Renaissance Research Paper
Introduction
Renaissance, literally, means rebirth; it is an era that began in 1400’s and ended in 1600 and its school of thought dramatically shifted from religious and mystical ideals to a focus to human interactions. It is worthy and important to understand the changes from the transition of musical period, because they mark and shape the music industry that stands now. For instance, opera was in its infancy when Giulio Caccini (1551-1681) started writing the first opera and now operas can be found in all around the world and in different cultures. There are tremendous aspects to talk about of the transition from Medieval to Renaissance period, however this essay will only limit itself on the changes in vocal composition, and the historical …show more content…
Being one of the most important composers in the renaissance period, Josquin pioneered the “pervasive imitation” (a.k.a polyphonic imitation) as a contrapuntal device. His influence to the Western musical history is well recognized because pervasive imitation has became the ancestor of modern fugue (later in Baroque period, J. S. Bach was also being inspired and wrote many famous fugue composition.)
Ave Maria...virgo serena (1502) is a work by Josquin that may best illustrate the technique of pervasion imitation. Ave Maria is a cappella that is choral music in the renaissance period that did not need instrumental accompaniment. Yet, some a cappella used instrument to duplicate the vocal lines in order to support and reinforce the singers if they find it hard to maintain on the right pitches.
At the opening pervasion imitation is used, soprano sings the single phrase “Ave Maria” and each voice sings the same melody in succession. In addition to imitation in different voices, it also occurs between pairs of voices. For instance, soprano and alto come into duet in the phrase “Ave, cuius conceptio”, while the two lower voices imitate in succession. In the phrase virgo serena”, all voices sing together creating a feeling to completeness to the first
Renaissance, literally, means rebirth; it is an era that began in 1400’s and ended in 1600 and its school of thought dramatically shifted from religious and mystical ideals to a focus to human interactions. It is worthy and important to understand the changes from the transition of musical period, because they mark and shape the music industry that stands now. For instance, opera was in its infancy when Giulio Caccini (1551-1681) started writing the first opera and now operas can be found in all around the world and in different cultures. There are tremendous aspects to talk about of the transition from Medieval to Renaissance period, however this essay will only limit itself on the changes in vocal composition, and the historical …show more content…
Being one of the most important composers in the renaissance period, Josquin pioneered the “pervasive imitation” (a.k.a polyphonic imitation) as a contrapuntal device. His influence to the Western musical history is well recognized because pervasive imitation has became the ancestor of modern fugue (later in Baroque period, J. S. Bach was also being inspired and wrote many famous fugue composition.)
Ave Maria...virgo serena (1502) is a work by Josquin that may best illustrate the technique of pervasion imitation. Ave Maria is a cappella that is choral music in the renaissance period that did not need instrumental accompaniment. Yet, some a cappella used instrument to duplicate the vocal lines in order to support and reinforce the singers if they find it hard to maintain on the right pitches.
At the opening pervasion imitation is used, soprano sings the single phrase “Ave Maria” and each voice sings the same melody in succession. In addition to imitation in different voices, it also occurs between pairs of voices. For instance, soprano and alto come into duet in the phrase “Ave, cuius conceptio”, while the two lower voices imitate in succession. In the phrase virgo serena”, all voices sing together creating a feeling to completeness to the first