Advanced Higher - Madrigal & Ballett

Secular vocal music from Renaissance Period:
Madrigal & Ballett

During the Renaissance Period music was mainly used to support worship. However the composers and players started to veer towards music for entertainment purposes and so secular vocal styles evolved.

We will look at Madrigal and Ballett:

Madrigal:
The Madrigal is a song in 4 part harmony (SATB). The lyrics are usually light hearted stories.
Often the lyrics are connected with the melody by way of word-painting, which is when the music describes the lyrics, for example:
if the words were "climbing up the stairs" they might be set to a melody that ascends by step.

Ballett:
Not to be confused with ballet the dance style - this is similar to the madrigal in most ways, but the key difference is that it contains a refrain, or recurring "chorus" if you like. It's dead easy to spot; it goes "Fa la la".

They are both unaccompanied and often contrapuntal in texture.

Simple as that.

So if you are hearing a medieval song in 4 part harmony, featuring light hearted stories ("The Merry Month of May" or "As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending" for instance), word-painting, contrapuntal texture and it contains a section of "fa la la", it is a Ballett. 

If you fail to hear the "fa la la", then it is most likely a Madrigal.

Which is which?