The most well-known Renaissance example of the cori spezzati style was the use of two choirs in the basilica di San Marco in Venice, and in Venice in general. It is attested by reference and in manuscript sources several decades before print sources began to appears in the middle of the 16th century, with one of the first examples being a collection of psalm pieces by Willaert. Orlando di Lasso began to make extensive use of the technique in the 1550s with both large motets and intimate secular music (see also: instrumental canzona, where it is especially associated with Giovanni Gabrieli. During the early 17th century, the popularity spread outbound into Europe. Praetorius became well-known for his polychoral motets and chorales in the 1620s.

Multiple choirs provides opportunity for echo and response in texts, in contrasting colors and tessituras of instrumentation or voice ranges, as well as a large 'wall of sound' in tutti sections.