Music of the Renaissance

The word “Renaissance” means, literally, rebirth. The era we all know so much of was so named because it marked the new face of many things as the world emerged from the Medieval period, which was also known as the Dark Ages for many reasons. One of the things that was changed forever in this shining new era of discovery was music.

Many of the new musical developments took place in Flanders, which, in Renaissance times, was a region in Europe which includes parts of present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Renaissance artists in any field closely followed classical or Greek examples whenever they designed new forms of art or new methods, but there were no such classical examples where music was concerned. The only thing musicians had to work from was Plato’s proclamation that “words are more important than music.” As a result of this statement, musicians composed songs to go along with singing. There was experimentation off the beaten path, of course, as there always will be. Simpler rhythms and innovative tone arrangements, for example, were tried on for size, and almost all were successes. People also possessed the (mistaken) belief in those times that composers and poets had been synonymous with one another in ancient times, so poets tried to make their writings sound more musical, as the composers incessantly tried to make notes and instruments give the impression of sounding like words.

In the Medieval period, almost all music was intended for use in the religious establishment, and there were precious few songs that were not based on church themes. All this changed in the Renaissance, with almost every song based on a non-religious theme, such as romance or adventure. Sometimes composers, such as Dufay, used literature or architecture as models for their music. They hoped to recreate the feel of their model by matching characteristics of their allusions, such as symmetry, rigidity, word connotations, or fluidity, with their musical compositions.

Music was everywhere during the Renaissance; if a person could read, it could almost always be assumed that they also could read music. There were instrumental pieces that could be experienced virtually anywhere, especially in large towns, and singing could be heard in choirs or at festive occasions. It was not uncommon for a married woman during the Renaissance to hire musicians or other artists to entertain her at home.

One of the new styles of music was called imitative counterpoint, or “fugue.” In this style, different voices or instruments followed one another in slight variations of the same melody. A few famous imitative counterpoint composers were Orlando di Lasso, who was Dutch, and Giovanni Palestrina, who was Italian. Imitative counterpoint led to the creation of the Madrigal.

In a Madrigal, two or more harmonic vocal parts accompanied by instruments sang together. It was a very popular form of music during the Renaissance, with about 2,000 Madrigals composed in Italy alone. Much of the text for Madrigals was initially taken from the writings of Petrarch, a famous poet. Later on, some text was taken from lesser poets who followed in Petrarch’s footsteps. Madrigals did not repeat themselves in words or in music; the melody unfolded throughout the song, becoming more intricate and involved. Famous composers of the Madrigal were Luca Marenzio, an Italian, Ciprian de Rore, a Dutchman, William Byrd, and Thomas Morley, who were both English.

There were many new instrumental forms of music, some of which sprang from vocal music, such as the canzoni or ricercari. A few were written for specific instruments. An example of that is the toccata, which is always intended for keyboard instruments. Toccatas remained popular even after the Renaissance. One of the most famous is Bach’s Toccata in D Minor, although Bach was not a Renaissance composer. The concerto was developed by composers in Italy during the late 1500’s.

Italian music didn’t go down in history quite as spectacularly as its fellow art forms like literature and visual art. Because of this fact, people in Italy who wished to hear beautiful music imported musicians such as Dufay from northern Europe.

Among the common instruments during the Renaissance were the psaltery, mandolin, and lute. The psaltery is a uniquely shaped stringed instrument with a shallow, round soundbox. It is played by plucking one of the many strings with fingers or a pick. The mandolin is a small, stringed, pear-shaped instrument with four strings. It is played by plucking with the right hand while the left hand sets the pitch by its position on the neck. The lute is much like a mandolin, only considerably larger; the one quality that sets it apart from the mandolin in appearance is the unusual presence of a sharply angled head set onto the end of the neck.

The Renaissance changed the way music was made forever, and many of the styles and forms of music first invented and experimented with during that wondrous time still remain popular today.



Bibliography

Brenner, Barbara. If You Were There in 1492. New York: Bradbury Press, 1991.

Kirby, F.E., Ph. D. “Classical Music.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1997 ed.

Loft, Abraham. “Lute.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1991 ed.

Loft, Abraham. “Mandolin.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1991 ed.

Osman, Karen. The Italian Renaissance. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1996.

Wood, Tim. The Renaissance. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1993.