# How do I describe the timbre / tone color of a Rennaisance period motet?



## CuriousLearner (Oct 26, 2017)

I am in a beginner music class. I have to describe the attributes of a Renaissance period motet and talk about tone color. What could I possibly say? Could someone give an example?


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

From the composer's point of view the most concise description is "unspecified".


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Listen to one. Investigate ideas about pitch and be sure to chose a performance which more or less reflects the latest thinking about this. Similarly for ideas about ornamentation (introducing expressive dissonances especially), the type of voices required and the number of singers. If you don't get this bit right you'll be writing about the colour of something anachronistic. 

Ivestigate ideas about singing techniques, what we know about how singers projected, whether / how they used vibrato etc. Be sure your chosen performances is close to authentic. 

Investigate ideas about instruments. 

See how homogenous or kaleidoscopic the colours are at a time. 

See how consistent the colours are through time. 

Look at the words and see whether there's a meaning /colour relation. Ask yourself how changes in colour reflect the form.

If it were me I'd choose the Josquin Stabat Mater.


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