The Different Eras of Classical Music: The Renaissance Period (1400 - 1600)

This month's focus is on the Renaissance Period, lasting from AD 1400 - 1600. 

Music became more complex and more expressive in the age of the Renaissance Period. Though still largely religious at that time, composers began creating music for its own sake. Further, the printing press, invented in the mid-1400s, helped make music distribution easier.

While a number of instruments originated during this time, many were variations or improvements upon existing ones. Though, much like today, instruments were classified as brass, strings, percussion, or woodwinds.

In the mid-16th century, instruments were considered less important than voices in music and were used to accompany vocal music. Organs were commonly used, as were brass instruments—such as slide trumpets, cornetts, and sackbuts. Strings—like the lyre and harp—and percussion—such as tambourine and cymbals—were also used often.