Renaissance Art, Culture, and Music: Influences and Genres

Posted on Jan 18, 2025 in Music

1. Factors Enabling Renaissance Art and Culture

  • Economic prosperity followed the end of epidemics and famines.
  • A new social class, the wealthy merchants (bourgeoisie), became patrons of the arts, alongside the nobility and clergy.
  • The rise of humanism promoted art for human needs, not just religious purposes.
  • The rediscovery of classical wisdom emphasized human potential.
  • The printing press and global travels facilitated the spread of new ideas.

2. Humanism’s Influence on Renaissance Music

  • The diffusion of knowledge, aided by the printing press, impacted music.
  • Development of secular and instrumental music for human pleasure and expression.
  • Changes in religious music, seeking religious identity or simpler polyphony.

3. Functions of Music in Renaissance Society

a) SACRED MUSIC: Served divine and religious powers. After the Church split, it became a means of spreading faith in different cults: Lutheran, Anglican, and Catholic.
b) SECULAR MUSIC: Used for entertainment, dance, expressing ideas, and demonstrating wealth.

4. Polyphonic Musical Genres of the Renaissance

  • Chorale in Germany
  • Anthem in England
  • Motet and Mass in the Catholic Church
  • Various genres of secular music
5. Common Musical Instruments
  • Vihuela (Spain)
  • Viola
  • Organ
  • Clavichord
  • Chirimía
  • Cromorn
  • Sacabuche
Sacred Music
Catholic
  • Typical genres: Motet and Mass
  • Texture: Gregorian chant (monody) alternating with imitative counterpoint and homophony.
  • Language: Latin
  • Music-text relationship: Pneumatic
  • Performer: Mixed choir a cappella. Professional interpreters
  • Composers: Tomás Luis de Victoria and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Protestant music
  • Typical genres: Chorale
  • Textures: Homophonic
  • Language: German
  • Music-text relationship: Syllabic
  • Performer: Mixed chorus a cappella – 4 voices – played by people
  • Composers: Johann Walter
Anglican music
  • Typical genres: Anthem
  • Textures: Homophonic and counterpoint
  • Language: English
  • Music-text relationship: Syllabic
  • Performer: Mixed choir a cappella – 4 voices – of the church with or without solo voices
  • Composers: Thomas Tallis
Secular Music
Italy
  • Typical genres: Madrigal
  • Textures: Counterpoint polyphony
  • Language: Italian
  • Music-text relationship: Pneumatic
  • Character: Descriptive and sentimental (love themes) based on high literary quality poems
  • Composers: Carlo Gesualdo
France
  • Typical genres: Chanson
  • Textures: Homophony
  • Language: French
  • Music-text relationship: Syllabic
  • Character: Chorus/couplets/chorus structure
  • Composers: Pierre Certon
Spain
  • Typical genres: Villancico
  • Textures: Homophony
  • Language: Spanish
  • Music-text relationship: Syllabic
  • Character: Refrain/stanzas/refrain structure
  • Composers: Juan de la Encina