The renaissance is a period of renewal and enlightenment a lot of great works were created during this time period. Great art, music, philosophy, and books. The renewed interest is the best part that something old was brought back and kind of re-invented in a way.
I know that during the renaissance Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, the printing press was invented and that the Protestant Reformation was led, also around this time everyone was building their own sorts of Christianity, dividing from the mentality of the church being the one church. These are all historical events that happened in the Renaissance, you can gather from that that it was really a time of reconstruction and reveling, evolving into a new mindset and a more modern ideal. The textbook describes the music from the renaissance as characterized by textures of complex intertwining melodies. A lot of music in this time period was written for mass.
One of the composers from this time period is Guillaume Dufay, his music is very much chorale music and focused on the voice. Usually, there is more than one voice accompanied by an organ or some instruments. It has a very angelic sound and you can tell it’s for a mass. It is unusual in comparison to other mass music since there are multiple harmonies. It sounded exactly as described in the textbook, he defied the ordinary by placing a borrowed melody in the tenor line of each section, also known as cantus firmi.
Until last class I didn’t know that the Sistine chapel was built during the Renaissance, which was interesting. Also, Dufay’s music seems to fit church choirs very well, due to the fact there are multiple voices blending together to create such a melody. Compared to other mass music that I’ve experienced, with only voices, Dufay has instrumentals in it, making it more unique to listeners.
I like how you included information about the Sistine chapel as this particular art piece is significant for its time as well as present day. I wonder how the idea behind people building their own Christianity was reflected in the music composed during this time period. I would like to know more about the religious implications found within pieces written at this time.
I also wrote about the Renaissance and I somehow forgot about Michaelangelo and the iconic Sistine chapel. I like how you wrote about Dufay and described his music as angelic because thats the vibe I get from it. You did a great job talking about Cantus Firmi.