Unit name | Courtly Music in the Renaissance (1400-1600) |
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Unit code | MUSI39002 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Scott |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Music |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Everywhere a royal or noble went they were accompanied by music, be it sacred or secular. How did Renaissance patrons use music? This course will look at the varied ways in which royalty and nobles used music in Renaissance Europe. Music was a vital component of warfare and religious practice but these patrons cultivated music excessively, competing with each other and attempting to attract the most important musicians of the day to their courts.
This course will begin by looking at Italian courts, focusing on the famous Medici court at Florence, the Papal court in Rome, and the Este court in Ferrara. We will examine how composers, such as Dufay and Josquin, attracted court patronage and look at the different music female and male nobility cultivated. In the second half of the course we will look at English courts from Henry V, to Henry VIII, and Elizabeth. Each monarch used music in a different way, whether it was to pray in the field after success at Agincourt, because of the love of Catholic music in a Protestant country, or as a composer. Fortunately, some important manuscripts survive, with sacred and secular music, which means we can look at the music the Medicis might have listened to ($?The Medici Codex')and also the music Henry VIII allegedly composed ('The Henry VIII Songbook'). The study of courtly culture in these important centres will reveal much about the production and consumption of music at this time.
On completion of this unit students will:
10 classes of 2 hours each. The teaching methods will include lectures, small group discussion, class discussion and student presentations.
ONE coursework essay of ca. 3,000 words (50%) and a 2-hour examination (50%)