Songs without words. The motet as solo instrumental music after Trent

Abstract

The motet was a central if not pivotal element in solo instrumental practice during the entire sixteenth century. Throughout this period, vocal polyphony was habitually re-notated in specifically instrumental notations for a variety of reasons. Whereas our modern historiographical tradition concerning Renaissance music continually divides instrumental and vocal music into separate streams, this produces a false picture of the role of instruments and instrumental music. We need to remind ourselves that, while there were many virtuoso instrumentalists who achieved legendary status during their lifetime, it can be supposed that nearly every composer or singer of polyphonic music would have been proficient on some kind of polyphonic instrument.