Early Music History, Listening & Appreciation
Learn to Understand and Love Early Music
This is a free information and listening site for lovers of Early Music, which includes ancient music, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. We organize online Early Music resources and research, and we provide free listening along with information relevant to an ever-expanding range of early music. This site is currently mostly about Western music (which in terms of the early period is limited to European music). However, we plan in due course to expand the site’s focus to include non-Western cultures. Explore our extensive music collection and read about the composers and their works!
The Western musical tradition as we know it today has its earliest origins in Ancient Greece. Historians have classified early music according to the following periods. (The dates are approximate, and somewhat different chronologies can also be found.)
- Ancient Western Music (700 BCE-450 CE)
- Renaissance Music (1400-1600)
- Medieval Music (450-1450)
- Baroque Music (1600-1700)
The Early Music Lovers website, which is currently under construction, will soon be divided into sections according to the above periods, with ample info and listening material. Meanwhile, you can listen to several selected music items by scrolling down this page.
Ancient Greek Music
Listen to the first Delphic Hymn, dated to 138 BCE and addressed to the Greek god Apollo. It was found in an ancient tablet with early musical notation. It is one of the earliest known Western musical compositions. This (instrumental) reconstruction is performed by Petros Tabouris. Music of the classical period aimed at capturing the relationship between man and the universe, aided by a methodical formulation of the Western musical modes. Far from being viewed as mere entertainment, music was seen by the philosophers of classical antiquity (from Pythagoras to Plato and beyond) as grounded in natural science, its primary goal being to harmonize mankind with the cosmos.
Medieval Music
Listen to this collection of medieval plainchants performed by the Hilliard Ensemble, which includes various types of medieval chants. Between the Fall of the Roman Empire and the later Middle Ages, music in the Middle Ages began and developed as monophony. In addition to its monophonic repertoire, Western music, roughly from the 9th century on, developed polyphony, with particular emphasis on texture, rhythm, counterpoint, and eventually Baroque and modern harmony. Music of the medieval era comes in two flavors: sacred (hymns, liturgical chants, and spiritual songs) and secular (chiefly songs and dance music).
Medieval Sacred Music
Early Christian music developed from its immediate roots in the Jewish musical tradition, and it developed by interacting with other, local musical traditions as Christianity spread geographically in the early CE. Even before the establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman empire in the early 4th century, Early Christian liturgy was the cradle of monophonic and polyphonic chants, the latter being one of the pivotal developments in the history of Western music. The early church developed several styles of liturgical rites.
The Syriac Rite
The oldest style of chant, the Syriac Rite mostly consisted of hymns and psalmodies. St. Ephraim, a composer of Syriac chants, is towering figure in early Christian liturgy. Listen to his Hymn of Repentance, chanted in the original Aramaic language by Andreas Hanna.
The Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine rite developed in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). The early Byzantine chant was unaccompanied, monophonic, and typically used a vocal drone called the ison. This style of chanting is still widely practiced by the various Orthodox churches. Listen to this Hymn of St. Kassia (Kassiani) of 9th century, performed in English translation by the Boston Byzantine Choir.
The Old Roman Rite
The Old Roman Rite was the original liturgical rite of Rome. All Old Roman chants are anonymous. (In the 9th century, this style of chanting was superseded in the Latin Church by the Gregorian chant.) Listen to the Old Roman “Kyrie Eleison” (“O Lord, Have Mercy”), performed by the Ensemble Organum.
The Ambrosian Rite
The Ambrosian chant is named after St. Ambrose, a 4th century Bishop of Milan. This style of chanting is still used in Milan. He introduced the Eastern (Greek) hymnody into the West and systematized Milanese liturgy. Listen to this Medieval Ambrosian Chant, performed by the Ensemble Organum.
The Coptic Rite
The Coptic Rite is the liturgical rite of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. St. Yared of the 6th century is credited with the composition of the Coptic (or “Abyssinian”) liturgy, which continues to be used by the Coptic Church. Coptic chants are monodic and leave scope for spontaneous improvisation (which has fascinated musicologists). St. Yared is said to be the sole composer of all Coptic chants. Listen to the Hymn of St. Yared, performed by a choir of Coptic monks.
The Gregorian Rite
The Gregorian chant came to be the standard style of Western plainchant (monophonic liturgical song). The formulation of the Gregorian Rite was commissioned by Emperor Charlemagne (c. 742-814) as the standard for the Holy Roman Empire. The musical requirements for the Gregorian chant were articulated by Pope Gregory I; hence the moniker “Gregorian.” Listen to “Salve Regina,” composed by St. Hermannus Contractus (a.k.a. Blessed Hermann of Reichenau, 1013-1054) and performed here by Béatrice Gobin.
Medieval Secular Music
Secular music of the Middle Ages developed within the courtly and folk traditions, and sometimes interacted with the musical tradition of the church. The best example of late medieval courtly music is the music of the Troubadours, 11-13th century composers and performers of songs, (chiefly) in the Old Occitan or “langue d’Oc.” The Troubadours represent the pinnacle of secular music in the late Middle Ages. Listen to Bernart de Ventadorn’s famous song, “Can vei la lauzeta mover” (“When the Lark Flies”), sung by Alla Francesca.
Early Polyphony
We have examples of simple two-part polyphony from as early as the 9th century. But polyphony (which, simply put, means music that involves playing or singing different notes simultaneously) takes off in a big way in the middle of the 12th century, especially with the so-called Notre Dame school of composers centred on the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris. In musicology this is called the “ars antiqua” style (a modern coinage). Listen to “Sederunt Principes” for four voices by the composer Pérotin (1199), performed by the Early Music Consort of London – a good example of this school of composition.
Renaissance Polyphony
The development of polyphony during the Renaissance distinguishes the period’s music markedly from its Medieval counterparts. The polyphonic arrangement of music, accentuated by intricate and well-textured counterpoints, is the defining feature of Renaissance music, eventually paving the way for the Baroque era. Listen to Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere performed by the The Choir of Claire College, Cambridge, conducted by Timothy Brown.
Early Baroque
The Baroque is a tremendously complex period of music history characterized by vigorous development, notably a new type of harmony which is based on modulation (as distinct from Renaissance “modal harmony”). Listen to l’Orpheo (“Orpheus,” 1607) by Claudio Monteverdi, the first great opera, performed here by Jordi Savall, La Capella Reial de Catalunya and he Montserrat Figueras, with Furio Zanasi as Orfeo and and Arianna Savall as Euridice. In this opera, Monteverdi pioneered harmonic modulation as a “secondary” technique.
Please stay tuned, listen with us, and watch our site grow to include more and more amazing Early Music.
