Renaissance music (original) (raw)

Classical music written during the Renaissance period, approximately 1450 to 1600 A.D.

It is characterized by the introduction of the interval of the third into European art music (in the Middle Ages, thirds had been considered dissonances: see interval), and the continued development of polyphony (Greek: many-voices). Masses, motets and other liturgical music was composed for churches; aristocrats and rich bourgeois sang, played and were entertained by secular songs for many voices or consort music for recorder or viol da gamba. Printing made music more widely available.

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