Chapter 6: The Age of the Renaissance Ockeghem to Josquin
I. Characteristics of the Renaissance
A. The rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture
1. Renaissance humanism
2. Revival of ancient learning
a. Grammer, rhetoric, poetry, history and moral philosophy
3. Gioseffo Zarlino
a. Music theorist who lamented the decline of music after the classical age
b. Wrote important treatise: Le Istitutioni harmoniche (1558)
1. Credits Adrian Willaert with ushering in new age of music
2. Devised strict rules for dissonance handling, cadences, etc.
4. Franchino Gaffurio
a. Musician, scholar, theorist who incorporated Greek learning into his
writing
b. Theorica musice (1492)
c. Practica musice (1496)
d. De harmonia musicorum intrumentorum opus (1518)
5. Heinrich Glarean
a. Theorist
b. Dodekachordon (The 12-string lyre)
c. Added four new modes to the traditional eight
1. Aeolian (A)
2. Ionion (C)
6. Johannes Tinctoris
a. Flemish composer and theorist
b. Liber de arte contrapuncti (1477)
c. Deplored the works of older composers, claiming that nothing written
more than 40 years before was worth listening to.
B. Tuning Systems
1. Expanding tonal resources, chromaticism and need for sweeter consonances
prompts the search for new tuning systems (analogous to dev. in rhythmic
systems)
2. Musica ficta provided only a limited number of accidentals (F#,C#,G#,Bb,Eb)
C. Italy and the Renaissance
1. Renaissance takes root in Italy
2. Rise of secular princes and patronage
a. Medici‹>Florence
b. Este‹>Ferrara
c. Sforza‹>Milan
d. Gonzaga‹>Mantua
3. Examples of patronage
a. Dufay's Nuper rosarum flores was composed for the dedication of the
cupola of the dome of the Cathedral in Florence in 1436.
b. Lorenzo de'Medici in the 1480s reorganized the chapel of this church and
recruited the Flemish singer-composers Isaac, Agricola and Ghiselin.
b. Milan (the Sforza family): Josquin des Prez, Johannes Martini among the
chapel singers.
c. Ferrara: Martini, Obrecht, Brumel, Willaert
d. Mantua: Martini, Josquin, Compere
e. Papal chapel in Rome: Josquin, Prioris, Bruhier.
D. Music Printing
1. Patronage and musical activity created a newfound demand for music
2. Movable type perfected by Johann Gutenberg by 1450
3. Liturgical books with plainchant notation are printed by 1473
4. First collection of polyphonic music from movable type:
a. Harmonice musices odhecaton (1501)
b. Pubished. by Ottaviano de'Petrucci in Venice
c. By 1523 Petrucci publ. 59 volumes of vocal and instrumental music
d. Petrucci used triple impression: one for staff lines, one for words,
one for notes
5. Later printers
a. John Rastell: single impression, London 1520
b. Pierre Attaingnant, Paris beginning 1528
c. Music printing began in German by 1534, Netherlands, 1538
d. Important printing centers: Venice, Rome, Nuremberg, Paris, Lyon,
Louvain, Antwerp.
6. Part-books were the norm for publications: one volume for each voice
or part
7. Older two-part compositional framework: tenor-soprano (followed by adding in
the third and fourth voices successively) was obsolete.
a. Composers such as Pietro Aron taught that all parts be written
simultaneously.
II. Composers from the North
A. Dominance of northerners begins early 15th c., 1450-1550 is the defining period
1. Most in service of the Holy Roman Emperor (Spain, Germany, Bohemia, Austria)
King of France, pope or Italian court.
2. Italy (Naples, Florence, Ferrara, Mantua, Milan and Venice) chief center
for diffusion of French, Flemish and Netherland composers.
B. Johannes Ockeghem (1420-1497)
1. Personal history:
a. Sang in the choir of the Cathedral of Antwerp (1443)
b. Mid-1440s he was in the service of Charles I, duke of Bourbon, in France
c. 1452 he entered the royal chapel of the king of France
2. Compositional output
a. 13 Masses
1. By second half of 15th c. Mass becomes principal form of composition.
2. Caput Mass: similar to Dufay's. 4 voices w/contrapuntal texture of
independent melodic lines, expanded vocal ranges.
b. 10 motets
c. 20 chansons
3. Canon
a. In general Ockeghem did not rely heavily on imitation in his Masses
1. Imitative passages exist, but seldom in all voices, Ockeghem Agnus
from the Caput Mass has only incidental imitation at m.27-30 in upper
3 parts.
2. By contrast Obrecht begins his three Agnus settings on the Caput
subject with imitative entries.
b. Ockeghem does however make use of canon
1. Contemporary musici often utilized forms in which audible structure
was concealed by rigidly calculated structure (canon)
2. Retrograde (crab) canon: 2nd voice derived from original voice and
sung backward.
3. Mensuration canon: two voices moving at different speeds to a single
written melody.
a. Mensuration rations included simple augmentation 2:1 or
simple diminution 1:2 or any other ratio.
4. Double canon: two canons sung or played simultaneously.
c. Missa prolationum
1. Each movement is a double mensuration canon
d. Missa cuiusvis toni
2. Mass to be sung 'in any mode' by reading the music according to
one or another of four different clef combinations. Can be sung
in any of the four modes.
e. Missa De plus en plus: utilizes a cantus firmus like Dufay's 'Se la face
ay pale'. c.f. is based on the tenor part of a Binchois chanson.
f. Missa Ecce ancilla: c.f. on a plainsong antiphon.
g. Missa L'homme armé: rigid use of c.f. melody
h. Missa mi-mi: derives its name from the first two notes of the bass
voice, e-A both of which in solmization were sung to the syllable 'mi'.
C. Jacob Obrecht (1452-1505)
1. Personal history
a. Held important positions at Cambrai, Bruges, Antwerp
b. Was at the courts of Ferrara in 1487-88
c. Joined the ducal chapel in 1504 and died of the plague a year later
2. Compositional output
a. 29 Masses
b. 28 motets
c. Unspecified number of chansons, Dutch songs and inst. pieces
3. Mass style:
a. Most use cantus fimi based on secular songs or Gregorian melodies
b. Greater flexibility in use of borrowed themes:
1. In some, melody is used in every mov'e
Source:
web.archive.org
I. Characteristics of the Renaissance
A. The rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture
1. Renaissance humanism
a. Grammer, rhetoric, poetry, history and moral philosophy
3. Gioseffo Zarlino
a. Music theorist who lamented the decline of music after the classical age
b. Wrote important treatise: Le Istitutioni harmoniche (1558)
1. Credits Adrian Willaert with ushering in new age of music
2. Devised strict rules for dissonance handling, cadences, etc.
4. Franchino Gaffurio
a. Musician, scholar, theorist who incorporated Greek learning into his
writing
b. Theorica musice (1492)
c. Practica musice (1496)
d. De harmonia musicorum intrumentorum opus (1518)
5. Heinrich Glarean
a. Theorist
b. Dodekachordon (The 12-string lyre)
c. Added four new modes to the traditional eight
1. Aeolian (A)
2. Ionion (C)
6. Johannes Tinctoris
a. Flemish composer and theorist
b. Liber de arte contrapuncti (1477)
c. Deplored the works of older composers, claiming that nothing written
more than 40 years before was worth listening to.
B. Tuning Systems
1. Expanding tonal resources, chromaticism and need for sweeter consonances
prompts the search for new tuning systems (analogous to dev. in rhythmic
systems)
2. Musica ficta provided only a limited number of accidentals (F#,C#,G#,Bb,Eb)
C. Italy and the Renaissance
1. Renaissance takes root in Italy
2. Rise of secular princes and patronage
a. Medici‹>Florence
b. Este‹>Ferrara
c. Sforza‹>Milan
d. Gonzaga‹>Mantua
3. Examples of patronage
a. Dufay's Nuper rosarum flores was composed for the dedication of the
cupola of the dome of the Cathedral in Florence in 1436.
b. Lorenzo de'Medici in the 1480s reorganized the chapel of this church and
recruited the Flemish singer-composers Isaac, Agricola and Ghiselin.
b. Milan (the Sforza family): Josquin des Prez, Johannes Martini among the
chapel singers.
c. Ferrara: Martini, Obrecht, Brumel, Willaert
d. Mantua: Martini, Josquin, Compere
e. Papal chapel in Rome: Josquin, Prioris, Bruhier.
D. Music Printing
1. Patronage and musical activity created a newfound demand for music
2. Movable type perfected by Johann Gutenberg by 1450
3. Liturgical books with plainchant notation are printed by 1473
4. First collection of polyphonic music from movable type:
a. Harmonice musices odhecaton (1501)
b. Pubished. by Ottaviano de'Petrucci in Venice
c. By 1523 Petrucci publ. 59 volumes of vocal and instrumental music
d. Petrucci used triple impression: one for staff lines, one for words,
one for notes
5. Later printers
a. John Rastell: single impression, London 1520
b. Pierre Attaingnant, Paris beginning 1528
c. Music printing began in German by 1534, Netherlands, 1538
d. Important printing centers: Venice, Rome, Nuremberg, Paris, Lyon,
Louvain, Antwerp.
6. Part-books were the norm for publications: one volume for each voice
or part
7. Older two-part compositional framework: tenor-soprano (followed by adding in
the third and fourth voices successively) was obsolete.
a. Composers such as Pietro Aron taught that all parts be written
simultaneously.
II. Composers from the North
A. Dominance of northerners begins early 15th c., 1450-1550 is the defining period
1. Most in service of the Holy Roman Emperor (Spain, Germany, Bohemia, Austria)
King of France, pope or Italian court.
2. Italy (Naples, Florence, Ferrara, Mantua, Milan and Venice) chief center
for diffusion of French, Flemish and Netherland composers.
B. Johannes Ockeghem (1420-1497)
1. Personal history:
a. Sang in the choir of the Cathedral of Antwerp (1443)
b. Mid-1440s he was in the service of Charles I, duke of Bourbon, in France
c. 1452 he entered the royal chapel of the king of France
2. Compositional output
a. 13 Masses
1. By second half of 15th c. Mass becomes principal form of composition.
2. Caput Mass: similar to Dufay's. 4 voices w/contrapuntal texture of
independent melodic lines, expanded vocal ranges.
b. 10 motets
c. 20 chansons
3. Canon
a. In general Ockeghem did not rely heavily on imitation in his Masses
1. Imitative passages exist, but seldom in all voices, Ockeghem Agnus
from the Caput Mass has only incidental imitation at m.27-30 in upper
3 parts.
2. By contrast Obrecht begins his three Agnus settings on the Caput
subject with imitative entries.
b. Ockeghem does however make use of canon
1. Contemporary musici often utilized forms in which audible structure
was concealed by rigidly calculated structure (canon)
2. Retrograde (crab) canon: 2nd voice derived from original voice and
sung backward.
3. Mensuration canon: two voices moving at different speeds to a single
written melody.
a. Mensuration rations included simple augmentation 2:1 or
simple diminution 1:2 or any other ratio.
4. Double canon: two canons sung or played simultaneously.
c. Missa prolationum
1. Each movement is a double mensuration canon
d. Missa cuiusvis toni
2. Mass to be sung 'in any mode' by reading the music according to
one or another of four different clef combinations. Can be sung
in any of the four modes.
e. Missa De plus en plus: utilizes a cantus firmus like Dufay's 'Se la face
ay pale'. c.f. is based on the tenor part of a Binchois chanson.
f. Missa Ecce ancilla: c.f. on a plainsong antiphon.
g. Missa L'homme armé: rigid use of c.f. melody
h. Missa mi-mi: derives its name from the first two notes of the bass
voice, e-A both of which in solmization were sung to the syllable 'mi'.
C. Jacob Obrecht (1452-1505)
1. Personal history
a. Held important positions at Cambrai, Bruges, Antwerp
b. Was at the courts of Ferrara in 1487-88
c. Joined the ducal chapel in 1504 and died of the plague a year later
2. Compositional output
a. 29 Masses
b. 28 motets
c. Unspecified number of chansons, Dutch songs and inst. pieces
3. Mass style:
a. Most use cantus fimi based on secular songs or Gregorian melodies
b. Greater flexibility in use of borrowed themes:
1. In some, melody is used in every mov'e
Source:
web.archive.org
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