John Dowland's Ayres: Come Again Sweet Love

Margaret Bent,"The late-medieval motet", Companion to Medieval & Renaissance Music. Oxford University Press, (1997) Pg. 44

Josquin’s career was defined by the invention of the printer which allowed his masses and other compositions to be printed and shared more easily among the country. In many of his pieces, he illustrates his gift of the pervasive imitation technique: a polyphonic piece with the repetition of a melody at different pitch levels than the original. Many scholars contribute his textural influences on the beginning of word-painting technique (music that reflects the emotion or meaning of the song). He wrote all different types of music throughout his lifetime such as: masses, motets, instrumental pieces, chansons, and even motet-chanson (a new form during the time). He had many techniques for his masses such as paraphrase and canonic masses. Many of his motets, he wrote for five or six voices instead of the standard four voices and often used imitation. The most famous of his pieces are Ave Maria… Virgo serena and Missa Pange lingua. Overall, Josquin des Prez was one of the most well-known and influential composer during the Renaissance period and many scholars credit him to be the first to master polyphonic music. He contributed tons to the Franco-Flemish school and helped lead the way for greater harmonic development. He is truly a well-rounded composer who helped push the Renaissance musical period to the next level and created many beautiful, well-known sacred and secular

Reality comes from creating an imagined thought - whether that thought stemmed from something that someone has seen to what someone has heard, or even felt. The composer that will be discussed throughout this essay composed Morir non può il mio cuore in 1566, this composer is none other but Maddalena Casulana. During the years in which Casulana composed music, she was always looking to present her dedications of her madrigal volumes in a way to provide a little more biographical information than most would at the time. Throughout 1560-1569, she began to publish what would ultimately become her three-volume collection of madrigals (1568; 1570; 1583) that were published the year of her death and which were the first three books of madrigals by a women composer to ever be printed (Franck, Brownstone, 1995. Page 46, 48). Casulana presented her music in a very dramatic way, she was different and unique, focusing and attracted to the topics of ones passing and perpetual dying (Sadie, 1980. Page 2). She was an Italian composer and singer who told a story through the pieces she had composed; expressing each piece in a distinct and narrative way. Maddalena Casulana contributed a great deal of music that till this day will be remembered and cherished.

With new developments in the world of science, both everyday life and art during the Baroque period would change accordingly. The theory of gravity, the laws of mechanics, calculus, and the inventions of the microscope and telescope are a only few of the momentous advancements in technology as well as philosophy. Not only in the minds of the great thinkers of the time, but in the ordinary individual there was a definite shift towards contemplating life from a more scientific viewpoint. This mindset affected everyone, including Baroque musicians, who, while striving for magnificence and extravagance, exercised control and calculation over their art at the same time, thus creating an interesting duality within their music. This fascinating combination

Thus, in Italy the word “concerto” in its earliest form, was not a term only for purely instrumental music, but rather one for mixed groups of voices and instruments together. The concerto then evolved into something rather different than what it was first considered. It’s evolution turned into something in which both display and virtuosity soon assumed an ever-increasing dominance (Anderson 13).

In turn, Mozart’s Don Giovanni belonged to the classical era. One important aspect of music style of classical period is that it focused on clarity (Fisher 127). Also, stylistically the music emphasized on precision as well as rigid structural methods. During that period individuals had strong

Common characteristics of classical music include strong dynamics, changing rhythms, simplistic melodies, and homophony (Tomlinson and Kerman 155-158). When focusing on the aria played in The Shawshank Redemption, one hears the “natural use of the voice. We’re not asking the voice to do anything that it really doesn’t want to do, and it’s naturally dramatic” (Greenberg). The homophonic music accompanies Susanna’s aria, but does not over power her voice; it is simple. The changing rhythms and dynamics express Susanna’s emotions as music during the Enlightenment was considered “akin to the motions of the human soul, from which it follows that music is able to apprehend and convey the impulses and moods of the human soul” (Lang 96). These feelings, however, are not those of the Church or government institution; they are the feelings of a servant who wants to marry Fiagaro and the Countess, who is conspiring against her husband. Another introduction in comic opera was the ensemble, “a number sung by two or more people” (Tomlinson and Kerman 189). The ensemble allows the characters, Susanna and the Countess, to express their emotions simultaneously. Musically, the duet in The Marriage of Fiagaro incorporates the popular characteristics of the Classical period to express the natural emotions of two women.

Have you ever wished you could go back in time to see what music was like? Well, while writing this research paper, I did by learning what music was like back in the Elizabethan Era. In the Elizabethan Era, music played a crucial role. Music was very important because a lot of it was played, which fulfilled the lives of the people, and it influenced some people to make and sell music. Music also gave people joy, which entertained them and made them happy.

Monteverdi was known to have distinguished the ‘Seconda Prattica’ from the ‘Prima Prattica’ or the first and second practices. He did this by saying that the ‘Prima Prattica’ music dominated the text (the text was based around the music), but the ‘Seconda Prattica’ music was dominated by the text (the music was based around the text). In ‘Ohimé’, Monteverdi used a poem written by another person and created a song with it, which showed that the music can be composed around the text, which is one of the reasons that the ‘Seconda Prattica’ is different to the ‘Prima Prattica’.

According to Ruth I. DeFord, tactus has three primary meanings: the first is “the physical motion measuring time in performance”, the second being “the unit of time that governs the contrapuntal structure of the piece (compositional tactus)”, and the third is “the unit of time associated with a mensuration sign in music theory (theoretical tactus)”. All three meanings are equally important, and Renaissance theorists compared tactus to the human heartbeat. Regarding performing Renaissance music, music historians stress the importance of keeping a relatively constant pulse while still allowing for natural relaxation at cadences. Renaissance music should be played with feeling the beat in twos or threes, though the natural subdivisions for phrases should be observed as well. Skilled Renaissance performers would often add embellishments to the music, primarily in keyboard and lute music but also sometimes in vocal music as well. Renaissance embellishments were performed relatively freely in comparison to those of other musical periods, however performers were careful to not impede the existing melody with the ornaments; the vertical consonance of lines was always retained. Though it is very difficult to replicate the original performances in a classroom setting, the most important elements to take note of are careful attention to tactus and, if the performer feels comfortable enough, skillful

Cyr, Mary. Essays on the Performance of Baroque Music Opera and Chamber Music in France and England. Variorum collected studies series, 899. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7546-5926-6

Reaching the forefront of musical expression during the renaissance, the Viol, emerged late in the 15th century. It quickly became one of the most popular instruments in ensemble music during the renaissance and flourished as a solo instrument well in to the mid-18th century. “The name ‘Viol’, in its Italian form, designates many ancient instruments. Among them the most important is the viola da gamba… which is a generic term for a whole family of instruments.”

Josquin’s novelties involved making the music effectually convey the text by accentuating the correct emphasis of the words. This permitted the music to enrich the text, rather than just make it sound lovelier. Josquin also altered textures within a song: not all the singers sang at the same time all the time. Instead, there would be sometimes when there were two singers, while other times, three or even four singers would be singing. Specifically, he modernized the motet with a similar method called imitative polyphony, where the text is reverberated between high-pitched and low-pitched voices.

Musical theatre singers tend to perform with amplification whereas classical singers need to use their voice in order to project over a large orchestra. Musical theatre singers tend to use less vibrato than Classical singers. Ken Tamplin from the Vocal Academy interestingly adapts the Classical Bel Canto technique, which he uses to suit pop and rock vocal genres. There is a contemporary classical crossover with the use of Belt/ Edge technique. Sadolin comments how men use ‘Edge’ in classical musical; however, women do not use this vocal quality unlike Estil. and Sadolin comments on the process of how to find Edge in one’s voice. She comments that to find Edge it is essential to twang the epiglottic funnel

As a future educator of music, I find myself very inspired by Guido's passion to further his pupils musical education, even if their destinies did not foresee them becoming musicians. Although I may have more musical knowledge than the singers in 1025, I understood his concepts clearly and was able to relate them to modern day methods we use today. When I was first learning how to read music, we were taught solfege to learn the different placements of intervals and pitches, just as singers in the Medieval era did with Guido's solmization syllables. These