Ockeghem: Missa Prolationum

1013 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Contribution of pythagoras and plato

Through the history of music, everything has changed drastically as the years pass. Music had a complete different structure in its early years to the one we know today. The writing was different, the language was different, the instruments were different, etc. Nevertheless, music has evolved through the different time periods to finally become what we know today. Each historical moment had different beliefs and of course that was reflected in the arts, the sciences and many other things. The Renaissance is a historical moment in which the influence of ancient cultures and therefore early philosophers as Pythagoras and Plato was very important; for that reason, the structure of music, as almost everything else in the moment, took its basis from the mathematical ratios and proportions.

Nevertheless, These proportions had a strong relation to others disciplines as art and architecture, but there was also a strong, evident relation with the planets’ movements as stated by Pythagoras and later developed by other philosophers, mathematicians, and musicians like Plato and, as we have mentioned through the whole essay, Kepler. Therefore, this relation explained before between the ratios of the musical scales and mathematical ratios that can be found in every single aspect of the universe, as Pythagoras said, for example the ones of the movement of the planets, was a valuable inspiration for many composers of the time. Though the musical language as we know it nowadays seems to be very mathematical, that fact that a composition can be build according to specific ratios is quite complex and difficult to achieve; nonetheless, composers as Johannes Ockeghem managed to base their compositions in this.

Johannes Ockeghem was a Belgian musici...

... middle of paper ...

...exactly the same as the one before but with a completely different melody being sang by the voices. In this section the golden ratio is found in the ratio between the amounts of beets of each section. While one of them has 200, the other one had 120 making a relation of 10:6 being really close to 3:2. Nonetheless, this is not the only way that there is a 3:2 relation in this part. Between the main harmony of each section and the repetition there is also a relation close enough to 3:2.

Though the Missa Prolationum is one the Ockeghem’s composition in which the relation with mathematical ratios is seen, Ockeghem, and the Renaissance composers in general, are famous and known nowadays for having a strong affection towards the use of these ratios when it comes to the different disciplines.

Works Cited

http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/digital/FLURA_2010-13.pdf

Show More
Related

  • Pre-1600 Styles in European Art Music

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the other hand, the pre-1600 styles in European art music are based upon the following features:

    Read More

  • The Ethical Values of the Music Art of the Ancient Greeks: A Semiotic Essay

    2781 Words  | 6 Pages

    Suggested by the very remarkable interest taken in the music in the works of the ancient Greek philosophers, our attempt¡Xa semiotic attempt¡Xwould succeed in getting us closer to the meaning of what is called "the ethos of music" in the civilization of ancient Greeks.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Baroque Era and the Classical Era

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two distinct eras in music that have impacted it immensely throughout time. They are known as the Baroque era and the Classical era. These eras have helped mold and elevate music, building creative pathways that still hold a strong effect in present day music. The differences in both the Baroque and Classical eras are quite immense but they both hold equal importance to the history of music and are high in their overall influential worth.

    Read More

  • Organum

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through using Musica enchiriadis as an example of the 10th century, and the works of Leoninus and Perotinusis as examples in the 11th and 12th century, it is evident that the organum experienced a copious amount of changes between the 10th and 12th century both melodically and rhythmically including the adding of voices, the changing of motion, and the development of rhythm. These adaptations to the organum, though might seem insignificant, tremendously helped further the evolution of polyphony in western music, which consequently contributes to the music of today.

    Read More

  • Music and Musicians in the Renaissance

    1611 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Renaisssance versus Baroque Periods

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Renaissance means the rebirth of ancient learning. The renaissance can be divided into two parts Early Renaissance (1420-1500) and High Renaissance (1500-1520). The Renaissance era was one of the most productive time periods in history as far as the advancement of music goes. At first it was rigid, structu...

    Read More

  • The History of Music

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    Music has been around since the dawn of time, ever since man first inhabited this planet we have learned to communicate in ways other then conventional speaking. Different Cultures all have there own specific way of communicating through music. Music is basically broken into two specific groups Eastern Music and Western Music. Eastern music is mainly derived from the orient and India. While, Western music first emerged from Europe. Western music has developed in many ways since the middle ages through its form, sound, and message.

    Read More

  • The Renaissance Was a Revolutionary Period

    2557 Words  | 6 Pages

    A successful civilization is portrayed though art; it is a luxurious pastime that shows wealth and time. During the Renaissance, the production of art was long-standing. New techniques and characteristics emerged as well as masterpieces that were made by some of the most influential artists in history. During the Gothic and Romanesque periods, the techniques used for art were not as realistic as the Renaissance; they were flat, one-dimensional, and unproportional. During the Renaissance however, the concept of proportion, perspective, chiaroscuro and sfumato was formed. Proportion is the technique of having a greater understanding of portraying objects or people accurately. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman author, architect, mathematician and doctor who described the ideal proportions of a human during his time. He set out certain measurements and values of the human body, for example the pa...

    Read More

  • Compare and contrast the music of the Medieval, Rennaissance, and Baroque periods

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    As time passed and music continued to evolve what is known as the Renaissance period emerged from 1475-1600. Music during this period was still written with worship as its intentions. Where the Medieval period had no harmony the Renaissance period introduced the use of a constant chord to form the building block of the different pieces. A good example of this period of music is “Ave Maria” by Josquin written in 1485. The many different voices the repeat the same words create a process called imitation. This particular chant is capella, meaning that it is performed by voices alone and has no musical accompaniment and with all the voices entering at different times but in harmony counterpoint i...

    Read More

  • Comparing Mozart And Beethoven

    1557 Words  | 4 Pages

    These two men are known as two of the greatest composers of all time. They were both child prodigies. They had completely different childhoods, but were a lot alike at the same time. I have compared and contrasted their music. I have told you of the time periods they lived in. I have also told of their musical styles, other famous composers and the purpose of Mozart and Beethoven’s music. These two musical geniuses will never be

    Read More

  • Medieval Music Vs Renaissance Music

    94 Words  | 1 Pages

    Music in the Renaissance differed from medieval music because Renaissance music tended to be more complex and polyphonic, while medieval music was often monophonic with one melody. Most music in the medieval era was written for religious services because the catholic church prohibited any other music. With the rise of the renaissance era, music was used for many other reasons. Composers created complex music by using notation and musical forms. During the medieval era, music often contained one tone and one or no instruments. Instruments were more widely accepted in music during the Renaissance.

    Read More

  • Phrase, Subphrase in Granados’s Piano suite Goyescas (Los Majos Enamorados), No.1 Los Requiebros

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    The late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century was a flourishing era in the music community to both musicians and music fans. A great number of composers through their unique musical aesthetics and unrestrained creativity composed a great volume of different style music. A major contemporary trend or the feature of the music at that time was tonality collapse. However, there were quite a few composers still insisting on composing tonal music. In this essay, I will use Burkhart’s “the very musicianly topic of the phrase” theory to analyze Granados’s “Goyescas, No.1 Los Requiebros”. I will singly identify phrase structure of primary sections for identify phrases in different hierarchy, and how does the composer form a larger phrases.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of New Hollywood Cinema

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    In more detail, the questions that will arise in this paper are as follows; what were the most significant changes that happened from the classical

    Read More

  • The 20th Century

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    Works Cited Arnold, Denis, ed. , pp. 113-117. The New Oxford Companion to Music. Vol.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Classical Architecture

    1701 Words  | 4 Pages

    The aim of classical design has always been, according to Vitruvius’ De Architectura libri decem (De Architectura) known today as The Ten Books on Architecture, to proportion a harmonic structure. According to Marcus Vitruvius Pollio the theory of proportion is particularly important when it comes to designing a building, a passage in which his study relates human and architectural proportions he states:

    Read More

More about Ockeghem: Missa Prolationum

Open Document