During the Middle Ages musicians only worked for courts, towns, and churches. With that churches and cathedrals seemed to be the center of the musical lifestyle and education. Unlike today women were not permitted to sing in church, but they could make music in monasteries, where they also received musical training. Music in the society of the medieval ages instrumental music was less important than vocal music.
The mood and emotional expression of the middle ages are important style features. Medieval composers were relatively uninterested in expressing the emotions of a text.While Georgian chants convey a calm, otherworldly, spiritual quality. For centuries, medieval composers based original compositions on chant melodies. Chant melodies of the middle ages often move by step within a narrow range.
The music of this time is based on church modes rather than major and minor scales. During the renaissance period music was an important leisure activity, and every educated person was expected to train in music. Like the middle ages vocal music was more important, but instrumental music began to increase importance.The Rhythm of the renaissance period is more of a gentle flow than a sharply defined beat, particularly in a cappella choral music. In each line of music there is a great rhythmic independence.
The music of this time was mostly performed in courts, from ten to sixty musicians. And women functioned as virtuoso singers in several Italian courts during the late renaissance. Renaissance music doesn’t indicate tempos and dynamics, or the specific instruments or number of performers on a part.
