Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
1 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
Renaissance music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
2 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
sought throughout Europe, particularly in Italy, where churches and aristocratic courts hired them
as composers, performers and teachers. Since the printing press made it easier to disseminate
printed music, by the end of the 16th century, Italy had absorbed the northern musical influences,
with Venice, Rome, and other cities becoming centers of musical activity. This reversed the
situation from a hundred years earlier. Opera, a dramatic staged genre in which singers are
accompanied by instruments, arose at this time in Florence. Opera was developed as a deliberate
attempt to resurrect the music of ancient Greece (OED 2005).
Music was increasingly freed from medieval constraints, and more variety was permitted in range,
rhythm, harmony, form, and notation. In the Renaissance, music became a vehicle for personal
expression. Composers found ways to make vocal music more expressive of the texts they were
setting. Secular music (non-religious music) absorbed techniques from sacred music, and vice
versa. Popular secular forms such as the chanson and madrigal spread throughout Europe. Courts
employed virtuoso performers, both singers and instrumentalists. Music also became more
self-sufficient with its availability in printed form, existing for its own sake. Precursor versions of
many familiar modern instruments (including the violin, guitar, lute and keyboard instruments)
developed into new forms during the Renaissance. These instruments were modified to responding
to the evolution of musical ideas, and they presented new possibilities for composers and musicians
to explore. Early forms of modern woodwind and brass instruments like the bassoon and trombone
also appeared; extending the range of sonic color and increasing the sound of instrumental
ensembles. During the 15th century, the sound of full triads (three note chords) became common,
and towards the end of the 16th century the system of church modes began to break down entirely,
giving way to the functional tonality (the system in which songs and pieces are based around
musical "keys"), which would dominate Western art music for the next three centuries.
From the Renaissance era, notated secular and sacred music survives in quantity, including vocal
and instrumental works and mixed vocal/instrumental works. An enormous diversity of musical
styles and genres flourished during the Renaissance. These can be heard on recordings made in the
20th and 21st century, including masses, motets, madrigals, chansons, accompanied songs,
instrumental dances, and many others. Beginning in the late 20th century, numerous early music
ensembles were formed. Early music ensembles specializing in music of the Renaissance era give
concert tours and make recordings, using modern reproductions of historical instruments and using
singing and performing styles which musicologists believe were used during the era.
Contents
1 Overview
1.1 Genres
1.2 Theory and notation
1.3 Composers timeline
2 Early period (14001467)
3 Middle period (14671534)
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
3 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
Overview
One of the most pronounced features of early Renaissance European art music was the increasing
reliance on the interval of the third (in the Middle Ages, thirds had been considered dissonances,
and mostly perfect intervals were used, such as the perfect fourth and the perfect fifth).
Polyphony the use of multiple, independent melodic lines, performed simultaneously became
increasingly elaborate throughout the 14th century, with highly independent voices (both in vocal
music and in instrumental music). The beginning of the 15th century showed simplification, with
the composers often striving for smoothness in the melodic parts. This was possible because of a
greatly increased vocal range in music in the Middle Ages, the narrow range made necessary
frequent crossing of parts, thus requiring a greater contrast between them to distinguish the
different parts. The modal (as opposed to tonal, also known as "musical key", an approach
developed in the subsequent Baroque music era, ca. 16001750) characteristics of Renaissance
music began to break down towards the end of the period with the increased use of root motions of
fifths or fourths (see the "circle of fifths" for details). An example of a chord progression in which
the chord roots move by the interval of a fourth would be the chord progression, in the key of C
Major: "D minor/G Major/C Major" (these are all triads; three-note chords). The movement from
the D minor chord to the G Major chord is an interval of a perfect fourth. The movement from the
G Major chord to the C Major chord is also an interval of a perfect fourth. This later developed into
one of the defining characteristics of tonality during the Baroque era.
The main characteristics of Renaissance music are (Fuller 2010):
Music based on modes.
Richer texture, with four or more independent melodic parts being performed simultaneously.
These interweaving melodic lines, a style called polyphony, is one of the defining features of
Renaissance music.
Blending, rather than contrasting, melodic lines in the musical texture.
Harmony that placed a greater concern on the smooth flow of the music and its progression of
chords.
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
4 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
The development of polyphony produced the notable changes in musical instruments that mark the
Renaissance from the Middle Ages musically. Its use encouraged the use of larger ensembles and
demanded sets of instruments that would blend together across the whole vocal range (Montagu
n.d.).
Genres
Principal liturgical (church-based) musical forms which remained in use throughout the
Renaissance period were masses and motets, with some other developments towards the end of the
era, especially as composers of sacred music began to adopt secular (non-religious) musical forms
(such as the madrigal) for religious use. The 15th and 16th century masses had two kinds of sources
that were used, monophonic (a single melody line) and polyphonic (multiple, independent melodic
lines), with two main forms of elaboration, based on cantus firmus practice or, beginning some time
around 1500, the new style of "pervasive imitation", in which composers would write music in
which the different voices or parts would imitate the melodic and/or rhythmic motifs performed by
other voices or parts. Four main types of masses were used:
Cantus firmus mass (tenor mass)
The cantus firmus/imitation mass
The paraphrase mass
The imitation mass (parody mass)
Masses were normally titled by the source from which they borrowed. Cantus firmus mass uses the
same monophonic melody, usually drawn from chant and usually in the tenor and most often in
longer note values than the other voices (Burkholder n.d.). Other sacred genres were the madrigale
spirituale and the laude.
During the period, secular (non-religious) music had an increasing distribution, with a wide variety
of forms, but one must be cautious about assuming an explosion in variety: since printing made
music more widely available, much more has survived from this era than from the preceding
Medieval era, and probably a rich store of popular music of the late Middle Ages is irretrievably
lost.Secular music was music that was independent of churches. The main types were the German
Lied, Italian frottola, the French chanson, the Italian madrigal, and the Spanish villancico (Fuller
2010). Other secular vocal genres included the caccia, rondeau, virelai, bergerette, ballade, musique
mesure, canzonetta, villanella, villotta, and the lute song. Mixed forms such as the motet-chanson
and the secular motet also appeared.
Purely instrumental music included consort music for recorders or viols and other instruments, and
dances for various ensembles. Common instrumental genres were the toccata, prelude, ricercar, and
canzona. Dances played by Instrumental ensembles included the basse danse (It. bassadanza),
tourdion, saltarello, pavane, galliard, allemande, courante, bransle, canarie, and lavolta. Music of
many genres could be arranged for a solo instrument such as the lute, vihuela, harp, or keyboard.
Such arrangements were called intabulations (It. intavolatura, Ger. Intabulierung). Towards the end
of the period, the early dramatic precursors of opera such as monody, the madrigal comedy, and the
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
5 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
6 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
For information on specific theorists, see Johannes Tinctoris, Franchinus Gaffurius, Heinrich
Glarean, Pietro Aron, Nicola Vicentino, Toms de Santa Mara, Gioseffo Zarlino, Vicente Lusitano,
Vincenzo Galilei, Giovanni Artusi, Johannes Nucius, and Pietro Cerone.
Composers timeline
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
7 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
8 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
9 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
(non-religious) music, but no songs in the vernacular can be attributed to him with any degree of
certainty.
Oswald von Wolkenstein (ca. 1376-1445) is one of the most important composers of the early
German Renaissance. He is best known for his well-written melodies, and for his use of three
themes: travel, God and sex.
Gilles Binchois (ca. 14001460) was a Netherlandish composer, one of the earliest members of the
Burgundian school and one of the three most famous composers of the early 15th century. While
often ranked behind his contemporaries Guillaume Dufay and John Dunstaple by contemporary
scholars, his works were still cited, borrowed and used as source material after his death. Binchois
is considered to be a fine melodist, writing carefully shaped lines which are easy to sing and
memorable. His tunes appeared in copies decades after his death, and were often used as sources
for Mass composition by later composers. Most of his music, even his sacred music, is simple and
clear in outline, sometimes even ascetic (monk-like). A greater contrast between Binchois and the
extreme complexity of the ars subtilior of the prior (fourteenth) century would be hard to imagine.
Most of his secular songs are rondeaux, which became the most common song form during the
century. He rarely wrote in strophic form, and his melodies are generally independent of the rhyme
scheme of the verses they are set to. Binchois wrote music for the court, secular songs of love and
chivalry that met the expectations and satisfied the taste of the Dukes of Burgundy who employed
him, and evidently loved his music accordingly. About half of his extant secular music is found in
the Oxford Bodleian Library.
Guillaume Du Fay (ca. 1397 1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance.
The central figure in the Burgundian School, he was regarded by his contemporaries as the leading
composer in Europe in the mid-15th century (Planchart n.d.) Du Fay composed in most of the
common forms of the day, including masses, motets, Magnificats, hymns, simple chant settings in
fauxbourdon, and antiphons within the area of sacred music, and rondeaux, ballades, virelais and a
few other chanson types within the realm of secular music. None of his surviving music is
specifically instrumental, although instruments were certainly used for some of his secular music,
especially for the lower parts; all of his sacred music is vocal. Instruments may have been used to
reinforce the voices in actual performance for almost any of his works. Seven complete Masses, 28
individual Mass movements, 15 settings of chant used in Mass propers, three Magnificats, two
Benedicamus Domino settings, 15 antiphon settings (six of them Marian antiphons), 27 hymns, 22
motets (13 of these isorhythmic in the more angular, austere 14th-century style which gave way to
more melodic, sensuous treble-dominated part-writing with phrases ending in the "under-third"
cadence in Du Fay's youth) and 87 chansons definitely by him have survived.
Many of Du Fay's compositions were simple settings of chant, obviously designed for liturgical
use, probably as substitutes for the unadorned chant, and can be seen as chant harmonizations.
Often the harmonization used a technique of parallel writing known as fauxbourdon, as in the
following example, a setting of the Marian antiphon Ave maris stella. Du Fay may have been the
first composer to use the term "fauxbourdon" for this simpler compositional style, prominent in
15th century liturgical music in general and that of the Burgundian school in particular. Most of Du
Fay's secular (non-religious) songs follow the formes fixes (rondeau, ballade, and virelai), which
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
10 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
11 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
In the early 16th century, there is another trend towards simplification, as can be seen to some
degree in the work of Josquin des Prez and his contemporaries in the Franco-Flemish School, then
later in that of G. P. Palestrina. Palestrina was partially reacting to the strictures of the Council of
Trent, which discouraged excessively complex polyphony as it was thought that it inhibited the
listener's understanding of the text. Early 16th-century Franco-Fleming composers moved away
from the complex systems of canonic and other mensural play of Ockeghem's generation, tending
toward points of imitation and duet or trio sections within an overall texture that grew to five and
six voices. They also began, even before the Tridentine reforms, to insert ever-lengthening passages
of homophony (a single melody line supported by accompanying chords), to underline important
text or points of articulation in a piece. Palestrina, on the other hand, came to cultivate a freely
flowing style of counterpoint in a thick, rich texture within which consonance followed dissonance
on a nearly beat-by-beat basis. Suspensions, in which a note is held over ("suspended") until it
leads to a dissonance with the other voices, which is then resolved, ruled the day (see counterpoint).
By the 16th century, the tactus was generally two semibreves per breve, with three per breve used
for special effects and climactic sections. This was a nearly exact reversal of the prevailing
technique a century before.
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
12 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
English madrigals were a cappella, predominantly light in style, and generally began as either
copies or direct translations of Italian models. Most were for three to six voices.
Musica reservata is either a style or a performance practice in a cappella vocal music of the latter,
mainly in Italy and southern Germany, involving refinement, exclusivity, and intense emotional
expression of sung text.
The cultivation of European music in the Americas began in the 16th century soon after the arrival
of the Spanish, and the conquest of Mexico. Although fashioned in European style, uniquely
Mexican hybrid works based on native Mexican language and European musical practice appeared
very early. Musical practices in New Spain continually coincided with European tendencies
throughout the subsequent Baroque and Classical music periods. Among these New World
composers were Hernando Franco, Antonio de Salazar, and Manuel de Zumaya.
In addition, many composers observed a division in their own works between a prima pratica
(music in the Renaissance polyphonic style) and a seconda pratica (music in the new style) during
the first part of the 17th century.
Mannerism
In the late 16th century, as the Renaissance era closed, an extremely manneristic style developed. In
secular music, especially in the madrigal, there was a trend towards complexity and even extreme
chromaticism (as exemplified in madrigals of Luzzaschi, Marenzio, and Gesualdo). The term
"mannerism" derives from art history.
Instruments
Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of, or improvements
upon, instruments that had existed previously. Some have survived to the present day; others have
disappeared, only to be recreated in order to perform music of the period on authentic instruments.
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
13 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
As in the modern day, instruments may be classified as brass, strings, percussion, and woodwind.
Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with
a drone, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century
there was a division of instruments into haut (loud, shrill, outdoor instruments) and bas (quieter,
more intimate instruments) (Bowles 1954, 119 et passim). Only two groups of instruments could
play freely in both types of ensembles: the cornett and sackbut, and the tabor and tambourine
(Burkholder n.d.).
At the beginning of the 16th century, instruments were considered to be less important than voices.
They were used for dances and to accompany vocal music (Fuller 2010). Instrumental music
remained subordinated to vocal music, and much of its repertory was in varying ways derived from
or dependent on vocal models (OED 2005).
Brass
Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals. Some of the more
common brass instruments that were played:
Slide trumpet: Similar to the trombone of today except that instead of a section of the body
sliding, only a small part of the body near the mouthpiece and the mouthpiece itself is
stationary. Also the body was an S-shape so it was rather unwieldy, but was suitable for the
slow dance music which it was most commonly used for.
Cornett: Made of wood and was played like the recorder (will be mentioned at greater length
later on) but blown like a trumpet.
Trumpet: Early trumpets had no valves, and were limited to the tones present in the overtone
series. They were also made in different sizes.
Sackbut (sometimes sackbutt or sagbutt): A different name for the trombone (Anon. n.d.),
which replaced the slide trumpet by the middle of the 15th century (Besseler 1950, passim).
Strings
As a family strings were used in many circumstances, both sacred and secular. A few members of
this family include:
Viol: This instrument, developed in the 15th century, commonly has six strings. It was usually
played with a bow. It has structural qualities similar to the Spanish vihuela; its main
separating trait is its larger size. This changed the posture of the musician in order to rest it
against the floor or between the legs in a manner similar to the cello. Its similarities to the
vihuela were sharp waist-cuts, similar frets, a flat back, thin ribs, and identical tuning.
Lyre: Its construction is similar to a small harp, although instead of being plucked, it is
strummed with a plectrum. Its strings varied in quantity from four, seven, and ten, depending
on the era. It was played with the right hand, while the left hand silenced the notes that were
not desired. Newer lyres were modified to be played with a bow.
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
14 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
Percussion
Hurdy-gurdy
Some Renaissance percussion instruments include the triangle, the Jew's harp, the tambourine, the
bells, the rumble-pot, and various kinds of drums.
Tambourine: The tambourine is a frame drum. The skin that surrounds the frame is called the
vellum, and produces the beat by striking the surface with the knuckles, fingertips, or hand. It
could also be played by shaking the instrument, allowing the tambourine's jingles to "clank"
and "jingle".
Jew's harp: An instrument that produces sound using shapes of the mouth and attempting to
pronounce different vowels with ones mouth. The loop at the bent end of the tongue of the
instrument is plucked in different scales of vibration creating different tones.
Woodwinds (aerophones)
Woodwind instruments (aerophones) produce sound by means of a vibrating column of air within
the pipe. Holes along the pipe allow the player to control the length of the column of air, and hence
the pitch. There are several ways of making the air column vibrate, and these ways define the
subcategories of woodwind instruments. A player may blow across a mouth hole, as in a flute; into
a mouthpiece with a single reed, as in a modern-day clarinet or saxophone; or a double reed, as in
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
15 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
an oboe or bassoon. All three of these methods of tone production can be found in Renaissance
instruments.
Shawm: A typical oriental shawm is keyless and is about a foot long with seven finger holes
and a thumb hole. The pipes were also most commonly made of wood and many of them had
carvings and decorations on them. It was the most popular double reed instrument of the
renaissance period; it was commonly used in the streets with drums and trumpets because of
its brilliant, piercing, and often deafening sound. To play the shawm a person puts the entire
reed in their mouth, puffs out their cheeks, and blows into the pipe whilst breathing through
their nose.
Reed pipe: Made from a single short length of cane with a
mouthpiece, four or five finger holes, and reed fashioned
from it. The reed is made by cutting out a small tongue,
but leaving the base attached. It is the predecessor of the
saxophone and the clarinet.
Hornpipe: Same as reed pipe but with a bell at the end.
Bagpipe/Bladderpipe: Believe to have been invented by
herdsmen who thought to use a bag made out of sheep or
goat skin and would provide air pressure so that when its
player takes a breath, the player only needs to squeeze the
bag tucked underneath their arm to continue the tone. The
Renaissance recorders
mouth pipe has a simple round piece of leather hinged on
to the bag end of the pipe and acts like a non-return valve.
The reed is located inside the long metal mouthpiece, known as a bocal.
Panpipe: Designed to have sixteen wooden tubes with a stopper at one end and open on the
other. Each tube is a different size (thereby producing a different tone), giving it a range of an
octave and a half. The player can then place their lips against the desired tube and blow across
it.
Transverse flute: The transverse flute is similar to the modern flute with a mouth hole near the
stoppered end and finger holes along the body. The player blows in the side and holds the
flute to the right side.
Recorder: The recorder is a common instrument during the Renaissance period. Rather than a
reed it uses a whistle mouth piece, which is a beak shaped mouth piece, as its main source of
sound production. It is usually made with seven finger holes and a thumb hole.
See also
History of music
List of Renaissance composers
Music of the French Renaissance
References
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
16 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
17 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
External links
Pandora Radio: Renaissance Period (http://www.pandora.com/stations
/4261fafc275e3f8543b00e90ad6f206fe7c5e7241f96d370)
Ancient FM (http://www.ancientfm.com) (online radio featuring medieval and renaissance
music)
Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments (http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua
/instrumt.html) descriptions, photos, and sounds.
"Here of A Sunday Morning" (http://www.hoasm.org/Welcome.html)
Renaissance Period Music (http://nowstar.com) Collection of music from 5 countries
"The Renaissance Channel" (http://gonartren.blogspot.com/)- Renaissance Music Videos
"Before and After Internet Radio" (http://www.eiderway.com/BeforeandAfter.html)Medieval, Renaissance, Modern Classical music
Rpertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) (http://www.rism.info), a free,
searchable database of worldwide locations for music manuscripts up to ca. 1800
Modern performance
City of Lincoln Waites (http://www.lincolnwaites.com/index2.shtml) The Mayor of Lincoln's
Own Band of Musick
Pantagruel (http://www.pantagruel.de/) A Renaissance Musicke Ensemble
Stella Fortuna: Medieval Minstrels (1370)
(http://stellafortuna.yecompaynyeofcheualrye.com/) from Ye Compaynye of Cheualrye
Re-enactment Society. Photos and Audio Download.
The Waits Website (http://www.waits.org.uk/) Renaissance Civic Bands of Europe
Ensemble Feria VI (http://www.feriasexta.se/) Six voices and a viola da gamba
10/4/2016 4:26 PM
18 of 18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_music
10/4/2016 4:26 PM