Renaissance

During an age when visual art and religious beliefs were being reborn, music was not about to be left out. Madrigals, a form of vocal music that incorporated at least three voices, was created and quickly became popular.

Madrigals involved being called a team player, sounding beautiful and harmonic, and a fun technique called madrigalism. An example of madrigalism: when singers came across the word "happy" in their lyrics, they would sing that note happily. Or if they were singing about running down a hill, the notes would also descend.

Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi came up with the idea of adding musical accompaniment to madrigals. He also decided to make music more dramatic by inventing opera.

The Renaissance was a time of rebirth in:

• Learning
• Science
• The Arts

Throughout Europe.

The rediscovery of the writings of ancient Greece and Rome led to a renewed interest in learning in general.

• Approximately 1400 – 1600 became known as Renaissance music.
• Defining the beginning of the era is difficult.
• Given the lack of abrupt shifts in musical thinking during the 15th century.
• The process by which music acquired "Renaissance" characteristics was a gradual one
• Musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.
• In addition, the Italian humanist movement, rediscovering and reinterpreting the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome, influenced the development of musical style during the period.