Renaissance
about 1400 to 1600
Two centuries in which polyphony matured. Composers began treating every voice as equally important, entering one after another in imitation until the texture is an even web with no line playing lead. Sacred music leads, in masses and motets; on the secular side the madrigal translates what the words mean into what the notes physically do. The standard instrument is the human voice, and instrumental writing is still largely standing in for singers.
What to listen for
- The same phrase handed from voice to voice, which is the easiest way to catch imitative polyphony.
- Cadences settle far more softly than a Baroque one, rarely landing hard.
- Words for rising, sighing and dying drawn into the melodic line, so you can hear the text and the music working on each other.
Renaissance in Shanghai
All concertsWorks being played
All worksComposers (3)
ComposersThe dates are a reading aid, not a boundary. Bach died writing counterpoint that Haydn's generation had already given up, and Rachmaninoff was writing romantic concertos while Webern wrote twelve-tone miniatures. Any two neighbouring periods overlap by decades.