We are long removed from the music of the Renaissance (1450-1600) so it will take a few weeks to explore this fascinating music. There will be links to examples on Youtube.com to aid the process. You need no music background – just a willingness to read and listen. This week – an introduction.
As with the other arts, such as painting and sculpture music exploded in this period. As in the other arts, the horizons of music were greatly expanded. The invention of printing widened the circulation of music, too, and the number of composers and performers increased. Vocal ranges expanded created a more homogenous texture without a voice standing out.
We are concentrating on vocal music since that’s what the "Thirteen" will offer. Actually in the Renaissance, as in the Middle Ages, vocal music was more important than instrumental music. The interest in language influenced vocal music, creating a close relationship between words and music. Renaissance composers wrote music to enhance the meaning and emotion of the text. In keeping with the Renaissance ideal of the “universal man,” every educated
person was expected to be trained in music.
Here is chart to help understand the period:
We will consider two of the style traits:
1. Polyphany ("imitative texture")- Renaissance works usually have at least five independent vocal parts, with expanded ranges (higher soprano parts, lower bass parts). Imitation among the voices is common: each presents the same melodic idea in turn, as in a round. ("Row, Row, your boat")
Renaissance composers began to write in a new way called simultaneous
composition, in which all the voice parts were constructed together phrase-by-phrase allowing echoing of music from voice to voice),
This can be seen in the music of Palestrina. Palestrina (about 1525–1594) devoted
himself to music for the Catholic church. His career was thus centered in Rome, where
he held important church positions, including that of music director for St. Peter’s.
2. Music Painting
Renaissance composers often used word painting, musical representation of specific
poetic images. For example, the words descending from heaven might be set to a
descending melodic line, and running might be heard with a series of rapid notes
Renaissance music may seem calm and restrained to us.While there is a wide range of emotion in Renaissance music, it is usually expressed in a moderate, balanced way, with no extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone color, or rhythm.
Here is more of a lecture on the subject. Some of it in "music jargon" emphasizing scales and intervals but I think you will able to get to the basic meeting.
Another example is from the "As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending:"
mm 1-9: "Latmos hill" – "hill" is always set with the highest note in the phrase
mm 8-9: "descending" – uses descending scales and leaps
mm 12-22: "ascending" – uses ascending scales
mm 36-46: "running down the hill" – uses quickly descending scales in imitative polyphony
mm 48-49: "two by two" – two voices sing
mm 50-51: "three by three" – three voices sing
mm 51-52: "together" – all six voices sing
mm 56-57: "all alone" – top voice sings alone
mm 84-100: "Long live fair Oriana" – low voice begins with longa, continues with long, sustained notes
3. Rhythm and Melody – In Renaissance music, rhythm is more a gentle flow than
a sharply defined beat. This is because each melodic line has great rhythmic independence: when one singer is at the beginning of his or her melodic phrase, the others may already be in the middle of theirs. This technique makes singing Renaissance music
both a pleasure and a challenge, for each singer must maintain an individual rhythm.
But pitch patterns in Renaissance melodies are easy to sing. The melody usually moves
along a scale with few large leaps.
Finally, here is a summary of Renaissance music by a college professor from East Tennessee state (about 10 minutes)