Music and Time Annotation << Back Oriental hypothesis in interpreting Renaissance vocal music V.A. Fedorova The article is concerned with the problem of interpreting Renaissance Music in the 21st Century. In the works of a number of researchers, the music from the 14th to the 16th century is considered in the context of the synthesis of Western and Oriental cultures. Due to this, we attempted to reveal the parallels and analogies between the musical thinking in the West and the East, with regard to the content, modal system, phonology and sound techniques. The article contains the analysis of the characteristics of sound of world famous vocal ensembles specialized in Renaissance Music, from which we can conclude about the state of the modern trends in performance of Renaissance music. Based on this material, we suggest to analyse the role of the Oriental hypothesis for understanding Renaissance art. This way leads us to consider the necessity of combining Western and Eastern methods of working with sound to enrich contemporary performance in the field of early music. Keywords: Renaissance Music; modern performance; interpreting; mutual influence of different cultures; Oriental hypothesis. Contacts: E-mail: Valentina.8807@mail.ru Pp. 03-06.