ABSTRACT
Mass settings, motets and other pieces of liturgical music form the majority of works surviving from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This reflects the fact that musicians were more likely to find employment with the Church than elsewhere. One interesting feature to trace in the Mass settings of this period is the use of the French folk-song L'homme arme as the melody in what are polyphonic compositions. There is ample evidence of secular music-making in courtly and urban environments. Dance and vocal music formed a central part of multi-media court entertainments. Many secular vocal compositions of the period are known as chansons or frottole, both of which were essentially simpler versions of the technically complex madrigals so characteristic of the sixteenth century. Two of the most notable features of musical life in this period were the excellence of Franco-Flemish composers, many of whom found work in Italy, and the influence of particular patrons, such as the Este dukes of Ferrara.
