Renaissance Music Overview and Impact

Sep 17, 2024

Renaissance Period in Music

Overview

  • Timeframe: 1400-1600 AD.
  • Second half of the early period of Western music.
  • Followed the Medieval era.

Cultural and Historical Context

  • 14th-century Florence as the epicenter.
  • Marked by political and economic stability.
  • Spread of literacy and education.
  • Renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy.
  • Shift from theological to humanitarian focus.

Impact on Arts

  • New understanding of perspective and geometry in art.
  • Diplomacy and politics saw rethinking and transformation.
  • Development of concrete manufacturing.
  • Opera emerged as a modern recreation of Greek drama.
  • Music as entertainment, not just for worship.
  • Music demand exploited commercially; performed in homes.
  • Families owned keyboards and instruments; rich hired musicians.

Notable Composers

  • John Dunstable: English composer, influential in late Medieval and early Renaissance periods; also an astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer.
  • Thomas Tallis: Served under four monarchs; regarded as a significant church composer.
  • William Byrd: Received exclusive license to print music in England with Tallis.
  • Antonio de Salazar: Spanish composer in Mexico; blended European and Mexican musical styles.

Musical Developments

  • Reliance on interval of the third, previously considered dissonant.
  • Emotional content in music increased through major/minor chords.
  • Renaissance correlation between art and religious music complexity.
  • Composers became celebrities.

Musical Printing and Distribution

  • Johannes Gutenberg's printing press enabled duplication of musical manuscripts.
  • Unified musical language.

Musical Styles and Ensembles

  • European-Mexican hybrid works explored.
  • By-Van: Slow, stately dance in two beats per bar.
  • Galliard: Quick-paced dance with three beats to a bar.
  • Courant: French ensemble in triplet time; performed by violins, viola, and harpsichord.
  • Consort: Dance by similar or varied instruments, leading to Baroque Orchestra.
  • Madrigal: Secular vocal composition; unaccompanied, with three to six voices.

Instrumental Developments

  • Crump Horn: Woodwind instrument, similar to a bagpipe, J-shaped.
  • Harpsichord: Early keyboard instrument, similar to a piano.
  • Organs: Used in ceremonies and rich family homes; size indicated wealth.

Summary

  • The Renaissance saw music and arts become accessible to a mainstream audience.
  • Artists pursued individual talents, less focused on worship.

Next Steps

  • Next lecture will cover the Baroque period.