The document provides an overview of the Renaissance period in Western music history from approximately 1400 to 1600 AD. It describes this period as a cultural movement that began in Italy and spread through Europe, marking a shift from exclusively religious orientation to a more secular society. Key musical developments included the rise of instrumental music and the early development of harmony. Vocal music such as madrigals flourished during this time alongside important composers like Palestrina and Lassus. The Renaissance also saw influential advances in other arts such as paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo.

1. The
Renaissance Period
of Western Music History
circa 1400 to 1600 A.D.

2. “Renaissance,” is a word from Old French,
meaning “rebirth,” usually in a spiritual sense.
The Renaissance period in Western history
was a cultural movement that began
in Florence, Italy in approximately 1400 A.D.
and gradually spread through most
(but not all) of Europe.

3. The Renaissance marks the passing
of European society from
an exclusively religious orientation
to a more secular one, and from
an age of unquestioning faith
and mysticism to one of belief
in reason and scientific inquiry.

4. Types of Renaissance Music
Vocal Music
As in the Medieval period, sacred vocal music
(religious music that is sung) is still very
prevalent in the Renaissance.
But in addition to this, there is also a lot more
non-sacred (non-religious) music.

5. In addition to sacred choral music
such as motets and masses, there is
a new form of non-sacred vocal music
in the Renaissance called the Madrigal.
A Madrigal is a short composition for
a small group of voices singing
a cappella, or without accompaniment.
Musical Example 
Madrigal: “Fair Phyllis I Saw Sitting All Alone”
by John Farmer (English; 1570- 1605)

6. Musical Example:
Madrigal #2
“The Silver Swan”
by Orlando Gibbons
(1583-1625; English)
(Please follow the text of the madrigal,
The Silver Swan, as you listen to it.
Notice the very eloquent poetic
statement in the last stanza. This is the
voice of the swan, speaking for the first
and only time in its life, making a very
ironic philosophical statement. Since this
madrigal was written at the end of the
Renaissance, it can be interpreted that
the composer used a dying swan as
a metaphor to express his personal
feelings about the passing of his era.
The silver swan,
who living had no note,
when Death approached,
unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast
upon the reedy shore,
thus sang her first and last,
and sang no more:
"Farewell, all joys!
O Death, come close
mine eyes!
More Geese than
Swans now live,
more Fools than Wise."

7. Important Musical Developments
During The Renaissance
The rise of instrumental music was
one of the two most significant musical developments
during the Renaissance. During this time, music for
groups of instruments was written
to accompany vocal music such as motets,
as dance music, and also as a pure form of art.
Musical Example: 
Renaissance Dance Music: “Bouree” from Dances for Terpsichore
by Michael Praetorius (German; 1571-1621)

8. Important Musical Developments
During The Renaissance
Another very significant musical development
that took place during the Renaissance was
the development of an organized system of harmony.
Although it wouldn’t be until the middle of the
Baroque period before harmony reached a point
that it was somewhat standardized, the beginnings
of what most people today would recognize as harmony
took place during the Renaissance period.

9. Important Renaissance Composers
• Josquin des Prez - (Flemish; 1455-1521)
• Giovanni Palestrina - (Italian; 1526-1594)
• Orlando de Lassus - Flemish; 1530-1594)
• William Byrd - (English; 1543-1623)
• Tomás Luis de Victoria - (Spanish; 1548-1611)
• Giovanni Gabrieli - (Italian; 1553-1612)
• Michael Praetorius - (German; 1571-1621)
• Orlando Gibbons - (English; 1583-1625)

10. Renaissance Art
Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper (circa 1495)

11. Renaissance Art
Leonardo da Vinci’s painting,
Mona Lisa (circa 1503-1507)
The painting is widely regarded
as the world’s most famous
work of art.

12. Renaissance Art
Michelangelo Buonarroti’s
sculpture, Pieta (1498-1499)

13. Important Dates
in the
Late Medieval
and
Renaissance Periods

14. 1215 A.D.
The Magna Carta is signed, establishing
the rule of law in England, as opposed to
the will of the King. It influenced the early
settlers in New England and inspired later
constitutional documents, including the
United States Constitution.

15. 1295 A.D.
Explorer Marco Polo publishes his tales of
China after visiting the Far East.
1337 A.D.
The Hundred Years' War begins when
King Edward III of England lays claim to
the French throne in 1337.

16. 1338-1350 A.D.
The “Black Death” plaque overtakes
most of Europe, wiping out between
30% and 60% of the population.
It would take more than a hundred
years for European civilization to
recover.

17. Famous Late Medieval Writers
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
Italian poet and writer; author of
the famous Dante’s Inferno
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400?)
was an English author, poet, philosopher,
bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat;
author of Canterbury Tales

18. Famous Late Medieval Writers
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) Italian poet
and writer (1303-1374)
famous for his Sonnets
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375)
Italian author; student of Petrarch and
author of Decameron

19. 1400 A.D.
The Renaissance period begins in
Florence Italy and slowly spreads
throughout most of Europe
over the next 50 years.
In some places further away from Italy
such as England, the Renaissance does
not fully begin until the early 1500s.

20. 1439 A.D.
Johannes Guttenberg invents the
printing press, leading the way to a
revolution in communication and the
distribution of knowledge
in Europe.

21. 1492 A.D.
Columbus sails to the New World.
1503 A.D.
Leonardo da Vinci paints the
Mona Lisa. Over the next 5 centuries,
it becomes known as the most
famous painting in the world.

22. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519 AD)
The Original “Renaissance Man”
Leonardo da Vinci's scientific studies
included aeronautics, anatomy, astronomy,
botany, cartography, civil engineering,
chemistry, geology, geometry,
hydrodynamics, mathematics, mechanical
engineering, optics, physics, pyrotechnics
and zoology.

23. Works of
Leonardo da Vinci’s
imagination include
conceptualizations
of a helicopter,
solar power,
a calculator and a
rudimentary theory
of plate tectonics.
Leonardo da Vinci’s conceptual
drawing of a helicopter, made
nearly 400 years before
the invention of
the modern helicopter.

24. 1517
German friar, priest and professor of
theology, Martin Luther writes
The Ninety-Five Theses,
which initiated the
Protestant Reformation,
a religious movement that spread
throughout Europe and eventually,
around the world.

25. 1509-1547
Henry VIII is King of England.
In 1534, the Parliament of England passed
the Act of Supremacy, making Henry the
head of the Church of England.
This is the beginning of what became
known as the English Reformation.

26. 1564-1616
William Shakespeare lives and works.
He eventually comes to be regarded as the
greatest playwright and poet in the history
of the English language, influencing nearly
all other writers who follow.

27. 1512
Italian painter and sculptor
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
finishes painting the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel in Rome, considered to be
one of the largest and most ambitious
artworks in history up to that time.
(At the time, it was also
considered to be obscene.)

28. After the year 1600,
the Renaissance came to a gradual end
with the emergence of a new period
in the history of art and music,
the Baroque period.