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The Beginning Of The Renaissance

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The period of time encompassing the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (approximately 1450-1600) in Europe has come to be defined as the Renaissance. This was a period of overall enlightening for the human race. Religious reformation occurred within the Roman Catholic Church through Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. The Renaissance was also defining for music. It was within this time period that musical notation was invented along with word painting and polyphony. The Renaissance was the age in which humans finally began to express and explore themselves fully and embody the arts. The title of the Renaissance is meant to reflect the rebirth of human creativity and thought as the guarded ideals of the medieval world fell away. Within the medieval world, the Roman Catholic Church dictated the law of the land and became the singular voice behind everything, including music. It was the Age of Faith. At the second half of the fifteenth century, a new period rose that highlighted the idea of humanism. This was a major opposition to previous belief. The general interest was no longer concerned as much to God’s interest, but rather to the people’s interest. People became concerned with what humans produced and began to examine what the human species actually was. The Age of Faith was over and the Age of Exploration, the Renaissance, was warmly welcomed. “For over 1,000 years, the official music of the Roman Catholic Church has been Gregorian chant, which consists of melody set to sacred

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