Celeste Wiest
Professor Williams
Music History Section 1
27 October 2017 Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528) is a Renaissance Courtesy Book or Book of Manners that deals with etiquette, conduct and philosophy. Drawing inspiration from those before him, Castiglione uses ancient Greek and Roman ideas to express Renaissance ideals such as humanism, Music of the Spheres, and emotion relayed through music. Since the Renaissance is a rebirth of archaic ideas, Castiglione references ancient people and their opinions. Although Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528) was written in the 1500’s, it reflects venerable ideas from the ancient Greeks and Romans; he and other artists do this because of the Renaissance …show more content…
Humanism shifted focus from God to the people, and Castiglione, being a humanist, reflected this idea in his writing. Referencing those before him, Baldassare Castiglione utilizes well-respected people from Antiquity and their ideas to prove his point. These ancient Greco-Roman beliefs are the foundation of the Renaissance. Various other artists during this time also supported humanism in their art such as Michelangelo, who sculpted the statue of David with large hands to represent the power of humans, and Petrarch, who wrote affectionate poems to show the relevance of human …show more content…
Castiglione wrote of the emotional power of music and its effect on people; he uses the example of Alexander the Great being drawn to his weapon and then soothed by music alone. Similarly, Rore exemplifies the emotions of passion and sadness in his piece. Using rests to elicit the feeling of sobbing, Rore makes the listener empathetic to the struggle of man and woman in the song. He also utilizes major and minor triads to represent broad feelings of happiness and sorrow. In Solo e pensoso, Marenzio uses text and musical imagery throughout. Mountains are represented by leaps in the music; rivers are represented by eighth note runs. These emotions and images reflected through music are exactly what Castiglione is trying to feature in his statement from The Book of the
Professor Williams
Music History Section 1
27 October 2017 Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528) is a Renaissance Courtesy Book or Book of Manners that deals with etiquette, conduct and philosophy. Drawing inspiration from those before him, Castiglione uses ancient Greek and Roman ideas to express Renaissance ideals such as humanism, Music of the Spheres, and emotion relayed through music. Since the Renaissance is a rebirth of archaic ideas, Castiglione references ancient people and their opinions. Although Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528) was written in the 1500’s, it reflects venerable ideas from the ancient Greeks and Romans; he and other artists do this because of the Renaissance …show more content…
Humanism shifted focus from God to the people, and Castiglione, being a humanist, reflected this idea in his writing. Referencing those before him, Baldassare Castiglione utilizes well-respected people from Antiquity and their ideas to prove his point. These ancient Greco-Roman beliefs are the foundation of the Renaissance. Various other artists during this time also supported humanism in their art such as Michelangelo, who sculpted the statue of David with large hands to represent the power of humans, and Petrarch, who wrote affectionate poems to show the relevance of human …show more content…
Castiglione wrote of the emotional power of music and its effect on people; he uses the example of Alexander the Great being drawn to his weapon and then soothed by music alone. Similarly, Rore exemplifies the emotions of passion and sadness in his piece. Using rests to elicit the feeling of sobbing, Rore makes the listener empathetic to the struggle of man and woman in the song. He also utilizes major and minor triads to represent broad feelings of happiness and sorrow. In Solo e pensoso, Marenzio uses text and musical imagery throughout. Mountains are represented by leaps in the music; rivers are represented by eighth note runs. These emotions and images reflected through music are exactly what Castiglione is trying to feature in his statement from The Book of the