A Cappella Classical
tagStarted c. 1400Peak 1450–1600Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
A Cappella Classical strips away instruments so that intonation, overtone alignment, diction, and voice-leading become the whole drama. It can feel weightless and floating in Renaissance polyphony, formally chiseled in motets, or glassy and luminous in modern sacred miniatures and chamber-choir pieces.
History
Though the term originally had a narrower historical sense, unaccompanied polyphony became one of the chief prestige idioms of European art music, especially in chapel and collegiate repertory. Palestrina, Victoria, Byrd, Tallis, and later revivalists made the style central to pedagogy and worship, and the 20th-century early-music movement plus new sacred minimalism and festival commissions gave it a powerful second life.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “A cappella” citeturn4search2
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Choral music” citeturn4search5
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Choral music: Cultivation of the dialogue” citeturn4search22