with the complex polyphony that
had become fashionable, as so
many voices singing different
lines of melody made the words
unintelligible. Composers were
told to moderate their style,
precipitating the adoption of a
relatively simple polyphony that
avoided the sometimes dissonant
harmonies that occur in polyphonic
music and emphasized the clarity
of the words. This clearer and
sweeter-sounding style characterized
what came to be regarded as the
musical “High Renaissance.”
Among the first composers to
adopt the style was Giovanni
Pierluigi da Palestrina, who wrote
numerous motets and Masses for
churches in Rome. Composers from
across Europe gravitated to Italy
to absorb the new sound, before
taking it back to their native lands.In England, it was adopted by
composers such as Thomas
Tallis and William Byrd.Instrumental music
It was not just church music that
was changing. By the end of the
14th century, traveling minstrels
had all but disappeared thanks
to the ravages of the Black Death.
They gravitated instead to the
aristocratic courts, where they
provided entertainment, singing
chansons and playing instrumental
music for dancing and for civic
ceremonies, such as the installation
of a new Doge in Venice.
In a more secularized society,
instrumental music became
popular not only in the courts
but also among an increasingly
educated middle class, creating
a demand for music to play at home,either in consorts of instruments,
such as viols or recorders, or for
solo keyboard instruments, such
as the harpsichord. Thanks to
the development of a mechanical
technique for printing, sheet music
was readily available, and the new
style spread through Europe.
Madrigals, for small groups of
singers, became a popular form
of home entertainment, especially
in Italy and England.
However, composers and the
public were experimenting with
another form by the end of the
16th century, and a dramatic new
style was heralded by the works
of Giovanni Gabrieli in Venice. The
last great works to be composed
in the Renaissance style were
Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Officium
defunctorum and John Dowland’s
Lachrimae, fitting ends to an era. ■1584
C.1580 –1590
1597
1585 1600
1604
William Byrd composes
Great Service for use on
state occasions at
Her Majesty’s Chapel
Royal at Hampton
Court Palace.Italian organist
Giovanni
Gabrieli uses
loud and soft
dynamics in Sonata
pian’ e forte.Venetian composer
Giovanni Bassano
publishes his four-part
collection Ricercate, passaggi
et cadentie, to be played in
the style of an étude.Thomas Weelkes
pens O care, thou wilt
despatch me as part
of his most famous
work—his collection
of madrigals.Giovanni Pierluigi da
Palestrina writes the
Canticum Canticorum, a
collection of motets based
on excerpts from the
biblical Song of Songs.John Dowland’s
Lachrimae uses
dissonance to
conjure an
atmosphere of
mel a ncholy.RENAISSANCE 1400–1600 41
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