# The 8 Best Renaissance Tracks of All Time

Two centuries of writing for voices moving independently and imitating each other, sacred and secular. No conductor, no soloist, no harmony in the later sense — just lines, and the rules governing how they may collide.

- **Origin:** Flanders, Italy and England, 1400
- **Also known as:** renaissance polyphony, franco-flemish, early music, madrigal
- **Tracks:** 8
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/renaissance/

## The list

### 1. [Thomas Tallis](https://waxonia.com/artist/thomas-tallis/) — [Spem in alium](https://waxonia.com/track/thomas-tallis--spem-in-alium/)

*1570*

Forty genuinely independent voices in eight choirs of five, passing an entry around the room and then all arriving at once. Nothing before the orchestra is this overwhelming, and very little after it.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Thomas%20Tallis%20Spem%20in%20alium) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CkL1hdL40i0)

### 2. [Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina](https://waxonia.com/artist/giovanni-pierluigi-da-palestrina/) — [Missa Papae Marcelli](https://waxonia.com/track/giovanni-pierluigi-da-palestrina--missa-papae-marcelli/)

*1562*

Legend says it persuaded the Council of Trent not to ban polyphony by proving the words could still be understood. The legend is doubtful; the clarity is not.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Giovanni%20Pierluigi%20da%20Palestrina%20Missa%20Papae%20Marcelli) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFVaOmcIbM)

### 3. [Josquin des Prez](https://waxonia.com/artist/josquin-des-prez/) — [Ave Maria... virgo serena](https://waxonia.com/track/josquin-des-prez--ave-maria-virgo-serena/)

*1485*

The most admired motet of its age, by the first composer to be famous as an individual. Each phrase enters in strict imitation and the effect is of something assembling itself.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Josquin%20des%20Prez%20Ave%20Maria...%20virgo%20serena) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=R9QkdoAN4LM)

### 4. [Johannes Ockeghem](https://waxonia.com/artist/johannes-ockeghem/) — [Missa Prolationum](https://waxonia.com/track/johannes-ockeghem--missa-prolationum/)

*1470*

Written entirely in double canon, at every interval in turn, from two notated parts. An intellectual stunt that also happens to be beautiful, which is the Franco-Flemish speciality.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Johannes%20Ockeghem%20Missa%20Prolationum) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=JThdz7GwPhs)

### 5. [Carlo Gesualdo](https://waxonia.com/artist/carlo-gesualdo/) — [Tenebrae Responsories](https://waxonia.com/track/carlo-gesualdo--tenebrae-responsories/)

*1611*

Harmonically so strange that the twentieth century assumed it was a mistake. Written by a nobleman who had murdered his wife and her lover, which the music does very little to hide.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Carlo%20Gesualdo%20Tenebrae%20Responsories) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FZVGvDMonQA)

### 6. [John Dowland](https://waxonia.com/artist/john-dowland/) — [Flow, My Tears](https://waxonia.com/track/john-dowland--flow-my-tears/)

*1600*

A lute song built on a falling four-note figure that Dowland reused for the rest of his career. Professional melancholy, and the most English thing on this list.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/John%20Dowland%20Flow%2C%20My%20Tears) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=u3clX2CJqzs)

### 7. [Jacques Arcadelt](https://waxonia.com/artist/jacques-arcadelt/) — [Il bianco e dolce cigno](https://waxonia.com/track/jacques-arcadelt--il-bianco-e-dolce-cigno/)

*1538*

The madrigal that taught Italy what a madrigal was. Four voices, a swan, a pun about dying, and word-painting so deft it stops feeling like a technique.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Jacques%20Arcadelt%20Il%20bianco%20e%20dolce%20cigno) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=t54Gm5sjJC4)

### 8. [Thomas Morley](https://waxonia.com/artist/thomas-morley/) — [Now Is the Month of Maying](https://waxonia.com/track/thomas-morley--now-is-the-month-of-maying/)

*1595*

A ballett with a fa-la-la refrain and a lyric considerably filthier than four centuries of school choirs have noticed. Included because the period was not all incense.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Thomas%20Morley%20Now%20Is%20the%20Month%20of%20Maying) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ7VirCScp0)

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