Renaissance music

Renaissance music is music written in Europe during the Renaissance. Consensus among music historians – with notable dissent – has been to start the era around 1400, with the end of the medieval era, and to close it around 1600, with the beginning of the Baroque period, therefore commencing the musical Renaissance about a hundred years after the beginning of the Renaissance as understood in other disciplines. As in the other arts, the music of the period was significantly influenced by the developments which define the Early Modern period: the rise of humanistic thought; the recovery of the literary and artistic heritage of ancient Greece and Rome; increased innovation and discovery; the growth of commercial enterprise; the rise of a bourgeois class; and the Protestant Reformation. From this changing society emerged a common, unifying musical language, in particular the polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school.

Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance (Italian: Rinascimento [rinaʃʃiˈmento]) was the earliest manifestation of the general European Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement that began in Italy during the 14th century and lasted until the 16th century, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. The term Renaissance is in essence a modern one that came into currency in the 19th century, in the work of historians such as Jules Michelet and Jacob Burckhardt. Although the origins of a movement that was confined largely to the literate culture of intellectual endeavor and patronage can be traced to the earlier part of the 14th century, many aspects of Italian culture and society remained largely Medieval; the Renaissance did not come into full swing until the end of the century. The French word renaissance (Rinascimento in Italian) means "Rebirth", and the era is best known for the renewed interest in the culture of classical antiquity after the period that Renaissance humanists labeled the Dark Ages.

Medieval Faire (Canada's Wonderland)

Originally themed around the Middle Ages, Medieval Faire is a section of Canada's Wonderland, a theme park in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. As such, early attractions created under Kings Entertainment Company were named after knights, Don Quixote, Vikings, dragons, bats, and beasts. Throughout the Paramount Parks era, the section's new attractions lacked appropriate theming. The introduction of the Leviathan roller coaster to Medieval Faire in 2012 was the first major investment in the section since 2000; the park is now under ownership of Cedar Fair. The section includes four roller coasters (The Bat, Dragon Fire, Leviathan, and Wild Beast) and six other rides.

Over the years, atmosphere performers have disappeared from most sections of the park, including Medieval Faire. Two entertainment areas have remained constant in the section, a proscenium theatre and a stunt and acrobatic space surrounded by water. Currently named Wonderland Theatre, the indoor facility has hosted a variety of stage show revues, ice shows, and now an acrobatic production, Cirque Ambiente. A structure within Arthur's Baye initially featured a pirate diving and acrobatics show, which has changed now to have a more generic theme; it is currently branded Kinet–X.

Renaissance

The Renaissance (UK /rᵻˈneɪsəns/, US /ˈrɛnᵻsɑːns/) is a period in Europe, from the 14th to the 17th century, considered the bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age.

The Renaissance's intellectual basis was its own invented version of humanism, derived from the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of Protagoras, who said, that "Man is the measure of all things." This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniformly experienced across Europe.

As a cultural movement, it encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures, beginning with the 14th century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics, or singing, although it might include some inarticulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.

In a song that is otherwise sung, a section not sung but played with instruments can be called an instrumental interlude. If the instruments are percussion instruments, the interlude can be called a percussion interlude. These interludes are a form of break in the song.

In popular music

In commercial popular music, instrumental tracks are sometimes renderings of a corresponding release that features vocals, but they may also be compositions originally conceived without vocals. An instrumental version of a song which otherwise features vocals is also known as a -1 (pronounced minus one).

The opposite of instrumental music is a cappella.

For genres in which a non-vocal song or interlude is conceived using electronic media, rather than with true musical instruments, the term instrumental is nonetheless used for it.