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The Structure and Style of Renaissance Music
In the Renaissance period, composers began experimenting with harmony in their work. Imitative polyphony, monophonic solo and polychoral music was the main style in the Renaissance. Imitative polyphony is when all the voices in a piece of music move at the same speed and share the development of the piece in a way that later became known as Fugue.
Polychoral music is similar to polyphony but is written for choirs, usually to be sung in church. Monophony is simply a solo piece with one line of music and, naturally, one voice.
Medieval and Renaissance styles differ in the way the music is written as well, in the order it's written. Medieval composers built the music up layer upon layer, whereas Renaissance composers often preferred to write all the parts simultaneously, and blend them together rather than contrast them.
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There is a lot of emphasis on texture in polyphony music. Specific instruments were chosen because they had a certain texture in their sound and the composer would use that texture to compliment other textures within the piece.
Renaissance Instruments
The Renaissance saw many new instruments as well as old ones remaining popular. Different composers preferred to write for different instruments predominantly, but the basic availability remained pretty much the same. These are the main instruments that were used in Renaissance music
The Lute
The lute is the ancestor of the modern day guitar. It held the highest respect of all instruments during the Renaissance, both as an accompaniment and as a solo instrument. It could be played with a plectrum but the best lutenists used only their fingers, giving a very distinctive, very expressive sound.
Although the greatest repertoire for the lute is from England, the finest lutes came from Italy. The delicacy of the sound is reflected in the light construction of the instrument. The pear shaped body was usually made of pine, often less than an eighth on an inch thick. In the centre of the body at the front was a sound hole or rose, often ornately carved. The neck of the lute was made from yew or cedar and the eleven (or sometimes more) strings were of light gauge because the neck could not withstand any thicker at high tension.
The lute was a loud instrument, played mostly in the courts of the wealthy and also royalty. It went out of tune easily, and was eventually replaced during the Baroque period by various keyboard instruments which could more easily accommodate the new virtuoso solo and continuo style of that era.
The Viol
Viols were bowed instruments with frets. They were played downwards towards the lap or between the legs like a modern cello. The nasal qualities of its sound made it slightly too restrained for dances, where it was sometimes used but not often. It was, however, ideal for Renaissance polyphony, where the clarity of texture in the music is so important.
Before the mid-16th century, viols had been played mostly by court musicians but towards the beginning of the 17th century they were being played by many amateurs as well. By this time, like madrigal singing, viol playing had become very much a part of music making in the Elizabethan home. Viols were still very popular in England long after they had been replaced by the violin on the continent.
The body of the viol was, like the lute, lightly constructed and the six strings were under quite low tension. There were numerous sizes, including the treble, alto, small tenor, tenor and the bass. The viol's bow had a distinct convex bend, as opposed to the violin's concave bend, and it was held in an underhand grip, with the player's palm facing upwards.
The Shawm
Unlike the Medieval shawm, the Renaissance shawm uses a broad cane reed. In smaller shawms the reed was inside a pirouette (a funnel shaped protector). Shawms had several finger holes and vent holes near the bell. The lowest notes had key mechanisms but the rest were fingered like a recorder or pipe. Shawms were played mostly in courtyards.
The Pipe and Tabor
The idea of the pipe and tabor was that one player could accompany himself, making it ideal for dances or background music for courtyard entertainers. The pipe is a simple instrument with usually only three finger holes (for the index finger, middle finger and thumb). It was narrow to facilitate overblowing, and had a ridge around the bottom to help the player support it in just one hand.
The tabor was a basic double-headed drum, slung over the player's shoulder with a leather strap. It was usually played with a drumstick, although sometimes played with a bare hand.
The Psaltery
The psaltery was a very old instrument from medieval times. Early versions were simply a wooden board with gut strings stretched between pegs, and later versions had sound holes, a hollow box and metal strings.
The player performed with the instrument usually in front of him on his lap or on a table, or in front of the chest on a strap around his neck. It was played either with the fingernails or, more often, with a pair of quills of plectra, one in each hand.
The psaltery had no specific repertory, and was very widely used until the early 16th century but towards the end of the Renaissance was being used less and less. The psaltery eventually evolved into the harpsichord.
The Crumhorn
The crumhorn was a double-reeded instrument developed in the early 15th century. It was a wooden instrument, curved at the end. It had a cap with a slot enclosing the reed. The sound the instrument gave was a reedy, distinctly nasal tone, but soft.
Crumhorns, like many instruments, came in various different sizes. Alto, tenor, bass and great bass were the main ones. A four-part consort consisted of an alto crumhorn, two tenors and a bass.
Despite its strange shape and the amusing reaction of listeners when the instrument is played poorly, the crumhorn played a serious role in all kinds of Renaissance music ranging from dances and madrigals to church music.
As early as 1500 crumhorns were used to accompany two masses performed for the wedding of Duke Johan and Sophia of Mecklenburg. King Henry VIII of England owned twenty-five crumhorns, so it's likely that they would have been played at his court.
Hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy was the first stringed instrument to which the keyboard principle was applied. The French name 'viella a roue' means 'wheel fiddle', which was how the sound was produced.
The bowing of a fiddle was replaced by a circular wheel bow coated in resin. When the crank is spun, the wheel turns and the gut strings vibrate.
The hurdy-gurdy was ideal for dance and some versions were played by two performers; one to crank, and one to push the keys. Shorter, later instruments only required a single player. Some were oblong in shape but others had a large body with a shape similar to that of a viol.
Recorders
The principle of the recorder seems as old as mankind, having dated back to as early as the 11th century. The instrument's essential features were the lip (cut near to the top of the body), the fipple (a block of wood inserted in the end to be blown), and the windway (a narrow channel along the fipple which air is blown against the edge of the lip to produce sound).
It is difficult to document the recorder's early history due to the inability to identify what is and what is not a recorder in medieval art. Renaissance recorders don't differ very much from medieval ones although they do have a smaller range than Baroque recorders.
The sound is soft, full and rich in texture, making recorders suitable for monophonic solo pieces and very good for Renaissance polyphony as well. They were made from maple usually and, like viols and crumhorns, came in various different sizes. Soprano, alto, tenor, bas and great bass were the most common although the great bass was used significantly less than the others were.
The Sackbut
Many names have been given to the renaissance trombone including saqueboute, shakbusshes, seykebuds, sakbuds, shakebuttes, shagbutts and even shagbolts but the most frequently used is sackbut. The word 'sackbut' literally means 'push-pull' which is exactly how the instrument was played.
It is uncertain when the sackbut first appeared, but by the early 16th century it is illustrated and mentioned regularly in detail. It was used both outdoors and in church and was usually accompanied by a shawm or a cornett.
Four sizes were used mainly; alto, tenor, bass and great bass. The sackbut differs from today's trombone by the much less flared bell, they were of smaller bore, had no slide lock, water key or tuning slide. It wasn't accepted completely as an orchestral instrument until the early Baroque period.
Renaissance Composers
There were many composers in the Renaissance era, significantly more than in the medieval period and increasing towards the end of the era. Such composers include Jacques Arcadelt (1505-1568); Claude Le Jeune (150-1600); William Byrd (154-16); Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-161); Thomas Morley (1557-160); Guillame Dufay (1400-1474); Antione Busnoys (140-14) and Josquin Des Prez (1440-151). Most Renaissance composers came from Italy or The Netherlands, but a large number also came from England.
John Bull
John Bull (151-168) was a famous English composer and keyboard player, one of the leading virginals and organ players of his time. It is thought that he was born in Radnorshire in Wales in 156. He became a chorister at Hereford Cathedral in 157 but was soon taken into the Chapel Royal Choir. Between 158 and 158 he had duties as an organist and master of choristers at Hereford as well as in London, where he was the Queen's Organist.
Both Cambridge and Oxford universities awarded him doctorates in music. After being given the post of Public Reader in Music at Gresham College (London), Bull was involved in several scandals and failures in business, including organ building.
In 161, Bull, along with William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, published 'Parthenia', the first printed book of music for the virginals. He was eventually driven out of England with charges of adultery and he found employment as an instrument builder in the Netherlands.
Bull died in 168. He was buried at Antwerp Cathedral, where he had previously been organist.
Most of his surviving compositions are dance pieces for the keyboard but he also wrote a set of 10 canons for keyboard, which are regarded as some of the finest examples of canonic writing of the era.
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