Renaissance Choral Music
The Renaissance spanned across over two centuries, beginning in the opening years of the 15th century and extending through to the 16th century, into the early years of the 17th century.[1] The duchy of Burgundy was a center of “French culture and civilisation”[2] and cultivated music with much vigour. The immense wealth enabled dukes to maintain at Dijon one of the most magnificent courts in Europe. The influence of the Dukes of Burgundy was great during the Renaissance, ruling much of northern France and the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Composers from the Burgundian and northern regions were the most dominant during the Renaissance and made invaluable contributions to music as Gustave Reese discusses in Music in the Renaissance.
Western music as a whole, owing largely to the singular brilliance of the composers originating from northern France and the Low Countries and to the international prestige that led to their being engaged and emulated throughout western and central Europe…[3]
Under the Patronage of Philip the Good, composers like Du Fay and Binchois flourished in the duchy of Burgundy. Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin Des Prez and Orlande de Lassus continued this flourishing of music in the northern region.
The Middle Ages, the preceding period, saw two great musical developments emerging which heavily influenced the Renaissance. One was a strong trend towards measured rhythm and the other was basing polyphony on the third, rather than perfect consonances. The development of rhythm led composers of the “Renaissance art to attain a rhythmic fluidity and complexity that part music has never surpassed.” Development in tonality left the Renaissance to “realise more fully the potentialities of the triad and to regular dissonance.”[4]
Guillaume Du Fay, regarded as “the greatest composer of his time,”[5] was born in Hainault around 1400. As a young boy Du Fay was a chorister at the Cathedral of
Western music as a whole, owing largely to the singular brilliance of the composers originating from northern France and the Low Countries and to the international prestige that led to their being engaged and emulated throughout western and central Europe…[3]
Under the Patronage of Philip the Good, composers like Du Fay and Binchois flourished in the duchy of Burgundy. Johannes Ockeghem, Josquin Des Prez and Orlande de Lassus continued this flourishing of music in the northern region.
The Middle Ages, the preceding period, saw two great musical developments emerging which heavily influenced the Renaissance. One was a strong trend towards measured rhythm and the other was basing polyphony on the third, rather than perfect consonances. The development of rhythm led composers of the “Renaissance art to attain a rhythmic fluidity and complexity that part music has never surpassed.” Development in tonality left the Renaissance to “realise more fully the potentialities of the triad and to regular dissonance.”[4]
Guillaume Du Fay, regarded as “the greatest composer of his time,”[5] was born in Hainault around 1400. As a young boy Du Fay was a chorister at the Cathedral of
Bibliography: Books Burkholder, J Peter, Palisca, V Claude, Norton Anthology of Western Music, Vol I: Ancient to Baroque, USA: Norton & Co, 1990 Kennedy, Michael. Concise Dictionary of Music, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Naumann, Emil. The History of Music. London, Paris, New York, Melbourne: Cassel & Company, 1900. Pesce, Dolores, Hearing the Motet, (New York: Oxford University Press), 1997. Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance, (USA: Vail-Ballou Press, 1954, USA Richolson Sollitt, Edna Russano Hanning, Barbra. A Concise History of Western Music. New York: Norton & Co, 1998. Fallows, David. "Binchois, Gilles de Bins dit." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, (accessed 13/04/2012) http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/subscriber/article/grove/music/03094 Lockwood, Lewis Macey, Patrick. "Josquin des Prez." In Grove Music Online. Oxford music online, (accessed (12/04/2012) http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/subscriber/article/grove/music/14497. Pryer, Anthony. "Binchois." In The Oxford Companion to Music, ed. Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online, (accessed 10/04/2012) http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.ecu.edu.au/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e803 Journal articles: Anderson, Rick. “Guillaume Du Fay” Academic OneFile (2008): 378 Brown, Howard Mayer Kirman, Andrew. “From Humanism to Enlightenment: Reinventing Josquin” The Journal of Musicology, autumn, 1999, 441-458. (Accessed 12/04/2012) URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/763928 Thomas brothers ----------------------- [1] Gustave Reese, Music In The Renaissance (USA: Vail-Ballou Press, 1954) 3. [5] Emil Naumann, The History of Music, Volume II (New York: Cassel & Company, 1900), 308. [6] Barbara Russano Hanning, A Concise History of Western Music (3rd Ed, New York: Norton & Co, 1998), 111. [7] Edna Richolson Sollitt, Dufay to Sweelinck: Netherlands Masters of Music, (Connecticut: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1933), 19. [8] Michael Kennedy, Concise Dictionary of Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) , 212 [9] Reese, Music in The Renaissance, 73. [12] David Fallows, "Binchois, Gilles de Bins dit," in Grove Music Online, (accessed April 13, 2012), <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com> [13] Hanning, A Concise History of Western Music, 120. [26] Dolores Pesce, Hearing the Motet, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 213. [30] J. Peter Burkholder et al, Norton Anthology of Western Music, Vol 1: Ancient to Baroque, (New York: Norton & Co, 1980), 205. [33] Michael Kennedy, Concise Dictionary of Music, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 411.