Musical Styles and Instruments of the Renaissance Era
Renaissance Music: Sacred, Secular, and Instrumental Forms
Sacred Vocal Music
“Obre Jesús” Score
The Protestant Chorale
The Protestant chorale is a simple composition, often based on popular melodies. It is usually written for four voices and in German, with a homophonic texture. These characteristics made it easy for the congregation to participate in the singing, establishing the chorale as the hymn of the Protestant religion.
The English Reformation
In England, Henry VIII broke away from Rome in the year 1534, creating the Anglican Church and proclaiming himself its head. He eliminated the mass and used only the anthem (hymn).
The Catholic Counter-Reformation
The Catholic Church kept Gregorian chant as the official singing of the Church but also developed polyphony, which reached its greatest splendor. The Motet was the most important form of religious polyphony. In Latin and brief, it avoided the previous counterpoint complexity. The Mass was a compound musical form, the result of putting together all the pieces of the liturgy.
Secular Vocal Music
Italy: Madrigal
The Madrigal is an Italian vocal form for four or five voices, with a compound polyphonic texture. This music tries to reflect the sense and meaning of the text by using expressive elements known as “Madrigalisms.” The most important composer was Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643).
France: Chanson
The Chanson is a French vocal form with a polyphonic texture and usually with instrumental accompaniment. It has a descriptive character and often uses musical onomatopoeias like the singing of birds, natural effects, urban, hunt, or war scenes. The most representative composer was Josquin des Prez.
Spain: Villancico
Usually made up of four voices with a simple homophonic texture, the Villancico follows a text structured in choruses and “coplas.” Its main characteristic is that the last verses of the copla act as a “volta,” repeating the melody of the chorus. The most representative composer was Juan del Encina.
Instrumental Music
Most of the instrumental forms of the Renaissance respond to three basic types of composition:
- Adopted pieces from vocal works.
- Pieces based on improvisation. Example: The Fantasia and the Toccata.
- Pieces based on variation.
Instrument families were divided into two categories:
- Haut music: Formed by instruments with great sound power. These were groups intended for outdoor performances or public events.
- Bas music: Formed by instruments of soft sound intensity. These were groups intended for indoor performances.
Instrument Families:
- Plucked Strings: Lute, Archlute, Vihuela, Mandolin
- Plucked Strings (Keyboard): Harpsichord, Virginal, Spinet
- Percussed Strings: Psaltery, Clavichord
- Bowed Strings: Viola da Braccio, Viola da Gamba, Hurdy-Gurdy
- Winds: Recorder, Fife, Shawm, Cornamuse, Musette, Bassoon, Crumhorn, Trumpet, Sackbut, Organ
- Percussion: Timpani
Organology
Organology is the music department that describes instruments. The first serious book to study instruments was the treatise by the German composer Michael Praetorius called “Syntagma Musicum,” which describes the instruments of the time and how to play them.
Dance in the Renaissance
Dance Pairs
One of the most famous dance pairs was the combination of pavane and galliard.
- Pavane: A processional dance with a slow and ceremonious binary rhythm. It had three parts, all of them repeated twice.
- Galliard: A lively dance with a ternary rhythm. Composed upon the pavane, it responded to the same structure but with more choreography.