Renaissance Research Paper

The Renaissance was a cultural change that would affect music and drama both then and now. The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy, but later spread throughout Europe. This period of European history is close to the middle ages and the rise of the modern world. The cultural rebirth was from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries. During the Renaissance which means "rebirth", people experienced advanced changes in art, learning, and many other things. Advancing their way of life helped improve music and drama for the better.
Science played a huge part in the change of music because once science advanced the people realized that if you lengthen or shorten the length of the string on stringed instruments the pitch would change giving you a better variety of sounds. In 1400, they started a music group and that ended up stopping in 1600. Then they started a musical language and it included rhyme and harmony. In a cappella music, singers sang without instruments. Vocal music was still more important than instrumental music during this period. Madrigals were a type of song popular during the Renaissance; these songs were performed in

Mysteries and Miracles which taught stories from the bible and saints’ legends. Moralities taught people how to live and die and Interludes were one act plays. Plays took place in noble houses,city squares, or courtyards of inns and taverns. Plays were usually put on during fairs, festivals, and feast days. Many of the plays were religious or taught moral lessons but, theater groups also began to perform Greek and Roman tragedies and comedies. The plays were used to tell stories the three types of stories that were told were tragic, heroic, and comic. Women were very fond of plays and enjoyed attending them but were never allowed to perform in them, female roles had to be performed by boys. Plays were mainly just a way to express a story in the way that you interpreted