MUSI 1001 Lecture 15: l15
Document Summary
Composed by thomas weelkes and published in 1601. Text of mediocre quality, but offers numerous possibilities for madrigalisms. Girolamo mei: letter on ancient and modern music. Emphasis on emotions (affect: humoural view of body/mind relationship) often to the point of exaggeration and distortion. One musical element constant throughout the baroque. Purpose: to establish a strong bass and make the harmony explicit. Melody: less stepwise movement than in renaissance melodies, larger leaps, wider range, a chromaticism reflect influence of virtuosic solo singing, melodic patterns idiomatic to particular musical instruments emerge. Introduction of melodic sequence: repetition of a musical motive at successively higher of lower degrees of the scale, first appears in baroque music, but continues to be a standard melodic procedure. Harmony: stable, diatonic chords played by basso continuo support melody, clearly defined chord progressions begin to develop, tonality reduced to major and minor keys. Rhythm: relaxed, flexible rhythms of the renaissance transformed into often motoric, driving rhythms.
