Chapter 2: Sacred Music

Journal Entry #7

What does a cappella music offer the listener that instrumental music doesn’t?

Turn in entries #5, #6 and #7 when done.

CHARACTERISTICS, continued from yesterday…

• What SHMRFT traits can you fill in so far?– Text Painting?– No extreme dynamic contrast?– Little tone color contrast?– Little rhythmic contrast?

CHARACTERISTICS, cont…

• Texture– Polyphonic

• 4, 5, or 6 voices, nearly equal melodic interest

– Imitation• Each voice presents the same melodic idea

in turn (as in a round)

– Some homophonic texture is used, especially in light music, dances

CHARACTERISTICS, cont…

– Fuller sound• Bass register used for first time, increasing

number of octaves heard• Composers began to think in chords, in

addition to individual melodic lines– In Middle Ages, entire melody lines thought up

one at a time and then combined.– In Renaissance, melodies were thought up in

relation to how they accompany each other

– Mild, relaxed• Lots of stable, consonant chords, many

triads• Very little dissonance

CHARACTERISTICS, cont…

– “Golden Age” of a cappella choral music• Little instrumental accompaniment• 2 Main uses for instruments

1. To duplicate vocal lines to reinforce the sound

2. Play the part of a missing singer

Now what can you add to your SHMRFT traits?

CHARACTERISTICS, cont…

• Rhythm– Gentle flow, not

sharply defined beat

• Each melodic line held great rhythmic independence

• Made it challenging to sing – each singer had to be independently strong

CHARACTERISTICS, cont…

• Melody– Melodies generally easy to sing

• Moves stepwise, few large leaps

And your SHMRFT traits now?

LISTENING TO RENAISSANCE

• Sicut Cervus– Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Chapter 2: Sacred Music

• 2 Main Forms1. Motet

2. Mass

Motet Mass

Style:polyphonic

choral works

Sacred Text

Shorter

Set to sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass

Longer

Set to 5 sections:Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei

Chapter 2, cont…

• Josquin Desprez (1440-1521)– Flemish (from what is

now Belgium)– Spent much of life in

Italy• Served dukes’ private

chapels, papal choir in

Rome, Louis XII of France,

several church positions

Desprez, cont…

– Composed masses, motets, secular vocal pieces

– Strongly influenced other composers– Praised for his skill

• Ave Maria…Virgo Serena (1502)

(Hail, Mary…Serene Virgin)– 4-voice motet– Delicate, serene– Polyphonic imitation

• Melodic phrase on “Ave Maria” presented by soprano, then imitated in turn by alto, tenor, bass

• Next, “gratia plena” has different melody, also passed from soprano down

Desprez, cont…

– Each voice enters while the preceding one is in the middle of its melody.

• Overlapping creates feeling of continuous flow

Ave Maria, cont…

– Josquin varied texture within a piece

• Also imitation between pairs of voices (duets between high voices imitated by duets between low voices)

• Sometimes almost homophonic, like at “Ave vera virginitas”

• Also changes from duple to triple meter, then back to duple

• Ends with slow chords, expressing Josquin’s personal plea to the Virgin: O Mother of God, remember me. Amen.

– Ave Maria…Virgo Serena

(Hail, Mary…

Serene Virgin)

Josquin Desprez

Ave Maria, cont…

– Josquin’s varied texture within a piece

• Also imitation between pairs of voices (duets between high voices imitated by duets between low voices)

• Sometimes almost homophonic, like at “Ave vera virginitas”

• Also changes from duple to triple meter, then back to duple

• Ends with slow chords, expressing Josquin’s personal plea to the Virgin: O Mother of God, remember me. Amen.

Chapter 2 cont…

• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (about 1525-1594)– Most important Italian composer of Ren.– Devoted to composing for Catholic

church– Career in Rome; church positions,

including St. Peter’s Basilica– Composed 104 masses, about 450 other

sacred works

Chapter 2 cont…

– Career best understood against the backdrop of the Counter-Reformation.

• Early 1500’s, Catholic church was challenged by Protestants (non-Catholic Christians).

• Sought to correct abuses, malpractices• Sought to counter the move toward

Protestantism• Led to convening of the Council of Trent

(1545-1563), which considered questions of dogma and organization

Chapter 2 cont…

• Council determined that church music had lost its purity

• Some complained that complex polyphony had made it impossible to understand the sacred text

• Some wanted only monophonic music (Gregorian chant)

• Church music shouldn’t be written for the empty pleasure of the ear, but to inspire religious contemplation

• Palestrina’s restraint, serenity reflect emphasis on more spiritual music

Chapter 2 cont…

– Palestrina’s music is regarded as a model for church music because of its calmness, “other-worldly” quality

– Even today, the technical perfection of Palestrina is studied as the model for students of composition and counterpoint (imitation)

Chapter 2 cont…

• Kyrie from Pope Marcellus Mass (1562-1563)– Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina– His most famous– Seen as a reflection of the Council of Trent’s

desire for clear projection of sacred text.– A cappella, 6 voice parts

• Soprano, alto, two tenors, two basses

Chapter 2 cont…– Kyrie – 1st section of the Mass

Kyrie eleison.Lord, have mercy.

Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy.

Kyrie eleison.Lord, have mercy.• sounds fuller than Josquin’s Ave Maria

because it has two more voice parts• Very singable, eased melody, much like a

Gregorian chant• Leaps are balanced by steps

LISTENING TO PALESTRINA

• Missa Papae Marcelli

(Pope Marcellus Mass)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

VOCABULARY REVIEW

• Renaissance• Individualism• “Universal man”• Humanism• Realism• Linear Perspective• Text Painting/Word

Painting• Imitation• Consonance/Dissonance• A cappella

• Motet• Mass

– Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei

• Josquin Desprez• Imitation• Giovanni Pierluigi da

Palestrina• Protestant Reformation• Counter-Reformation• Council of Trent

UNIT III PRESENTATIONS

Technology: Movable Type Printing Press, Gutenberg Bible

Kalyn

Julian

Blake

Jacob

Religion: Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

Dominique

Phil

Alec

Bilal

Exploration: Columbus, da Gama, MagellanKierynClaireChris

Taimoor

Art: da Vinci, Michelangelo, RaphaelEmmaAaronSamiRyan

Literature: William ShakespeareAnna

AndrewNathan

Nick

HOMEWORK

• Complete the worksheet packet for Chapters 1-2, due tomorrow.– Answers can also be found in books, if you

need to take one home…