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The Renaissance
Instruments
String Instruments
The
th
Lute—Pre-16
Century
Plucked
 (Other related instruments: vihuela, guitar,
cittern, bandore, orpharion mandora and
mandolin)

Lute
Lute
The Viol Family—Late 15th Century
Included different sizes, requiring different
methods of performing
 Viola da braccio (“Viol of the Arm”)
 Viola da gamba (“Viol of the leg”)
 Have fretted fingerboards and six strings

Viol
The Violin Family—Middle 16th Century
Slower to develop than viol
 Still Different Sizes
 No Frets
 4 strings

Viol
Violin
Wind Instruments
Woodwind
The Recorder-Late
th
14
Century
Pitched in ranges similar to human voice
(soprano, alto, tenor and bass)—(by the
end of 15th century)
 Original instruments in one piece
(currently several)
 Holes covered (or uncovered) to change
pitches

Recorder
The Chalumeau-Early Clarinet (hence
the name of the lower clarinet
register)
 Recorder with a reed
 Late 16th Century

The
th
Shawm—14
Century
Double-Reed
 Early Oboe
 Like Recorder had a holed-system
 Pitched in ranges similar to human voice

Shawm
The Crumhorn (Krumhorn)-Capped (Covered) Double-Reed
 Early Bassoonish instrument
 Like Recorder had a holed-system
 Pitched in ranges similar to human voice

Crumhorn
The Curtal-






Double-Reed
Most closely related to the bassoon
Like Recorder had a holed-system
Made by folding shawm in half
Has bores (tubing) inside the casing that we see
Pitched in ranges similar to human voice
Racket is related instrument (tightly-sound
cylindrical bores inside casing)
Curtal
p.138
Racket
The Bagpipes and Bladder Pipes

Well, they did all the other stuff that has
been mentioned and held the air with a
bag or bladder.
Bladder Pipe
Bagpipe
Wind Instruments
Brass
Brass Instruments
Most were limited to a single key
 Changed by slurring between registers
(within harmonic series)

The Trumpet

Slide or Straight
The Sackbut
Predecessor to the Trombone
 Used a slide

Sackbut
The Serpent Horn
Large Curved Brass Instrument in the
shape of, um…a serpent!
 Changed notes with holes
 Predecessor of the Tuba

Curtel
Serpent
Percussion Instruments
Not a whole lot has changed
They were still struck
The Long Drum
Tambourine
The Long Drum and the Short Drum?
Keyboard Instruments
The Organ
Featured multiple registers (several sets of
pipes)
 Smaller organs required the performer to
operate the bellows with one hand while
playing with the other
 Larger organs allowed a second person to
operate the bellows, allowing the
performer to use both hands

Portative-Table top Organ
Claviorganum, 1598
Made by Laurentium Hauslaib
Nuremberg, Germany
Regal, 1575
Two-Person Organ
(Pipes not shown)
The Harpsichord—
Late 14th Century
Played as a either a solo or accompanying
instrument
 Different stops or pulls allowed the player
to access different octaves on the same
keys AND to play different dynamics
 (Keys were reversed—white vs. black)

Harpsichord
The Clavichord—
Early 15th Century
Small solo or home practice instrument
 Strings hit with hammer (inside)
 Allowed change in dynamics with finger
pressure

Clavichord (Germany, 1710)
The Renaissance
Instrumental and Dance Music
Instrumental Music
4
Types:
– Intabulations
– Variations
– Freely Composed/Abstract Works
– Dance Music
Intabulations
Arrangement of a vocal work for plucked
string instruments or keyboard
 Often times from a chanson (or related
work)
 Included lute, guitar, vihuela, cittern,
pandora, harpsichord
 First publication devoted entirely to
keyboard music Frottole intabulate da
sonare organi, was published in Rome in
1517 by Andrea Antico

Variations
Theme and Variation
 Theme is presented…and then it is varied
(with ornamentation and embellishment).
 Often times motive statement and
restatement techniques are used.

♫3:10 (Cabezon, 1510-1566, Harpsichord)
Freely Composed/Abstract
No established form
 Important genres:

– Ricercar
– Fantasia
– Tocatta
Freely Composed/Abstract
♫Bonus:5 (Spinacino, 1507, Lute)

Ricercar-Italian, “To research, to seek out”
– “Seeks out” more or thematic idea
– Runs and passagework
– Dramatic pause
– Rubato feel (freely, varying tempo)
♫3:10 (Gabrieli, 1589, cornets and sackbuts)
LATER:
– Mainly pervading imitation and very similar to
style and form of motets
Freely Composed/Abstract
Toaccata-Italian toccare, “to touch”
 Lightly touching piano keys (moving passages)
 Freely constructed and unrelated to any
preexistent material

Fantasia-Fantasy on composers imagination
 Similar to toccata
 Implores the use of most techniques described
thus far (pervading imitation, theme and
variation, motive restatements, etc.)

Dance Music
♫3:11-12 (Praetorius, 1612, Various)
Provided as dance music
 Several types, distinguishable:

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Pavane: slow, courtly dance (two)
Passamezzo: Like pavane, but lighter step
Bourree: Lively (two)
Salterello: Lively (usually follows slower dance)
Galliarde: More Lively than salterello…requires leaps from
dancers
Volta: vigorous, turning dance (Italian voltare “to turn”)
Branle: Line dance
Moresca: Dance influenced by “Moorish” styles (Northern
Africa and Spain)
Rondo: Round Dance large group in a circle—lively tempo