The Renaissance (a term that also means "rebirth") was a roughly 200 year period in European history from the late 14th century to around 1600 that saw a distinct shift away from the medieval world view dominated by religious dogma and to one that was greatly influenced by ancient Greek and Roman texts and welcomed humanism, artistic innovation and scientific inquiry. It began in Italy, most notably in Florence, which became a center of cultural activity due to its wealth and favorable political climate.
During this period music underwent substantial changes. One was polyphony replacing monophony and becoming the dominant musical texture, thereby making possible more complex compositions with rich harmonic textures. Another was increased variety of musical structures for the then dominant sacred music together with an expansion of structures for secular (i.e., non-religious) music.
Instrumental music gained a major role accompanying the development of new and improved instruments, with composers writing increasingly for both solo instruments and ensembles. Among the new instruments were the harpsichord, a precursor to the modern piano, and the viola da gamba, which eventually evolved into the cello.
Closely related to the much greater importance of instrumental music, late Renaissance composers began experimenting with major and minor scales, paving the way to a shift to tonality in subsequent periods. Other factors in this trend included cultural shifts and the decline in church authority, which had restricted the development of music, the development of polyphony and the increased complexity of composition, and growing dissatisfaction with the limitations of modal music.
Also of great importance during this era were advances in music notation. They included the replacement of neumes by staff notation, the use of measures and ligatures, and the use of various symbols to indicate dynamics, articulations and other performance instructions.
Moreover, the invention of the printing press in 1440 and the subsequent start of printing of typeset sheet music in 1501 reduced errors made in the hand copying of scores, made sheet music and music theory texts widely available, and facilitated the preservation of music.
Among the most influential of Renaissance era composers were the French Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1492) and the Italian Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594). Features of the former's compositions include his innovative use of polyphony, counterpoint and melodic imitation, his development of emotional expressiveness, an emphasis on the relationship between music and text, his diversity of genres, and a large volume of output.