Renaissance music is the music of Europe from about 1400 to the early seventeenth century. It is characterised by the development of polyphony, in which several independent voices are woven together, and by a smoother and fuller harmony based on the interval of the third. Composers from the Burgundian school, such as Guillaume Dufay, and later Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlande de Lassus and Thomas Tallis wrote masses and motets for the church, and secular songs such as madrigals and chansons for the courts. Music printing, pioneered by Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice in 1501, spread works widely. Instruments such as the lute and the viol were popular. The period ended with the emergence of the Baroque style around 1600 with composers like Monteverdi.
Before and after
- 15 November 1397Birth of Nicholas V
- 1398Construction of Ferapontov Monastery
- 12 August 1399Battle of the Vorskla River
- c. 1400sConstruction of Town Hall of Bremen
- 1400Rise of Renaissance music
- 14th centuryOrigins of Songo Mnara
- 14th centuryConstruction of Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
- from 14th century to 17th centuryRenaissance
- 14th centuryPublication of Water Margin
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 500sRise of medieval music
- from 8th century to 9th centuryRise of Carolingian Renaissance
- c. 1010sMurasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji
- from 1140 to 1530Gothic art
- 1353Publication of The Decameron
- c. 1490sThe Last Supper
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 14th century.