Category: ‘Renaissance’

  • Medieval and Renaissance Music: Why is it Important?

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods Historians often point to the Medieval period as the beginning of the unbroken tradition of notated (written down) Western music that developed into what we now consider “classical” or “art” music. Although the earlier Ancient music of Greece was very important and influential, only a few fragments of [...]

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  • An Introduction to Michelangelo’s Poetry

    Although Michelangelo’s poetry is not nearly as well known to the public as his sculpture, painting and architecture, it was an important facet of his creative life and appears to have been a passionate and somewhat private secondary form of expression for the artist (he was unpublished during his lifetime, and many of the poems [...]

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  • Michelangelo’s Non-finito Sculptures

    While Michelangelo is best known for masterpieces such as his David and Pieta, among the most compelling products of Michelangelo’s sculptural output, and those which most strongly symbolize the Neo-Platonic theme of the struggle to transcend physical form (alluded to in the poems), are the non-finito (unfinished) sculptures – particularly St. Matthew and the Slaves (works that were a major influence on Auguste [...]

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  • Madrigal and Word Painting

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods Madrigal was a form of non-religious (secular) Renaissance vocal music for two or more singers, which reached the peak of its popularity in the 16th century. In France, the equivalent form was known as chanson. Unlike most sacred music of the time, madrigals were composed in the vernacular language [...]

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  • Polyphony

    Guide: Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods The term polyphony can be used to describe a general style of music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods or, more broadly, to refer to any musical texture of more than one distinct, simultaneous melodic lines. Polyphony emerged out of Medieval church music (chant) around the 12th century with the [...]

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  • Vocal Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods [GUIDE]

     Vocal music in the Medieval and Renaissance periods is some of the most interesting and beautiful music of all time. Use this guide as a jumping-off point to explore some of the more important genres and techniques in the Medieval era through the Renaissance (ending around 1600). Topics: Medieval and Renaissance Music: Why is it Important? [...]

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