Chapter 6 The Renaissance

Late Renaissance Music

Key Terms
Declamation Word painting Mass Motet

Late Renaissance Style

Rooted in High Renaissance style pioneered by Josquins generation Remarkably stable since Josquins day Most evident in sacred music
Especially Mass and motet

Universal, international style practiced by composers from across Europe:

Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria & Byrd

Late Renaissance Style

Counter-Reformation
Luther, Calvin, King Henry VIII and others broke away from the Catholic church in the early 1500s The Counter-Reformation was the Catholic churchs answer to the Reformation Starting in 1545, Council of Trent met to reform the worship and practices of the Catholic church For a time, the Council considered banning complex polyphonic music

Palestrina, Pope Marcellus Mass (1562)

From the Gloria
Compared with Josquins Gloria:
Palestrinas is more homophonic, easier to follow (response to Council of Trent?) As a result, declamation is much clearer Six parts and varied groupings sound richer than Josquins four-part choir This full, sonorous, sensuous music is typical of the late Renaissance

Josquin vs. Palestrina

Josquin
Qui tollis peccata mundi, MISERERE NOBIS.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, SUSCIPE DEPRECATIONEM NOSTRAM. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.

Palestrina
QUI TOLLIS PECCATA MUNDI, MISERERE NOBIS.
QUI TOLLIS PECCATA MUNDI, Suscipe DEPRECATIONEM NOSTRAM. QUI SEDES AD DEXTERAM PATRIS, MISERERE NOBIS. (Capital letters indicate homophony.)

Pope Marcellus Mass, Gloria (1515)

QUI TOLLIS PECCATA MUNDI, MISERERE NOBIS. QUI TOLLIS PECCATA MUNDI, Suscipe DEPRECATIONEM NOSTRAM. QUI SEDES AD DEXTERAM PATRIS, MISERERE NOBIS. You who take away the sins of the world, Have mercy upon us You who take away the sins of the world, Hear our prayer. You who sit at the right hand of the Father, Have mercy upon us.

Pope Marcellus Mass, Gloria

QUONIAM TU SOLUS SANCTUS, TU SOLUS DOMINUS, TU SOLUS ALTISSIMUS, JESU CHRISTE, CUM SANCTO SPIRITU, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen. For you alone are holy, you alone are the Lord, You alone are the most high, Jesus Christ, With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

(Capital letters indicate

phrases sung in homophony.)

Renaissance Motet
Relatively short composition using Latin words Text usually sacred, sometimes taken directly from the Bible Essentially same style as Mass, alternating between imitation and homophony Often more expressive than music of the Mass, with effective declamation and even text painting