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Instruments and Compositions

Musical composition, during the Italian Renaissance, went through a myriad of musical activity. Greco-Roman influence permeated the Italian's approach to musical pursuits. They looked to ancient musical theory as an inspirational force for their musical compositions.  Various instruments came to the scene as well as musical emphasis such as voices or groups. One popular instrument admired by the Italians was the organ. It was prized for its complexity. The lira da braccio was a another commonly used instrument during this time of Italian musical expansion. Similar to a what is known as a fiddle, the lira da braccio was usually used when large groups gathered together . A third popular instrument of this time was the violin, the earliest forms of which came into use in the 1550's. Unlike the lira da braccio, the violin was prized most during moments when soloists would perform.  

Characteristics

Just as the Renaissance was a “rebirth” of Italian music, it was also a rebirth of the individual . The Renaissance activated a desire within people to find new reason to support their search for new practices and habits. This was a time in history when humanistic beliefs centered around the individual and their individualistic expressions . Therefore, solos were extremely common during this time. One particular reason the Italian enjoyed solo performances was that they believed that one voice was easier to judge than a mixture of many voices. In times like this, the violin was used.

With this new mindset of humanism, Italian composers started taking new liberties with the music that was written. Starting with folk songs and progressing to classical, music played an important part in the culture of Italy. They took the more traditional composition of music known as plainchant and revised it into a new composition called polyphonic, a more musical and rhythmic version of the traditional chants. This opened a door for the composers and the church to no longer feel the obligation to always use plainchant in their music and masses.

Other influences

In the Italian Renaissance era, the music of composers, such as Monteverdi, had most of the articulation represented in the traditional form of the past . Through the proposition of the dominance of word in his music, Monteverdi threaded humanistic themes throughout his work. This served as a signal that the decorative allegorical style was of no interest to the composer. According to Spaventa, an Italian philosopher of the 19th century, “Renaissance humanism was the product  of  the  Italian  genius”.

The heart of Renaissance idealism is deeply threaded in the works of Giovanni Palestrina. His complex choral pieces intended to have each and every voice undergo its own development. The individual voices then, after fully developing in their parts, would come together in a gorgeous set of chords and unanimous harmony. Different intonations and variations of voices made the entity of the piece the key musical pursuit of Palestrina. Complex, immense, and unified - each of Palestrina’s pieces showed the characteristic and the tradition that has formed the view of the common people towards music.

[[Category:Italian Music]]