1. MUSIC DURING THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

2. Voix active / voix passive During the Renaissance, musicians could be traveling artists –minstrels. They played music during feasts and festivals or could play for members of the aristocracy who hired them on a weekly basis. As they had no fixed abode, they would play portable instruments that could be easily carried along. They were used to adapting their tunes to the occasion. Some of them were able to juggle to entertain their audiences. Music could be played by either traveling musicians, or entertainers, or by professional musicians. Religious hymns and masses were composed by musicians from the Chapel Royal or by the clergy. Popular music was played on many occasions, whether it be weddings, feasts or agricultural festival. Music could also be played in the streets, by the Waits.

3. Musicians could enjoy various statuses: Most members of the upper classes could play an instrument. Musical education was widespread and a social distinction. Musicians could be travelling musicians would live from hand to mouth and had to find patrons who needed the service of a musician. They could be hired as Waits and play music on the streets. They could be clergymen and serve the church as organists. They composed music (hymns, masses, liturgical pieces) and be part of a choir. They could be in the service of a wealthy patron and compose both religious and secular music to entertain the monarch and his / her courtiers. They could play music for the stage and be part of a theatre group. The music accompanies the drama and the plot. It emphasizes emotions.

4. While during the medieval period, minstrels played music standing among the guests, Tudor musicians would often play in the minstrel gallery, placed above the reception hall so that they were separated from the guests. Gothic architecture and the changing height of religious building provided better accoustics and encouraged the development of polyphonic music. The more elaborate decoration of Gothic cathedral (the flamboyant style) matched the increasing complexity of music.