Music of the Renaissance Period (1400-1600)
The term Renaissance comes from the word renaitre which means "rebirth,"
"revival," and "rediscovery." The Renaissance Period is a period of of "looking
back" to the Golden Age of Greece and Rome.
The invention of printing in the 1400s paved the way for a wide
distribution of renaissance compositions. With the emergence of the
bourgeois class, renaissance music became popular as entertainment and
activity for amateurs and the educated. Lute was the prominent instrument
of the renaissance era. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church started
to decline as the new music genre arose. Though sacred music was still of
great importance, secular music became more prominent in the renaissance
period. This era was also known as the "golden age" of a capella choral music.
Other historical facts during this era is the discovery of the actual position of
the earth in the solar system by Copernicus, the invention of the compass
creating a wider navigation not only of the lands but also of the oceans, and
Martin Luther's Protestant reformation.
​