Renaissance music is traditionally studied as the European music from the 15th and 16th centuries. This period is later than the Renaissance era in other areas, such as art and literature. Music from the early 14th century, known as the Trecento, was seen as part of the medieval period. The new Renaissance music era began with the development of triadic harmony and the spread of the contenance angloise style from England to the Burgundian School. A major change occurred when basso continuo was adopted at the start of the Baroque period, marking the end of the Renaissance era.

The Renaissance period can be divided into three parts. The early period includes the work of Guillaume Du Fay and the use of the cantilena style. The middle period was led by the Franco-Flemish School and composers like Johannes Ockeghem and Josquin des Prez, who focused on four-part harmonies. The late period, during the Counter-Reformation, was marked by the complex counterpoint of Palestrina and the Roman School.

During the Renaissance, music became more flexible than in the medieval period. Composers used a wider range of notes, rhythms, and forms. However, the rules for counterpoint, especially how dissonances were handled, became stricter. Music became a way for composers to express personal emotions. Sacred and secular music influenced each other, and popular forms like the chanson and madrigal spread across Europe. Courts employed skilled musicians, and printed music made it possible for music to exist independently.

Many modern instruments, such as the violin, guitar, lute, and keyboard instruments, began to take their current forms during the Renaissance. These changes allowed composers and musicians to explore new musical ideas. Early versions of woodwind and brass instruments, like the bassoon and trombone, also appeared, expanding the range of sounds available. By the 15th century, full triads became common, and by the late 16th century, the system of church modes was replaced by functional tonality, which became the foundation of Western music for the next three centuries.

Many examples of Renaissance music, both sacred and secular, have been preserved. These include vocal and instrumental works, as well as pieces that mix both. A wide variety of musical styles, such as masses, motets, madrigals, chansons, and instrumental dances, were popular. In the late 20th century, early music ensembles were formed to perform and record Renaissance music using historical instruments and styles believed to be used during the era.

Overview

The main features of Renaissance music include:

• Music based on modes.
• A rich texture with four or more independent melodies played at the same time. This style, called polyphony, is a key part of Renaissance music.
• Melodies in the music blend together instead of clashing or contrasting.
• Harmony that focuses on smooth, flowing music and the way chords progress.

The development of polyphony led to changes in musical instruments that helped Renaissance music stand out from music of the Middle Ages. It encouraged the use of larger groups of musicians and instruments that could work well together across all vocal ranges.

One important change in Renaissance music was the increased use of the musical interval called the third and its opposite, the sixth. In the Middle Ages, these intervals were considered dissonant, but in the Renaissance, they became more accepted. Polyphony, which uses multiple, independent melodies played at the same time, became more complex during the 14th century. However, in the 15th century, composers often made melodies smoother. This was possible because music had a wider vocal range than in the Middle Ages, which had limited the ability to distinguish different parts.

The modal style of Renaissance music, which was later replaced by the tonal style of the Baroque era, began to change near the end of the Renaissance. This happened as composers used more chord progressions based on intervals of fourths or fifths. For example, a chord progression in the key of C Major might move from D minor to G Major to C Major, with each step being a perfect fourth. This type of chord movement became a key part of tonal music in the Baroque period.

Like other arts, Renaissance music was influenced by changes in society, such as the rise of humanism, the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman ideas, and the growth of a middle class. These changes helped create a shared musical style, especially the polyphonic music of the Franco-Flemish school.

The invention of the printing press in 1439 made it easier and cheaper to share music and music theory books across Europe. Before this, music and theory had to be copied by hand, which was slow and expensive. As the middle class grew, more people wanted music for entertainment and leisure. This led to the spread of songs like chansons, motets, and masses across Europe. By the late 1500s, composers like Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlande de Lassus, Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and Tomás Luis de Victoria helped shape the fluid polyphonic style. The Low Countries, known for their stability and music education, trained many musicians who later worked in Italy, where cities like Venice and Rome became musical hubs. Opera, a dramatic form of music with singers and instruments, began in Florence as an effort to revive ancient Greek music.

During the Renaissance, church-based music like masses and motets remained important. Later in the period, composers began using secular music styles, like the madrigal, in religious works. Masses from the 15th and 16th centuries used two types of sources: monophonic (a single melody) and polyphonic (multiple melodies). Two main styles of composition were based on the "cantus firmus" (a single melody used as a foundation) or "pervasive imitation" (where different voices repeat melodic or rhythmic patterns). Types of masses included the cyclic mass, paraphrase mass, and imitation mass.

Secular music, which was not tied to churches, became more common. Forms included the German Lied, Italian frottola, French chanson, Italian madrigal, and Spanish villancico. Other secular styles were caccia, rondeau, virelai, bergerette, ballade, musique mesurée, canzonetta, villanella, villotta, and lute songs. Mixed forms like the motet-chanson and secular motet also appeared.

Instrumental music included ensembles playing recorders, viols, and other instruments, as well as dances for groups. Common instrumental styles were the toccata, prelude, ricercar, and canzona. Dances included the basse danse, tourdion, saltarello, pavane, galliard, allemande, courante, bransle, canarie, piva, and lavolta. Many genres could be played on solo instruments like the lute, vihuela, harp, or keyboard. These arrangements were called intabulations.

Near the end of the Renaissance, early forms of opera, such as monody, madrigal comedy, and intermedio, began to appear.

According to Margaret Bent, Renaissance music notation was less detailed than modern notation. When translated into modern form, it can seem more strict than it originally was. Renaissance music was usually written in individual parts, not in full scores. Barlines (lines that separate musical measures) were not used. Notes were larger than today’s, with the semibreve (whole note) as the main beat. Like in the Ars Nova period, note values and rhythms could vary, and composers had more freedom in how they wrote music.

Early period (1400–1470)

The key composers from the early Renaissance era also wrote in a late medieval style, making them important figures who bridged the two periods. Leonel Power (c. 1370s or 1380s–1445) was an English composer who worked during both the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. Along with John Dunstaple, he was one of the most important English composers in the early 15th century. Power’s music is best preserved in the Old Hall Manuscript, one of the few surviving sources of English music from that time. He was among the first composers to create separate parts of the mass that were connected and performed one after another. The Old Hall Manuscript includes his mass based on the Marian antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater, where the antiphon is sung exactly as written in the tenor voice of each movement. This is the only complete mass cycle with connected parts that can be linked to him. He also wrote mass cycles, fragments, individual movements, and other sacred music.

John Dunstaple (c. 1390–1453) was an English composer known for writing polyphonic music during the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. He was one of the most famous composers of the early 15th century and had a major influence on music across Europe, especially in the Burgundian School. His style, called la contenance angloise ("the English style"), was noted by the poet Martin le Franc and influenced composers like Dufay and Binchois. Later, the composer Tinctoris described Dunstaple as the originator of this style. La contenance angloise likely referred to Dunstaple’s use of full triadic harmony (three-note chords) and a preference for the musical interval of the third (such as the notes C and E). These features became important in early Renaissance music. Dunstaple’s works were widely copied in Italy and Germany, showing his fame across Europe. About fifty of his works survive, including two complete masses, three connected mass sections, fourteen individual mass sections, twelve isorhythmic motets, and seven settings of Marian antiphons like Alma Redemptoris Mater and Salve Regina. He was among the first to use a single melody as the foundation of his masses, as seen in his Missa Rex seculorum. While he likely wrote secular music, no songs in the common language of his time can be confirmed as his.

Oswald von Wolkenstein (c. 1376–1445) was an important composer of the early German Renaissance. He is best known for his well-crafted melodies and for writing music about themes such as travel, God, and love.

Gilles Binchois (c. 1400–1460) was a Dutch composer and one of the earliest members of the Burgundian School. Though often ranked below his contemporaries Dufay and Dunstaple, his music was used by later composers. He was known for writing clear, memorable melodies that were easy to sing. His music was still copied decades after his death and used for mass compositions. His sacred music was simple and straightforward, unlike the complex music of the previous century. Most of his secular songs were rondeaux, a popular form in the 15th century. His melodies were not tied to the rhyme patterns of the lyrics they accompanied. He composed music for the Burgundian court, including songs about love and chivalry that were favored by the Dukes of Burgundy. About half of his surviving secular music is found in the Oxford Bodleian Library.

Guillaume Du Fay (c. 1397–1474) was a Franco-Flemish composer and a central figure in the Burgundian School. He was considered the leading composer in Europe during the mid-15th century. Du Fay wrote in many common forms of the time, including masses, motets, Magnificats, hymns, and sacred music using fauxbourdon (a type of harmony), as well as secular music like rondeaux, ballades, and virelais. None of his surviving music is specifically for instruments, though instruments were likely used for some of his secular works. His sacred music was always vocal. Instruments may have been used to support the voices in performances of his works. Seven complete masses, 28 mass movements, 15 settings of chants used in mass propers, three Magnificats, two Benedicamus Domino settings, 15 antiphon settings (six of which are Marian antiphons), 27 hymns, 22 motets (13 of which used isorhythmic techniques from the 14th century), and 87 chansons are among his surviving works. Many of his sacred compositions were simple settings of chants, likely used in religious services. He may have been the first to use the term fauxbourdon for this style. His secular songs followed the formes fixes (rondeau, ballade, and virelai), which were common in European music during the 14th and 15th centuries. He also wrote Italian ballates, probably while in Italy. Many of his songs were written for specific events and can be dated, providing details about his life. Most of his songs were for three voices, with the highest voice carrying the melody and the other two voices likely played by instruments. Du Fay used late-medieval techniques like isorhythm but also introduced the smoother harmonies and melodies of the early Renaissance.

Middle period (1470–1530)

During the 16th century, Josquin des Prez (c. 1450/1455 – 27 August 1521) became widely known as the greatest composer of his time. His skill in music and ability to express emotions deeply influenced many musicians. Writers like Baldassare Castiglione and Martin Luther wrote about his fame and talent.

In England, a strong tradition called the Marian tradition led to the development of the English Votive Style of polyphony. This style was known for high-pitched melodies and long solo verses with melisma, which is when one note is sung for a long time. Antiphons, which are short religious songs, were often performed at the end of the day after a service called compline. The largest collection of this style is found in the Eton Choirbook, a book of music from the late 15th century. By 1500, music from this style included up to nine different voices, and melodies became more complex. Erasmus, a writer of the time, praised the strong bass voices in English choirs but criticized the overly complicated high-pitched parts. He believed English music was not as spiritually meaningful as other styles.

By the 1530s, the detailed and complex features of the votive style, such as intricate melodies and melisma, were replaced by simpler styles from other parts of Europe. After a short revival in the 1550s during Queen Mary’s reign, the votive style declined because its complexity and religious focus did not fit the goals of later religious reforms under Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Composers like John Sheppard, Robert White, and Thomas Tallis began creating music in a newer, more modern style similar to the Roman School. However, the Tudor votive style continued to influence the Anglican Church. Choir members and lay clerks often stood facing each other in the quire, arranged in sections called Decani and Cantoris, just as they had during the late Plantagenet and early Tudor periods.

Late period (1530–1600)

From about 1530 to around 1600, a special type of music called polychoral style developed in Venice. This style used multiple choirs of singers, brass, and string instruments placed in different areas of the Basilica San Marco di Venezia. This created some of the loudest and richest-sounding music in Europe at that time. This musical style later spread across Europe, beginning in Germany and reaching Spain, France, and England later, marking the start of the Baroque musical era.

The Roman School was a group of composers in Rome who wrote mostly church music during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Many of these composers were connected to the Vatican and the papal chapel, though they also worked at other churches. Their music was often compared to the more progressive style of the Venetian School. The most famous composer from the Roman School was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. He is best known for writing masses and motets, but he also composed madrigals. His ability to combine the needs of the Catholic Church with the musical styles of the time helped him become famous.

In England, from about 1588 to 1627, a group of composers created a style of music called madrigals. This group is known as the English Madrigal School. These madrigals were sung without instruments and usually had a light, cheerful style. Most were written for three to six voices and were based on Italian models.

Musica reservata refers to a style or way of performing a cappella vocal music in the late 1500s, mainly in Italy and southern Germany. This style focused on refined, exclusive performances that emphasized the emotional power of the music.

European music in the Americas began in the 1500s after Spanish explorers arrived and conquered Mexico. Though these works were based on European styles, they quickly blended with native Mexican languages and traditions, creating unique hybrid music. These musical traditions in New Spain continued to follow European trends during the Baroque and Classical periods. Some composers from this time included Hernando Franco, Antonio de Salazar, and Manuel de Zumaya.

Starting in the late 1500s, some musicians developed a new style called seconda prattica. This style used monody, a type of music where a single voice was accompanied by simple instruments. It allowed for more freedom in how dissonance was used, which helped express the meaning of the text more clearly.

In the late 1500s, as the Renaissance ended, a style called mannerism appeared in secular music, especially in madrigals. This style became more complex and used many different musical notes in a way that was very unusual. The word "mannerism" comes from art history.

In Florence, musicians tried to bring back the musical and dramatic styles of Ancient Greece using a form called monody. This style was very different from the earlier polyphonic style, which used many voices at once. This movement was secular and became known as the Florentine Camerata.

Some musical developments, such as those related to antiphon, stile concertato, monody, madrigal, and opera, helped begin the Baroque era. For more details about these changes, see the sections on antiphon, stile concertato, monody, madrigal, and opera, as well as the sources listed in "Sources and further reading."

Instruments

During the Renaissance, many musical instruments were created. Some were new, while others were similar to or improved versions of older instruments. Some instruments are still used today, while others were lost and later recreated so that music from that time can be played on original-sounding instruments. Instruments can be grouped into categories such as brass, strings, percussion, and woodwinds, just like today.

In medieval Europe, instruments were often played alone or with a continuous low sound called a drone. From the 13th to the 15th century, instruments were divided into two groups: haut (loud, shrill, and used outdoors) and bas (quieter, more intimate). Only two instrument groups could play in both types of ensembles: the cornett and sackbut, and the tabor and tambourine.

At the start of the 16th century, instruments were not as important as singing voices. They were used for dances and to support vocal music. Instrumental music was still secondary to vocal music, and many pieces were based on or inspired by vocal music.

Various types of organs were used during the Renaissance, including large church organs, small portable organs, and reed organs called regals.

Brass instruments in the Renaissance were usually played by professionals. Common brass instruments included:

• Slide trumpet: Similar to a modern trombone, but instead of a long sliding section, only a small part near the mouthpiece moved. The instrument had an S-shaped body, making it hard to handle, but it was used for slow dance music.
• Cornett: Made of wood and played like a recorder, but with a cup-shaped mouthpiece like a trumpet.
• Trumpet: Early trumpets had no valves and could only play notes from the overtone series. They came in different sizes.
• Sackbut: Another name for the trombone, which replaced the slide trumpet by the mid-15th century.

String instruments were used in many settings, both religious and secular. Examples include:

• Viol: A six-stringed instrument developed in the 15th century, played with a bow. It was larger than the vihuela and had features similar to the cello. It was sometimes called "viola da gamba" to distinguish it from smaller, arm-held instruments like the violin.
• Lyre: A small harp-like instrument with strings plucked using a plectrum. Some versions were later played with a bow.
• Irish Harp: Also called the Clàrsach or Cláirseach, it was a popular instrument in Ireland and Scotland. It was often plucked and ranged in size from small to large.
• Hurdy-gurdy: A wheel fiddle with strings played by a rotating wheel. It had "drone strings" that produced a constant pitch, similar to bagpipes.
• Gittern and mandore: Instruments that were ancestors of the modern mandolin and guitar.
• Lira da braccio, bandora, cittern, lute, orpharion, vihuela, clavichord, harpsichord, and virginal: Other string and keyboard instruments used during the Renaissance.

Percussion instruments from the Renaissance included the triangle, Jew's harp, tambourine, bells, cymbals, rumble-pot, and various drums.

• Tambourine: A frame drum with a stretched skin called vellum. It could be played by striking the surface or shaking it to make jingles or pellets ring.
• Jew's harp: A small instrument shaped like a tongue. It produces sound when the loop at the end is plucked, and the player shapes their mouth to change the tone.

Woodwind instruments create sound using vibrating air inside a pipe. Holes along the pipe allow players to control the pitch. Renaissance woodwinds used three main methods to produce sound:

• Blowing across a mouth hole (like a flute),
• Blowing into a whistle mouthpiece (like a recorder),
• Blowing into a single or double reed (like an oboe or clarinet).

Examples of Renaissance woodwinds include:

• Shawm: A double-reed instrument made of wood, often decorated. It was loud and used in street performances with drums and trumpets.
• Reedpipe: A simple instrument with a reed made from cane. It is an ancestor of the saxophone and clarinet.
• Hornpipe: Similar to the reedpipe but with a bell-shaped end.
• Bagpipe: An instrument with a bag made of animal skin. Air is squeezed from the bag to keep the sound continuous.
• Panpipe: A set of wooden tubes of different lengths, each producing a different note when blown.
• Transverse flute: A flute played sideways, with finger holes along its body.
• Recorder: A common Renaissance instrument with a mouth hole and finger holes, played by blowing across the mouth hole.