3. Worship Music

During the Renaissance from 1442 to 1483, church choir membership increased dramatically in size. The incorporation of entire male ensembles and choirs singing in parts during the Renaissance is one major difference from the Middle Ages’ polyphonic church music, which was usually sung by soloists. As the Renaissance progressed, the church remained an important supporter of music, although musical activities gradually shifted to secular support. Royalty and the wealthy of the courts seeking after and competing for the finest composers replaced what was originally supported by the church. The motet and the mass are the two main forms of sacred choral music of the Renaissance.

3.1 Motet

The motet, a sacred Latin text polyphonic choral work, is not taken from the ordinary of the mass. A contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus, Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1521) was a master of Renaissance choral music. Originally from the region that is today’s Belgium, Josquin spent much of his time serving in chapels throughout Italy and partly in Rome for the papal choir. Later, he worked for Louis XII of France and held several church music directorships in his native land. During his career, he published masses, motets, and secular vocal pieces, and was highly respected by his contemporaries.

Focus Composition: “Ava Maria . . . Virgo Serena”(“Hail, Mary . . . Serene Virgin”) by  Josquin des Prez

Josquin’s “Ava Maria . . . Virgo Serena” is an outstanding Renaissance choral work. A four part (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) Latin prayer, the piece weaves one, two, three, and four voices at different times in polyphonic texture.

3.2 Music of Catholicism: Renaissance Mass

In the 16th century, Italian composers excelled with works comparable to the mastery of Josquin des Prez and his other contemporaries. One of the most important Italian Renaissance composers was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525–1594). Devoting his career to the music of the Catholic Church, Palestrina served as music director at St. Peter’s Cathedral, composed 450 sacred works and 104 masses. His influence in music history is best understood with a brief background of the Counter-Reformation.

Protestant reformists like Martin Luther and others, sought to correct malpractices and abuses within the structure of the Catholic Church. The Reformation began with Martin Luther and spread to two more main branches: The Calvinist and The Church of England. The protestant reformists challenged many practices that benefitted only the church itself and did not appear to serve the lay members (parishioners). A movement occurred within the church to counter the protestant reformation and preserve the original Catholic Church. The preservation movement or “Counter-Reformation” against the protestant reform led to the development of the Jesuit order (1540) and the later assembling of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) which considered issues of the church’s authority and organizational structure. The Council of Trent also demanded simplicity in music in order that the words might be heard clearly.

The Council of Trent discussed and studied the many issues facing the Catholic Church, including the church’s music. The papal leadership felt that the music had gotten so embellished and artistic that it had lost its purity and original meaning. It was neither easily sung nor was its words (still in Latin) understood. Many accused the types of music in the church as being theatrical and more entertaining rather than a way of worship (something that is still debated in many churches today). The Council of Trent felt melodies were secular, too ornamental, and even took dance music as their origin. The advanced weaving of polyphonic lines could not be understood, thereby detracting from their original intent of worship with sacred text. The Council of Trent wanted a paradigm shift of religious sacred music back toward monophonic Gregorian chant. The Council of Trent finally decreed that church music should be composed to inspire religious contemplation and not just give empty pleasure to the ear of the worshipper.

Focus Composition: Kyrie from Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass) by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Renaissance composer Palestrina heeded the recommendations from The Council of Trent and composed one of the period’s most famous works, Missa Papae Marcelli (Pope Marcellus Mass). Palestrina’s restraint and serenity reflect the recommendations of The Council of Trent. The text, though set to polyphonic melodies, is easily understood. The movement of the voices does not distract from the sacred meaning of the text. Through history, Palestrina’s works have been the standard for their calmness and quality.

3.3 Music of the Protestant Reformation

As a result of the Reformation, congregations began singing strophic hymns in German with stepwise melodies during their worship services. This practice enabled full participation of worshipers. Full participation of the congregations’ members further empowered the individual church participant, thus contributing to the Renaissance’s Humanist movement. Early Protestant hymns stripped away contrapuntal textures, utilized regular beat patterns, and set biblical texts in German.

Focus Composition: “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”) by Martin Luther

Instead of a worship service being led with a limited number of clerics at the front of the church, Luther wanted the congregation to actively and fully participate, including in the singing of the service. Since these hymns were in German, members of the parish could sing and understand them. Martin Luther, himself a composer, composed many hymns and chorales to be sung by the congregation during worship, many of which Johann Sebastian Bach would make the melodic themes of his Chorale Preludes, 125 years after the original hymns were written. These hymns are strophic (repeated verses as in poetry) with repeated melodies for the different verses. Many of these chorales utilize syncopated rhythms to clarify the text and its flow (rhythms). Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is a good example of this practice. The chorales/hymns were usually in four parts and moved with homophonic texture (all parts changing notes in the same rhythm). The melodies of these hymn/chorales used as the basis for many chorale preludes performed on organs prior to and after worship services are still used today. Here is a version of a chorale prelude based on “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” by John Cavicchio.

More on Martin Luther, watch this PBS documentary.

3.4 Anthem

English Composer William Byrd (1543–1623) became very distinguished from many of his contemporary composers because of his utilization of many different compositional tools that he used in his music. His works represent several musical personalities instead of one single style. As his career progressed, Byrd become more interested and involved in Catholicism. The influence of Catholicism through the use of biblical text and religious styles increasingly permeated his music. The mandates established and requirements imposed by the Council of Trent placed a serious stumbling block in the path of the development of church music compositional techniques after the reformation. Several denominations had to adapt to the mandates required by the Council of Trent. The music in the Catholic Church experienced relatively little change as the result of the reformation. This lack of change was due to composers like Byrd who remained loyal to the religion and their refusal to change their “traditional catholic” style of composing.

Focus Composition: “Sing Joyfully Unto God” by William Byrd

In Byrd’s Anglican Anthem, “Sing Joyfully Unto God,” the opening phrase of the text is set with a single voice on each part. This technique is very similar to the Catholic Church settings of Chant incipits. This full anthem (sung by the entire choir) by Byrd is much more polyphonic in nature than that of verse anthems (which incorporate solo passages and sections). It also borrows heavily from both madrigal and motet styles, though modified for the liturgy. “Sing Joyfully Unto God” is one of the most thoroughly motet-like anthems that Byrd composed. Within the anthem there is a new point of imitation for each new phrase of text. Byrd extensively uses the text depictions to creatively illustrate the music’s meaning. Below is an example of how Byrd’s “Sing Joyfully, Unto God” emphasizes the trumpet call of the text. All voices are singing together to depict the fullness of a trumpet fanfare, thickening the texture to illustrate the musical concept. This section begins with homophony and Byrd uses this technique primarily as a structural contrast device.

The use of imitation as a structural tool is maintained mainly within full anthems. Byrd also uses a technique called pairing of voices, which was highly popular within the Renaissance period.^[1]