MUS 10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Josquin Des Prez, Cantus Firmus, Louis Xii Of France
MUS10 Lecture 11 – The Renaissance Era
The Renaissance Era
• Renaissance means rebirth, moving away from the church as the center of intellect
o Gothic architecture style turned into cleaner Renaissance style
• Important events during the Renaissance
o Invention of the printing press that allowed mass distribution of music
o Copernicus stating that the sun is the center of the universe
o Marco Polo
o Black Death
o Michelangelo
o Date’s Divie Coed literature
• Early polyphony: organum
o Drones: single note that played for long time
o Simple harmonization, other than unison or octave
o Florid organum (usually refers to the organ instrument)
o Heterophony (two playing the same melody but will deviate from the melody
from time to time, ornamented)
• Franco-Flemish School
o Polyphonic vocal music
• Johannes Ockeghem (1420-1497)
o Masses, motets, chansons
o Imitative counterpoint
o Text painting
o First Requiem
• Josquin Desprez (1440-1521)
o Highly influential
o Worked in Milan and Rome for Louis XII, Ferrara, and Cambrai
o Master of imitation practice
▪ Point of imitation
▪ Catus firus iitatio eas fied elod
• Pre-existing melody which forms basis of polyphonic composition
• Melody reinforces the text
o Articulates musical cadences (pauses or endings of musical phrases)
o Musical career
▪ Music published by Petrucci
▪ Composed 18 masses, around 100 motets
▪ Several dozen secular works, a few instrumental pieces
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