The Renaissance Period

Renaissance came from the Latin word, renāscī, which means to be born again.
This period lasted from the 1400-1600s, most famous in Europe. In the Middle Ages,
church music took over Europe and most composition was used for sacred purposes.
However, as The Renaissance merged in, secular music (non-religious music) also started
to rise. Many famous and influential composers, such as Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni
Gabrieli, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, originated from this era of music.
This period is often referred to “the golden age of polyphony” because in this era,
Polyphony was the musical composition style, meaning instrumental music consisting a
number of vocal parts, which has their own individual melody, harmonized together,
forming a piece. This called a simultaneous composition, which is the process of
composing a piece with all voice parts, starting from Soprano to Bass. In this period, the
type secular music’s songs were usually recognized as Madrigal, a song for several voices
arranged together, usually without any accompaniment, which was originally used for
Italian songs in the 14th century. The first type of Madrigal is called the Ballett, which may
be sung or danced. It is mostly chordal, and it is most noticeable for its ‘fa-la-la’ refrain
feature. The second one is called the Madrigal Proper which consists of many word-
painting (the notes sung/played illustrate the words). The third type of Madrigal is called
the Ayre, which can be performed in various ways: solo with an accompaniment, or with
several voices without any accompaniment. For church music, the pieces are called
motets, which is short pieces of polyphonic sacred choral music.
There are ‘rules’ when it comes to composing in this era, such as what scale to use
and which notes are not allowed to be used in a piece. This is why they have modes. Modes
is the type of scales used by composers during those centuries. There are seven modes,
which are Ionian (C), Dorian (D), Phrygian (E), Lydian (F), Mixolydian (G), Aeolian (A),
Locrian (B). Some of them are major, minor, and some are ambiguous. Each mode has
their own ‘signature’ sound, as one may sound sadder, happier, or holier than the other.
As music was resurfacing during this era, people enjoy and appreciate music more
than ever. The music culture has been constantly evolving from then till now. Even then,
music from this era is still very influential to our modern music. A lot of the modes and
harmonization techniques are still used in modern composition. The most common
modes that are used by pop songs today are Ionian and Aeolian. Polyphonic music also
still exists in the modern music. Groups such as The Pentatonix and Home Free do not use
any instruments in their music, using simply their throats and mouths, they are able to
create amazing arrangements of music.
However, the difference between Renaissance music and modern music is back
then, instruments were less appreciated and used, but nowadays, although there are
several acapella groups, instruments are mostly used in every composition and are more
appreciated. Other than that, church music was the major type of music back in the days,
but now, it’s hardly ever heard in any place, except for church areas. Therefore, we can
conclude that although The Renaissance era has created the modern music, there are still
major changes and differences between the culture or Renaissance and modern music.
Resources:
- Dictionary.com. (2017). the definition of Renaissance. [online] Available at:
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/renaissance [Accessed 8 Aug. 2017].
- rhythm', &. (2017). Classic FM. [online] Classic FM. Available at:
http://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/periods-genres/renaissance/ [Accessed 8
Aug. 2017].
- Rpfuller.com. (2017). Renaissance Music (1450-1600). [online] Available at:
https://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/music/renaissance.html [Accessed 8 Aug. 2017].
- Slideshare.net. (2017). MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD. [online] Available at:
https://www.slideshare.net/ceygloria/music-of-the-renaissance-period [Accessed 8
Aug. 2017].
- The Telegraph. (2015). The Renaissance – why it changed the world. [online] Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/london-culture/renaissance-changed-the-world/
[Accessed 8 Aug. 2017].