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1390
John Dunstable
Leading English Composer for what became the Renaissance style -
1397
Guillaume Dufay
Franco-Flemish; the first important Renaissance composer; used older medieval cadences -
1400
Gillies Binchois
Early Renaissance composer, often paired with Dufay in importance; Court of the Duke of Burgundy(Philip the Good); Franco- Flemish -
1410
Johannes Ockeghem
Bass singer; served 3 Kings; well respected -
1430
Antonie Busnoys
His chansons represent a transition to a new Renaissance secular polyphony; known along with Ockeghem -
1430
Polyphony
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Period: 1430 to
Renaissance
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1435
Johannes Tinctoris
Franco-Flemish theorist, singer, composer, instrumentalist -
1445
Loyset Comere
Franco-Flemish composer, singer; worked in France and Italy; one of the earliest composers to use imitation prominently -
1446
Alexander Agricola
Franco-Flemish; worked in France and Italy; his music was widely distributed -
1450
Heinrich Isaac
Franco-Flemish composer who influenced German music court composer to Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I in Vienna; served in Florence as well -
1450
Josquin des Prez
Considered by Martin Lusher to be the best of the composers of their time; French -
1452
Pierre de la Rue
Leading composer at the Burgundian court; never worked in Italy; very famous during his time; frequent use of canon and ostinato -
1457
Jacob Obrecht
Made important contributions to large-scale forms and their unity; important composer of masses in Europe; Dutch -
1460
Antonie Brumel
Franco-Flemish; worked in France and Italy; prominently published in his day and praised by numerous contemporaries -
1465
Marco Cara
Italian composer and singer in Mantua; raised the frottla to a level of sophistication -
1466
Ottaviano Petrucci
First music printer and publisher; preserved Renaissance music for us today -
1470
Bartolomeo Tromboncino
Italian composer at Mantua, Vicenza (where he murdered his wife and her lover), Ferrara, and Florence; important frottola composer -
1480
Philippe Verdelot
French; worked in Italian cities, important pioneer for madrigals; early madrigals were often homorhythmic in style -
1483
Martin Luther
German theologian and composer; he was the founder of the Lutheran Church -
1485
Constanzo Festa
Italian composer; studied with mouton in Paris; worked in Rome; wrote litanies for double chorus -
1485
Clement Janequin
French; served the King of France; master of the French chanson; wrote famous programmatic chansons (battles, birds, and chases) -
1486
Ludwig Senfl
Swiss German composer and singer Catholic, but admired Luther; master of quodlibets -
1490
John Taverner
English; organist and choirmaster; influenced by the Lutheran faith wrote for the Catholic liturgy; and important English composer in the first half of the 16th century -
1490
Claudin de Sermisy
French composer and singer; widely published in his day; many composers transcribed his music in his day -
1490
Adrian Willaert
Complex, continuous polyphony; strong advocate of textual expression; studied with Jean Mouton; served in Italian courts; extraordinary teacher; worked in Venice at St. Marks Cathedral -
1494
Hans Sachs
German Meistersinger; wrote thousands of songs -
1494
Pierre Attaingnant
French music printer and publisher; used movable type and a single impression -
1495
Nicolas Gombert
From Flanders; worked in the Spanish court; master of counterpoint; leading figure between Joaquin and Palestrina -
1496
Johann Walter
Protestant; German cantor, poet and composer; collaborated with Luther to create music for the German reformed services -
1500
Cristobal de Morales
Spanish composer and singer; especially popular after his death -
1505
Thomas Tallis
English organist; taught Byrd; he was Catholic during Henry VIII's troubled years; wrote both for the Latin and the reformed English liturgies -
1507
Jacques Arcadelt
Dutch; worked in Rome and Paris; famous for his early madrigals and his 3 to 7 voice masses (often homorhythmic style); well published in the 16th century -
1510
Jacobus Clemens
Dutch; also known as Clemens non Papa (indicating, "not the Pope"); worked in Spain for Charles V; prolific composer -
1511
Nicola Vicentino
Italian composer and theorist; advocated half steps (chromatic) and quarter-tones (microtonal); theorist and composer; built a harpsichord with 36 keys per octave; innovator in tuning systems -
1515
Cipriano de Rora
Flemish; worked in Ferrara and Parma; associated with Willaert -
1517
Gioseffo Zarlino
Important Italian theorist of counterpoint; composer; wrote Le istitutioni harmoniche in 1558 which helped establish the field of counterpoint -
1520
Giovanni Animuccia
Italian composer, Palestrina's predecessor in Rome, helped to establish the Roman style -
1520
Adrien Le Roy
French publisher, printer, composer, lutenist, author; ran the firm LeRoy and Ballard; author of pedagogical books for plucked strings -
1521
Philippe de Monte
At the Vienese and Prague courts; religious; Franco-Flemish; mixed polyphony and homophony; one of the most prolific composers of the Renaissance -
1525
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Became an icon of the Renaissance music for future generations; Roman style; responded to the requests of the Council of Trent to reform Catholic Church music; mostly contrapuntal liturgical music -
1527
Vincenzo Galilei
late 1520's;Italian composer, theorist, lutenist; father of Galileo Galilei, the astronomer; studied with Zarlino; champion of Greek music and member of the Florentine Camerata -
1528
Francisco Guerrero
Spanish composer; student of Morales; second only to Victoria in Spain -
1528
Costanzo Porta
Pupil of Willaert; teacher of Viadana; tried to please the Council of Trent -
1528
Claude Le Jeune
Parisian intellectual; respected by Kings; dedicated to the reform of music and poetry mystique measuree a l'antique; wrote 43 Huguenot psalms; one of the most significant composers of the second half of the 16th century -
1530
Anthoine [Antoine] de Bertrand
French composer; used much chromaticism and some microtones; published 3 books of secular polyphony -
1532
Andrea Gabrieli
Italian organist, composer, teacher; uncle of Giovanni; worked in Venice; pupil of Willaert; versatile and innovative -
1532
Orlando di Lasso
Also Roland de Lassus; widely traveled; employed G. Gabrieli in 1575; over 2000 compositions in all languages; one of the most versatile and prolic composers in the 16th century -
1534
Count Giovanni Bardi
Leader of the Florentine Camerata in the late 1570s-90s; Italian critic, poet, composer, and playwright -
1535
Marc Antonio Ingegneri
Italian composer who helped establish the Roman style; important madrigalist and composer of sacred music in North Italy; teacher of Monteverdi -
1535
Giaches de Wert
Pupil of de Rore; served the Dukes of Mantua and Parma; stormy personal life; text declamation was important to him; he influenced Monteverdi; friend of the poet, Tasso; wrote madrigals for the Concerto della donne -
1536
Alessandro Striggio
Italian lutenist and composer at Florentine Court; wrote one motet for 40 instrumental voices; a leading composer of madrigals and stage music -
1538
Battista Giovanni Guarini
Italian poet and dramatist; his poetry was set by many Baroque composers; he created the pastoral vogue that lasted into the 18th century -
1540
William Byrd
English; Catholic composer writing both Protestant and Catholic music in England; greatest English composer of his time -
1543
Giovanni Maria Nanino
Italian composer who helped carry on the tradition of Palestrina's Roman style; pupil of Palestrina; in 1580 started a music school with his brother -
1544
Torquato Tasso
Italian poet and playwright; his works have been flavored by composers for centuries -
1545
Luzzasco Luzzaschi
Italian composer; pupil of de Rore; Frescohaldi's teacher; wrote 8 books of madrigals one with written-out keyboard accompaniment; wrote madrigals for the Concerto delle donne -
1548
Tomas Luis de Victoria
Spanish; continued Palestrina's Roman style in Spain; studied in Rome sacred-music composer; the greatest Spanish composer in the Renaissance -
1550
Orazio Vecchi
Italian composer; he is remembered as a pioneer of dramatic music in the 16th century; important pioneer in the genre of madrigal comedy -
1553
Luca Marenzio
The leading madrigal composer of the late 16th century ; worked in Rome, Ferrara, Florence, and Warsaw (serving the King of Poland); influenced the English madrigal -
1554
Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi
Famous for his 2 sets of ballet (strophic vocal dance-songs with passages of nonsense syllables); influenced the English -
1556
Sethus Calvisius
German music theorist, composer, teacher, and astronomer -
1557
Thomas Morley
English; contributed to the development of the English madrigal; important for music publication and printing; probably a pupil off Byrd; wrote in 1597, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke -
1559
Lambert de Beaulieu
French composer and singer; one of the composers credited with writing the first ballet, Ballet comique de la Reine in 1581 with Salmon -
1560
Giovanni Bernardino Nanino
Italian composer and teacher who helped carry on the Roman style of Palestrina; one of the first Roman composers to use basso continuo; brother of Giovanni Maria -
1561
Carlo Gesualdo
Known for his chromaticism; Neapolitan Prince of Venosa; murdered his wife and lover in 1590; leading composer of madrigals; extreme expressive intensity; Stravinisky was fascinated with his music; friends with the poet Tasso -
1562
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
Organist in Amsterdam; teacher; helped to lay the foundations of German organ music -
1567
Thomas Campion
English composer, poet, and doctor -
1567
Claudio Monteverdi
Ahead of his time; took music into a new style (seconda practica vs. the older, prima practice) -
1569
Lodovico Agostini
Italian composer; worked at the Vatican and Ferrara; from a musical family, perhaps nephew of Agostino Agostini -
1570
John Cooper
English composer, lutenist, and viol player; served the Prince of Wales -
1571
Jacques Salmon
French composer and singer; one of the people credited with writing the first ballet, Ballet comique de la Reine in 1581 with composer , Beaulieu