Renaissance Music, Gregorian Chant, and Musical Forms

Renaissance Authors

Tomás Luis de Victoria, Juan de la Encina, Mateo Flecha, Antonio de Cabezón, and Luis Milán.

Gregorian Chant

It is the most important musical form of the Middle Ages. Gregory I unified the rite of the Mass based on the Roman Mass, adding some features of the other rites that existed. Evidently, not only did Saint Gregory intervene in this process, but also the Holy Spirit.

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• Covers: The use of popular songs performed in new versions. The listener recognizes that the new song sounds familiar.
• Jingles: Songs written especially for the ad.
• Known Music: Classical music, carols, etc.

Madrigal

It is one of the most important Renaissance vocal compositions. It is secular and is set to several voices.

Counterpoint

It is a polyphonic technique characterized by the independence and alternation of different voices.

Polyphony

We have two or more voices and several people. The peculiarity is that we can talk about two types of polyphony: harmonic and contrapuntal.

Monody

We have several people and one voice, as is the case with Gregorian chant.

Melody

Here we observe a single melodic line (one voice) and may have other voices or instruments.

Range

It is the difference in pitch between two sounds. It is usually measured in tones and semitones.

Harmony

Notes sounding simultaneously, one above the other.

Melodic

Notes sounding in succession.

Melody Accompaniment

Accompaniment is the rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic support of a melody. Every era of history has employed accompaniment in one form or another.

String Instruments

• Bowed: Violin, viola, cello, double bass.
• Plucked: Guitar, harp.
• Keyboard: Piano.

Ancient Instruments

Lute, viola da gamba, sackbut, virginal, harp.

Classical Music Periods

Baroque, Classical, Romantic.

Baroque (1660-1750)

Vertical harmony and bass dominate. String instruments, such as violins, are improved.

Classical (1750-1800)

New instruments are invented, the first orchestras are born, and opera is reformed.

Romanticism (1880-1830)

Melody dominates. Darker times are sought, with complex rhythms, and the symphonic orchestra is enlarged.

Tonality

It is the relationship between certain sounds around a principal one called the tonic.

Mode

It is the way a scale is arranged according to the location of the semitones in the range of its degrees. It can be major or minor.

Fugue

It is a polyphonic musical form of the Baroque. The main theme is imitated, as in a canon. It has three parts: thematic exposition, development, and conclusion.

Opera

Born in Italy in 1600, first performed in 1607 in Mantua.

Oratorio

These are dramatic vocal music forms that tell a story with religious content.

Passion

Describes the death of Jesus Christ.

Chorale

It was popularized during the Lutheran Reformation so that the faithful could sing liturgical chants in the services.

Sonata

It has several variants: compositions for a single instrument are sonatas; for orchestra, the symphony; for chamber groups, duos, trios, or quartets; and for solo instrument and orchestra, the concerto.

Symphonic Poem

It is an orchestral work of a single movement in which an argument is musically developed.