Renaissance music
Beginning in Florence, there was an attempt to revive the dramatic and musical forms of Ancient Greece, through the means of monody, a form of declaimed music over a simple accompaniment; a more extreme contrast with the preceding polyphonic style would be hard to find; this was also, at least at the outset, a secular trend. These musicians were known as the Florentine Camerata.
We have already noted some of the musical developments that helped to usher in the Baroque, but for further explanation of this transition, see antiphon, concertato, monody, madrigal, and opera, as well as the works given under "Sources and further reading."
For a more thorough discussion of the transition to the Baroque specifically pertaining to instrument music, see Transition from Renaissance to Baroque in instrumental music.
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Instruments of the Renaissance
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Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of, or improvements upon, instruments that had existed previously. Some have survived to the present day; others have disappeared, only to be recreated in order to perform music of the period on authentic instruments. As in the modern day, instruments may be classified as brass, strings, percussion, and woodwind.
Brass Brass instruments in the Renaissance were traditionally played by professionals. Some of the more common brass instruments that were played:
- Slide trumpet: Similar to the trombone of today except that instead of a section of the body sliding, only a small part of the body near the mouthpiece and the mouthpiece itself is stationary. Also the body was an S-shape so it was rather unwieldy, but was suitable for the slow dance music it was most commonly used for.
- Cornetto: Made of wood and was played like the recorder (will be mentioned at greater length later on) but blown like a trumpet. It was commonly made in several sizes, the largest was called the serpent. The serpent became practically the only cornetto used by the early seventeenth century while other ranges were replaced by the violin. It was said to be the closest instrument to the human voice with the ability to use dynamics and expression.
- Trumpet: Early trumpets had no valves, and were limited to the tones present in the overtone series. They were also made in different sizes. Although commonly depicted being used by angels, their use in churches was limited, a prominent exception being the music of the Venetian School. They were most commonly used in the military and for the announcement of royalty. Period trumpets were found to have two rings soldered to them, one near the mouthpiece and another near the bell.
- Sackbut: A different name for the trombone, which replaced the slide trumpet by the end of the fifteenth century.
Strings As a family strings were used in many circumstances, both sacred and secular. A few members of this family include:
- Viol: This instrument, developed in the 1400s, commonly has six strings. It was usually played with a bow. It has structural qualities similar to the Spanish vihuela; its main separating trait is its larger size. This changed the posture of the musician in order to rest it against the floor or between the legs in a manner similar to the cello. Its similarities to the vihuela were sharp waist-cuts, similar frets, a flat back, thin ribs, and identical tuning.
- Lyre: Its construction is similar to a small harp, although instead of being plucked, it is strummed with a plectrum. Its strings varied in quantity from four, seven, and ten, depending on the era. It was played with the right hand, while the left hand silenced the notes that were not desired. Newer lyres were modified to be played with a bow.
- Violin: The word violin comes from the middle Latin word vitula meaning "stringed instrument". The distinctive features of the violin are its "hourglass" shape, and the arching of its top and back. Its sound production is dependent on its shape, wood type, thickness, and type of varnish. The most common way to play a violin is with a bow. It has four strings, and is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family (which includes the viola and cello).
- Irish Harp: Also called the Clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic, or the Cláirseach in Irish, during the Middle Ages it was the most popular instrument of Ireland and Scotland. Due to its significance on Irish history it is seen even on the Guinness label, and is Ireland's national symbol even to this day. To be played it is usually plucked. Its size can vary greatly from a harp that can be played in one's lap to a full-size harp that is placed on the floor
- Hurdy gurdy: (Also known as the wheel fiddle), in which the strings are sounded by a wheel which the strings pass over. Its functionality can be compared to that of a mechanical violin, in that its bow (wheel) is turned by a crank. Its distinctive sound is mainly because of its "drone strings" which provide a constant pitch similar in their sound to that of bagpipes.
- See main article: Cittern.
- See main article: Lute.
- See main article: Harpsichord.
- See main article: Virginal.
Percussion Some Renaissance percussion instruments include the triangle, the Jews harp, the tambourine, the bells, the rumble-pot, and various kinds of drums.
- Tambourine: In the early ages the tambourine was originally a frame drum without the jingles attached to the side. This instrument soon evolved and took on the name of the timbrel during the medieval crusades, at which time it acquired the jingles. The tambourine was often found with a single skin, as it made it easy for a dancer to play. The skin that surrounds frame is called the vellum, and produces the beat by striking the surface with the knuckles, fingertips, or hand. It could also be played by shaking the instrument, allowing the tambourine's jingles to "clank" and "jingle".
- Jew's harp: An instrument often known for its historical purpose for men "serenading" their sweethearts[citation needed], It even went to the extent of being repeatedly banned for its "endangerment on female virtue"[citation needed], it is also believed that it was banned because of its construction of silver, and due to the great demand on silver in the 19th Century Austria this was another reason for its outlawing. A steel instrument that produces sound using shapes of the mouth and attempting to pronounce different vowels with ones mouth. The loop at the bent end of the tongue of the instrument is plucked in different scales of vibration creating different tones.
Woodwinds (Aerophones) The woodwind instruments (Aerophones) use a column of air vibrating within a pipe that has little holes along it to generate vibration with the airflow through the pipe and control the length of the sound waves produced by the vibrating air. A player could create this air column by using a few different methods. The first is blowing across a mouth hole (as would be done with flutes). The second is blowing into a mouthpiece with a single reed (as would be found with the clarinet or saxophone) or a double reed (which is used with oboes and bassoons).
The woodwind instruments of the Middle Ages are not the same as modern day woodwinds. They were more eccentric and exotic. For example, you would find that modern woodwinds fit the natural position of the hand. Woodwinds in the Renaissance used simple holes drilled in the instrument.
- Shawm: A typical oriental shawm is keyless and is about a foot long with seven finger holes and a thumb hole. The pipes were also most commonly made of wood and many of them had carvings and decorations on them. It was the most popular double reed instrument of the renaissance period it was commonly used in the streets with drums and trumpets because of its brilliant, piercing, and often deafening sound. To play the shawm a person puts the entire reed in their mouth, puffs out their cheeks, and blows into the pipe whilst breathing through their nose.
- Reed pipe: Made from a single short length of cane with a mouthpiece, four or five finger holes, and reed fashioned from it. The reed is made by cutting out a small tongue, but leaving the base attached. It is the predecessor of the saxophone and the clarinet.
- Hornpipe: Same as reed pipe but with a bell at the end.
- Bagpipe/Bladderpipe: Believe to have been invented by herdsmen who thought to use a bag made out of sheep or goat skin and would provide air pressure so that when its player takes a breath, the player only needs to squeeze the bag tucked underneath their arm to continue the tone. The mouth pipe has a simple round piece of leather hinged on to the bag end of the pipe and acts like a non-return valve.
- Panpipe: Designed to have sixteen wooden tubes with a stopper at one end and open on the other. Each tube is a different size for a different tone to give it a range of an octave and a half. The player can then place their lips against the desired tube and blow across it.
- Transverse flute: The Transverse flute is similar to the modern flute with a mouth hole near the stoppered end and finger holes along the body. It uses the same basic principles as the Panpipes.
- Recorder: The recorder is common instrument that is still used today (often taught to children in elementary schools). Rather than a reed it uses a whistler mouth piece, which is a beak shaped mouth piece, as its main source of sound production. It is usually made with seven finger holes and a thumb hole.
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See also
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Sources and further reading
- Atlas, Allan W. Renaissance Music. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.
- Baines, Anthony, ed. Musical Instruments Through the Ages. New York: Walker and Company, 1975.
- Bent, Margaret. The Grammar of Early Music: Preconditions for Analysis. In Tonal Structures of Early Music, ed. Cristle Collins Judd.
- Bessaraboff, Nicholas. Ancient European Musical Instruments. 1st. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1941.
- Brown, Howard M. Music in the Renaissance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1976.
- Fenlon, Iain. The Renaissance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.
- Gleason, Harold and Becker, Warren. Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, IN: Frangipani Press, 1986. ISBN 0-89917-034-X
- Judd, Cristle Collins, ed. Tonal Structures of Early Music. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-8153-2388-3.
- Reese, Gustav. Music in the Renaissance. New York: W.W. Norton, 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
- Munrow, David. Instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. London: Oxford University Press, 1976.
- Ongaro, Giulio. Music of the Renaissance. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003.
- Strunk, Oliver. Source Readings in Music History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1950.
- Orpheon Foundation, Vienna, Austria
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External links
- Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments – descriptions, photos, and sounds.
- "Here of A Sunday Morning"
- Pantagruel – A Renaissance Musicke Ensemble
- The Waits Website – Renaissance Civic Bands of Europe
- Stella Fortuna: Medieval Minstrels (1370), from Ye Compaynye of Cheualrye Re-enactment Society. Photos and Audio Download.
- Music of the Renaissance Period
- "The Renaissance Channel"- Renaissance Music Videos
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