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Music History II - Renaissance
Renaissance music CARP
98
Music
Undergraduate 2
11/02/2011

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Term
Ethnomusicologist
Definition
a music historian who specializes in ethnic music; a good example is Bela Bartok
Term
What type of meter(s) did Native American music entail?
Definition
Steady duple or single meter
Term
What kinds of percussion instruments did Native Americans use, and from what kinds of items were they made?
Definition
Rattles – gourds, tree bark, carbed wood, deer hooves, turtle shells, spider nests

Drums – framed, barrel, water
Term
What does the word "Renaissance" mean in French?
Definition
rebirth
Term
Where did the Renaissance primarily start?
Definition
Italy
Term
Humanism
Definition
Commitment to independent reasoning and reliance on original sources; combined reasoning with empirical evidence
Term
scholasticism
Definition
accumulation of wisdom through "disputation;" dependence on traditional written theories
Term
What invention revolutionized the written word?
Definition
The printing press
Term
What distinguished Protestant ideas from Catholic ideas?
Definition
Emphasis on an individual's personal relationship with God

Salvation based on faith rather than works

Worship is encouraged to be in the vernacular
Term
For what revolutionary religious measure is King Henry VIII remembered?
Definition
Establishing the Church of England
Term
Old Hall Manuscript
Definition
A collection of works from 1350 to 1420, containing the works of significant English composers John Dunstable and Leonel Power
Term
How were Renaissance theorists different from Medieval theorists?
Definition
While Medieval theorists prioritized number and reason over sound, Renaissance theorists used judgment of the ear
Term
"Liber de arte contrapuncti"
Definition
a book by Johannes Tinctoris in which he based his judgments on study of actual manuscripts; significantly, he identified a break in musical tradition that had occurred about 40 years before
Term
Johannes Tinctoris
Definition
Renowned Renaissance composer and theorist who wrote "Liber de arte contrapuncti"
Term
"contenance angloise"
Definition
English guise; term used to identify sonority
Term
sonority
Definition
the consonance of a piece; primarily dominated by thirds, fifths and sixths
Term
Name three major early Renaissance composers.
Definition
John Dunstable

Guillaume Du Fay

Johannes Ockeghem
Term
fauxbourdon
Definition
a work in which there are three lines total, with one line unnotated and instead indicated as parallel to the top line, typically a 4th below
Term
Faburden
Definition
a work in which there are interpolated lines above (parallel 4th above) AND below (3rd or 5th below) a preexisting melody.
Term
cantus firmus
Definition
"fixed melody" used as the basis of compositions
Term
Name characteristics of the motet.
Definition
Single text, direct connection between words and music

pervading imitation or imitative polyphony with all voices singing the same musical idea and equal in melody and rhythm

Self-contained sections

Paratactic form

Words nearly always religious
Term
Paratactic form
Definition
Small units that are more/less independent from one another
Term
tactus
Definition
steady pulse; interpreted as the standard human heart rate
Term
Name the different categories of Renaissance Mass.
Definition
Cantus firmus, Canon, Imitation (Parody), Paraphrase
Term
Define "cantus firmus" in terms of the category of Mass
Definition
in which a pre-existing melody is placed in the tenor
Term
Canon
Definition
one of the notated voices generates a second voice
Term
Imitation(Parody)
Definition
Incorporates all the voices of an existing work into a new work
Term
Paraphrase
Definition
Borrowing an existing melodic idea from a different work
Term
Motet
Definition
prayer set to music
Term
What countries constituted the Protestant north?
Definition
Northern Germany, Scandinavia
Term
What countries constituted the Catholic south?
Definition
Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland
Term
musicus
Definition
someone who after careful investigation assumes the office of the "cantor" (performer)
Term
Which composer was a transition composer between the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and why is he considered thus?
Definition
Du Fay; he alternated between plainchant and 3-voice polyphony
Term
From what various sources were some of Mass's cantus firmus created?
Definition
Plainchant, secular songs, random solmization syllables and soggetto cavato
Term
Soggetto cavato
Definition
in which a musical idea is derived from a word or name
Term
anthem
Definition
small-scale religious work similar to the motet but with religious text
Term
mannerism
Definition
relationship between words and music
Term
Name the characteristics of the Italian madrigal.
Definition
short composition

secular text

both homophony and imitative polyphony are used

words given more importance (word painting)
Term
word painting
Definition
music to illustrate a word
Term
In what types of settings were Italian madrigals performed?
Definition
Intimate settings such as after dinner

Large banquets and private homes
Term
"The Triumphs of Oriana"
Definition
a collection of madrigals written for Queen Elizabeth I
Term
What were the most known types of German secular works during the 16th century?
Definition
Tenorlied and Lied
Term
Tenorlied
Definition
Polyphonic work
Term
Lied
Definition
Monophonic work with no accompaniment
Term
Who were the Meistersingers?
Definition
A German guild of well-schooled musical amateurs
Term
Lute song
Definition
essentially strophic madrigals for voice and lute
Term
For what was John Dowland particularly remembered?
Definition
Lute stuffs
Term
chorales
Definition
congregational hymns
Term
What is an anthem and what are its types?
Definition
English equivalent of the motet

Full anthem: chorus throughout
Verse anthem: alternates choral passages with passages for solo voices
Term
Who was the Council of Trent and what actions did they take during the Renaissance?
Definition
a council that met to revise Catholic traditions

revised liturgy, purged the church of practices accrued of the centuries, eliminated a number of plainchants added in the Renaissance, discouraged use of secular music as a model for sacred music
Term
Who is remembered as the master of 16th century counterpoint?
Definition
Palestrina
Term
panconsonance
Definition
a harmonic idiom that makes ample use of triads and limits the use of dissonance considerably; Dunstable and his followers used this
Term
cantilena motet
Definition
a motet featuring a florid, lyrical top voice over a pair of slower moving voices
Term
isomelic
Definition
a melodic counterpart to the metrical patterns of isorhythm; varying on a melody
Term
chansons
Definition
early Renaissance French secular songs
Term
pervading imitation
Definition
a technique used by composers in the late 1400s in which a series of musical ideas are stated imitatively in all voices throughout an entire work or section of a work; requires all voices to sing essentially the same musical ideas.
Term
point of imitation
Definition
distinct thematic unit in which all the voices of a polyphonic compositions take up more or less the same musical idea in succession
Term
conjunct motion
Definition
stepwise progressions with only occasional leaps of more than a fifth; characterizes melody in Renaissance music
Term
Cyclic Mass
Definition
a cycle of all movements of the Mass Ordinary integrated by a common cantus firmus or other musical devices
Term
Who were the two main composers who started the writing of Cyclic Mass?
Definition
Leonel Power and John Dunstable
Term
head motif
Definition
a thematic idea in multiple voices placed prominently at the beginning or section of a movement
Term
Name the different techniques Josquin applied a cantus firmus to his works
Definition
Strict – in which the cantus firmus remained consistently in the tenor

Ostinato – in which the cantus firmus is repeated so consistently that it appears in at least one voice at all times

Free – in which the cantus firmus migrates from voice to voice or may drop out altogether from time to time
Term
Paraphrase
Definition
in which an existing melodic idea is borrowed but is elaborated on freely by all voices in a new work
Term
frottola
Definition
songs based on freely structured poems as well as poems in a variety of established Italian literary forms; avoids imitation and contrapuntal artifice
Term
antiphonal
Definition
type of performance featuring repeated alternation between two voices or groups of voices
Term
Name two major composers of the 15th and early 16th centuries who originated in England.
Definition
John Dunstable and Leonel Power
Term
Name three major composers of the 15th and early 16th centuries from France.
Definition
- Gille Binchois
- Antoine Busnois
- *Johannes Ockeghem*
- *Johannes Tinctores*
- *Josquin des Prez*
- Jacob Obrecht
- Heinrich Isaac

*Starred names are the composers who relate more directly to our class*
Term
lira da braccio
Definition
a large viol-like instrument held on the shoulder
Term
crumhorn
Definition
a kind of J-shaped double-reed instrument
Term
bladder pipe
Definition
a type of bagpipe
Term
racket
Definition
forerunner of the bassoon, also known as the Wurstfagott or “sausage bassoon”
Term
Ruckpositiv (Chair)
Definition
a separate set of pipes situated underneath or behind the organist; the most common additional register in the organ
Term
positive organ
Definition
portable organ which rested on the floor or on the table while a second person worked the bellows, allowing the performer to play with both hands
Term
What was the most common plucked stringed instrument in the Renaissance?
Definition
The lute
Term
What were the two string families in the late 15th century?
Definition
The viol and violin families
Term
viola da braccio
Definition
any viol meant to be played while being held in the arm
Term
viola da gamba
Definition
any viol meant to be played between the legs or held upright on the lap
Term
What differences are there between violins and viols?
Definition
Viols have sloped shoulders, flat backs, fretted fingerboards and six strings tuned to fourths save for a major third between the two middle strings. Viols were softer and were bowed underhand, unlike violins.
Term
What types of recorders existed in the late 15th century?
Definition
Soprano, alto, tenor, bass and sopranino
Term
What are the two principal double-reed instruments of the late 15th century?
Definition
The shawm and the crumhorn
Term
What are two forerunners of the bassoon?
Definition
Curtal and racket
Term
Describe the common instrumental ensemble in late 15th century Renaissance.
Definition
Small ensembles of matched instruments with different ranges
Term
Basse danse
Definition
a slow, stately dance for couples, executed with smooth, gliding steps
Term
Parisian Chanson
Definition
replaced rondeau; generally homorhythmic and dominated by the vertical sonorities of tonic, subdominant and dominant chords. Although they were notated polyphonically, the melodies were generally confined to the uppermost line.
Term
madrigal
Definition
a secular vocal composition for three or more voices; a new type of polyphonic song
Term
through-composed
Definition
in which each line of text is set to essentially new music; madrigals generally held this characteristic
Term
villancico
Definition
principal genre of Renaissance Spanish song; poetic form equivalent to the French virelai (AbbaA)
Term
intabulations
Definition
a term used to cover any arrangement of an existing vocal work for a plucked string instrument or keyboard
Term
variations
Definition
instrumental compositions in which a given theme was restated with different shaping throughout a work
Term
ricercar
Definition
a freely composed work that “seeks out” a particular mode or thematic idea; later became a means of contrapuntal exploration inherent in a theme or series of themes
Term
toccata
Definition
a sectional, freely constructed work unrelated to any preexistent material
Term
fantasia
Definition
a work that allows for free flights of the composer’s imaginative fantasy, utilizing intense thematic manipulation
Term
Name some different types of 16th-century instrumental dance music.
Definition
- Pavane – slow, courtly dance in duple meter
- Passamezzo – similar to the pavane, but with a lighter step
- Bourree: lively dance in duple meter with a prominent upbeat at the beginning of each section
- Saltarello – lively dance that often follows a slower one
- Galliarde – like a saltarello but even more vigorous, with larger leaps by the dancers
- Volta – vigorous “turning” dance often in compound duple meter
- Branle – “line dance”
- Moresca – “Moorish dance”
- Rondo – “round dance”
Term
Upon what structure were most 16th century instrumental dance pieces built?
Definition
Periodic phrase structure – all of these dances are built on this principle; that is, they consist of many modular units of equal length
Term
reprise
Definition
large section in dance music to be repeated
Term
syntactic form
Definition
in which a central idea is presented and varied over the course of an entire movement, in contrast to paratactic form
Term
Mannerism (book definition)
Definition
term from art history that designates a style of painting and sculpture characterized by the use of distortion, exaggeration and unsettling juxtaposition; in music this applies to a small repertory of works which are characterized by a comparable process of distortion, including extreme dissonance, unusual harmonic progressions, and exaggerated word painting.
Term
Musica reservata
Definition
music reserved for a select audience of elite noble-born or aristocratic listeners
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