Middle Ages Vs Renaissance

The similarities between the music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were content, expressive, and the constant change of development of new genres/sounds and new things being added. The differences were pieces not including every single characteristic into them. In addition, the renaissance included composers who were risk takers and innovation.
In the middle ages, there was nothing but music composed for the church. Composers did want to expand and create pieces with instruments, however clergy did not allow it at all. This is the reason behind why most pieces were only sung. It was a time where music was strictly sacred. The first piece of music during this that included text painting of literal and figurative was O rubor Sanguninis. Highly expressive, with wide range. Composed by a woman named Hildegard, which was rare since women weren’t allowed in church. However, she came from a wealthy family and created this piece for nuns to sing. Another big contributor to the middle Ages was Perotin. Until he came about, rythym did not exist. However, in Viderunt Omnes it was still difficult to find the rhythm because it did not include cadences.
The era included the rise of literacy, printed bible, Counter Reformation, and the music industry. A piece that elevated music, and became a solid piece that lived on forever is Ave Maria by Des Prez. Des Prez composed every style of music. The piece included a homophonic (to Mary), and an imitative polyphonic (about Mary) texture. It stood out from the Middle Ages because this was the birth of a new sound, which includes secular music. Secular is defined as being moral without church outside of church. Although, Ave Maria was a secular, it was still considered