Renaissance Era: Musical Styles

Secular music thrived and instrumental dance music was utilized heavily. It was also written down, which is why we have so many wonderful songs available to us now that originated from the Renaissance era.

Listen to the recording to hear what King Henry VIII personally wrote. "Pastime With Good Company" is a jovial dance piece. There are many other similar types of instrumental pieces from this era.

Listen to the example below:

The most utilized form of music from this era is the English madrigal. A madrigal is a piece written for at least three voices, usually without accompaniment. Queen Elizabeth I was an accomplished lute player and adored the madrigals. The texts of most madrigals are written about unrequited love and are very beautiful, but sad in nature. Madrigals often used a technique known as word-painting. Composers would write music that depicted the words in the lyrics literally. For example, the word "sigh" might start on a note high in the singer’s range and then fall downward.

Composers of the English madrigal include John Dowland (1563-1626), Thomas Morley (1558-1602), Francis Pilkington (1760-1638), William Byrd (1543-1623), Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), and Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623).