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Similarity of Medieval and Renaissance Music
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Seen most commonly as a form of art and expression, the power of communication in music is often overlooked. Although music is art and very expressive, in addition, it’s constructs encompass the many ways in which music attempts to convey messages. Music is a form of a communication. One of the earliest techniques composers used to convey messages in music was through word painting. During the renaissance period composers used word painting, a technique in which the music depicts images that the text describes or evokes the mood of the text to powerfully communicate the message in the music. Throughout the sixteenth century the complexity of word painting changed in madrigalists’ works. Using the pieces Il bianco e dolce cigno by Jacques Arcadelt, …show more content…
1600, the complexity of word painting will be examined through their use of musical textures, qualities, and rhythms to observe how word painting changed throughout the sixteenth century. This section will compare the quantity of musical qualities used in Arcadelt, Marenso and Gesialdo’s music to demonstrate how the complexity of word painting grew throughout the sixteenth century. Often times the lyrics of pieces affected the madrigalists’ choice of musical qualities they used to convey the text in a piece. Word painting in Arcadelt’s Il bianco e dolce cigno is demonstrated through his use tonality. In mm. 1-15 the text says,“The white and gentle swan dies singing, and I, weeping, approach the end of my life.” Immediately at the beginning of the piece we experience the major feeling key that portrays the euphemism of the swans death, which signifies climaxed love. This is emphasized even further in measure m. 15 with the strong V-I cadence of the four voices in F major, setting the piece in a happy tone. This compares to Solo e pensoso in that they both use tonality as a musical quality but Marenzo uses the contrast between major and minor …show more content…
Briefly touched on in the two previous paragraphs, rhythms play a major role in word painting to illustrate lyrics. The complexity of the rhythms in the three pieces starts as more simplistic in the earliest composed piece and progresses to complex as the pieced in the later sixteenth century pieces are composed. The simplistic rhythms in early word painting are evident when looking at mm. 1-15 in Il bianco e dolce cigno. The rhythms are mostly half and quarter notes the half notes are mainly used to emphasize important words. This can be observed accordingly when words such as “weeping” and “dies” occur on half notes. The complexity of rhythms used to emphasize words builds in the later composed piece Solo e pensoso, with more use of eight notes and notes and contrasting rhythm sections that go from just half notes to many eighth notes to now illustrate words such as “readiness to flee” in mm. 26-31. Finally, in ‘Io parto’, e non piu dissi the rhythms used to portray word painting are very complex and alternate almost every six measures to communicate the lyric stanzas musically, also the sixteenth notes are now frequently used. In mm. 26-37 these aspects are evident in communicating the text “in sad laments.” Dead was I, now I am alive, for my spent spirits.” The rhythm transitions from using mainly
In Cruda Amarilli, Monteverdi uses rich affective dissonance in order to create the same degree of tension as its predecessor. With this tension he creates a feeling within the listener. He does this through word painting. As an aspect of secular music, Monteverdi uses word painting to reflect the meaning of the words in Cruda Amarilli. The music and the words work together to display the meaning, by making the listener hear the words as if they are actually doing what is being said.
Besides bright or dim colors, and fine or rough brush strokes, artists use centralized composition to convey their interpretations in "The Acrobat's Family with a Monkey," "Amercian Gothic," "The Water-Seller," and "The Third of May,1808.”
Despite its non-Italian origins and because of its timing and specific achievements in the portrayal of the human form, emotions, and artistic balance, Jean Hey’s “Annunciation” can be considered a natural representative of the culmination of the transition from the learning process of the Early Renaissance to the perfect execution of the High Renaissance.
In the essay “Naturalism and the Venetian ‘Poesia’: Grafting, Metaphor, and Embodiment in Giorgione, Titian, and the Campagnolas,” Campbell explains the role of poetic painting, poesia, in Venetian artwork during the 1500s. Titian personally used the term poesia when he “[referred] to paintings he was making for [King Philip II] with subject matter derived from the ancient poets.” Poesia now refers to a type of sixteenth century Venetian painting, which Giorgione and Titian initiated and used within their works. Campbell’s main argument is that poesia is not simply aesthetic or reflective of poetry, but rather “grounded in the process of making – and in making meaning – rather than in an aesthetics of self-sufficiency or self-referentiality.” Like poetry, it is not self-contained; meaning lies outside of the work, within the interpretations of the viewers. He discusses the idea of grafting in poetry and how the same grafting model is utilized in the visual arts. Different images, such as pagan figures and contemporary figures and settings, are juxtaposed to create visual discordance and give an intrinsic meaning to the viewer. Campbell then uses many examples of writing, poetry, engravings, and paintings to explore his argument and the connections between artists during the 1500s.
Word painting, a “musical representation of specific poetic images”, was a fairly common characteristic of music in the European Baroque period. Composers would often set words like “heaven” on a high note and “hell” on a lower note or set depressing lyrics to a descending chromatic scale. One of the most well-known pieces of the European Baroque period is Messiah by George Frideric Handel, which is an oratorio telling the story of Christ’s birth. Since an oratorio lacked costumes, sets, or acting, Handel used a lot of word painting to give the sacred text an ...
In the dedication of Henry Purcell’s opera, Dioclesian, to the Duke of Somerset, he declared, "As Poetry is the harmony of Words, so Music is that of Notes; and as Poetry is a rise above Prose and Oratory, so is Music the exaltation of Poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are joined, because nothing is then wanting to either of their perfections: for thus they appear like wit and beauty in the same person." Henry Purcell was a prolific English composer of Baroque opera, church music, cantatas, instrumental works, and more. Not only did he have a vast understanding of music and composition, but he also understood the obligation to form a connection between the music and the text. Purcell’s compositional ability is demonstrated in his opera Dido and Aeneas, which contains common Baroque characteristics that define his style. Even though he used distinct “Purcell-isms” in Dido and Aeneas, there is still a definite connection to the structure of Venus and Adonis by John Blow.
words that help capture what is medieval art. The artists behind these pieces of artwork
One of the greatest advances in the development of a society is the establishment of a writing system. Along with writing systems, come other methods for keeping records. Writing can be anything from a series of images used to communicate ideas, to the full on use of characters that can be interpreted and spoken. The use and development of these systems of communication can greatly affect the development of a culture. With that in mind, I’d like to address how the use of text and other methods of recording information in early art assist in the development of a culture.
Pop. Traditional. Classical. These are all genres of music. These all serve a purpose. These are all important. Pop music has been used to help inform and motivate the general public during movements like environmental protection and gay rights. Traditional music has helped to guide us by telling us stories of the past from the church to the fields. Classical music has been played for royalty and help dancers spin a story. Some can be considered art while others can’t, but it often differs because the definition of art is in constant motion. The definition of art is a subject philosopher’s debate because it can be defined strictly or loosely. For the purpose of this essay, let art be defined as anything that can be touched or heard, and it causes a mental and physical reaction. Classical music is truly an art form because it invokes a mental and physical reaction from both the audience and the performers, and it has contrast to make it more dynamic.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
What would the world be like without music? The world would be a very silent place. Music is in many ways the material of our lives and the meaning of society. It is a reminder of how things were in the old days, a suggestion of how things are, and a view of where society is leading to. Music is the direct reflection of the picture of art, music, and literature. Music can be a way to deliver messages, being poetic, a fine art, or it can just be for entertainment. No matter what it is used for, music is the perfect art there is and there are various types of music; such as classical and romantic. This paper will discuss how classical music and romantic music had a turning point in humanity’s social or cultural development, and how they have
ABSTRACT: Humanity requires for its satisfaction Beauty and Good, that is, love, wisdom, and courage. Put differently, the necessity of order, equilibrium, and harmony. These values ground one of the most elevated planes of the spiritual life: music. Its moral force in the education of the mind, soul, and behavior of the human person has been emphasized by the ancient Greek philosophers. This important message exists as a pattern crossing the centuries. I will try to reveal the unity ¡¥ethics¡¦/ethike - ¡¥music¡¦/melos by using the semiotic organon.
Cullen, Alison. “From the Trivial to the True: The French Revolution and Painting”. Kirsch Computing ECFS. Web. 5th May 2013.
Art is a constantly evolving process. The previous style of work serves as a roadmap for what will follow. As often is the case with any form of growth, there exists a transitional period. Because of this evolution, there are traces of a style’s illustrious history embedded in the adaptive art’s metaphorical DNA. The transition from early to late Renaissance established two styles of art known as Baroque and Rococo. While, on the surface, the Rococo style can appear to be very similar to the work produced by Baroque artists, the two also demonstrate distinct differences in their use of subject and theme, the manner in which they created the art, and how that art was perceived in their time. These factors establish both styles from one another, making them unique.
The second period of time for music is the Renaissance period. During this time frame music was reborn and it went through a lot of changes and the way music was written and understood. In this period of time, the composers were expe...