T
he cultural movement
known as the Renaissance
emerged in Italy as early
as the 14th century. However, a
distinctively Renaissance style of
music did not manifest itself until
some years later. It first flourished
in the Netherlands, at the court
of Philip the Good of Burgundy
(1396–1467). The composers there,
although Franco-Flemish by birth,
were cosmopolitan by nature. The
leading light of the Franco-Flemish
school, Guillaume Dufay, inspired
by the Ars Nova polyphony that
he had heard while in Italy, found
a way to break with the medieval
style and began to redefine
Renaissance music.
One of Dufay’s innovations
was his use of the cantus firmus,
the technique of composing
a polyphonic piece around aplainchant melody. Echoing
the Renaissance trend toward
increasing secularization, he
started to use secular melodies
instead of plainchant as a basis for
his Masses, which were in a richly
expressive polyphonic style. He and
other composers at the Burgundian
court, including Gilles Binchois,
Johannes Ockeghem, and one of
the finest composers of the early
Renaissance, Josquin Desprez, did
not restrict themselves to sacred
music and also wrote secular
motets and chansons.New challenge
The Franco-Flemish school of
polyphony dominated the music
of the early Renaissance, but in
the 16th century, things changed
dramatically. The power that the
Catholic Church had wielded inmedieval times was being
challenged, and in 1517 Martin
Luther triggered the Reformation.
Much of northern Europe converted
to the Protestant Church, which
had a very different attitude to
music for their services, preferring
simple hymns and melodies for
the congregation to sing rather
than polyphonic Masses sung only
by the choir. Such music became
the foundation of a distinctly
Germanic musical tradition.
The Reformation had, however,
provoked a reaction in the Catholic
world—the Counter-Reformation—
in which the Church defended
some of its practices while
examining and reforming others.
One of the things that came under
scrutiny was the music for church
services. Many in the Catholic
Church were uncomfortableINTRODUCTION
C.14 30
C.14 60
C.1570
1572
C.1515
1568
Thomas Tallis’s
40-part motet
Spem in alium, is
composed, featuring
eight choirs of five
voices each.Guillaume Dufay
composes the Mass
L’Homme armé,
employing the third
interval in the scale to
create a sweet sound.Franco-Flemish
composer Josquin
Desprez sets music to
the Ordinary of the
Mass in his Missa
Pange lingua.Italian composer and
diplomat Alessandro
Striggio premieres
his motet Ecce
beatam lucem in
Munich, Germany.Missa Rex seculorum is
written as a cantus firmus
Mass in the influential
English style, attributed
either to John Dunstaple
or Leonel Power.Spanish composer
Tomás Luis de
Victoria writes his
first collection of
motets while working
in Rome.40
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