Composers of the Renaissance
All the Vital Locations of the Renaissance in One Tour!
El Duomo in Milan, Italy
Josquin De Prez hugely influenced the later half of the Renaissance; he put emotion and feeling into the music itself. Of the singers in the Renaissance, he was the most studied by scholars and historians, though little could be pieced together of his life. He lived from 1440-1521 AD.
Josquin De Prez
El Duomo
Duomo di Milano map
Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy
Guillaume Dufay is considered to be one of the best composers of his time and in the Renaissance. While De Prez was known for actual creation of music, Dufay was known for his creative new rhythms and use of harmony. He also formed the central musical language for the rest of the renaissance, so he had many peers finding inspiration in his methods and music. As must happen to us all, Dufay died in 1494 in Cambria, France. His legacy, however, lived on for the rest of the renaissance and beyond.
Guillaume Dufay
Sistine Chapel
Music
Flanders, Brussels, Belgium
Among this group was Guillaume Dufay, who did not, however, live there for most of his life. He realized his musical talent as a choirboy in Cambria, France, in a church where he was later made the Canon. It was also his final resting place.
Dufay wrote music both secular and sacred. He wrote hundreds of ballads, motets, and masses, and was one of the last composers of his time to use the isorhythm. He also mastered the talent of linking music to text, which is what composers of the renaissance had been trying to do for a while.
Guillaume Dufay
Brussels
Johannes Ockeghem
Mons, Hainaut, Belgium
Di Lasso wrote a wide variety of masses, in the category of sacred music. He also wrote many compositions in the secular style with the Italian madrigal, and around 150 French chansons.
Orlando Di Lasso
Mons, Belgium
Notation
Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sweelinck was born into a very musical family in Deventer, Netherlands. He wrote music both secular and sacred. He wrote a large variety of French chansons (songs) and Italian madrigals. In his time, Jan Sweelinck was known as the 'Orpheus of Amsterdam'. His pieces and lessons he had to teach, however, reach far past his town and out into the rest of Europe.
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
The Oude Kerk, Amsterdam
The Oude Kerk
Lille, France
In 1423, Gilles Binchois moved to Lille in France, one of the low countries. Binchois lived from 1400-1460. He was the chaplain for the dukes of Burgundy, but other than this, little was known about his life. He excelled in French chansons and wrote a large quantity of sacred music, such as masses and motets. He was also the contemporary of Guillaume Dufay, which is why the portraits seen below are similar.
The reason for his move to this location in France is unknown, but historians believe that he moved as a soldier for the Earl of Suffock in England, given a line about it that was read in his eulogy. Binchois is considered one of the greatest composers of the 15th century.
Gilles Binchois
Lille, France
Earl of Suffolk
This is, supposedly, the earl of Suffolk, who was in control of the army Binchois fought for
Paris, France
As well as serving for the duke, Ockeghem played for Charles VII, Charles VIII, and Luis IV. They all regarded him as the preeminent composer of his day, and from what historians have found, he was. Much of his music, however, was lost, and little of his life is known to us today. His legacy, however, will live forever.
Johannes Ockeghem
Paris, France
The Notre Dame Cathedral
Bedford, England
Dunstable made harmonies using intervals differently to the ones most commonly used. He was an exceptional artist from the early 15th century, and though much of his life was lost, it is known that he was one of the leading composers of England. He wrote in both sacred and secular music, and left around 52 pieces, though in some times it is hard to ascertain his music from others. Dunstable's music was very definitive with a strong tonic, much like the tones used in Burgundy.
John Dunstable
Bedford on a Map
John of Lancaster
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