List of Renaissance composers


This is a list of composers active during the Renaissance period of European history. Since the 14th century is not usually considered by music historians to be part of the musical Renaissance, but part of the Middle Ages, composers active during that time can be found in the List of Medieval composers. Composers on this list had some period of significant activity after 1400, before 1600, or in a few cases they wrote music in a Renaissance idiom in the several decades after 1600.

Timeline

Burgundian

The Burgundian School was a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The school also included some English composers at the time when part of modern France was controlled by England. The Burgundian School was the first phase of activity of the Franco-Flemish School, the central musical practice of the Renaissance in Europe.
NameBornDiedNotes
Johannes Tapissier
c. 1370before 1410
Nicolas Grenonc. 13751456
Pierre Fontainec. 1380c. 1450
Jacobus Videfl. 1405?after 1433
Guillaume Legrant
fl. 1405after 1449
Guillaume Dufay
13971474
Johannes Brassartc. 14001455
Johannes Legrantfl. c. 1420after 1440
Gilles Binchois
c. 14001460
Hugo de Lantinsfl. c. 1420after 1430
Arnold de Lantinsfl. 14231431/1432
Reginaldus Libertfl. c. 1425after 1435
Jean Cousinbefore 1425after 1475
Gilles Joye1424/14251483
Guillaume le Rougefl. 1450after 1465
Robert Mortonc. 14301479English
Antoine Busnoisc. 14301492
Adrien Basinfl. 1457after 1498
Hayne van Ghizeghemc. 1445after 1476
Jean-Baptiste Besard15671625

Franco-Flemish

The Franco-Flemish School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. See Renaissance music for a more detailed description of the style. The composers of this time and place, and the music they produced, are also known as the Dutch School. However, this is a misnomer, since Dutch now refers to the northern Low Countries. The reference is to modern Belgium, northern France and the south of the modern Netherlands. Most artists were born in Hainaut, Flanders and Brabant.

1370–1450

, 1532–1594
, 1562–1621

1501–1550

"France" here does not refer to the France of today, but a smaller region of French-speaking people separate from the area controlled by the Duchy of Burgundy. In medieval times, France was the centre of musical development with the Notre Dame school and Ars nova; this was later surpassed by the Burgundian School, but France remained a leading producer of choral music throughout the Renaissance.

1370–1450

, 1530–1600

1451–1500

After the Burgundian School came to an end, Italy became the leading exponent of renaissance music and continued its innovation with, for example, the Venetian and Roman Schools of composition. In particular the Venetian School's polychoral compositions of the late 16th century were among the most famous musical events in Europe, and their influence on musical practice in other countries was enormous. The innovations introduced by the Venetian School, along with the contemporary development of monody and opera in Florence, together define the end of the musical Renaissance and the beginning of the musical Baroque.

1350–1470

, 1497–1543

1471–1500

, c. 1525–1594

1501–1525

, 1560–1613

1526–1550

, 1561–1633

1551–1586

1370–1450

Following a period of favourable economic and political conditions at the beginning of the 16th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth reached the height of its powers, when it was one of the richest and most powerful countries in Europe. It encompassed an area which included present day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, most of modern Ukraine and portions of what is now Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russian federation and Germany. As the middle class prospered, patronage for the arts in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth increased, and also looked westward – particularly to Italy – for influences.
Considered by many musicologists as the "Golden Age of Polish music," the period was influenced by the foundation of the Collegium Rorantistarum in 1543 at the chapel in Kraków of King Sigismund I the Old. The Collegium consisted of nine singers. And although it was required that all members be Poles, foreign influence was acknowledged in the dedication of their sacred repertory, "to the noble Italian art".

1350–1400

, c. 1571–1621

1501–1550

1400–1475

Due in part to its isolation from mainland Europe, the English Renaissance began later than most other parts of Europe. The Renaissance style also continued into a period in which many other European nations had already made the transition into the Baroque. While late medieval English music was influential on the development of the Burgundian style, most English music of the 15th century was lost, particularly during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the time of Henry VIII. The Tudor period of the 16th century was a time of intense interest in music, and Renaissance styles began to develop with mutual influence from the mainland. Some English musical trends were heavily indebted to foreign styles, for example the English Madrigal School; others had aspects of continental practice as well as uniquely English traits. Composers included Thomas Tallis, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons and William Byrd.

1370–1450

1451–1500

, 1540–1623

1551–1570

, 1583–1625

1581–1611