Chapter 17 Remember Me: Personalizing the Motet in the Renaissance

CHAPTER 17
Remember Me: Personalizing
the Motet in the Renaissance
Copyright © 2020 W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.

• Humanism-union of pagan & Christian beliefs
– Emphasis on the human & nature vs the otherworldly & divine
– Affect on Fine Arts: Use of balance & order
• Individual achievement important
• Belief that all things were knowable with the right kind of study
• Period of recovery from the Middle Ages (also known
as the “Dark Ages”)
• Arts and sciences were revived.
• French word for “rebirth” - after the Plague (Italy, 1348) and
the Hundred Years’ War (England vs. France, 1337-1453)
• Age of humanism--intellectual and cultural movement that
explored human interests and values through science,
philosophy, literature, painting, sculpture, and music
The Renaissance Era:~1425 - 1600

The Renaissance Period
• Interest revived in Greek and Roman arts, philosophy, architecture,
science, and mathematics
• The age of exploration: Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama,
Ferdinand Magellan.
• Rebirth of science: Nicolai Copernicus and Galileo Galilei.

The Renaissance Era
• Economic growth, particularly in Italy and the Low
Countries (i.e., modern-day Belgium and the
Netherlands)
• New World “discovered” by Columbus in 1492.
• Kingdoms, duchies, city-states got bigger and richer.
• Ideal “Renaissance Man”--knowledge of a variety of
arts and sciences
• Human reason and individuality became very
important values.
• Movable type invented in mid-15th century. Music
printing established by 1500.

• Botticelli
• Michelangelo
• Leonardo da
Vinci
• Raphael
Renaissance Artists

Copyright © 2020, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Renaissance Sacred Music, Part 1
A. Humanism: inspired by ancient Greece and Rome
1. reliance on reason, scientific inquiry
2. centered on human issues, the individual
3. solve problems and order their world rationally
B. Expanded sung worship: reconciled needs of the individual
1. hymns, motets, polyphonic settings of the Mass
2. professional male singers trained from childhood in
cathedral choir schools
3. some works based on preexisting music

The Renaissance Era: Music
Composers brought words and music together in unity
better than ever before.
Sound was based on polyphony--equal voice parts.
Most music had 3, 4, 5, or even 6 parts.
Strong attention to text being sung, even when
polyphonic melodies were complex

More About Polyphony
Four or five melodies performed simultaneously
Entrances of the melody staggered by the voices; different
voices imitated original melody and counterpoint at different
times.
Counter melodies performed while main melody is being heard:
called “counterpoint.”
Texture was thick and complex.

Musical Compositions (Genres) of the Renaissance
Masses: settings of the Ordinary of the Mass
Polyphonic texture
Madrigals: secular songs, originating in the Italian courts and
spreading to other countries
Secular songs about romantic love or nature
Settings of sonnets or pious devotions

1450
Composers began to add line below chant for more
solid foundation
Beginning of today’s voice arrangement
• Superius-soprano
• Altus-alto
• Tenor
• Bassus-bass
Renaissance Music

Musical Compositions (Genres) of the Renaissance
Motets: sacred or secular pieces in polyphonic style
Each part had different words.
One part in a secular motet was based on a chant in long
notes: called the cantus firmus.
Generally 3 parts during this period

C. Golden age of a cappella style
1. polyphony: based on imitation
a. subtle, varied effects
b. combines individual action with collaborative
worship
2. harmony: fuller chords, “sweeter” thirds and sixths
3. carefully controlled dissonance
4. cantus firmus (fixed melody), basis for elaborate
ornamentation in other voices
5. greater interest in duple meter

D. Josquin des Prez and the motet
1. motet: sacred vocal work, Latin text
a. used in Mass and other religious services
b. combined newly written texts with prescribed
prayers
c. praise of Virgin Mary extremely popular
d. early Renaissance (1450–1520), preeminent
composers: present-day Belgium and northern
France

Born in Flanders(Belgium)
Greatest composer of the early
Renaissance
Contemporary of da Vinci
Known for chansons(French polyphonic
songs) & motets
Demanded high salary, changed jobs
often
Hired by Duke of Ferrara to be a
composer for his court
Other compositions:
Missa Pange Lingua (a Mass)
Missa La Sol Fa Re Mi (another Mass)
Ave Maria. . . virgo serena
Josquin des Prez

2. Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521)
a. powerful influence on following generations
b. varied career: northern Europe, Italy, France
c. humanism, rich in feeling: expressive
harmony, serene melodies
d. output: over 100 motets, 17 Masses, French
chansons, Italian secular songs

• Quote from Martin Luther- “God has His Gospel
preached also through the medium of music; this may be seen
from the compositions of Josquin, all of whose works are cheerful,
gentle, mild, and lovely; they flow and move along and are neither
forced nor coerced and bound by rigid and stringent rules, but, on
the contrary, are like the song of the finch.”
Josquin des Prez

3. Listening Guide 6: Josquin: Ave Maria . . . virgo serena (Hail Mary
. . . gentle Virgin), (1480s?)
a. four-voice a cappella choir, sacred Latin motet
b. rhymed, strophic prayer to the Virgin Mary
c. sectional form: follows poetry
d. varied textures: convey meanings of text
e. imitative polyphony, moments of homorhythm
f. voice combinations highlight emotional aspects
i. frequent changes in voice groupings
ii. equality and interdependence of voices
iii. full ensemble ends phrases
g. final two lines reflect humanism: “O Mother of God,
remember me”

Uses polyphonic repetition, overlapping
of phrases
Adapted melody from Gregorian chant,
but rest of motet not based on chant
Varies texture, imitation in upper voices,
homorhythmic sections
Change from triple to duple meter
Final couplet: simple texture, example of
humanistic spirit
Ave Maria…Virgo serena (Hail Mary…Serene Virgin);
1475

Ave Maria…virgo serena
Ave Maria...virgo serena

Josquin des Prez--“The Cricket”
Polyphonic--4 distinct voices, equally important
Uses word painting--(e.g., long notes on words “hold a long
line” and chirping sounds which imitate a cricket)
Music written to a humorous poem; an attempt to enhance
the spirit of the poetry

The Cricket
The Cricket

Credits
This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for “The Enjoyment of Music, 4th Edition, Chapter 17: Remember Me:
Personalizing the Motet in the Renaissance”
For more resources, please visit https://digital.wwnorton.com/enjmusic4ess

Chapter 17 Remember Me: Personalizing the Motet in the Renaissance

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