Transcript Slide 1
Concise History of
Western Music
5th edition
Barbara Russano Hanning
Prelude II
The Age of the
Renaissance
TIMELINE
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Europe in the Renaissance
Renaissance (French for “rebirth”)
• aim: restore learning, ideals, and values of ancient
Greece and Rome
• introduction of new technologies
End of long-standing conflicts
• Hundred Years’ War between English and France
ends, 1453
• end of Byzantine Empire: Constantinople fell to
Turks, 1453
• rise of western Europe as a world power
Europe in the Renaissance (cont’d)
End of long-standing conflicts (cont’d)
• European expansion beyond Mediterranean and
northern Atlantic
European economy stabilized around 1400
• increased trade, towns and cities prosper
• middle class grew in numbers and influence
• rulers glorify themselves
impressive palaces and country houses
lavish entertainment, support talented musicians
Europe in the Renaissance (cont’d)
Renaissance in Italy
• geography
• commercial dominance
trade with Byzantium
wealthy families
ecclesiastical culture
• citizens accumulate wealth through commerce,
banking, crafts
personal fulfillment, priority to early matters
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Europe in the Renaissance (cont’d)
Rediscovery of ancient texts
• Ottoman attacks: Byzantines flee to Italy with
ancient Greek manuscripts
• Greek classics translated into Latin for the first time
Humanism
• humanism: strongest intellectual movement of the
Renaissance
• study of humanities, things pertaining to human
knowledge
• humanists revive ancient learning
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Europe in the Renaissance (cont’d)
Humanism (cont’d)
grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, moral philosophy
developed individual’s mind, spirit; prepared for lives of
virtue and service
• humanistic studies replaced Scholasticism; emphasis
on logic
• the church borrowed from classical sources,
supported humanists
Renaissance Art and Architecture
Revival of classical antiquity
• naturalism and idealized beauty
• nudity shows beauty of human figure
• nakedness in Middle Ages implied shame
Painting and architecture
• natural and realistic effects in painting
perspective: method for representing three-dimensional
space on flat surface
• clarity and classical models in architecture
clean lines contrast markedly with Gothic decoration
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Renaissance Art and Architecture
(cont’d)
Musical parallels
• expanded range: pitch, contrasts in register, fuller
textures
• rising significance of composers as individual artists
The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance
Reawakened interest in Greek theory
• recovery of ancient music treatises, translated to Latin
Aristides Quintilianus, Claudius Ptolemy, Cleonedes, and
Euclid
passages by Plato and Aristotle on music
• power of the modes
Plato and Aristotle: various modes had different ethical
features
Renaissance composers chose mode based on emotions
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The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance (cont’d)
Reawakened interest in Greek theory (cont’d)
• Swiss theorist Heinrich Glareanus (1488–1563):
Dodekachordon (The Twelve-String Lyre, 1547)
added four new modes, used ancient Greek names
Aeolian and Hypoaeolian, Ionian and Hypoionian
reconciled theory of modes with current practice
Music and words
• poetry and music are inseparable
• common expressive goal
The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance (cont’d)
Music and words (cont’d)
• increasing attention to rhythm of speech, natural
accentuation of syllables
• grammatical structure of text shaped musical setting
Music printing
• development of printing press, ca. 1450
• wider dissemination of written music
The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance (cont’d)
Court chapels established
• hired musicians and clerics
• members of chapel served as performers, composers,
scribes
• furnished music for church services and secular
entertainments
Patronage and the training of musicians
• music education
composers were trained as choir boys
choir schools taught singing, music theory, basic theology,
and other subjects
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The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance (cont’d)
Patronage and the training of musicians (cont’d)
only male children allowed in choir
nuns received education in convents
cities with renowned music training: Cambrai, Bruges,
Antwerp, Paris, Dijon, and Lyons
sixteenth century: Rome and Venice centers for musical
training
courts employed instrumentalists
minstrels or families of musicians, trained in apprentice system
included other duties: servants, administrators, clerics, or church
officials
The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance (cont’d)
Patronage and the training of musicians (cont’d)
• patronage for music
rulers competed for best composers and performers
displayed wealth and power
notable patrons: Medici family, Sforza family, court of
Ferrara under the Este family, Isabella d’Este at the court
of Mantua
The Musical Culture of the
Renaissance (cont’d)
Cosmopolitan musicians and the international
style
• presence at court of musicians from many lands
learn styles and genres from other regions
• mobility among musicians: dissemination of new
genres
• development of international style: synthesis of
English, French, Burgundian, and Italian traditions
• new repertories of vernacular song
Concise History of Western Music
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Concise History of Western Music, 5th edition
This concludes the Lecture Slide Set
for Prelude II
by
Barbara Russano Hanning
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