John Dowland (1563-1626) was a composer of Renaissance England and considered one of the most prolific and well-known composers of English lute song. A composer and accomplished lutenist, he is probably the most well traveled English composer of his time. Through his travels he was exposed to the musical elements of his Italian, French and German contemporaries. He developed his own musical language, in which he created a unique style for the lute song. As a composer, he focused on the development of melodic material and was able to elegantly blend words and music with a wide range of emotion and technique. For the purpose of this document we will focus on the influence of his Italian travels. John Dowland’s use of chromaticism in his lute songs as can be directly associated with such as “All ye whom love or fortune.” In these pieces, we can see the influence on this genre through his travels to Italy and encounters with such composers as Marenzio.
A cosmopolitan composer, John Dowland’s music displays elements of his Italian contemporaries madrigal style through his use of chromaticism in the lute songs.
Let us begin by taking a brief overview of the lute and it’s function. In the fifteenth century, there was an evolution in lute playing. It had been played in an ensemble setting with a plectrum, a tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. This technique limited the player to single line melodies. The technique evolved into strings being plucked with the player’s fingers, thus, making it possible for the lutenist to play intricate polyphony and turning the lute into a solo instrument playing two, three or even four lines of music at once. Out of this development the lute was transformed into a self-contain...
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...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.
We may not know for certain whether or not Marenzio and Dowland ever met, but we can definitely see Marenzio’s musical influence in Dowland’s lute songs. Let us firs
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Antonio Stradivari, a man known by many as on of the greatest luthiers of all time. The question at hand is why? From as early as the early 1700’s Stradivari was well known in the music world and still is. His instruments are reproduced in order to fool consumers into buying an instrument that has the same design as a Strad. There are also luthiers that try to replicate Stradivari’s beautiful design for their own satisfaction. Antonio Stradivari’s instruments have become socially and technically popular over time due to his superior craftsmanship, and for others, its large price tag. Stradivari’s life, affecting how his instruments were made, changed the perception of his instruments technically and socially.
For almost half a century, the musical world was defined by order and esteemed the form of music more highly than the emotion that lay behind it. However, at the turn of the 19th century, romantic music began to rise in popularity. Lasting nearly a century, romantic music rejected the ideas of the classical era and instead encouraged composers to embrace the idea of emotionally driven music. Music was centered around extreme emotions and fantastical stories that rejected the idea of reason. This was the world that Clara Wieck (who would later marry the famous composer, Robert Schumann) was born into. Most well known for being a famous concert pianist, and secondly for being a romantic composer, Clara intimately knew the workings of romantic music which would not only influence Clara but would later become influenced by her progressive compositions and performances, as asserted by Bertita Harding, author of Concerto: The Glowing Story of Clara Schumann (Harding, 14). Clara’s musical career is an excellent example of how romantic music changed from virtuosic pieces composed to inspire awe at a performer’s talent, to more serious and nuanced pieces of music that valued the emotion of the listener above all else.
Loyset Compere, an accomplished yet not very well-known composer of the 15th century, has been neglected as a figure in musical history. Historians through the ages have somehow left him out of most of their writings. Therefore, as modern researchers and discoverers, we have very little resources from which to gather information about Compere. In fact, even his date and place of birth are argued upon by historians. Thus, our study is limited to what we see on the pages of his music and what we glean from the music we hear (MCD 1490, Carapetyan).
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There are two pieces in our Renaissance Era musical feature this evening, the first by Pierre Phalèse called Passamezzo d'Italye - Reprise – Gaillarde. Phalèse began as a bookseller in 1545 and not long after he set up a publishing house. By 1575 he had around 189 music books. Much of his work was devoted to sacred music but there was a small amount of Flemish songs and instrumental works. Phalèse borrowed work from many composers and did not hesitate to include other composer’s music in his works. The sec...
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Danson, Lawrence. The Harmonies of The Merchant of Venice. Great Britain: Yale University Press, 1978. Print.
Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2011). Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe (1400–1750). Gateways to Art (pp. 376-97). New York: W.W. Norton.
Franz Liszt is said to be the most astounding piano virtuosos that existed during the Romantic era. This essay will discuss his achievements as a pianist as well as a composer. This essay will examine his life and will examine what influenced him at an early age. It will also look at his accomplishments as a pianist as well as a composer and examine how he became as well known as he is today. It will use his background to show what exactly influenced him to become a successful pianist and composer and it will discuss how essential he was during the Romantic era.