The Renaissance saw the musical shackles of the Medieval Period being broken, and both secular and sacred music became livelier and more expressive, and through the developments of printed music, more widely available. Browse our sheet music and scores, and pick up a mass or a madrigal today!
The driving force of the Renaissance was humanism (from the Latin “hummanus” or human), the dogmas of the church were overturned by science, and art was inspired by antiquity and a new, harmonious worldview. Vocal polyphony was very much at the forefront of Renaissance music, and a desire for perfect form, and rational, logical sophistication emerged. In church music, the cyclic form of the Mass, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei was still widely deployed, and musical settings of Motets, Litanies, Psalms and Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis broadened the congregation’s musical experience. Secular vocal music also developed through the madrigals, and polyphonic and unison songs.
In contrast to the Medieval Period, the Renaissance began with a new design principle, imitation. A short, lively theme moves from voice to voice, and the composer creates a counter-melody to compliment it. Elements from the Medieval however were still present, and the “cantus firmus” or fixed chant was often a device of choice in the Renaissance. The cantus firmus takes a theme from Gregorian Chant or Folk Music, but the composer uses augmentation, elongates the note values, and uses the cantus firmus as the harmonic basis for this polyphonic work. From here, the canon soon evolved, which was the clear precursor to the baroque fugue.
The Renaissance marked a big step in the development of instrumental music, and a significant move towards independence for solo instruments, and chamber groups. Traditionally instruments were used as accompaniment for choir or solo singing or for dance music, but through the Renaissance Period, pure instrumental solo or ensemble music became more and more popular. In particular, Renaissance Organ Music experienced a great boom due to the technical development of the instrument, and it was during the 16th century that more vocal instrumental music started emerging, and the first works featuring basso continuo were written.
Fantasias and Selected Works
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 686617
for: 4-5 Instrumente, Basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 234145
(Urtext)
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Item no.: 602477
for: Descant (soprano) recorder, harpsichord
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 159177
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 413607
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 149329
for: Descant recorder [violin/cornett], basso continuo
Score, Parts
Item no.: 409098
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Mixed choir (SSAATTBB) a cappella
Study score
Item no.: 749269
for: Voice, guitar [lute]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 187572
Chamber Music Of The Seventeenth Century 14
for: 2 violins [descant recorders/cornetts], basso continuo
Score, Parts
Item no.: 335081
Urtext Choral
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Music score (anthology), Playback-CD
Item no.: 555348
for: 3 recorders (SST)
Ensemble score
Item no.: 335452
for: Women's choir (SSA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 935528
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 341776
The Art Of The Netherlanders
for: 3 melodic instruments
Item no.: 482225
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Item no.: 329926
Motet
for: Singstimme und Klavier (Cembalo/Orgel)
Music score
Item no.: 748680
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Item no.: 421149
for: 2 trumpets (C/B-flat), 2 trombones (tenor, bass) [trumpet, 3 trombones (alto, tenor, bass)] (quartet)
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 1585
for: Organ [harpsichord]
Sheet music
Item no.: 2649
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 2497
8 Magnificat Cycles - 2 Chorale Fantasias
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 759765
for: Violin [cornett]
Sheet music
Item no.: 6323
for: Mixed choir (SSATB) a cappella
Score
Item no.: 4266
for: 2 recorders (AT)
Ensemble score (pdf download)
Item no.: 6371
for: Treble recorder
Music score
Item no.: 279142
for: Descant (soprano) recorder, basso continuo
Item no.: 182612
Schott Student Edition - Repertoire
for: Treble recorder, piano
Music score
Item no.: 743442
Renaissance Music Prints 8
for: 2 voices [instruments]
Item no.: 478294
for: Soloists, 2 mixed choirs (SSATTB, SATTB), orchestra, basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 477190
for: Voice, guitar
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 198572
for: Brass ensemble (8 voices)
Score (C), Parts
Item no.: 315155
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Item no.: 245688
Settings of secular melodies and dances - Works for lute
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck - Opera Omnia (SWE)
for: Harpsichord
Music score
Item no.: 217025
Aus "Tres libros de musica en cifras para vihuela",
Sevilla 1546. Tabulatur-Reproduktion mit Übertragung
for: Vihuela [guitar]
Music score (with TABs)
Item no.: 413824
Ausgabe im Marschbuchformat
for: Brass ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1544007
Girolamo Frescobaldi Il Primo Libro~Delle Canzoni 1
for: SBFL (VL) BC
Score, Parts
Item no.: 172215
for: 5 recorders (quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 549985
Complete Edition with Commentary
for: 4 melodic instruments
4 Performance scores
Item no.: 342974
for: Mandolin
Music score
Item no.: 1585400
Favola in musica in one prologue and five acts
Bärenreiter Urtext
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 489942
Favola in musica
Reprint of the first edition, Venice 1609 and from Act V of the Mantuan libretto 1607
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score (facsimile hardcover)
Item no.: 158594
for: Organ manuals [harpsichord/piano]
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 564569
for: Organ (manuals) [harpsichord]
Music score
Item no.: 352347
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 659995
for: Voice (tenor), flute, organ
Ensemble score
Item no.: 635511
for: Voice, instruments
Music score
Item no.: 492978
3 Chorale Fantasias, Chorale Variation, 6 Hymn Settings
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 737178
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