An Outline of The History of Western Music Grout ... - The Reel Score

(4) Vicentino, Rore, & Lasso (pupils of Wallaert & their contemporaries) continued
to seek a close music/text bond
i) but did tilt the balance toward the expression of a poems varied feelings &
images
ii) losing a certain cohesion and homgenity of style
b) Most characteristic genre to emerge from the widespread cultivation of vocal music
in the British Isles was the lute & consort song
C. Instrumental music of the 16th century
1. The Rise of Instrumental Music
a) Between 1450 & 1550 distinct styles, genres, and forms of instrumental music
emerged
(1) earlier most that survive are keyboard transcriptions
(2) but seeming increase starting around 1450 meant that it was finally be written
down
i) prior parts were memorized or improvised
ii) vocal part music was often performed instrumentally or voice & instrumental
combinations
iii) later performer embellishments were still improvised however
2. Books on Instruments
a) Publications that describe instruments or give playing instructions manifest the
16th century growing regard for instrumental music
(1) showed problems with pitch, temperament, & tuning
(2) about the art of embellishing a melodic line
b) First was Musica getutscht und ausgezogen (A summary of the Science of Music) -
in German, (1511)
c) The second volume (1618) of Syntagma musicum (A Systematic Treatise of Music)
by Michael Praetorius contains descriptions and woodcuts of the instrumets then
in use
(1) instruments were built in sets or families
i) uniform timbre was available from soprano to bass
ii) complete set (called a "chest or consort") consisted of 4 - 7 instruments
(2) most of the winds had a softer sound than their modern counterparts
d) Principal instruments
(1) winds
i) shawms, krummhorn, korholt, rauschpfeife, tranverse flutes, cornetts,
trumpets, sackbuts
(2) strings
i) viols differed from the modern in tuning, a fretted neck, 6 strings rather than
4
ii) viola di gamba was held between legs, viola di braccio played on the arm
(3) organ
i) by 1500 the large church organ was similar in essentials to modern
example