Now we enter the beginning of the Renaissance period of music. This lasts from about 1400-1600 A.D. What begins to set this era apart from the medieval era is that music started to become a form of entertainment, more than just for religious purposes. The Roman Catholic Church had started to lose power in the world of music, and thus a different, worldlier style was introduced. Wealthy kings would build royal chapels for the performances, and would even pay to have music written especially for them. And although sacred music was still the most common form, secular music began to rapidly develop. The difficulty level of music was also increased. It was so high that the church choirs were now being looked at as no longer singing to praise God, but to basically show off their fancy skills. The church leaders did not like this at all, and agreed that this type of singing was chaotic and irreverent. A man by the name of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was determined to show that this advancement in music could still be reverent and soothing. He composed a new mass, filled with beautiful harmonies, and hoped it would convince the leaders of the church that this style was not only acceptable, but would bring a new depth to the music. It took many years for his hopes to be fulfilled, but by the time of his death in 1594, many other composers had sprung up with the same determination he had, and succeeded. Choirs were able to sing fresh new music without the church questioning their spiritual sincerity.

     Palestrina was one of the most influential composers of his time, and continued to do great works until he was a very old man. Following him was another fabulous composer, Orlando di Lasso. He wrote many compositions, for both voices and string instruments, and by the time he was in his sixties, he had composed enough music to fill sixty volumes (Shippen 41).

     In Florence, and all through Italy, changes were made in the art of performing. A group called the Camerata met together in Florence in 1580 to discuss their ideas of what music should be about. They reflected on the ancient Greeks, and tried to conjure up what they imagined the Greeks were passionate about in their music. They imagined that the Greeks not only sang about one simple thing throughout a song, but they determined that the Greeks must have sung solos also. So, the Camerata decided they would introduce solos, accompanied by a single instrument, into music. Another member of the group, Jacopo Peri, decided he wanted to create something that was neither talking, nor singing, but something in between. This is what inspired the recitative used in operas ever since (Shippen 60). By 1600, the Camerata’s fame was widespread, and it was in this year that the first true opera was ever performed.

     Instruments also began to advance during the Renaissance period. Instruments that were already in existence were improved upon, and new instruments were created. Keyboard-like instruments such as the clavichord were starting to be used more, and became very popular in the 16th century. It was common for men to carry flutes in their pockets, and recorders were used during family time at home to accompany the singers. Every educated person in England at that time was musically inclined to some degree. It was almost shameful if you did not have musical training of any sort. The wealthy took pride in collecting instruments, for they looked almost as beautiful as they sounded. While there were orchestras at this time, they were very different from the structured orchestras we hear today. Basically, they used whatever instruments were available at the time. You could hear a song once, then hear it a second time and it could sound completely different. So the development of instruments still had a long way to go, and what development there was mainly took place in Queen Elizabeth’s time. Once she passed away in 1603, music came to somewhat of a halt in England.