Luther’s 95 theses—1517
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet—1596

3. The Renaissance Rebirth of human creativity
Time of exploration & adventure
Voyages of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan
Age of curiosity & individualism
Leonardo da Vinci
Intellectual Movement – Humanism
Captivated by ancient Greece & Roman cultures
Visual arts depicted realism w/ linear perspective and illusion of space & depth
Catholic Church far less powerful
Education a status symbol for the aristocracy & upper middle class

4. Ch. 1 - Music in the Renaissance
Invention of printing widened the circulation of music
Musicians worked in churches, courts, & towns
Church remained an important patron of music
Church choirs grew in size (all male)
Musical activity shifted to the courts
Town musicians played for civic processions, weddings
Musicians enjoyed higher status & pay
Composers sought credit for their work
Italy became leading music center

5. Characteristics of Renaissance Music
Words and Music
Vocal music more important than instrumental
Word painting
Wide range of emotion w/o extreme contrasts
Texture
Polyphonic
Imitation among the voices
Sounds fuller; expanded pitch range; consonant chords are favored w/ use of triads
Rhythm and Melody
Rhythm a gentle flow rather than sharply defined beat
Melodic line has greater rhythmic independence
Melody usually moves along a scale w/ few large leaps

6. Ch. 2 - Sacred Music in the Renaissance
Motet – Josquin Desprez
Short polyphonic choral work
Latin text usually overlaid with vernacular text
Mass – Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Polyphonic choral composition of the Catholic church
Made up of 5 sections:
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei

7. Listening Ave Maria…virgo serena Four voice motet Polyphonic imitation
Josquin Desprez
Vocal Music Guide: p. 100
Basic Set, CD 1:76 Brief Set, CD 1:56
Four voice motet
Polyphonic imitation
Overlapping voice parts

8. Listening Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass by Palestrina (1525 – 1594)
Vocal Music Guide: p. 103
Basic Set CD 1:79 Brief Set 1:59
Rich polyphonic texture – 6 voices
Vocal imitation
Spirit of Gregorian chant
Palestrina’s work became the model for mass composers

9. Ch. 3 - Secular Music in the Renaissance
Vocal Music
Music was an important leisure activity
People were expected to play a musical instrument and read notation
Madrigal
for several solo voices set to a short poem, usually about love
Combined homophonic & polyphonic textures
Word painting & unusual harmonies
Renaissance Lute Song
Song for solo voice and lute (plucked string instrument)
Popular instrument in the Renaissance home
Homophonic texture
Lute accompanies the vocal melody

10. Listening As Vesta was Descending (1601) Madrigal Note text painting:
by Thomas Weelkes
Vocal Music Guide: p. 105
Basic Set, CD 1:82 Brief Set, CD 1:62
Madrigal
Note text painting:
Pitches rise on “ascending”
Pitches fall on “descending”
“Running down”
“Two by two,” “three by three,” “all alone”

11. Listening Flow My Tears (about 1600) by John Dowland (1563 – 1626)
Vocal Music Guide: p. 106
Basic Set, CD 1:83 Brief Set, CD 1:63
Very popular Lute Song
(Recorded by rock star, Sting)
Expression of melancholy - descending four-note pattern
Three brief musical sections: A B C

12. Instrumental Music Still subordinate to vocal music
Instrumentalists accompanied voices
Harpsichord, organ, or lute
More music written specifically for instruments
Instrumental music intended for dancing
Pavane or passamezzo in duple meter
Galliard in triple meter
Distinguished between loud & soft instruments
Outdoor (loud): trumpet, shawm
Indoor (soft): lute, recorder

13. Ch. 4 - The Venetian School: From Renaissance to Baroque
Focal point for music in Venice –
St. Mark’s Cathedral
Giovanni Gabrieli and the Polychoral Motet
Plaudite (Clap Your Hands)
Vocal Music Guide: p. 112
Basic Set, CD 2:03