An overview of the cultural developments during the period of the Renaissance.
This paper examines the Renaissance, the name for the period of history where Western countries moved from medieval to more modern times. In particular, it looks at how developments in music and sculpture during this period demonstrate how much new knowledge, a tendency toward humanism, and a bringing together of disciplines resulted in the explosion of great art executed in new ways that is such a prominent feature of the Renaissance.
“Changes in science resulted in theological changes that affected music as well. The Church had taught that the Earth was the center of the universe. The solar system was thought to be set up specific mathematical principles that reflected God’s will, and that in music corresponded to certain harmonic patterns (Staff writers, 2000a). The Church allowed only those harmonic patterns to be followed. With the advent of the Renaissance and the knowledge that this view of the solar system was incorrect, composers experimented with music that involved several melodies woven together. This was called contrapuntal, or polyphony (Staff writers, 2000b).”