The Origins of Music Essay Assignment

Music and Revolution

The selected period in history is the Renaissance era or period. This period took place around the 14th to 17th century and greatly brought changes to the political, artistic, economic, and cultural history of the Europeans. The period is well known for the rebirth of literature, art, and classical history. Most of the significant thinkers, statesmen, artists, authors, and scientists across human history emerged during the Renaissance era (Soycan, 2023). The era also helped to link the Middle Ages with modern-day civilization. Art, science, and architecture were crucial areas of annotation during the Renaissance era. Artists such as da Vinci were able to use scientific approaches such as anatomy to create their work (Suthar, 2020). The art during this period was characterized by naturalism and realism where artists tried to depict objects and people in real life. Exploration was also a common feature in the Renaissance period where some thinkers and artists applied their talents in expressing new ideas through moving around the world. Also, during this era, more people learned how to read, write, and make interpretations of ideas (Killin, 2018). This caused them to start questioning religion and especially the role of the roman catholic. The Origins of Music Essay Assignment

In the Renaissance period, music started becoming a vehicle for individual expression. The composers were harnessing creative ways of making vocals and expressing texts in their original settings. Music during this era was characterized by modes, rich texts made of four or more parts, blending music texture and harmony that had a greater concern with the flow. Polyphony music emerged as the most critical in the Renaissance era. This form of music encouraged the application of bigger ensembles and sets of instruments that would be used in defining the smooth vocal ranges. The music involved a combination of more than two melodic lines and tones. The music was popular among the roman catholic church and the protestant movement. Important composers of this type of music were Palestrina, Thomas Tallis, and Josquin. They emphasized on use of multiple tones and melodies while singing and for the application of multiple instruments (Suthar, 2020). The Origins of Music Essay Assignment

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Motet was an important form of music during the Renaissance era. The music was an unaccompanied composition mostly vocals which were used during the sacred presentation. The motets highly borrowed from the Latin chants and were made purely from Latin. The major definition of this type of music was the use of old Latin chants and their mixture with newer upper voices. Motets were characterized by the use of antiphons and isorhythmic talea that greatly changed the original chants. The motet evolved from the secular forms into the sacred settings. The music was also applicable in expressing love, for political purposes, and pastoral uses. However, during the Renaissance period, this music was entirely used in religious settings which was achieved by removing women’s repetitions and instead applying imitative polyphony (Suthar, 2020).

Madrigal was also a popular music during the Renaissance period. The lyrics of this type of music were crucial and based on poetry and performed as polyphonic texts and in a cappella. The music turned out to be a great secular music in Italy and across several regions. The most popular madrigal music was II bianco e dolce cigno translated in English as ‘The White and Sweet Swan’ composed by Jacques Arcadelt. Later, the Renaissance was to use the madrigals for sacred purposes (Suthar, 2020). The Origins of Music Essay Assignment

Conclusion

Across the Renaissance period, the music turns out to be a remarkable work of art in shaping religion, politics, and the cultural perspectives of this era. The most influential forms of music during this era were polyphonic, motets, and madrigals. This music was also great during this era and though began as secular and for political aspects it soon became a sacred form of music.

References

Killin, Anton. (2018). The origins of music: Evidence, theory, and prospects. Music & Science. 1. 205920431775197. 10.1177/2059204317751971.

Soycan, Merve. (2023). AN APPROACH TO TEACHING MODES. European Journal of Education Studies. 10. 10.46827/ejes.v10i10.5020.

Suthar, Shanti. (2020). Renaissance Period. 1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340931198_Renaissance_Period#:~:text=The%20Renaissance%20was%20the%20period,of%20this%20period.%20…

Music and Revolution

For this assignment you are going to research and discuss a historical period of revolution, unrest, or social change and the music associated with it. As you do your research, make sure you keep track of your sources – you will need to provide a bibliography with your outline. The Origins of Music Essay Assignment

As you work on your outline and then first draft of your essay, here are some general things to keep in mind:

Your first paragraph (i.e., your introduction) must succinctly describe the historical period you are focusing on and the significance of music to the political, social, and cultural unrest of the time. The rest of your essay will then flesh this out by discussing both the music of your historical period and its broader political, social, and cultural significance.
As you discuss the music associated with your historical period, you should focus on both the cultural dimension (i.e., who was performing/composing the music, who was listening to it, how was it disseminated) and the stylistic dimension (i.e., specific characteristics of the music itself).
Make sure you discuss two or three specific songs/pieces that are especially representative of the music associated with your historical period. The Origins of Music Essay Assignment