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.
Score
Item no.: 487056
Ratsschulbibliothek Zwickau Mus. Ms. 73
EDM – Das Erbe deutscher Musik 116a (=Abteilung Mottete und Messe Band 21a)
Dritter Teil: Abteilung IV
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 136778
Musica Britannica 102
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover, anthology)
Item no.: 929320
The Songs of Solomon – Music
Sacred Vocal Works in Hebrew 13b
Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 100
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 1109071
Band 5: Das Lied – Die Kastraten
Book
Item no.: 212074
Motets from Quinque et sex vocibus perornatae sacrae cantiones (Venice, 1565)
Motets for Five to Eight Voices from Sacrae cantiones, liber secundus, tertius, quartus (Venice, 1566)
for: 5–6 voices
Score
Item no.: 1160558
Litaniae Beatae Mariae Virginis - Litaniae omnium Sanctorum - Falsibordoni - Deus in adjutorium - Responsiones in Missa
Orlando di Lasso. Sämtliche Werke (Neue Reihe) 25
for: Choir
Gesamtausgabe, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 877087
Musica Britannica 61
for: 2 mixed choirs, organ
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 929921
Pratica Musicale 6
Music score (reprint, hardcover)
Item no.: 371149
Musica Britannica 20
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 488805
Motetten und Konzerte zu 2 bis 6 Stimmen
Johann Hermann Schein. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 10,1
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Sammelband
Item no.: 881623
Musica Britannica XIV
for: Harpsichord [piano]
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 269062
Handschriftlich überlieferte Messen II
Orlando di Lasso. Sämtliche Werke (Neue Reihe) 10
for: Choir
Gesamtausgabe, Singpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 115894
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 1
for: Cantus Solo, Countertenöre solo (3), Tenöre solo (4), 4Bassus Solo, Gemischter Chor (2Cantus, Countertenor, 2Tenor, Bassus), Flöten (2), Fagott, Trompeten (2), Posaunen (2), Violinen (2), Violetta (2), Viola, Basso continuo (Orgel, Violone)
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 868828
Messen der Drucke Paris 1577 und Nürnberg 1581
Orlando di Lasso. Sämtliche Werke (Neue Reihe) 5
for: Choir
Gesamtausgabe, Singpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 115889
Lateinische Motetten für vier Stimmen und Basso continuo
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 8/9 (Sammelband, Gesamtausgabe) (Collection, Complete edition)
for: Mixed choir (SATB), basso continuo
Choir score
Item no.: 561052
Orlando di Lasso. Sämtliche Werke (Neue Reihe) 18
for: Choir
Gesamtausgabe, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 116269
Die Konzerte zu sieben Stimmen (Nr. 15-21)
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 21
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Urtextausgabe, Sammelband
Item no.: 348993
Musica Britannica 101
for: Consort
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 929283
Musik der Bayerischen Hofkapelle zur Zeit Orlando di Lassos I
for: 5 voices
Music score (anthology)
Item no.: 1136669
for: Organ
Music score (hardcover)
Item no.: 284036
Georg Rhau. Musikdrucke aus den Jahren 1538-1545, 8
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Gesamtausgabe, Singpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 115789
Early English Church Music 51
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 552448
Messen des Druckes Paris 1577
Orlando di Lasso. Sämtliche Werke (Neue Reihe) 4
for: Choir
Gesamtausgabe, Singpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 115888
The Songs of Solomon – General Introduction
Sacred Vocal Works in Hebrew 13a [Introduction, Texts, and Critical Report]
Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae 100
Book (softcover)
Item no.: 617108
Musica Britannica 48
for: 2-6 viole da gamba
Score
Item no.: 931398
Oper/Operette
Score
Item no.: 833306
Early English Church Music 56
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 768879
Die sechs- und siebenstimmigen Motetten, Nr. 13-29
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 5,2
for: Gemischter Chor, Basso continuo ad libitum
Gesamtausgabe, Singpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 878541
Florence, Archivio del Capitolo di San Lorenzo Ms. 2211
Ars Nova Nuova serie, 4 (Ars Nova Reprint)
Book
Item no.: 774035
4 mehrchörige Psalmvertonungen
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 26
for: Chor, Basso continuo
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Urtextausgabe, Sammelband
Item no.: 880575
Song Ornamentation and Vocal Style according to the Treatises
Oxford Monographs on Music
for: Voice
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 770737
Musica Britannica 97
for: 1–3 voices
Score (Hardcover)
Item no.: 929672
A Suite of Five Dances (early 16th Century)
for: Fanfare
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1001071
A Suite of Five Dances (early 16th Century)
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 999858
Monumenti musicali italiani 26
Opere complete 11
for: 1–4 voices
Score
Item no.: 773557
Early English Church Music 48
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 552449
Motets from Printed Anthologies and Manuscripts, 1570-1579
for: Voices
Score
Item no.: 1160543
Item no.: 622355
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 29
for: Gesang, Instrument
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Urtextausgabe, Sammelband
Item no.: 868915
Stuttgarter Schütz-Ausgabe Band 5
for: 4 voices (SATB), basso continuo
Score
Item no.: 695252
Musica Britannica 75
for: Piano [harpsichord/organ]
Music score (hardcover, anthology)
Item no.: 341631
Messen der Drucke Paris 1607 und München 1610
Orlando di Lasso. Sämtliche Werke (Neue Reihe) 8
for: Choir
Gesamtausgabe, Singpartitur, Sammelband, Urtextausgabe
Item no.: 115892
Sacral Choir Music SWV 369-397
for: Choir
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 1160898
for: 5 voices
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 773840
31 sacred concertos
Stuttgarter Schütz-Ausgabe, volume 10
for: 1–5 voices, basso continuo
Score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 693215
18 meist mehrteilige Kompositionen (Passionen, Antiphonen u. a.) von anonymen und 11 bekannten Meistern des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts
Georg Rhau. Musikdrucke aus den Jahren 1538-1545, 10
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 765664
5 mehrchörige Psalm-Kompositionen und Deutsches Magnificat
Heinrich Schütz. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke 28
for: Chor, Basso continuo
Gesamtausgabe, Partitur, Urtextausgabe, Sammelband
Item no.: 880629
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