Renaissance – General
Notable Renaissance Composers (1430 – 1600)
If you wish to be generally familiar with classical music, here is a short list of composers you should know from this period.
| Name | Birth | Death | Nationality | Representative Pieces |
| Byrd, William ML410 .B996 | 1540 | 1623 | English | Cantiones sacrae (motets) Earl of Salisbury Pavan (virginal) Songs of Sundrie Natures (voice) |
| des Prez, Josquin | ~1450 | 1521 | Franco-Flemish | Missa de Beata Virgine (mass) Adieu mes amours (chanson) Miserere (motet) |
| Dowland, John | 1563 | 1626 | English | Flow My Tears (song) Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares (5 viols and lute) Lute Music |
| Gabrieli, Giovanni ML410 .G11 | ~1554 | 1612 | Italian | In Ecclesiis (multiple choirs, brass, and continuo) Sacrae Symphoniae (mixed choruses) |
| Janequin, Clément | ~1485 | 1558 | French | La bataille (chanson) Le chant des oiseaux (chanson) |
| Lasso, Orlando di | 1530 | 1594 | Franco-Flemish | Penitential Psalms of David (choral) ~100 Magnificats (choral) Magnum Opus Musicum (516 sacred motets) |
| Ockeghem, Johannes | ~1410 | 1497 | Franco-Flemish | Missa pro Defunctis (Requiem mass) Fors seulement l’attente (chanson) |
| Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da ML410 .P15 | 1525 | 1594 | Italian | Missa Papae Marcelli (mass) O Magnum Mysterium (motet) |