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Renaissance (1400-1600) |
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Renaissance mean “rebirth” or more importantly "rediscovery." What was rediscovered was the art, knowledge and humanistic values and esthetics of ancient Greece and Rome. This was a time there was explosion of knowledge, creativity, curiosity and reform in the church. Also, when Magellan sailed around the world, Columbus supposedly discovered America, Martin Luther led the Protestant reformation, humanistic thought focused on human life and accomplishments rather than on religious doctrine and the afterlife. Knowledge during the Renaissance was obtained from scholars rather than priests. The time period or the Renaissance in Western Europe was from about 1400 (1450 was the year the printing press was invented) to 1600 (the invention of opera). The imitative polyphonic Mass of the Renaissance fulfilled the tradition of church music performed in cathedrals. But music outside of the church played an increasingly important role as composers came to be employed by kings and nobility rather than by the church. Continuing the Medieval tradition of music for entertainment, listening or dancing to music increased in popularity. An educated person was often trained in music, sang madrigals or played the lute or vihuela. The instruments of the Renaissance were related to the same string, woodwind, brass, percussion and keyboard families that exist today. Renaissance composers continually tried to make their music more expressive, more relevant to Renaissance society and more reflective to their every day human experience. Composers for the mass include Josquin Desprez and Giovanni Palestrina the lute include Dowland and da Milano, and the vihuelists, Milan, Narvaez, Mudarra, Fuenllana and Pisador. The common genres of the Renaissance are the following: |