Renaissance Music Research Paper

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"History repeats itself." That statement has been proven true due to the love for music that first started in the 14th century and has only grown stronger since then. Music first started flourishing in the 14th to the 16th century, a period known as the Renaissance. This time period brought light to Europeans after the dark events of the Medieval period. Renaissance simply means "rebirth," many changes were made and people started to develop new technology and other important developments. One of the most important being music. Renaissance music was loved by everyone. There were many different styles, genres, and instruments in this time period. People started to see Europe differently when music was involved. Renaissance composers were sure …show more content…

From the use of powerful lyrics, strong melody and rhythm. It is important for music to have a true meaning behind it and Renaissance composers made sure their music had some sort of meaning. An important characteristic of the Renaissance music was also "word painting," which represents images. In word painting, the tone of the music will change according to the image the composer is picturing in their head. Also, melody and rhythm played an important part in the success of the Renaissance music. The singers had to balance their voices and fit in with the other singers in the group. There was no auto-tune used in this time period as there is today. Every voice was pure and used no effects.
Renaissance Music was divided into Sacred and Secular music. Forms of sacred music are the motet and the mass. Secular music was simply considered vocal music which was extremely loved by Europeans. Secular music was usually for the solo voice, but could also be used in a group of solos. One of the most important of secular music was the madrigal. A madrigal is performed by a group of solos, it is a poem that is to be sang. Secular music was one of the most important forms of music, due to the solos, but during the 16th century instrumental music took

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