Renaissance (1400-1600)

Renaissance = Rebirth (France)

Prevalence of International style
Printing press = amateurs had access to music
Reformation in Protestant and Catholic churches
European Economy
o Stabilized around 1400
o Trade between regions brought wealth to towns & city
o Expanded Proletariat class
Philosophy
o Humanism: The study of the humanities for lives of virtue and
service
The Renaissance Arts
o Sculpture
o Painting
o Architecture : Clarity, clean lines
o Interest in Individuals : Patrons commissioned portraits of
themselves
o Music:
Focusing on a single tonal center (perspective!)
Unique personal styles, memorial works = interest in
individuals
Expansion of Range
Music in the Renaissance
o Court Chapels
Rulers, aristocrats, church leaders had their own chapels
o Music Education
Choric schools in cathedrals and chapels taught singing,
theory, and academic subjects to boys
Music Patronage
o Competition for best composers and performers erased regional
differences
Court musicians in Italy came from France and Netherlands
o English, French, and Italian styles merged into one international
style in the 15th century
o Composers able to compose in regional vernacular song styles
Counterpoint:
o 3rds/6ths are now seen as consonances
Requires new approaches in music
Partly due to tuning/temperament
New Compositional Methods:
o Imitative Counterpoint:

Voices echo each other, repeating a motive or a phrase

o Homophony:
Clear melody and everything else supports
Tuning:
o Pythagorean intonation
o Just intonation using a 5:4 relationship
Words and Music:
o Composers paid increasing attention to accent and meter in
setting texts
o Composers sought to dramatize the content and convey the
feelings of the texts with music
o The new concern with text declamation and expressing was
reinforced by the rediscovery of ancient writing
o Cadences expressed varying degrees of finality based on the text
Music Printing:
o Printing from movable type began from around 1450 for text and
1450s for chant notation
o Amateur musicians used partbooks for home gatherings, created
a large market for printing books
Effects of Music Printing:
o Music printing encouraged the rise of new repertoires of music
o An international style was formulated in the early 15th century
o 16th century saw a proliferation of regional styles
o The marked for printed music also encouraged the development
of notated instrumental music
Legacy of the Renaissance:
o Developments in musical language, temperament, and musical
aesthetics have persisted to the present
Influence of English Music on Style:
o Frequent use of harmonic 3rds/6ths
o Few dissonances
o Simple melodies
o Regular phrasing
o Syllabic text setting
o Homorhythmic textures
Starts in the 13th century- even stronger in 14th and 15th
centuries.
English Polyphony:
o Faburden:
Improvised 3rds and 6ths sonorities
Few notated examples
Burden is an English term for the lowest voice;
sometimes used to identify the refrain

John Dunstable:
o Most highly regarded English composer of the first half of 15th
century
o Served many noble patrons, including Regent of France
o Most often cited as influence for continental composers
Redefinition of Motet:
o New definition: any setting of liturgical text, whether the original
melody was used or not
o From the 16th century on:
Any polyphonic Latin-texted piece
Chanson: Any French secular piece.
Political Change and Consolidation
o France
Defeated England in the Hundred Years War
Ducky of Burgundy came under control of France
France became centralized state in 1525
o Hapsburg Empire
United with Spain through marriage in 16th century
Ruled Austria
o Italy
Invaded by France in 1494
Continued to be composed of independent city-states
o Spain
Marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon and
Ferdinand of Aragon united north-central and eastern Spain
Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492
Ockeghem & Busnoys
o Most renowned composers of their generation
o Jean de Ockeghem:
Known for unique masses
Developed his own style synthesizing past, present, and his
own style elements
o Antoine Busnoys (Busnoi0):
Served Hapsburgs
Known for Chansons
General Traits of 3 Composers:
o Structure of vocal works largely determined by the text
o Melody and Texture
All lines were able to sung
Each voice equal
4-voice texture
Imitative Counterpoint and homophony most common
textures

Pervading imitation: imitation with all 4 voices

o Harmony
Full triadic chords predominate and begin to replace open
5ths and 8ves at cadences
Bass = lowest voice in harmony
o Genres
Mass and motet continue to dominate scared music
Lied: German Secular Song
o Homophonic with melody in superius (soprano)
o Strophic
o Cadences resolve to triads
Text setting
This generation was concerned with fitting music to
words
Josquin Des Prez
o Most influential composer of his time
o Wrote 18 masses, 50 motets, 65 Chansons
o Composers emulated his style
o Works were performed for almost a century after his death
o Publishers falsely attributed works to him to boost sales of their
books
o Martin Luther called him Mather of Notes in 1538
The Reformation
o Rebellion against the authority of the Catholic Church
o Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Professor of biblical theology at the University of
Wittenberg in Germany
Concluded that salvation came through faith alone, not
good works or penance, as preached by the Catholic
Church
Rebelled against the nonbiblical practices of the Catholic
Church
Wrote Ninety-Five Theses
Complaints against the Catholic Church
Created the new Church: The New Evangelical or Lutheran
Church
Music in the Lutheran Church:
o Text in the church was in the vernacular
(German) but much of the Catholic liturgy was
retained
o Churches were free to use music as they
wished
Lutheran Chorale:

Metric, rhymed, strophic, poetry for

unison, unaccompanied
performance by the congregation
Clear melody with harmony
(homophonic)

Music in Calvinist Churches

o Jean Calvin: led the largest Protestant movement outside of
Germany/Scandinavia
o Embraced idea of justification through faith alone, but also in
predestination which determined salvation or damnation
o Calvin and Music:
Stripped churches and services of possible distractions
from worship
Sang mostly Biblical songs from Biblical Liturgy
Religion in England: Catholic Church which acknowledges King
instead of Pope
o Henry VIII:
Persuaded Parliament to separate from Rome so he could
get an annulment, creating the Anglican Church, or Church
of England
Adopted Protestant doctrines
English replaced Latin in liturgy (vernacular)
o Anglican Church Music:
Thomas Tallis
Leading composer of generation following Taverner
Composed Latin masses and hymns
William Byrd
Most important English composer of the Renaissance
Composed both Anglican service music and Latin
music
Also composed secular music
Catholic Response to the Reformation
o Jesuits (society of Jesus)
Founded schools to teach proper Catholicism
o Counsel of Trent
Series of meetings in Trent
Reaffirmed doctrines that Calvin and Luther had attacked
Purged Church of abuses
Music was a subject for debate, especially the use of
secular song in the composition of masses
o Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina:
Saved polyphony from being purged by Counsel of Trent

Wrote clear, elaborate polyphonies in elaborate setting

104 Masses, 300 Motets
Palestrinas Style:
Long breathed
Easily Singable
Traces natural, elegant curve
Moves mostly by steps
Most leaps followed by stepwise motion in opposite
direction