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

i) His counterpoint conforms in most details with the teaching of Wallaert's
school as transmitted by Zarlino in his "Le institutioni harmoniche"
ii) Music is written almost entirely in the alla breve measure
(4) Unifies a composition by purely musical means - each phrase of the text has its
own musical motive
(5) Strove to make the text intelligible
(6) Divided six choir into various smaller groups - each with its particular tone
color and reserved the full six voices for climax or significant words
c) Palestrina's style was the first in the history of Western Music to be consciously
preserved, isolated, and imitated as a model in later ages
4. Palestrina's Comtemporaries
a) Italian
(1) Giovanni Animuccia (ca. 1500-1571) - Palestrina's predecessor at St. Peter's
b) Spain
(1) Cristobal de Morales (ca. 1500-1553) - the most eminent Spanish composer of
his time
(2) Tomàs de Victoria (1548-1611) - after Palestrina the most illustrious exponent
of the Roman polyphonic style
(3) Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)
(4) Catalan Juan Pujol (ca. 1573-1626) - of a later era but style resembles
Palestrina's & Victoria's
c) Flemish
(1) Lasso (1532-1594) - ranks with Palestrina among the great composers of
scared music in the 16th century
d) England
(1) William Byrd (1543-1623) was the last of the great Catholic church composers
D. Summary 1450-1600
1. Late Renaissance practices persisted well into the 17th century and many features of
early Baroque music made their appearance before the end of the 16th
2. Writing for contrapuntal voice parts that are similar and of equal importance remained
the rule for Palestrina, Lasso, & Byrd as it had for Ockegham and Josquin
a) This texture and the coordination of parts through free and fugal imitation - more
than any other features - characterized Renaissance music
b) But, homophony had begun to intrude in all forms of polyphonic writing
3. Rhythm, supported by the alternation of consonance & dissonance had become
comparatively steady & predictable by the end of the century
4. The basic rhythmic medium of vocal music was the alla breve duple measure -
sometimes alternating with a triple proportion or with hidden triple groupings within
the duple
5. Sacred music revealed smooth vocal parts joining in a succession of full triadic
harmonies
6. The Plain Chant modes, reinterpreted in terms of polyphony, guided the composer's
large scale structures
a) Only a few church composers in the last decades of the 16th century indulged in
the pictorial and expressive touches that had become common in the madrigal