Music and Culture in Late Renaissance Italy

Iain Fenlon explores how music was an 'instrument' of those in power in late Renaissance Italy. Focusing on major urban centres - Mantua, Milan, Rome, Florence, and Venice - he argues that, far from losing its vigour after 1530, Italian culture was in fact transformed, as both individuals and institutions reacted to new political, economic, and religious circumstances. Dr Fenlon explores the role music played in the cultural, religious, and political upheavals of late Renaissance Italy, revealing how musical activity of all kinds was instrumentalized by those in power. Focusing on the second half of the sixteenth century - a period still often regarded as one of decline and degeneration after the achievements of the Quattrocento and before the calamità d'Italia - the author argues that Italian culture did not lose its vigour after 1530, but underwent a transformation, as both individuals and institutions reacted to new economic, political, and religious circumstances.