Music in Renaissance Period Essay Example For Students

Music in Renaissance Period Essay Introduction Renaissance, literally, means rebirth; it is an era that began in sasss and ended in 1600 and its school of thought dramatically shifted from religious and mystical ideals to a focus to human interactions. It is worthy and important to understand the changes from the transition of musical period, because they mark and shape the music industry that stands now. For instance, opera was in its infancy when Gigolo Canine (1551-1681) started writing the first opera and now operas can be found in all around the world and in different cultures. There are tremendous aspects to talk bout of the transition from Medieval to Renaissance period, however this essay will only limit itself on the changes in vocal composition, and the historical events that might lead to such changes. Four aspects will be mainly focused on change in style of vocal composition, reasons of increased secular composition, invention of new text types and what the biggest motivation behind all changes. Change in style of vocal composition When talking about the liturgical music from medieval period, one can easily associate to plainchant or more specific Gregorian chant. Gregorian Chant usually ivies us a single and narrow ranged of sacred melody and is perceived as the voice of church in that period. Then, polyphony was evolved around twelfth century. Organ (earliest polyphony) involved of adding a faster melody on top of a plainchant. It is rather easy to identify medieval music from Renaissance music, since Renaissance music is relatively richer and fuller. The texture is mostly polyphonic; however could be also homophobic with successions of chords. The bass register was used for the first time, this allows an expansion of pitch range at the same time usually provides a strong and full accompanies when play with the higher voices. Renaissance choral music study: Jonquils Eave Maria Polyphonic imitation is a technique that best represents the typical style of renaissance vocal composition. The idea is that a short melody is presented by one voice and the other voices imitate the same thing but with delays, thus is similar to an echo of the first melody. This technique of overlapping provides the sense of continuity; and also as all the melodic lines were conceived at the same time instead of being conceived line by line in the renaissance period, the harmonic effect is more ICC and pleasant to hear. One of a great example of polyphonic imitation is the four-voice motet by Joaquin Desired (1440-1521). Being one of the most important composers in the renaissance period, Joaquin pioneered the pervasive imitation (a. K. A polyphonic imitation) as a contrapuntal device. His influence to the Western musical history is well recognized because pervasive imitation has became the ancestor of modern fugue (later in composition. ) Eave Maria Virgo serene (1502) is a work by Joaquin that may best illustrate the technique of pervasion imitation. Eave Maria is a chapel that is choral music in the renaissance period that did not need instrumental accompaniment. Yet, some a chapel used instrument to duplicate the vocal lines in order to support and reinforce the singers if they find it hard to maintain on the right pitches. At the opening pervasion imitation is used, soprano sings the single phrase Eave Maria and each voice sings the same melody in succession. In addition to imitation in different voices, it also occurs between pairs of voices. For instance, soprano and alto come into duet in the phrase Eave, cuss conception, while the two lower voices imitate in succession. In the phrase Virgo serene, all voices sing together creating a feeling to completeness to the first verse. Harlem Renaissance Poetry EssayBallet is a danceable song for several solo voices; also following the ideal of the Camera ballet was mostly homophobic in texture with the melody in the highest voice. Before renaissance, instrumental music were Just accompaniment to vocal sounds. However, during the sixteenth century, more music was specifically written for instruments. Besides organ, harpsichord and clavichord both evolved in the fifteenth century. There was also a more organized grouping for instrument in terms of their volumes. They were two groups, altar capable and bass capable meaning loud and soft ensembles. Altar capable that is the loud ensembles included shams, pipes and even percussion. While bass capable included harp, lute and other plucked string. The secret driving force There was a new ideal that was driving all those changes from medieval to incessant music the Humanism. During the medieval period, music was often a way to seek for a more intimate relationship with God. Yet, the renaissance ideals shifted from God-centric to human-centric, the will and interactions of human were more emphasized. The loss of power of the Catholic Church was originated to the psychological change of Man. Peoples wills were no long being controlled by the authority, instead they were dare to question about the fidelity of the doctrine. The rise of secular music was another sign for the new renaissance ideal. Secular music brought entertainment to the incessant era; people could play secular music in weddings and on the street. This kind of entertainment was fulfilling to people in those times, and people were willing to engage to this activity that made them feel pleasant. Conclusion The transition of the music in medieval period to renaissance period was indeed very spectacular. The literal meaning of the word renaissance best illustrated the state of the music from medieval period rebirth. The change in vocal composition might be the most obvious change of all. The expansion of range, enriched tone color and the use of new technique had brought music to another level; the music in incessant was more challenging but more interesting to play with. Due to the reformation of new churches, and the invention of printing, he amount of secular composition being produced had also increased in this era. New music text types had also been explored; the most important of all madrigal had promoted the growth of opera in later years, ballet and also instrumental music. Yet, among all those change in style of music, or the political adjustments, the most powerful driving force behind the changes was the philosophy of humanism that was floating in the air; the ideals of it had allowed people to emphasize more on human-centered aspects like free will and entertainments.