Music in Sixteenth Century
During the 16th century or the period of renaissance, there was a distinct change in how sacred music was played in comparison to the preceding years. The change was quite noticeable when the church was shaken by the emergence of the Protestants, and they would obviously change their style of music to those of the Roman Catholics. Ancient practices had died and the renaissance saw the emergence of the new world. The Protestants, under Martin Luther were more vocal and borrowed certain characters of the secular music.
For the Roman Catholics, the principal genres of sacred music were the Mass and the motet. While Mass was a continuity of earlier versions of Catholic sacred music, motet was something new. Mass is a set of musically in a polyphonic setting where music accompanied song in a rhythmic manner. The tone is subtle and the flow of music is constant and in tune to the choir. This is a practice that continues even today in Roman Catholic churches. Like the Mass, the motet is also of sacred vocal genre, but it took the form of a musical setting of any Latin text that differed from Mass Ordinary. They had the common polyphonic settings, but added new and separate texts to separate voices.
Dean (1997), in ‘Listening to Sacred Polyphony c.1500’ states that he was able to establish the literal position of the motet within the ritual easily enough, finding plenty of primary evidence to ratify that “in the papal chapel motets were normally interpolated into the Mass immediately after the plainsong offertory, occasionally sung at the end of the Mass or Vespers in place of ‘Deo gratias’, and never substituted into the plainsong items sharing the same words (p.612).
On the contrary, the Protestant churches developed their own style and genres of sacred music, with emphasis on developing more sacred music in vernacular languages. The basic difference between sacred music and secular music during the 16th century was in the kind of instruments each used in performing and while the motet was sung in Latin with a Capella composition, the secular music which re-emerged was sung to the accompaniment of musical instruments. Sacred music takes its place through the sound of an instrument accompanied by vocals as in a motet, while secular music had instruments accompanying vocal which was vernacular like opera, chanson and songs.
It was during the Renaissance that vocal polyphony prospered. While the vocal style dominated the musical world, instruments began to play an important role as well. Secular music didn’t follow ant predefined style or pattern and this led to its popularity. “Music during the Renaissance was performed using a variety of vocal, instrumental, and mixed ensembles. An all-vocal ensemble, known as an a cappella group sang sacred music in churches. The group was made up of male choirs. Instruments were used to accompany the choir only. Secular music on the contrary could be sung by anyone and could also be accompanied by music. Instruments like bowed strings, harps, lutes, and recorders were played indoors, while instruments like shawms and trombones were played in large halls and outdoors” (maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu, n.d)
Conclusion
The Renaissance period was famous for the revolutionary movement. It was during this period that things began to look better for Europe, and arts and architecture, learning, religious fervor and science was studied in a big way. In the field of religious doctrine, the emergence of the Protestants assumed significance. Music took a new meaning as both, sacred and secular music moved to different levels. While the Roman Catholics continued to choose the church fo prayer sermons, the Protestants were very accommodative. Since the world had seen a dark period during which most of the ancient world was lost to calamities, the Renaissance saw the Catholics include motets to their services. The motets redefined sacred music and by using instruments to accompany choirs, they developed an art that challenged the secularists, who too used instruments quite different from the religious fraternity to produce their own style of music which was completely opposite to what the sacred music devised.
Works Cited
The Renaissance: Historical Background, (n.d), Web, retrieved November 10, 2013 from http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/MUS105.00_DEFORD/RenaissanceIntro.html#Char
Dean, J, (1997), Listening to Sacred Polyphony c.1500, Journal, Early Music, ISSN 0306-1078, Vol.25, Issue 4, p.611-636
