I suppose it must be obvious by now that I have a soft spot for Renaissance European music. There is some really beautiful interplay of harmonies through relatively simple melodic forms, similar to my previously posted Cantigas de Santa Maria. I find it very interesting the development in this respect in this period where western music first got put to paper with much regularity. When we look at folk music in western Eurasia (from the Atlantic to the Steppe), such that we have record of, we see a lot of participatory and formal songs. In Renaissance music we see the beginnings of taking those repeated melodies and playing with their arrangements and timing to create overlaps and rounds that explore the different possibilities within a single melodic phrase. (Of course, I would be remiss not to acknowledge the tradition of monastic music and chants here.) This might be the beginnings of what would develop into the more intensely described movements of later early modern music and into the modern music of the impressionists and romantics, ultimately into through-composition and even serialization, Although this is just one route, looking solely at the high art music of Capital C Composers.

Anyway, do enjoy.