Download Chapter 12 –Sacred Renaissance Music

Chapter 12 –Sacred Renaissance Music
Illustration 1: Excerpt from a motet by Palestrina (modern
printing), courtesy of the Petrucci Music Library
This is probably a good time to stop, catch our breath, and keep things in perspective.
Having read the above, one might try to conclude that the world suddenly became
secular overnight. It didn't, and things don't happen that way (remember “A CHANGE
OF REASONS”).
The church (soon to become churches) retained a great deal of power in society and
continued to be an important underpinning of European culture.
By the end of the Renaissance, the majority of music that was composed was still
sacred. The great musical masterpieces of the Renaissance are all sacred musici—from
that fact alone one can logically get an idea of the powerful presence religion still had in
society.
The levee, however, had started to crack.
To our modern ears, music of the Middle Ages sounds very impersonal and foreign
because of its heavy use of intervals of fourths and fifths in harmony (C to F or C to G).
Late in the Middle Ages a group of composers centered around Burgundy began using
the third as a consonant interval (C to E or E to G). This is much closer to modern
harmony and much more pleasing to our earsii. The chord structures that clearly pull
toward a home base (known as “tonal music”) didn't finally fall into place until the
1600s, but the trend had started.
Perhaps this is one more sign that music was being composed not for a mystical and
remote Deity, but for the human race with tangible emotions.
Renaissance music is also generally concerned with clearly expressing the text.
Renaissance composers began to devote more care to the mood of the music to make
sure that it was appropriate to the text.
They also began using a device called word painting. Word painting is where a
composer would deliberately shape the melody to imitate the imagery of the text. For
example, a song about death would have a slowly falling melodic line, suggesting the
body being lowered into the grave. A song about a bird soaring might have a melody line
that rises high in the singer's range and moves around on high notes. On paper this
sounds like it would have quite a comical effect, but in practice, it is very effective and
is a technique modern composers still use.
Since the invention of polyphony in the Medieval era, composers looked for things to
make the interactions between the musical lines interesting. Renaissance composers
began using a device called imitation, that is, having one line copy another to a certain
degreeiii.
With the Church being as powerful as it was—and very clearly seeing the power of
music as an important part of its worship—the leading musicians of the era spent much
of their careers in the employ of the church.
The musical forms of the era reflect the liturgical needs. One very common form of
composition was the motet.
Compositions called motets were composed in the Medieval era, but outside of the fact
that they were sung, there was little resemblence. Unlike its sometimes earthy Medieval
counterpart, the Renaissance motet was a short a capella composition for voices based
on a sacred or religious text. They were often elaborately polyphonic and, unlike their
Medieval counterpart, were based on one text, not a series of layers.
While no large scale forms such as the symphony had yet evolved, settings of the
Ordinary of the Mass were common and many have been handed down (and are still
performed, although usually in a secular concert setting as opposed to being a part of
church services). While there is no direct link to the symphonic forms of the 18th and
19th centuries, the Mass does have a logical emotional program that bridges a larger
structure.
Guillaume Dufay and Johannes Ockeghem were two figures who helped bridge the
musical transition from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance.
The first great Renaissance composer was Josquin de Prez (ca 1450-1521). Often known
just as Josquin, he is one of the first musical "personalities"--that is, one who began to
develop a very brilliant personal style. Josquin was at home in sacred and secular music
and composed hundreds of compositions. Musicologists are not sure exactly how many
because copyists began creating anonymous composotions
Giovanni Gabrieli was another important figure. Composing at St. Mark's cathedral in
Venice—shaped like a cross with four choir lofts above the congregation--Gabrieli
composed music for choirs stationed in different choir lofts—in effect composing some
of the first stereo and even quadraphonic music. For many years, one of Gabrieli's
compositions by the name of Sonata pian e forte was thought to be the first piece of
music to specify dynamics. Since then, one earlier piece of music with dynamics has
been found.
The composer who represents the peak of sacred Renaissance music is Giovanni Perluigi
da Palestrina who eventually worked at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Palestrina's music
is noted for its sheer beauty and smooth polyphony.
There is a traditional story that has it that composers had gotten a little out of hand and
were making their polyphonic masses too complex and maybe even a bit raucous.
According to the story, the Pope was ready to ban music from the Catholic Church. As a
last resort, Palestrina composed his Pope Marcellus Mass to show how beautiful and
reverent music could be while still having complex counterpoint—and that he was
responsible for saving sacred music.
Historians have cast doubts on the above, but regardless, Palestrina Pope Marcellus
Mass is beautiful enough to have accomplished that mission if it actually needed to.
Later in the Renaissance, there was an event that probably seemed unimportant at first. A
young priest by the name of Martin Luther became wary of certain practices in the
Roman Catholic Church. At first, he hoped to reform those practices and create change.
Things didn't work out quite like he intended. After being excommunicated and finding
himself out on his own, Luther formed a breakaway protest church (which has picked up
the name Protestant).
Within the Renaissance, the contribution of the Lutheran church was relatively minimal,
however it would have a serious ripple effect that would ultimately have a large effect
on music. Luther's emphasis was to have a worship environment where the congregation
actively engaged in singing. On the surface it produced a tradition of Protestant hymns
and not much else in the Renaissance.
The secondary ripple effect of the Reformation had a profound effect on history and
music history. This created a crisis in the Catholic Church which began examining its
music, among other things and did its own re-evaluation. The Counter-Reformation, as it
became known, produced some of the greatest sacred music of an era known for its great
sacred music. The political structure in Europe would also change greatly because there
were now competing religions (Calvinism and the Church of England also formed
during this time). This would have a profound effect on the direction of music in
Western culture. Religion and its stronghold on thought (coupled with many scientific
discoveries) would become greatly diminished by the end of the Renaissance.
With the diminishment of the political power of the Church, secular monarchies were
more than willing to step up and take over the reins of power.
i
Many music critics will even go as far as say that greatest sacred music ever written in Western
history was composed in the Renaissance.
ii An English round Sumer is icumen In dating from the mid-13th century is one of the earliest known
pieces of music based on thirds—definitely an exception to most of the music of the time.
iii An interesting observation can be made here: when scientific thought began to creep into the
thought of an era, the music begins to show more logical characteristics—as if it is saying (on a
subliminal level) that action and consequence are linked. In the Classical Era (also called the Age of
Enlightenment and the Age of Reason), we find that very logical and orderly forms, such as the
sonata form, suddenly appear. As eras embrace rebellion and anarchy, the logical structures
disappear. In the same century as the discovery of the DNA molecule which defines the
characteristics of the whole body, Arnold Schoenberg began to compose music with its own “DNA
molecule” at the beginning that defines the characteristics of the whole piece. These are interesting
coincidences. Then, again, maybe they're not. . .
Material copyright 2016 by Gary Daum, all rights reserved. All photos and illustrations by Gary Daum unless otherwise
noted. Unlimited use granted to current members of the Georgetown Prep community.