Renaissance Composers
Desprez: polyphony, sacred, and secular
Palestrina: Italy, polyphony, Vatican and counter reformation
Weelkes: polyphony, English, madrigals
Praetorious: polyphony, German
Medieval composers
Hildegard von Bingen: monophony, sacred
Leonin: polyphony, sacred
Perotin: polyphony, sacred
Machaut: polyphony, sacred, secular
word painting
Renaissance practice of music directly reflecting words.
motet
polyphonic choral work set to sacred Latin text
Gregorian chant
Primarily vocal. Official music of the RCC for over 1,000 years.
organum
originated at the school of ND with Leonin and Perotin. Consists of gregorian chant and one or more melodic lines.
composers of medieval polyphony
Leonin and Perotin
Mass Ordinary
Kyrie, Sanctus, Gloria, Agnus Dei, Credo. Originally composed by Machaut.
meter
organizes beats into regular groups
harmony
refers to the way chords are constructed and progress. Consonance, dissonance, and arpeggios.
polyphonic
The musical texture when two or more melodies of equal interest are performed simultaneously
musical form
repetition, contrast, variation. Organization of musical elements in time. Binary and ternary.
triad
chord made up of three notes
madrigal
Renaissance vocal music set to poetry (secular) and uses extensive word painting. Written for amateur performers.
Secular Renaissance music was primarily for:
Dancing
pitch
highness or lowness of sound
Dynamics
degrees of loudness or softness. Italian terms
timbre
Tone color. Quality of sound that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another.
rhythm
ordered flow of music through time. Meter organizes it into groups.
beat
regular recurrent pulsation that divides music into equal units of time
tempo
basic pace of music
accent and syncopation
emphasis of a note. accenting of a note at an unexpected time…between two beats or on a weak beat
musical notation
system of writing music so specific pitches and rhythm is communicated. Notes and rests.
melody
series of single tones that add up to a whole. begins, moves, and ends
key
centering around one note/scale
texture
layers of sound and how they relate. Monophony, polyphony, and homophony
musical instruments
string, woodwind, brass, keyboard, percussion, electronic
church modes
different whole and half steps than contemporary scales
secular music
written by nobles for court use
troubadours and trouveres
South France and North France. Medieval poet-musicians
school of ND
Parisians developed rhythmic notation. Leonin and Perotin
Ars Nova
profound changes in rhythmic notation
characteristics of Renaissance music
vocal more than instrumental. Word painting. Both church and courts.
Renaissance Mass
five-part polyphonic choral work. Palestrina at the Council of Trent
Counter Reformation
Catholic response to Martin Luther’s reformation and protestantism