Musica reservata
The term musica reservata (from Latin reservare , "reserved") is used in the colloquial usage of the Renaissance and describes the music of the late 16th and early 17th centuries that was "reserved" for connoisseurs and lovers. The term Musica reservata cannot be used as a term in the strictest sense of a textbook in use today, as no source gives a formal definition. Instead of a musica reservata est ... only different expressions such as musicam illam, quam vulgo reservatam iactitant or ut fiat, quam vocant musicam reservatam are known.
As a definition it can be inferred from all statements that the "musica reservata" is a description of an "unusual" music. It is characteristic of this music that it was initially performed for a narrow circle of lovers and connoisseurs, mostly aristocrats and wealthy citizens, in chamber music vocal music. Chromatik and Enharmonik find their first bloom here as part of the Dutch-Italian school. Thorough text interpretation is of great importance. Texts of various origins, spiritual, secular, frivolous, comical and rural, are used, often texts by the clients or composers themselves, mostly texts by popular poets and scholars such as Giovanni Boccaccio , Pietro Bembo and Michelangelo . It is difficult to understand whether individual works belong to the "Musica reservata", as the "Musica reservata" is less a style or a school than the conditions for the creation and performance of a musical work around their environment. Undoubtedly, the "Musica reservata" was, however, significantly shaping the style and decisive for the development of the music of the Renaissance and the early Baroque. Orlando di Lasso , Jakob Arcadelt , Adriano Banchieri and Carlo Gesualdo are important composers .
After the term Musica reservata , a London music ensemble named itself "Musica Reservata".