by Amanda Blank

Created on: May 10, 2008

The term "renaissance" is a descriptive word meaning "rebirth" or "new beginning." When hearing this word, most of us think about a change of ideas or thought processes. Thus, the period in time from the fifteenth to eighteenth century was aptly named. The Renaissance Period marked the end of the Middle Ages, ushering in new opportunities for extraordinary cultural upheaval in music, science, and art. It heralded new explorations of lands, and opened venues of entertainment for people of all regions. Perhaps one of the more brilliant redevelopments to occur was within the music industry. The ingenuity of the Renaissance sparked a creative flow that became the basis for much of our modern music.

The exact start of the Renaissance period is a topic of debate, but most scholars state that the beginning of the "Musical" Renaissance occurred somewhere around 1430. Up until this point in time music was simple and used only in church services or sacred gatherings. However, now musical composers became interested with writing music for merchants, royalty, and other high ranking parties who would pay the composers handsomely for their efforts. Writing for a public audience allowed composers to be free with the way they wrote songs, no longer needing to follow church mandates. This freedom opened doors of innovative musical genre and
instrumentation. Now that music had moved beyond the confines of the walls of the church, there was an increased demand for music as entertainment. To meet this demand, the newly invented printing press was soon adapted for the copying of music. The Venetian printer Ottaviano Petrucci developed a method of musical printing that was simple and inexpensive compared to the tedious woodblock method. Sonal Panse writes in her article on Renaissance music, "He [Petrucci] published his first book in 1501, a volume of polyphonic music called Harmonice musices Odhecaton A', and more soon followed. Other publishers swiftly adopted his techniques and the mass-production of books began" (Panse). It was now possible for a free exchange of musical ideas that essentially produced spectacular advances in musical composition. As a result, new genres of music evolved in Italy and were eventually spread throughout Europe. A distinct emphasis on vocal polyphony became apparent within these genres. In this way, the Renaissance echoed the former Middle Ages when vocal music was highly valued. Polyphonic technique used the harmony fashioned by voices singing different

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