1501Reputable sourceWell documented
Petrucci Prints the First Book of Polyphony
On the timeline · around 1501 · The Renaissance
What happened
In Venice in 1501, the printer Ottaviano Petrucci published the Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, a collection of songs and the first book of polyphonic music printed from movable type. Where music had always been copied laboriously by hand, it could now be produced in quantity and sold.
Why it matters
Music printing did for song what Gutenberg's press did for the written word: it spread compositions faster and farther than ever, created a market for printed music, and helped standardize the repertoire across Europe.
Sources
Related timelines
- History of Writing → — The printing press reaches music