The Medieval and Renaissance periods present two distinguishable civilizations and worldviews in the human development. Unlike the Middle-Ages. several Renaissance scientists desired to larn about the earth apart from the thought of a Divine Creator. and philosophers brought in humanistic thought. Inventions during this period like the gunpowder. telescope. microscope and the print imperativeness changed dramatically the people’s life styles and positions of the universe around them. Religion besides varied greatly between these two epochs. Reformation brought about convulsion during the Renaissance as opposed to the cloistered life of the mediaeval period. One of the less obvious of these alterations was that of music. In comparing Medieval and Renaissance times we can see a definite contrast in the manner and content of what the music emphasized.
The Medieval Era ( 450-1450 ) . besides known as the “The Dark ages” in Europe began about 450 with the decomposition of the Roman Empire. and the most of import instrumentalists were priests. The bulk of liturgical music throughout this epoch was plainchant ( Gregorian chant ) . which indicates a individual sacred tune. without concomitant. Sung by a individual individual or by a choir in which each member sings the same portion. In many respects. medieval chant is the same chant which can be heard in monasteries today. and much of the most of import chant ( or plainsong ) was composed by early medieval saints. Another word to depict plainsong is monophonic music. which – as opposed to polyphony. It means a individual sound. whether sacred or non.
The construct of manner was created to categorise plainsong. and is something which can frequently use to polyphony in merely labored manner. The other really of import characteristic was that most mediaeval music was vocal. The plainchant conveys a composure. otherworldly quality. Its beat is flexible. without metre. and its tunes tend to travel stepwise within a narrow scope of pitches. The church manners were the basic graduated tables of western music during the Middle Ages. They are like the major and minor graduated tables in that they consist of seven tones and an eight tone that duplicates the first an octave higher. From pictures and literary descriptions we can happen out that during this epoch instruments were used. and the outstanding church instrument was the organ. It the get downing the organ was crude. whose keys were operated by heavy blows of the fist.
The Renaissance ( 1450-1600 ) could be described as an age of Curiosity and individuality. Exploration and Adventure. The metempsychosis of human creativeness. During this period. due to the doomed of power of the church and the new humanistic thoughts. musical activity bit by bit shifted from the church to the tribunal. Musically. the Renaissance period is sometimes called the aureate age of a Capella choral music. because the music did non necessitate instrumental concomitant. The Capella refers to unaccompanied choral music. The texture of the Renaissance music is chiefly polyphonic. Renaissance composers frequently used word picture. a musical representation of specific poetic images. Certain elements made Renaissance music sounds fuller than mediaeval music. Composers considered the harmonic consequence of chords instead than superposing one tune above another. Besides. typical choral pieces have four. five. or six voices parts of about equal melodious involvement.
The two chief Forms of sacred Renaissance Music are the mass and the motet. The mass is the liturgical music for church services. and the motet is a polyphonic choral work set to a sacred Latin text other than the ordinary of the mass. In the 14th century. for the first clip. secular music had the upper manus in artistic developments. Renaissance secular vocal music was written for groups of solo voices and for solo voice with instrumental concomitant.
Secular music contained more rapid alterations of temper than sacred music. Secular vocal pieces for a little group of vocalists. normally unaccompanied is called madrigal. It originates around 1520 in Italy and it differs from the motet in the use of a slang instead than Latin text. and the frequently usage of word picture and unusual harmoniousnesss. One of the of import characteristics of madrigal is that it’s a piece for several voices set to a short verse form. normally about love. Much of the instrumental music composed during the Renaissance was intended for dancing. Dance music was normally binary signifier AABB and it was performed in braces. contrasting slow with fast or double metre with ternary metre.
In decision. the Renaissance and Medieval clip periods represent two different cultural. spiritual. and psychological positions. We can see illustrations of this fluctuation through music. These cultural. spiritual and psychological positions affected where and how the music was played. and we can see the same tendency happening in today’s music.
Word Cited:
hypertext transfer protocol: //w3. rz-berlin. mpg. de/cmp/epochs. htmlhttp: //www. medieval. org/music/early/lists. htmlKnighton Tess. Fallows David “Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music” . University of California Press ; 1 edition ( March 26. 1998 ) Yudkin Jeremy. “Understanding Music” . Prentice Hall ; 5 edition ( February 13. 2007 )
