Renaissance Glossary

Counterpoint -Technique of combining two or more melodic lines into a meaningful whole.

Gregorian chant - Melodies set to sacred Latin texts, sung without accompaniment; was the official music of the Roman Catholic church.

Harpsichord - Keyboard instrument, widely used from about 1500 to 1775, whose sound is produced by plectra which pluck its wire strings. The harpsichord has been revived during the twentieth century.

Imitation - Presentation of a melodic idea by one voice or instrument that is immediately followed by its restatement by another voice or instrument, as in a round.

Lute - Plucked string instrument shaped like half a pear; used in Renaissance and baroque music.

Madrigal - Composition for several voices set to a short secular poem, usually about love, combining homophonic and polyphonic textures and often using word painting; common in Renaissance music.

Mass - Sacred choral composition made up of five sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

Mass ordinary - Roman Catholic church texts which remain the same from day to day throughout most of the year: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

Monophonic texture - Single melodic line without accompaniment.

Motet - Polyphonic choral work set to a sacred Latin text other than that of the mass; one of the two main forms of sacred Renaissance music.

Organ - (pipe organ) Keyboard instrument with many sets of pipes controlled from two or more keyboards, including a pedal keyboard played by the organist's feet. The keys control valves from which air is blown across or through openings in the pipes. (The electric organ is an electronic instrument that is sometimes designed to imitate the sound of a pipe organ.)

Organum - Medieval polyphony that consists of Gregorian chant and one or more additional melodic lines.

Polyphonic texture - Performance of two or more melodic lines of relatively equal interest at the same time.

Recorder - Family of woodwind instruments whose sound is produced by blowing into a "whistle" mouthpiece, usually made of wood or plastic.

Ricercar - Polyphonic instrumental composition which makes extensive use of imitation, often found in Renaissance music.

Viol - Member of a family of bowed string instruments popular during the Renaissance, having six strings and a fretted fingerboard.

Word painting - Musical representation of specific poetic images—for example, a falling melodic line to accompany the word descending — often found in Renaissance and baroque music.

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