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Period: 1200 to
Motet
A Motet was a form of sacred music meant to be used for worship but not necessarily enjoyment. -
Period: 1300 to
Mass
The Mass was composed as a setting for the Catholic mass celebration and used from the 14th century until the present day. -
Period: 1390 to 1453
John Dunstable
John Dunstable was an English composer whose style influenced European musical style. His use of major thirds and sixths are credited as the reason for our current triadic music. -
Period: 1397 to 1465
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Dufay was a French composer considered the first of the Renaissance. He was well regarded by contemporaries and later composers, leading to his musical influence spreading. -
Period: 1420 to 1497
Johannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem was a famous composer Franco-Flemish school who also worked as a low bass. He is considered one of the most famous after Dufay. -
1440
Printing Press
The first movable type printing press was invented in Germany by a goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg. The birth of the printing press allowed for increased accessibility of written music. -
Period: 1450 to 1521
Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez was a revered composer of the period who influenced Martin Luther. Josquin des Prez was considered the first master of the Renaissance style of polyphony. -
Period: 1450 to 1521
Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez was a French composer largely affiliated with the Catholic Church. He worked in Notre Dame as the provost and was prolific in the amount of music he composed. -
Period: 1452 to 1519
Leonarda Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci was an Italian artist whose ideas helped fuel the Renaissance. His work influenced the music of and beyond the period and he also created musical instruments. -
1475
Diffinitorum Musices
Johannes Tinctoris wrote the Diffinitorum musices in 1475 about the different musical modes and characteristics of music. -
Period: 1490 to 1562
Adrian Willaert
Adrian Willaert was a composer from the Netherlands who found the Venetian School of composition. He is considered the father of text expression and transplanted the Franco-Flemish Style to his country. -
1492
Columbus Reaches America
Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492 in hopes of reaching India. The added resources from the age of discovery allowed for people to focus more on the production of music than on survival. -
1500
Puisque M’Amour
Puisque M’Amour is attributed to Tinctoris though many works of this period are hard to adequately attribute. It is a written Rondeau for three voices and involved several musical innovations. -
1500
Harpsichord
The first harpsichords were invented in the late Middle Ages. By the end of the 1500s, lightweight harpsichords were being produced for more widespread use. -
Period: 1500 to 1530
Frottola
A Frottola was an Italian Secular song form generally written for four voice parts. -
Period: 1505 to
Thomas Tallis
Thomas Tallis was an English composer widely considered one of the greatest of the era. He expanded the span of the music of the time by writing larger works for sizable ensembles. -
1510
Pange Lingua
Pange lingua is a musical setting to the Catholic mass developed by Josquin. It is an expansion on the Pange Lingua hymn and one of the most famous mass settings. -
1517
95 Theses
The 95 Theses were written by Martin Luther as a form of protest against the Catholic Church. This rebellion against the church led to the Protestant Reformation, which greatly reduced the Church's power in Europe. -
Period: 1525 to
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Palestrina was the most famous of all Renaissance composers. He primarily composed sacred music and was important in the development of counterpoint and polyphony. -
Period: 1530 to
Madrigals
A madrigal is an Italian song form written for unaccompanied voices and is generally polyphonic. -
Period: 1564 to
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English Playwright whose work became wildly popular. Many pieces of music were composed for or about his plays in and after the period. -
1570
Spem in Alium
Spem in Alium is a large choir piece written by Tallis in 1570 in 40 parts. -
Period: to 1511
Johannes Tinctoris
Johannes Tinctoris was a composer and music theorist responsible for the first dictionary of musical terms. He also wrote about the history of music of the time.