Around 1400

Renaissance

Also known as Renaissance music, music of the Renaissance

A historically grounded overview of Renaissance music as a European art-music period, with emphasis on polyphony, sacred repertory, and the spread of printed music. Examples favor documented artist pages and verified recordings tied to Josquin des Prez, a central figure in the style.

Origins and context

Court, church, and domestic music in late medieval and early modern Europe; repertory circulated more widely after the advent of music printing.

The sound

Instrument palette

The voices and tools most associated with this sound.

Lute
Viol
Recorders
Harpsichord
Organ

Characteristics

Polyphony
Imitation
Contrapuntal texture
Text-sensitive vocal writing
Mix of sacred and secular repertory

History

In music history, the Renaissance usually covers roughly 1400 to 1600, a period shaped by wide exchange across Europe, new court and church patronage, and the rise of music printing. The Met’s account places early Renaissance repertory in church polyphony, especially masses and motets, and notes that Ottaviano Petrucci’s 1501 polyphonic publications helped spread this music much more broadly. By about 1500, Franco-Flemish composers such as Josquin des Prez were central to the European style, combining careful imitation and contrapuntal writing with a sharper sensitivity to text. The same period also saw the repertoire branch outward into chansons, madrigals, and other vernacular songs, while instruments like the viol, lute, and recorder became more prominent in both domestic and professional music-making.

Notable artists