jdfa14-+Music+of+the+Renaissance

When the entire of culture of Europe began to change so did its music. Just the same as architecture, art and sculpture; the Renaissance fundamentally changed the way people heard and thought about music.  In the medieval times the music was mainly based around the idea of a polyphony. The polyphony was developed because of the lack of range that instruments or voices could achieve. So composers would be forced to write a song where two or more melodies that would not be supported by a chord. These parts would cross many times and would create in many circumstances what is called dissidence. This dissidence or clashing of notes would create very dramatic and beautiful music pieces.

An example of a contemporary polyphony: media type="custom" key="5192545"

At 1:38 to 2:27 is a perfect example of how the different voices can interact and create a dramatic almost sad but than resolve to what it does in 2:27.

While in the Renaissance the instruments became better and had a improved musical range. Many songwriters began to support their melodies with chords that would create a harmony to match. A common idea was to create a smoothness that had not existed during the Medieval time period. Instead of writing a piece that would clash and create dissidence they strived for music that fit into the circumstances that it was put into. Composers would also try to achieve a different "texture" which had been lacking beforehand. To reach this, different instruments or voices would be added to change the overall feeling of the piece.

This began a transition to what we know as most contemporary music today, with many popular songs following the same model as that of 400 years ago. In almost any song on the radio a melodic instrument can be found (usually a voice) followed up by a matching melody.

Towards the end of Renaissance era comes the rise of Baroque music. Defined by a decorative and usually very complicated high voice matched by a limited and harmonizing low voice. This was explored by composers such as Bach and Mozart. When people think of classical music they probably think about the pieces that were written during this time period.

media type="custom" key="5192597"  Every different color of bar represents a part of the organ that Bach would have played on. Not to mention he would have been doing it all by himself.

During the Renaissance times the rise of the what we know as the time signature, key signature, and beat that accompanies any piece of music today. Music would not be what it is today without the Renaissance to solidify its base.

__Sources__

"Renaissance music -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 20 Jan. 2010. .

"Baroque -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .

"Polyphony (music) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." //Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia//. Web. 19 Jan. 2010. .

http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/CAPISTRANO/Mike/capmusic/baroque/bach/bach.h1.jpg