Notes from Monday, Feb 4 and Wed, Feb 6 class sessions:

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Music of the Renaissance

(See Chapter 4 for details)

The following bold or bold/italic terms/works/composers were studied:

Background: Questioning the Norm:

- The Renaissance was a rebirth of learning and exploration in Europe that was expressed in a variety of ways. Nearly every traditional aspect of European life was challenged by new discoveries, technologies and ways of thinking (see Chapter 4, p. 25). Even the central authority of the Western church was questioned (Protestant Reformation). Musicians created new musical approaches that were highly expressive. Renaissance music sounds fuller and more consonant than that of the Middle Ages. Renaissance style is smoother with careful control of dissonance until very late in this era.

I. Renaissance Motet (See Chapter 4, page 26)

- Josquin Desprez: Ave Maria...virgo serena (Music Guide 8)--clever use of varied textures, canon, and word-painting.

II. Renaissance Mass: (See Chapter 4, page 27)

- Ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei are prayers that are sung basically every day

- Palestrina: Agnus Dei (I) from Pope Marcellus Mass (Music Guide 9)--"points of imitation" and the expansion of the number of voices/vocal ranges make the musical sections much longer than before. Textures include antiphonal effects from split choir that imitate each other back and forth. Very careful control of dissonance (put dissonance on weak beats, approach/leave a dissonance by step or held-tone).

At the start of the Baroque Era around 1600, this traditional Renaissance sacred style of Josquin and Palestrina came to be called the "prima pratica" (the "first practice"--in other words the "old school" way of doing things).

III. Renaissance Madrigal:

- High-level secular love-related poetry (featuring poetic lines of 7 or 11 syllables in length with little or no poetic repetition)

- Highly-expressive word-painting

- Renaissance madrigal began in Italy around 1520, and became quite refined by the 1580s.

- English composers imported the style in the 1590s/early 1600s: see Weelkes: As Vesta Was From Latmos Hill Descending (Music Guide 10). This madrigal has a quick, steady tempo, generally stepwise melodies/triadic harmony, limited use of chromaticism, carefully-controlled use of dissonance, and humorous word-painting. You will notice the start of a new "point of imitation" on the words "she spied..." in measures 9 and 10.

- In early 1600s, Italian madrigalists such as Carlo Gesualdo and Claudio Monteverdi became ultra experimental: see Gesualdo: Moro lasso (Music Guide 11), which features an amazing use of dissonance, contrasting textures and vocal ranges to create vivid and intensely-expressive word-painting:

Implied

Harmony: C# Ami B G G#o/B (E7/B) Ami Emi

Notice the ultra-chromatic outer voices (E#, E, D#, D vs. C# C, B) on the words "Moro lasso" and the wild non-functional harmonies implied by Gesualdo's counterpoint in this opening phrase (presented homophonically in slow, deathlike whole notes). Also notice that when the first phrase ends in measure 6 it rapidly shifts from a 1st-inversion "G" triad...to a 1st-inversion G#o triad...and then suddenly to a 2nd-inversion E7 harmony created when the soprano enters on the high "E" note on beat 2 of measure 6. Both the G# at the start of measure 6 and the high "E" on beat 2 are examples of unprepared dissonances (the G# reached by a huge descending leap; the high "E" comes out of nowhere). These are all aspects of the new experimental style of the early Baroque called the "seconda pratica" (remember, the "prima pratica" refers to the old school Renaissance style of Palestrina/Josquin des Prez)

IV. English Lute Songs:

- A famous example of this is Dowland's "Flow My Tears" for see YouTube video of "Flow My Tears" performed by solo voice with lute accompaniment (see the lyrics to this song). Dowland also arranged this song as the heart-wrenching "Lacrymae Pavan" for viol consort (see "Pavane" description, below)

V. Renaissance Instrumental Dances:

- Two of the most popular Renaissance dances are the Pavane and the Galliard (spellings differ depending on the composer's nationality/location):

Pavane: a slow dance in a simple/duple meter featuring a "half-note/quarter/quarter" or "quarter/8th-note/8th-note" rhythmic pattern.

Galliard: faster triple meter, with a dotted quarter highlighting the second part of each pattern.

Examples Heard In Class:

- Pavane: Dowland's "Flow My Tears"/"Lacrymae Pavan" has this dance rhythm.

- Galliard: William Byrd's "La Volta" (which we heard in class in an arrangement for recorder and guitar/lute) is a lively example of this galliard rhythm.

The pavane and galliard were usually paired together in Renaissance dance collections