Music in the Rennaisance Era: A Cappella

The Opera is described as the relationship between words and music. Opera is dramatic staged secular vocal work with orchestral accompaniment .Consisting of alternating recitatives, arias, and chorus numbers. Soloists, solo ensembles, choruses, dancing, dramatic action, costumes, staging are all components of opera. It was important because it added interest in dramas and music and it created interest is homophonic texture. Cantata was another important Baroque style. Cantata extended solo or choral work. It was created for Lutheran worship service. Cantatas include harmonized chorales, polyphonic choruses, arias, recitatives, solo ensembles, and instrumental accompaniment. Oratorio is dramatic work for chorus, solo voices, and orchestra. It is similar to cantata except it is longer and to a larger scale. Most were based on biblical texts to teach and entertain. Chamber music works for solo instruments performing together in small ensembles. Trio Sonatas were important chamber music pieces during the Baroque Period. Church sonatas would be performed in church. Chamber sonatas were meant for concert performance. Finally, orchestra varied in size and instrumentation. This style was favored by royalty and wealthy families. Most court orchestra were made up only bowed stringed instruments although woodwinds and others were gradually

Each year in the fall semester, Christopher Newport University’s six a cappella singing groups put on a glow-in-the-dark showcase event in the Ferguson Center for the Arts called “Glow in the Darcappella.” These CNU student groups include: Expansion, Extreme Measure, The Newport Pearls, Take Note, Trebled Youth, and University Sounds. This year, the event was held on a Friday night, October 23rd, and was a sold out

After listening to Josquin, the listener should be able to hear a four voice choir singing a cappella. The voices don’t always sing together, the listener will

The cantata was typically sung in a church service, and could be a single movement or multiple movements. Cantatas were sung by a soloist orchestra, like the Italian opera: “Cantatas were used to denote small and large scale works, ranging from a solo singer with basso continuo to a large ensemble of soloists, chorus, and instruments.”2 Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre was a composer who published a group of sacred cantatas, one titled Judith: “Judith is performed largely by one singer with basso continuo. A violin joins in for instrumental sections called symphonies and as part of an accompanied recitative.”2 The cantatas of the Lutheran church were much more sacred than Italian cantatas. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote most cantatas for the Lutheran church. The texts of Bach’s cantatas included biblical passages, a chorale text, and poetic interpretation. Bach explored a variety of instrumental and vocal elements in his cantatas: “Bach’s cantatas embody many different forms and traditions, including motet-like movements for chorus, chorale harmonization, virtuosic solos and duets, with additional solo

From the beginning of times, music has played an important role in everyone’s life. At first, it started with drum-based and percussion instruments made out of what was available as rocks and sticks. Our ancestors proved that human beings have an innate need of music. Nowadays, no one teaches a baby to follow the beat of a song, he just naturally lets his body get involved with the rhythm. Since the prehistoric era to Christian times, several forms of music have developed leaving a trail to new genres of music. For Christianity, hymns and plainchants were the first forms of music considered as a worship to God. As time passed by, Christian music has evolved giving way to new and fresh sounds.

The Navajo tribe was deeply religious. They believed in good and evil and that everything in life had a purpose. Singing was very meaningful to them, as every song and chant was a prayer to the holy people. They believed in someone called the “medicine man”. He usually sang at ceremonies to cure the sick or to protect things that

The Medieval period began in 500 A.D. and ended in 1450 A.D. During this time in particular, the Catholic Church had significant influence on how music was used and created. Sacred music, for example, was most prevalent because of this. Due to the religious nature of this period, music in the church had to adhere to very specific regulations, some of which included prayers such as plainchants or Gregorian chants. A single melody without harmony, or one musical part sung together in unison, is called a Monophonic melody, which was sung primarily by monks. Some time later, around 900 A.D., the using of two melodic lines was permitted by the church, this music was called organum. A low, continuous note called a drone, was sung at the same time as the main melody. The two melodies were often moving in contrasting motion to each other. By the Late-Medieval period, 1100 A.D., the music of the church had shifted from monophonic to more polyphonic, often two or more varying parts.

There were three choral groups performed, and they sang different songs with different language. The first group used the drum instrument and the third group used piano instrument. The second group didn’t use any instrument.

A Cappella is when a group of a solo artists sing without any instruments in the background. This style of music originated in New York, in the Times Square studio thanks to Irving Slim Rose. As A Cappella records began to emerge, they gained a lot of attention. The main affect A Cappella had was that older music from the 40s and 50s were now being covered as Acapella songs.

As a consequence, choirs and vocal ensemble formed by Alpini became more and more popular and supported by governments in the years following WWI.

A very important role of the church was as a patron of the arts. In music nearly all composers and singers were priests within the churches and monasteries. Singing had become to play a very important role within the Church. Inspired liturgical music was incorporated into the Mass as Ordinary and Propers sung in Latin.

During the Baroque period, instrumental music was written for every conceivable size of ensemble. On the smaller side, the Baroque sonata offers one of the finest examples of chamber music. Two types of sonata are found during this period: the sonata da chiesa (church sonata), and the sonata da camera (chamber sonata). The sonata da chiesa was more somber, while the sonata da camera was, much like the suite, usually comprised of dance forms. The gigue from Corelli's Sonata for 2 violins and lute is a fine example of the sonata da camera

One thing that I love about Pentatonix is that they are a cappella. A cappella means that the band does not use instruments, but makes sounds with their hands, feet, and mouth.When you listen to their songs like “Sing” where you will jam right off your feet because of the amazing sound made by “K.O” or Kevin Olusola their DJ.

The masses in the religious services had to be sung a cappella in this specific order or it was considered a disgrace and ruined the sacred pieces. The high priests of the Catholic churches were very strict on how the sacred music was sung and preserved.

Worship comes in different forms depending on how the church wants the service to proceed. For the Amazing Grace Church, the service began with the congregation singing a number of worship songs to the Lord that lasted for about an hour. Christian praise and worship by music, and in fact, music is a great tool for helping them feel closer to God. Music is an emotional language because it effectively affects their emotions and the lyrics can swell their hearts. There is nothing bigger and greater than the grace of God that is delivered to them from condemnation through the sacrifice of his own Son. Thus, Christian chooses to praise and worship Him by singing. While singing, the congregation stands on their feet and they seem to be affected by the songs in some way as they raise their hands as a sign of accepting the Lord into their hearts. The emotion that was thrown from the congregation was very distinctive to us as we could see that the songs are an important tool of expression. According to the pastor of the Amazing Grace Church, singing let the people focus on the worship, helps them respond to God’s grace and also guide them to reflect on God’s glory. In his opinion, singing mean nothing if people do not respond to what they have sang and related it to God and reflect it to make them better believers.