This document provides an overview of Western music during the Renaissance period from approximately 1400 to 1600 CE. It discusses major composers and styles of the time, including Guillaume Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Claudio Monteverdi. The Council of Trent also had a significant impact on church music through restrictions intended to prevent secular influences.

1. THE
RENAISSANCE
c. 1400 - 1600

2. The Renaissance Spirit
• human destiny; secularization
• printing, explorations
• focus on human form in art
• musicians in the court, church, civic life
• little musical influence from the new world
• Renaissance style:
– a cappella
– polyphonic
– cantus firmus
– word painting

3. TIMELINE
• C. 1400-1474 Guiullaume Dufay
– Master of the Burgundian school
– Skilled in sacred and secular music
• Dufay’s “L’homme arme” Mass
– cantus-firmus Mass
– based on a popular song from the 15th century
– There were at least 31 Mass-settings based on the L'homme armé melody in the
Renaissance period.
• L'homme, l'homme, l'homme arme, l'homme arme,
• L'homme arme doibt on doubter, doibt on doubter.
• On a fait par tout crier,
• Que chascun se viegne armer, d'un haubregon de fer.
• L'homme, l'homme, l'homme arme, l'homme arme,
• L'homme arme doibt on doubter, doibt on doubter.
• 'Fear the armed man; word has gone out that everyone should arm himself with a
haubregon (a sleeveless coat of mail) of iron'
• 4-voice Missa L’homme armé Kyrie

4. Timeline
• 1430-1495 Rule of the Medici family
• C. 1450-1521 Josquin des Prez
– Born in Hainault, Belgium
– Flemish school
– One of the greatest composers of all time
– Most of his compositions were published during his lifetime
– Sacred works are contrapuntal
– Secular works are homophonic
– 19 Masses, 100 Motets, 70 Chansons
• Josquin: “Ave Maria. . .virgo serena”
– cantus-firmus Mass
– 5-note ostinato

5. Renaissance Sacred Music
• 1452-1519 Leonardo da Vinci
• 1483-1546 Martin Luther
• Renaissance Motet
– sacred
– Latin
– often dedicated to the Virgin
• Josquin des Prez: Motet: De profundis clamavi ad te
• 1545 Council of Trent and music:
– Abolished tropes, sequences, secular canti firmi
– Determined to stop the wave of secularization
– Nearly banned all polyphonic settings of liturgical
music and return to plainsong

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7. Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina
• The most famous composer of
his day
• Laid to rest in St. Peters
• The “Prince of Music”
• Born in 1525 near the town of
Palestrina
– Musical training in Rome at
Santa Maria Maggiore
– Appointed organist at age 19 in
the cathedral of Palestrina
– Married in 1547
• Cardinal del Monte became
Pope Julius III in 1550 and
brought Palestrina to Rome

8. Palestrina in Rome
• 1550 - became the Maestro of the Cappella Giulia,
one of the two musical units of St. Peters (the Sistine
Chapel Choir was the other)
• 1554 - Published compositions
• 1555 - Admitted to the Cappella Sistina
– Palestrina was married (forbidden to members)
– Palestrina was appointed on the orders of the Pope without
examination and without the consent of the singers

9. Trouble for Palestrina
• Three months later Pope Julius died and was
• Succeeded by Pope Marcellus II, who died three
weeks later. He was
• Succeeded by Pope Paul IV who defended the
Counter-Reformation and forced Palestrina and some
others who were married to leave their positions
• Pope Paul IV

10. Palestrina Moves on to
• Other positions
– Maestro di Cappella at St. John the
Lateran
– Returned to Santa Maria Maggiore
– Hired by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este
– Returned to Cappella Giulia
– Finally returned to St. Peter’s

11. Personal
• 1570s - plague caused the death of his
brother, two sons, and his wife
• 1581 - married Virginia Dormoli, a wealthy
widow, and Palestrina was now free from
financial worries
• Palestrina is considered to be one of three
great masters of the late Renaissance
– William Byrd
– Orlandus Lassus
– Palestrina

12. The Counter-Reformation
• Decree on Church Music by the Council
of Trent on September 10, 1562
• the elimination of all themes of reminiscent of, or resembling, secular
music;
• the rejection of musical forms
and elaborations tending to
mutilate or obscure the
liturgical text.

13. Various Popes
Pope Julius III
Pope Marcellus II

14. Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
The Gregorian Calendar

15. The Renaissance
• C. 1525-1594 Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina
– Considered the greatest master of Renaissance Catholic music
– Director of the Cappella Giulia at the Vatican
– Noted for his perfection of a purely vocal style, known as the
a cappella style
– Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass is the model of pure Catholic
music
• Palestrina: “Pope Marcellus Mass” - Gloria
– Counter-reformation Mass
– emphasizing text declamation

16. The Renaissance
• C. 1557-1612
Giovanni Gabrieli
• C. 1557-1612 Giovanni Gabrieli
– Nephew and pupil of Andrea
Gabrieli
– Greatest composer of the
Venetian school
– St. Mark’s Cathedral
– One of the first to write for
combined voices and
instruments
– First to develop
orchestration
– First to indicate
varied dynamics
• Sonata Pian’ e Forte

17. The Renaissance
• C. 1560-1613 Don Carlo Gesualdo
– Italian madrigalist
– Represents the extreme of chromaticism
– Indicates a growing awareness of the
strength of musical expression
– Carlo Gesualdo: Madrigal:
“lo parto” e non piu dissi

18. Renaissance Secular Music
• Rise of amateur music making
• Burgundian chanson, fixed forms:
– rondeau, ballade, virelai
• 16th century chanson
– freer texts and forms
• Instrumental dance types
– pavane, gilliard, allemande, ronde

19. Some Common Instruments
• The Hurdy-Gurdy
• The Crumhorn and Sackbut
• The Anaconda
• The Serpent

20. Renaissance Listening
• The Italian madrigal
– short, lyrical love poem, set with word painting
– works for professional singers
– Claudio Monteverdi: Madrigal: Cruda Amarilli
• The English madrigal
– adopted from Italy, preferred lighter forms
– Farmer: Madrigal: Fair Phyllis

21. More Renaissance? Listening
– PDQ Bach:
The Queen to Me a Royal Pain Doth Give
– PDQ Bach:
My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth