Skip to content


 Select a Chapter |             Purchase the eBook |       RSS  Today in Music History |             Online Listening Lab


"Come sing to me a bawdy song, make me merry." —FALSTAFF, IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S HENRY IV, PART 1

Key Points

  • The Renaissance saw a rise in amateur musicmaking and in secular music (French chansons and the Italian and English madrigals).
  • Instrumental dance music was played by professional and amateur musicians; embellishments (melodic decoration) were often improvised.
  • The madrigal originated in Italy as a form of aristocratic entertainment.
  • Monteverdi was a master of the Italian madrigal and of expressive devices such as word painting.
  • The English madrigal was often simpler and lighter in style than its Italian counterpart.

Section Menu

Norton Gradebook

Instructors now have an easy way to collect students’ online quizzes with the Norton Gradebook without flooding their inboxes with e-mails.

Students can track their online quiz scores by setting up their own Student Gradebook.