secular

SECULAR MUSIC:
VOCAL & INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Secular music was music that was independent of churches. Composers themselves often composed music to be played in courts or public parties.

VOCAL MUSIC

The main type of vocal music was:
- German lied - Italian frottola - French chanson - Italian madrigal -Spanish villancico

Secular vocal genres included:
- Madrigal - Frottola - Caccia

The vocal music was poliphonic music, usually three or four melodic lines sung by different voices.
But unlike religious music, here instruments are important because they either follow the
voices or replace them.

✔ The rhythm was marked, clearly distinguishable strong beats (accents) and the weak.
✔ The text was secular and was written in the respective languages of each region.
✔ The texture was homophonic, the voices sang together, making the implementation and understanding of words easier:

Homophonic texture

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Instrumental music became socially important because it was essential for dance and for public ceremonies.
Families of instruments (Consorts) started to develop in the Renaissance.

In the Renaissance there were different instrumental forms:
- DANCES: One of the traditional functions of the instrumentalists was naturally accompanying dance. They used to be written for four voices , in a simple homophonic texture . dance

In this new society, educatd people were expected to know how to dance at parties and ceremonies. In these court dances, unlike popular dances, steps or small jumps were danced.
Dances were often combined in pairs: one slow and one fast.
The set of dances was called a SUITE:

DANCE	PAVAN	GALLIARD	SARABANDE	PASSAMEZZO
RHYTHM	Binary	Ternary	Ternary	Binary
SPEED	Slow	Fast	Slow	Fast

- Forms derived from vocal models : instrumentalists usually played vocal pieces but without text : from the motet derived imitative polyphonic pieces , called Ricercare and Fantasy.

- Improvised forms : sometimes musicians wrote their most successful improvisations . They could consist of either pure improvisations for a polyphonic instrument (Toccata , Prelude) or ornamental melodic variations on one or more voices of a pre-existing vocal model (Recercada) or long series of variations on a basso ostinato well known , such as the Romanesque.