Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment
Not only did music development flourish during the Renaissance but also the arts and sciences flourished greatly. The late Medieval’s emphasis on education was beginning to show results. Many great men offered developments or advanced theories that would change the world. They were more than craftsmen in one field, they skilled and well-versed in many fields of knowledge and work in the arts and sciences. From individuals such as these we get our contemporary term Renaissance Man.
Secular influences became important as the established church lost it’s control over society as an interest in humanism developed. As a result, arts patronage began shifting from the church to the courts. The music of the period became more secular though a great deal of sacred music was still composed.
The Music of the Renaissance – 1450 – 1600In general, the music of the Renaissance was effected by a renewal of interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture. The Humanists encouraged musicians to express emotions in music as the Doctrine of Ethos was revived. Scholarly individuals translated some of the old Greek essays to Latin making them available to some Europeans.
As mentioned earlier, music during the Renaissance became more secular. There was a shift away from Latin texts to the vernacular, the language of the people. There was also a shift from an emphasis on the choir to the role of the congregation in church music. This led to the development of the chorale melody as an alternative to chant and the emerging of other styles of compositions based on these melodies. Composers expanded on the meaning of consonance and dissonance base on the ancient Greek theories. In addition, composers and singers were also beginning to pay more attention to the relationship between the words and the music. Palestrina played a large role in improving the standards of music for the Catholic church.
In Italy, the various city-states began competing on who had the best or most art. As the citizens accumulated wealth through commerce the wealthy families brought the best musicians from France and the Netherlands to Italy. The French Chanson then became popular in Italy. One of the preeminent composers in this genre was Josquin de Prez. He used simple poems that were set to strophic tunes. In Italy Josquin further developed the motets (sacred songs with non-biblical texts). He also adapted secular songs by using them as the cantus firmus in some sacred works.
The motet evolved into a sacred polyphonic composition in four, five, or six parts. It was sung in Latin without accompaniment and was used as an integral part of the worship service by the end of the sixteenth century.
While the motets had religious texts, it’s counterpart, the madrigal, did not. The madrigal soon became a popular form of secular music and developed or matured more rapidly than the motet. A madrigal is a secular vocal piece, using poetic text about love or other aspects of life. Originally it reflected a growing independence of the arts from the church. It contained both polyphonic and homophonic textures and was more metric and lively than a motet. The genre flourished in Italy and England.
Instrumental music
During the Renaissance the production or development of instruments became of serious interest to builders of instruments. As a result, instruments started playing an important role in vocal accompaniment. There was no genre that had yet emerged through the Middle Ages and it was not until the later years of the Renaissance that instrumental music began to become important. Through the early Renaissance it just served the role of accompanying vocal or choral music.
Renaissance instrumental music modeled itself after the vocal style. Many times an instrument would double a vocal line rather than play an independent line for an accompaniment.
However, by the late Renaissance consorts of viols, recorders, and other instrumental ensembles had been formed. The lute seemed to have the greatest amount of instrumental music composed for it, especially in Italy.
By the sixteenth century, composers wrote pieces specifically for instruments, and the first instrumental music forms evolved. They were named after dances: ricercar and canzona.
Excellent examples of a few early instruments are available for viewing on YouTube. Please watch Dr. Adam Gilbert, Director of the Early Music Program at the USC Thornton School of Music, as he introduces and demonstrates four, early musical instruments: the recorder, the bagpipe, the shawm, and the bassoon. Video courtesy of artistshousemusic.org.
Reformation
In 1517, Martin Luther set in motion a reform that would separate the Christian church of the West into two major divisions: Catholic and Protestant. Musically this resulted in the Lutheranchorale emerging. In the chorale the melodies were sung by the congregation in the vernacular instead of Latin. Originally they were sung a cappella (without accompaniment) and in unison. This was predominantly the case in Germany and some of the surrounding countries.
A variant of this reform developed in what became called the Calvinist churches. In those churches the belief was that the only appropriate texts for singing were the Psalms. Psalm singing makes use of a psalter as it’s print form.
In England another genre was taking root, the anthem. It was sung in English and became the Anglican counterpart of the Latin motet. Listen to this excellent example of an English Anthem composed by Thomas Tallis.
Summary
The Renaissance, known as the Age of Enlightenment" brought with it many changes in science and the humanities. Galileo, DaVinci, Gutenberg, and Luther all contributed significantly to this period of history. Musically, changes came about but they were slower in developing.
Polyphony, in use since the 12th century, became increasingly elaborate throughout the 14th century: the beginning of the 15th century showed simplification. In England, the pull toward homophonic music was particularly strong.
During the period, secular music started being preserved and distributed from one region to another. Also, printing made music more widely available, much more survived from this era than from the preceding Medieval era largely because the Roman Catholic Church was loosing some grip on the culture of Western Europe. As a result, the music of the mass was, at times, being accompanied by organ or other instruments.
Purely instrumental music, however, was primarily use at dances and other social gatherings while vocal and choral music continued to be unaccompanied. The only exception would be the music of the troubadours, singers who composed their own music and accompanied themselves on the lute.
Consorts of recorders and shawms were common as were consorts of lutes.
Music notation employed the use of five lines and four spaces. However, the notation of rhythm had yet to mature to the point that it did during the Baroque when a standard method was solidly adopted.
Prof. Songer
JCTC - Downtown
