Renaissance

In music history, the period from around 1450 to around 1600. The word Renaissance means "re-birth," and it aptly describes certain tendencies of this period: a love of learning, a revival of the artistic and cultural practices of antiquity, a love of travel, and an interest in scientific inquiry.

When compared the practices of the MEDIEVAL PERIOD, music of the Renaissance is generally characterized as lush and CONSONANT. This is true of both chordal and polyphonic settings. Compositions are generally conceived in four voices, with an emphasis on the bass voice for a fuller sound. There is still much use of MODES, but also a far freer use of CHROMATIC TONES and ACCIDENTALS. Smooth, triadic chord progressions are the norm, with an acceptance of THIRDS and SIXTHS as CONSONANCES.

Popular church music forms of the period include the MASS and MOTETS, mostly A CAPPELLA, and the English ANTHEM. Among the secular forms of increasing importance were the FROTTOLA (Italy), LIED (Germany), VILLANCICO (Spain), CHANSON (France), and the MADRIGAL (Italy and England). There is also a rise of the Lutheran CHORALE, which eventually became even more important during the succeeding BAROQUE period, especially in the hands of JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACKL.

Among the great early Renaissance composers were GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (Italy), ORLANDO DI LASSUS (Netherlands), WILLIAM BYRD (England), and TOMÁS LUIS DE VICTORIA (Spain). Of the later Renaissance, JOSQUIN DES PREZ (Netherlands), THOMAS TALLIS, THOMAS MORLEY, John Bull, JOHN DOWLAND, Thomas Weelkes, and ORLANDO GIBBONS (England), and ANDREA and GIOVANNI GABRIELI and CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (Italy) were important composers.

As in the medieval period, instrumental works are still second to vocal. Popular instrumental forms in the Renaissance include the CANZONA, RICERCARE, and FANTASIA, with the decided favorites among compositional techniques being VARIATIONS, IMITATION, and GROUND BASS. Dances were also increasingly popular. These included the PASSAMEZZO, BASSE DANSE, BRANLE, VOLTA, and SALTARELLO.

Instruments of the Renaissance period include STRINGS (both bowed and plucked), WINDS, and PERCUSSION. In the category of keyboard instruments, HARPSICHORDS, VIRGINALS, and regals were added to the already popular ORGANS.