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Music 120 the renaissance and middle age
Music 120 the renaissance and middle age
Late medieval secular music made use of
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Secular Music
In addition to being a time of great religious significance, the sixteenth century was also a period of bawdy earthiness, irreverent humor, and celebration of sensual love. The same composers who created works for the greater glory of God also wrote compositions of an entirely different character. In Italy and England, the principal form of secularmusic was the madrigal, which in France was called chanson, and in Germany Lied. The madrigal is one of the most representative examples of developments in vocal music.
The first madrigals originated in Italy around 1530, and were designed to convey in as much detail as possible the meaning of the poem on which they were based. The 1588 publication of a volume of translated madrigals in London led to widespread adoption of the madrigal by English composers. The English madrigal was lighter, less complicated, and more humorous in style, and featured simpler melodies and harmonies. John Farmer's (1570-1601) Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone included in his 1599 collection, is probably one of the most well-known examples...
During the Medieval period the Catholic Church had an enormous amount of power and control over the people of that time. The Medieval period began with the collapse of the Roman Empire around the year 450. Then with much of Europe in disarray, the Roman Catholic Church, the main unifying force at the time, unified many cultures together. “All segments of society felt the powerful influence of the Roman Catholic Church. In this age of faith, hell was very real and heresy was the gravest crime” (Kamien 63). The church controlled everything and it was of greatest importance in this period. “Very little non-Christian music from this period survived, due to its suppression by the Church and the absence of music notation…” (History of Music). The enormous Gothic Cathedrals and churches demonstrate how powerful and important the church was. The amount of physical labor put into each one shows the devotion of the people to God and the church in the medieval time period. Life in these times revolved around the church so it makes sense that the music of this time also revolved around it. The composers of this era were often involved with the church. They were usually priests, monks, or nuns. For example Hildegard of Bingen, a nun from Germany, who, wrote many musical pieces and other forms of art.
...ugh the publication of his madrigals in Nicholas Yonge’s 1588 publication Musica transalpine, in which, Marenzio’s works were second in number. It is believed that Dowland went to Italy with the intention of meeting and possibly even studying with Marenzio in Rome, although there is no evidence that the introduction ever occurred.
Harman, Alec, and Anthony Milner. Late Renaissance and Baroque Music. London: Barrie Books LTD., 1959. ML193.H37
Before the rebirth of knowledge, the only music in England was spiritual music. Since this time period was known as the Golden Age of the A Cappella Music Style, majority of the spiritual songs were sung in the a cappella music style. A cappella is when the choir sings without an instrumental accompaniment. There were two main styles other than a cappella, motets and masses. Motets and masses are quite similar, having only a few differences. A motet is a polyphonic piece of music having four to six voices all singing one religious text (Bower). Masses happen to be longer than a motet and were very important in the services in the Catholic Church. The Catholic masses had a very specific order ...
Taruskin, R., & Taruskin, R. (2010). Music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.
The Hinário Para o Culto Cristão (HCC) is one of the most well-known collection of sacred hymns adopted by several traditional Baptists churches in Brazil currently. One could affirm that church music is always in a process of development as observed in the history of the church. According to the history of church music, religious music always had the power to influence a local community, and among the Baptists in Brazil, it was not different. Researchers support the idea that the growth of the Pentecostalism in Brazil during the late eighties could be one of the reasons for the reformulation of the main Brazilian Baptist hymnal known as Cantor Cristão. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the HCC worked as a tool
From the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance, there was a movement from vocal music to a combination of vocal and instrumental music (Brown, 1976). There are seven categories of instrumental music: 1) vocal music played by instruments, 2) settings of pre-existing melodies, 3) variation sets, 4) ricercars, fantasias, and canzonas, 5) preludes, preambles, and toccatas for solo instruments, 6) dance music, and 7) songs composed specifically for lute and solo voice (Brown, 1976). Italy dominated the stage for instrumental music at this time, and it was not until the last decades of the sixteenth century that English instrumental music became popular (Brow...
Atlas, A.W. Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400-1600. 1st ed. New York: Norton, 1998.
As discussed by Greenberg (2009), the Renaissance saw many changes and advancements over a two hundred year span of evolution in music. The intellectual and social trends strayed from the absolute power of the church and secular music became admired and composed for the beauty of its art. Renaissance composers developed a more expressive style by clearly articulating lyrics “musica reservata” and a process called word painting or tone painting which reflected
Music is a part of everyday life for almost everyone in the world. Music provides us with enjoyment and relaxation, and can be used in many ways by many different people. Some may use it to calm down after a long, hard day, while others use it for religious purposes or still others in and attempt to try and forget something that hasn’t been favorable to them. The possibilities are endless, for music is one language that can be transmitted to all people of the world, no matter their nationality, and it can be understood by everyone. Tibet is no different than any other place in the world, as it has music that serves the purpose of the people who live there. While most music in Tibet is religious, secular music still exists and is still a part of life there. Tibetan music has played an important role in shaping who the Tibetan people have become today by giving themselves different ways to express who they are, through the use of differing instruments and styles of music, and has allowed other people from around the world the opportunity to look at Tibetan culture through their music.
Music throughout the ages has changed dramatically. Starting in the Medieval period, from 400-1475, music was in the form of what is called the Gregorian chant. Instruments were very rarely used at this time. Since songs during this period were either troubadour or trouvere these chants had no real harmony. One example of this type of medieval composition is “Viderunt Omnes” by Leoninus. Like most Gregorian chants the texture of this piece is monophonic and polyphonic. “Viderunt Omnes” is a typical Gregorian chant in that it uses diatonic, not chromatic notes of the scale. Musical compositions during the Medieval period was made mostly by members of the church for the church. It was and is a very slow and steady movement that was meant to create a feeling of peace for worship purposes.
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
Harr, James. Essays on Italian Poetry and Music in the Renassisance: 1350-1600. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
person is in, there is a psalm to match it. For example, Psalm 19 is