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Music. Inspired by Pythagoras, his ideas were now critically examined and expanded on for the rst

time in nearly 2000 years. On top of this, the Greek philosophers ideal abo!t m!sic and its expressi"e power

were taken to heart by #enaissance composers who so!ght to create more expressi"e and meaningf!l m!sic

based on the model of what the Greek philosophers said Greek m!sic was capable of doing. 

Greek m!sic was seen as a mysterio!s and magical art with the power to change the face of nat!re

and mo"e so!ls of h!man kind. It was seen as a moral and arithmetic tr!th which embodied the order, tr!th

and bea!ty of the cosmos, the !ni"erse.

 

$hile the r!ling princes and oligarchies of Italy were the principal patrons of the new and

increasingly sec!lar and frankly h!manistic m!sic of the #enaissance, the spirit of the #enaissance was not

lost on the %atholic ch!rch either. &he ch!rch fathers so!ght to create a m!sic that was more h!man, more

intimate, more emotionally expressi"e than the ch!rch m!sic of earlier times.

 

It doesnt matter whether yo!re an aristocrat, a sec!lar r!ler, artist, or clergy. &hose who read

ancient literat!re asked themsel"es, why their early #enaissance m!sic did not mo"e them the way the

ancient Greeks said. &he spirit of the #enaissance demanded more expressi"eness, more comm!nicati"e

m!sic. &hat is the '!estion of the #enaissance composer( how do yo! do that)

 

*ome general statements abo!t the nat!re of #enaissance m!sic(

+ m!sic sho!ld mo"e the emotions. &wo sol!tions( artic!lation -m!sica reser"ata, the words m!st be

clearly and !nambig!o!sly proected, rhythm sho!ld follow the rhythm of the words.

2 m!sic sho!ld re/ect the meaning of the spoken word -word painting

 

Articulation. If the words are to be clear the m!sic cannot be o"erly melismatic. If the melismas are

too long, we nd it dic!lt to connect syllables therefore it becomes dic!lt to !nderstand words.

#emember that we are still in a "ery "ocal c!lt!re. $e will not enco!nter instr!mental m!sic as a separate

genre for aro!nd 200 years more. *o the word is the message and it has to be clear.

 

 1os'!in espre3( born +440 died +52+, hailed by his contemporaries as(

 

 &he best of the composers of o!r time6 the father of m!sicians6 7artin 8!ther said 9:e is the master of the

notes, they m!st do as he wills. ;s for other composers they m!st do as the notes will.<

 

7any years after his death 1os'!ins m!sic was still being held as the best d!ring his age. :is style made !se of imitation, wherein each "oice entered one after another instead of all parts

singing contin!o!sly. &his made the words s!ng by each part easier to hear.

:ailed as the best composer of the :igh #enaissance.

 

:is m!sic is /!id, not partic!larly rhythmic, smooth, caref!lly con!ct, and made !se of controlled polyphony,

with occasional !se of homophony.

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the most important compositional genre of the #enaissance was the m!sical setting of the

%atholicMass. &he 7ass was, to the #enaissance composer, what the symphony was to the classical

composers, and what the opera was to the +=th cent!ry composer, and that is the !ltimate mon!mental test

of the their compositional prowess. &he great composers of the #enaissance were also the great composers

of the 7ass. 1os'!in espre3 had +> di?erent settings of the 7ass.

 

$hen they started composing for the mass, they were faced with maor compositional challenges.

 &he 7ass had many parts, so the dilemma was to decide which parts were to be set to m!sic. @irst of all lets

explain the origin of the word 9mass

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+. &he $ord of God, the hand of God present in these ancient and timeBhonored plainchants will be present

in yo!r otherwise modern composition, linking yo! with the great past and gi"ing yo! contact with a certain

holiness that yo! may not otherwise ha"e.

2. ;lso it will !nify melodically all "e sections of the 7ass to some degree or another. &here will be thematic

!nity and religiosity.

 

P!tting the plainchant as the thematic material was done in three di?erent ways(

+. Cantus "rmus #"$ed melody% Mass D what happens is that a plainchant, in its original medie"al form

is present !s!ally in the tenor "oice -in *;&E. &his is going to a?ect profo!ndly the nat!re of the m!sic

being written aro!nd the plainchant. 7ost of these plainchants lack rhythmic conto!r and they aremodal,

they lack the so!nd of more modern maor and minor scales and as a res!lt the m!sic written aro!nd them

will so!nd older and more archaic.

 

&. 'araphrase Mass #meaning to restate, rephrase, say it in another ay% D 1os'!in was the great

master of the paraphrase 7ass. &he plainchant that !nderlies the entire 7ass has been moderni3ed

according to the taste of the #enaissance( it has been rhythmici3ed, notes ha"e been added to it, so that the

plainchant doesnt anymore like a plainchant, b!t a more modern t!ne.

 

F. Imitation Mass D was also based on a preBexisting melody, b!t this time it can be any melody yo! want.

It can be a pop t!ne, a dance piece, anything. $hat wo!ld be the point of !sing sec!lar m!sic within a

religio!s work) @irst of all, accessibility, recognisability -if it is easily recogni3ed anyone can follow the t!ne

easily, enoyment. One problem that arose was that it was deemed s!b"ersi"e, antiBreligio!s.