Early Renaissance - Early Renaissance Music - Word Painting

8 important questions on Early Renaissance - Early Renaissance Music - Word Painting

What does the term "Word Painting" entail?

Word painting is a musical form where the meaning of words is underscored and emphasized through the music that accompanies it. In other words, the music must convey the emotion that the words mean.

In Word Painting of the Renaissance, how would a composer express anguish?

He employs a descending melodic line, or a bass line.§

In word painting of the Renaissance, how would a composer express joy and hope?

He uses an ascending melodic line, utilizing soprano voices.
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Can you connect the musical form of word painting with the Renaissance movement and describe why it became popular during this age.

In word painting, the composer connects sound en sense. This has classical roots, because the ancient Greeks used this, even though little greek music had survived until the Renaissance.
Aristotle is known to consider music the highest form of art.

In the Renaissance, music became increasingly secularized. Can you explain this?

Before the Renaissance, music was made for religious ends and the Church employed almost all musicians. Although the church remained the staunchest of all music patrons, in the Renaissance commissions also came from wealthy burghers and aristocrats, such as the Medici family.

What are chanson masses?

Chanson masses are song masses. This musical genre became popular during the Early Renaissance, when Dufay (1400-1474) started to introduce folksongs into a mass.

What happened with the use of instruments within music, during the Early Renaissance?

Instruments were classified as haut (loud) or bas (soft), and music for these instruments was composed with the instrument in mind. Before, instruments always performed vocal parts.

What influence did the moveable type have for music in the Renaissance?

Because of the movable type music was more easily spread, which meant that composers became more familiar with each other's works and began to influence one another.

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