Medieval Period c. 500-1450 CE | Renaissance Period c. 1450-1600

By musicmanchris
  • 1592 BCE

    Tomas Luis de Victoria's Missa O magnum mysterium

    Parody Mass of Motet, O Magnum Mysterium
  • 1567 BCE

    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass

    This work exemplifies Palestrina’s Style, which became a model for subsequent generations and is still the ideal in present-day textbooks on counterpoint.
  • 1538 BCE

    Arcadelt Madrigal "Il bianco e dolce cigno"

    The text alludes to a sexual climax (referred to in the 16th century as “the little death”) “dying fills me fully with complete joy and desire.” This was most likely performed by 4 men sitting around a table.
    This last line of the ten-line poem takes up almost a quarter of the entire madrigal—Arcadelt gives singers plenty of time to dwell on the punch line. A string of imitative entrances portrays the words “thousand deaths a day” (“mille mort’ il di”).
  • 1529 BCE

    Martin Luther Chorale Ein feste burg (A Mighty Fortress is our God)

  • 1485 BCE

    Josquin des Prez's Ave Maria...virgo serena

    Often called the “Mona Lisa” of Renaissance Music
    One of his earliest and most popular motets
    Renaissance Motet:

    Polyphonic setting of a sacred
    Latin text other than the Mass Ordinary.
    Text refers to the five feasts of the Virgin, or the stations in the life of Mary from Conception through Assumption
  • 1323 BCE

    Ars Nova treatise

    Attributed to Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361)
    Denoting the French musical style during his lifetime.
    Rhythm and its notation centered, becoming the areas of the playground of de Vitry.
  • Period: 1098 BCE to 1179 BCE

    Hildegard of Bingen

    1098: Born to noble family, promised to the church
    1151: Hildegard's Ordo Virtutum (The Virtues)
    1179: Hildegard's death
  • 1030 BCE

    Guido of Arezzo's Micrologus (Little Treatise)

    4-line staff
    Relative pitch
    Sight singing syllables
    Round b (flat)
    Square b (natural)