Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Music and Religious Change in the Renaissance

 

            Music and Religious Change in the Renaissance by Michael Smith.
             The period arguably dating from around 1430 until the seventeenth century, named "Renaissance" by Michelet, heralded one of the largest cultural transformations in the recent history of Europe. Conflicting social and religious factors caused an upheaval of the medieval attitudes toward music's role in people's lives. The reformation caused great change for music, but what were they, and how did they represent the ideals of the two faiths and their leaders. .
             The challenges made to the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe form one of the important chains of events in C16th history. This affected the way services were carried out and in turn the music which is part of the service. The new Protestant churches, were eager to strip their worship of the extravagant ritual and ceremony, which played an integral role in the Catholic service. Music, at the forefront of this ceremony, was dramatically restricted in the role it cold now play, almost being banned by some puritans, a remnant of Catholic ways, which just distracted from worship. .
             John Calvin, a severe protestant reformer, was of this view. He condemned all Catholic liturgy and ceremony. All non bible texts were eliminated from usage in his church, and he even banned his congregation from partaking in musical activities in the home. Like all reformers, Calvin deeply disapproved of the use of Polyphony so central to traditional church music, which "blurred" the understanding of the text. Simple monophony was the only musical texture allowed. However, not all reformers took the displacement of Catholic musical ideals this far.
             In Germany, Martin Luther affected musical change, not so much to spite Catholic traditions, but to make church music more accessible to his congregation. In fact, some of the melodies Luther himself composed were based on traditional Catholic service music.


Essays Related to Music and Religious Change in the Renaissance