Editing Quodlibet (section)

=== Renaissance ===
The quodlibet originated in 15th-century Europe, during a time when the practice of combining folk tunes was popular.<ref>{{cite dictionary |first=Vincent J. |last=Picerno |title=Quodlibet |dictionary=Dictionary of Musical Terms |location=Brooklyn, New York |publisher=Haskell House Publishers |year=1976 |page=304}}</ref> Composer [[Wolfgang Schmeltzl]] first used the term in a specifically musical context in 1544.<ref name=Maniates>{{Cite Grove |last1=Maniates |first1=Maria Rika |author1-link=Maria Rika Maniates |last2=Branscombe |first2=Peter |author2-link=Peter Branscombe |last3=Freedman |first3=Richard |title=Quodlibet |date=2001 |id=22748}}</ref>

[[Francisco de Peñalosa]]'s quodlibet ''Por las sierras de Madrid'' occurs in the ''[[Cancionero Musical de Palacio]]'', a manuscript of the early 16th century. Composer [[Ludwig Senfl]] (1486–1542/43) was able to juxtapose several pre-existing melodies in a [[cantus firmus]] quodlibet; one such piece, "{{ill|Ach Elslein, liebes Elselein|de}}" / "Es taget", was noted for its symbolism rather than its humor.<ref name=Maniates /> In Spain, 1581 saw the publication of the [[Ensalada (music)|''ensaladas'']] of [[Mateo Flecha]] et al. The ''ensaladas'' were comical compositions that mixed literary texts in a way similar to the quodlibet.<ref>{{cite book|last=Apel|first=Willi|author-link=Willi Apel|title=Harvard Dictionary of Music |chapter=Ensalada |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMdf1SioFk4C&pg=PA294 |year=2000 |publisher=[[Belknap Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-37501-7 |oclc=21452 |edition=2nd |page=294 |url=https://archive.org/details/harvarddictionar0000apel }}</ref>

It was not until 1618, however, that anyone published a rigorous definition of the quodlibet: [[Michael Praetorius]] described it as "a mixture of diverse elements [[Musical quotation|quoted]] from [[Religious music|sacred]] and [[Secular music|secular]] compositions".<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Syntagma Musicum|Syntagma Musicum, Volume III: Termini musici]] |last=Praetorius |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Praetorius}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2016}} During the [[Renaissance]], a composer's ability to juxtapose several pre-existing melodies, such as in the cantus firmus quodlibet, was considered the ultimate mastery of [[counterpoint]].<ref name=Maniates />