Renaissance

An illuminated Easter choirbook page from the Piccolomini Library, Siena Cathedral, showing gold-leaf borders, painted Resurrection scenes, and square musical notation on red staff lines — Illumination: Girolamo da Cremona, 1472–1473, Piccolomini Library, Siena Cathedral / Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

c. 1400 – 1600

Rich, fully developed polyphony (multiple independent vocal lines)
The madrigal - secular songs for small vocal groups
Instrumental music emerging as its own tradition, not just accompaniment
Growing interest in balance, proportion, and text expression

Where the Medieval era ended with the first tentative steps into polyphony, the Renaissance is where that idea comes into full bloom. Composers wrote dense, interweaving vocal lines — sacred masses and motets for church, and secular madrigals for entertainment — with a new emphasis on balance and clarity between voices, echoing the same ideals of proportion that Renaissance painters and architects were chasing at the same time.

This is also the period when instrumental music starts to stand on its own, rather than simply doubling or accompanying singers. Dances, and pieces written specifically for viols, lutes, and early keyboard instruments, begin appearing as genuine repertoire in their own right.

Where to start listening: a madrigal collection (Monteverdi's early books are a good entry point) shows off the era's combination of intricate vocal writing and real emotional expression in the text.