MUSIC HISTORY EXAM 2 WITH
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS LATEST
UPDATE 2026\2027
Written by Guillaume DuFay
First complete mass to use secular tune
for cantus firmus
Se la face ay pale (chanson & mass) (15th Tenor from his own ballade Se la face ay
Century) pale
Gloria
does not feel like it cadences through
most of the piece (until after 3 mins)
Superious Top line of music (remember S for Soprano)
Mid 15th c - Eary 16th C composer
From France, but lived in italy
Franco-Flemish Composer
leading composer of his time, lived
around the same time as Leonardo Da
Vinci
Josquin Desprez
worked for leaders of Milan (Sforza
family)
wrote 18 masses
both secular tunes and chant
used homophony to draw attention to
different lyrics
, 4 part strophic song
syllabic, homophonic
top voice sung, every other voice is on
instruments
song themes were earthy or satirical
Frottola (16th c. song style) ONLY WRITTEN BY ITALIANS
Mock - popular songs, only for courtly
elite
Championed by Isabella D’Este
was mostly written in first 20 years of
the 16th c.
, equivalent to Eleanor of Aquitaine for
the renaissance
studied music seriously
Isabella d’Este encouraged the development of the
frottola, corresponded with Italian poets,
and spurred musicians at her court to
set their poems to music
Polyphonic Genre that dominated the 16th
Madrigral
century
Leading mid- 16th century madrigalist
Flemish by birth, worked in Italy
Succeeded Willaert at St. Mark’s, who
Cipriano de Rore (mid 16th c. composer) was is teacher.
used chromaticism to express grief and
sorrow, which had been forbidden
before his time
Prince of Venosa
Music used strong imagery and sharp
contrasts
Carlo Gesulado (late 16th early 17th c. murdered his wife after finding her in
composer) bed with her lover
wrote “Io parto” which was slow,
chromatic, and chordal
dissonance portrays laments
used beginning in Italy
1400s
Chiaroscuro
Naturalistic treatement of light and
shade in 15th c. italian art
Established in late 16th c.
Women’s vocal ensemble in italy
Concerto delle donne
performed private concerts.
Supported by Duke Alfonso d’Este
A musical texture in which the voices line up
Homophony rhythmically rather than overlapping
Humanism The strongest intellectual movement of
the Renaissance
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS LATEST
UPDATE 2026\2027
Written by Guillaume DuFay
First complete mass to use secular tune
for cantus firmus
Se la face ay pale (chanson & mass) (15th Tenor from his own ballade Se la face ay
Century) pale
Gloria
does not feel like it cadences through
most of the piece (until after 3 mins)
Superious Top line of music (remember S for Soprano)
Mid 15th c - Eary 16th C composer
From France, but lived in italy
Franco-Flemish Composer
leading composer of his time, lived
around the same time as Leonardo Da
Vinci
Josquin Desprez
worked for leaders of Milan (Sforza
family)
wrote 18 masses
both secular tunes and chant
used homophony to draw attention to
different lyrics
, 4 part strophic song
syllabic, homophonic
top voice sung, every other voice is on
instruments
song themes were earthy or satirical
Frottola (16th c. song style) ONLY WRITTEN BY ITALIANS
Mock - popular songs, only for courtly
elite
Championed by Isabella D’Este
was mostly written in first 20 years of
the 16th c.
, equivalent to Eleanor of Aquitaine for
the renaissance
studied music seriously
Isabella d’Este encouraged the development of the
frottola, corresponded with Italian poets,
and spurred musicians at her court to
set their poems to music
Polyphonic Genre that dominated the 16th
Madrigral
century
Leading mid- 16th century madrigalist
Flemish by birth, worked in Italy
Succeeded Willaert at St. Mark’s, who
Cipriano de Rore (mid 16th c. composer) was is teacher.
used chromaticism to express grief and
sorrow, which had been forbidden
before his time
Prince of Venosa
Music used strong imagery and sharp
contrasts
Carlo Gesulado (late 16th early 17th c. murdered his wife after finding her in
composer) bed with her lover
wrote “Io parto” which was slow,
chromatic, and chordal
dissonance portrays laments
used beginning in Italy
1400s
Chiaroscuro
Naturalistic treatement of light and
shade in 15th c. italian art
Established in late 16th c.
Women’s vocal ensemble in italy
Concerto delle donne
performed private concerts.
Supported by Duke Alfonso d’Este
A musical texture in which the voices line up
Homophony rhythmically rather than overlapping
Humanism The strongest intellectual movement of
the Renaissance
