> But if you had to give one answer to why Baroque and classical music seem more centrally organized than Renaissance and Medieval music -- and most other musics -- why all the elements seem made to fit together more smoothly, with less rough edges -- the simple answer is bigger ensembles and more instruments and larger range of notes.
Actually, if I had to give one reason, it would be the prevalence of printed music with parts printed one on top of another that became common with Petrucci's multiple impression printing in the early 1500s. It encouraged composers to think vertically about polyphonic harmony to a greater extent.
Previous to this you had part books with single vocal lines even though the madrigal, say, was for multiple voices. Composition was thought of (and practiced) much more horizontally than today, and performers were expected to be proficient enough with harmonic conventions to be able to resolve whatever dissonance might crop up. So things sounded at bit more like Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry back then.
C.