RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance is a completely new period in all of art. With the decreasing influence of the Church on the cultural life of Europe, music flourishes, becoming entertainment, as concerts can be heard not only in churches, but also in palaces and castles.
The Renaissance is considered a period more or less from the beginning of the 15th to the end of the 16th century. In the 15th century, ars nova (the development of polyphony) develops and moves away from ars antiquia. Music becomes a creation not only for God, but also for people. It does not belong only to scholars, sheet music is not used, it is interpreted by ear. Many songs from this period are songs accompanied by lute or harp. The ballad is created, with Francesco Landini being an outstanding creator. The Renaissance is an era that begins its flourishing in Italy, mainly in Padua, Modena, Bologna, and Florence, and it is this last city that is the background of the outstanding literary work of this era - Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron.
It is an era of changes also in technique, as new instruments are created, and old ones are modified, changing color, registers, and becoming more popular. Instruments that begin to be created in the Renaissance era include: the recorder, horns made of wood and ivory, trumpets. As for string instruments, various types of viols with up to 6 strings deserve attention. Keyboard instruments were also improved: virginal, harpsichord. All these instruments begin to have a new meaning, as their voices become independent and are most often used for accompanying dances or songs.
The most outstanding composers of this period are: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Tomas Luis de Victoria, Andrea Gabrieli, Wacław of Szamotuły.

We encourage you to listen to the flute music from the court of Henry VIII. Performed by Hans-Joachim Fuss, Roman Namakonov, Ines Namakonov.

We also recommend the branle dance - a French dance from the 16th century, which gave rise to minuets.

Renaissance dance and music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZZkwnh5pcE