Early Music Frequently Asked Questions

Site Outline

This section of the website contains over 3000 pages, not counting dynamic lookups. It can therefore be a challenge to organize, especially since content is not restricted to only those items which can be easily organized. The main index attempts to give a quick overview of many important areas of the site. The present listing will be both more detailed and more discursive.

Each active page will be indicated in the outline below, although not always individually when it exists in close parallel with others.

• What is Early Music? - A fundamental question without a precise answer, discussed in some detail.

  • What is Historically Informed Performance? - A subsection of "What is Early Music?" which takes a more philosophical look at some of the underlying issues.
  • It is important to note that the remainder of this site works to answer this question, as much as anything, by way of numerous examples in all areas.

• Repertory Overviews - In some ways, this is the heart of the website, as these listings provide an orientation for the CD data files, which are in turn referenced in various other discussions.

  • Medieval Overview - The origins of polyphony to the end of the Ars Subtilior and the English transition.
    • Plainchant Overview - Gregorian chant as well as world traditions and regional styles.
    • Perspectives on Medieval Repertory - Discussions of medieval music according to more specific ideas or repertories, with CD suggestions.
      • Budget recordings - Some suggestions for surveying medieval music on budget CDs.
      • Relaxing music - What makes music relaxing and what medieval recordings might work.
      • Dark Ages - Some recordings to reflect ideas of the medieval era as a barbaric time.
      • Sounds of voices - A discussion of the basic sound of different choral ensembles.
      • Medieval Music on Video - For now, a complete listing of the small number of medieval music videos.
    • Recordings to accompany Hoppin - Some suggested places to hear the pieces cited in Richard Hoppin's well-known introduction to medieval music.
  • Renaissance Overview - The generation of Dufay & Binchois to the madrigal styles of the beginning of the 17th century.
    • Late-16th Century French Sacred Music - A discussion of this relatively obscure repertory area, not otherwise mentioned in the main Renaissance overview.
    • Renaissance Instrumental Polyphony of the mid-16th Century - A more detailed discussion of this fascinating beginning to the idea of complex music written specifically for instrumental performance.
    • Choral pieces in many parts - A very brief survey of "unusual" pieces from this era written for a dozen or more polyphonic parts.
  • Baroque Overviews List - An alternate index point to the rather longer Baroque overview and related surveys
    • Baroque Overview - The main Baroque overview, mostly complete, but representing the edge of our interests here at the FAQ. The Baroque repertory is of course much more thoroughly surveyed on record, making writing an overview a different sort of task than e.g. the medieval overview.
      • J.S. Bach - Quasi-Overview - This section of the main overview has not been completed, and so this brief & mostly useless page constitutes a place to gather those Bach CD citations for which we do have details.
    • French Baroque Opera Overview - A discursive survey covering the period 1670-1770.
      • Les Indes Galantes - Review of a performance by Les Arts Florissants in 1993
      • Médée - Review of a performance by Les Arts Florissants in 1994
    • French Baroque Harpsichord Overview - A discursive survey covering the period 1650-1770
  • Ancient Music Overview - A brief discussion of the small number of surviving ancient music sources and the available recording attempts.
  • Recordings Demonstrating Instruments - Some suggested references for those who want to hear a selection of instruments used in early music.
  • Most Popular CD files - A one-time feature, now retired.

• CD Index - The point at which any CD file can be accessed, without going through the overviews above. This page also features a powerful search engine, allowing various data files to be located.

  • Recently released CDs - The 12 (or at least one month's worth) most recent "new" items added to the FAQ database are listed here for the convenience of regular visitors.
    • CD files modified in the past week - This listing provides a means to assess any changes made to CD files, as well as to see additions of older material which are not listed in the previous page. Serious collectors bookmark this page.
  • Index by Record Label - A listing of record labels, upon which individual links are presented for each which will give all data files available for that label as well as a further link to contact information for the label via the "purchase database."
    • Full CD listing - This is a very long file and is not recommended for downloading.
      • [Thousands of individual CD files] - Full content details are included when possible, as well as links to related releases, an indication of whether and how the item may be purchased, as well as a "backwards" link to other references to the file.
  • Notes on CD Search Engine - A discussion of how the search engine works, something which frequest users should certainly read.
    • Regular expressions - More details on how the search engine works in "refined" mode with regular expression matching.
  • Random CD page - A silly toy which allows one to visit one of our CD data files at random. Note that although we call the collection "CDs" it also contains many LPs and other media.

• Pierre-F. Roberge Memorial Composer discographies - This is a listing of those composers for which FAQ authors have prepared specific comprehensive discographies. Note that in many cases, even if no such specific page is present, complete or nearly-complete composer discographies are listed in the relevant CD files as per above.

  • Alexander Agricola (1446-1506) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Alfonso X, El Sabio (1221-1284) - The driving force behind the compilation of the massive Cantigas de Santa Maria.
  • Anon. - Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (c.1399) - The popular Spanish medieval pilgrimage cycle.
  • Jacobus Barbireau (c.1455-1491) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Gilles Binchois (c.1400-1460) - A preliminary discography of the Burgundian master.
  • Antoine Brumel (c.1460-c.1515) - A preliminary discography of the French master.
  • Antoine Busnoys (c.1430-1492) - A preliminary discography of the Burgundian master.
  • Firminus Caron (c.1440-c.1475) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Marin Codax (fl.c.1230) - The Galician "troubadour" who wrote the Cantigas de Amigo.
  • Loyset Compère (c.1445-1518) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474) - A very preliminary discography, not organized, but including a biographical sketch.
  • John Dunstaple (c.1390-1453) - A preliminary discography of the pivotal English composer.
  • Guillaume Faugues (before 1442-after 1471) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • French Secular Music of the 14th Century - A very preliminary listing of works from this era, with some recordings.
  • Walter Frye (fl.c.1450-75) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-English master.
  • Johannes Ghiselin (fl.c.1503) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) - The increasingly popular female medieval mystic.
  • Heinrich Isaac (c.1450-1517) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Josquin Desprez (c.1455-1521) - A very preliminary discography, not organized, but including a biographical sketch.
  • Pierre de la Rue (c.1460-1518) - The widely-acknowledged Habsburg-Burgundian master.
  • Francesco Landini (c.1325-1397) - The famous Florentine Ars Nova composer.
  • Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377) - The most famous composer of the middle ages.
    • Compiled discography page - Made from the individual files, for convenience.
    • [Several dozen individual files giving lyrics & discography for each of Machaut's works]
  • Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) - A preliminary listing of LP recordings devoted to this landmark figure in Western music.
  • Jacob Obrecht (1457/8-1505) - The Dutch master of large-scale mass architecture.
  • Johannes Ockeghem (c.1420-1497) - The composer of some of the most innovative and imposing contrapuntal works of the era.
  • Marbrianus de Orto (c.1460-1529) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Perotin (fl.c.1200) - A preliminary discography of the master of the Notre Dame school.
  • Matthaeus Pipelare (c.1450-c.1515) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Johannes Regis (c.1425-1496) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585) - A very partial discography of the popular composer of Tudor England.
  • Johannes Tinctoris (c.1435-1511) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Gaspar Weerbeke (c.1445-c.1516) - A preliminary discography of the Franco-Flemish master.
  • Troubadours and Jongleurs - A chart of surviving repertory and index to an in-progress discography of the songs of each troubadour.
    • Troubadours' Discography - General Explanation - A discussion of the common sources and methodology for the troubadour discography.
    • Bertran de Born (fl.1159-1195) - A major troubadour discography.
    • Gaucelm Faidit (fl.1185-1220) - The first to be done, a relatively complete discography of a major troubadour.
    • Guillaume de Poitiers, Duke of Aquitaine (1071 - 1126) - A discography of famous Duke & Count of Poitiers, often called the first of the troubadours.
    • Folquet de Marseille (fl.1180-1231) - Another major troubadour discography.
    • Jaufre Rudel (fl.1125-d.1148) - Another major troubadour discography.
    • Peire Vidal (fl.1183-1204) - Another major troubadour discography.
    • Bernart de Ventadorn (fl.1147-1170) - A discography for this troubadour, sometimes called the greatest of them all.
    • [Several other listings for troubadours who left fewer works.]
    • Other Recordings - A very incomplete listing of some troubadour recordings not presently compiled elsewhere, awaiting further work.
  • Minnesang - A discography project just underway.
    • Meister Alexander (fl.c.1247-c.1291) - A significant minnesinger & Sprüche poet.
    • Bernger von Horheim (fl. mid- to late-13th c.) - Another minnesinger.
    • Dietmar von Aist (d.c.1170) - One of the earliest minnesingers.
    • Frauenlob (c.1260-1318) - The prominent minnesinger Heinrich von Meissen.
    • Friedrich von Hûsen (c.1150-1190) - Another minnesinger.
    • Heinrich von Morungen (d.1222) - Another minnesinger.
    • Hendrik van Veldeke (c.1145-c.1190) - Another minnesinger.
    • Neidhart von Reuental (c.1190-a.1236) - The first to be done, a relatively complete discography of a major minnesinger.
    • Walther von der Vogelweide (c.1170-c.1230) - The leading composer of the golden age of minnesang.
    • Oswald von Wolkenstein (1376-1445) - A very preliminary discography of the famous poet-composer on the late end of the minnesinger era.
    • Other Recordings - A very incomplete listing of some minnesänger recordings not presently compiled elsewhere, awaiting further work.
  • Other very incomplete discography pages usually listing mostly older media, in preparation for more thorough work in coming months or years:
    • Burgundian Song & Polyphony
    • German Renaissance & Late Medieval Music
    • High Renaissance Polyphony
    • Italian Ars Nova
    • Medieval English Polyphony
    • Notre Dame Polyphony
    • Plainchant
    • Sephardic Song
    • Trouvères

• Performer discographies - This is a listing of those performers for which FAQ authors have prepared specific comprehensive discographies, or for which the performers have sent in other significant information. Note that in many cases, even if no such specific page is present, complete or nearly-complete performer discographies are listed in the relevant CD files as per above.

  • Alla Francesca (f.1989) - The French medieval music ensemble.
  • Beauty Farm (f.2014) - The latest Mauerbach ensemble specializing in Franco-Flemish masses.
  • Martin Best - The English pioneer of troubadour recordings.
  • Thomas Binkley (1932-1995) - The famous & important medieval & sometimes Renaissance music director, founder of Studio der Frühe Musik.
    • Supplement: Recordings at INA
  • Safford Cape (1906-1973) - The legendary Early Music pioneer, and founder of Pro Musica Antiqua Ensemble of Brussells.
  • Capilla Flamenca - The Belgian instrumental & vocal consort, specializing in music of the Low Countries from the Golden Age.
  • René Clemencic (b.1928) - A very preliminary discography of this important medieval music pioneer who has remained an active recording artist.
  • Clerks' Group (f.1992) - The English choral ensemble specializing in Franco-Flemish polyphony, directed by Edward Wickham.
  • Joel Cohen (b.1942) - A discography of the lutenist and director of the Boston Camerata.
  • Consort of Musicke (f.1972) - The English song & madrigal ensemble, directed by Anthony Rooley and featuring Emma Kirkby.
  • Hugues Cuénod (b.1902) - A discography of the prolific and long-lived tenor.
  • Alfred Deller (1912-1979) - The pioneering countertenor and director of the Deller Consort
    • Supplement: Recordings at INA
  • Diabolus in Musica - The French medieval ensemble, directed by Antoine Guerber.
  • Ensemble Anonymus (f.1978) - The French-Canadian early music ensemble, directed by Claude Bernatchez.
  • Ensemble Gilles Binchois (f.1979) - The distinguished French medieval & sometimes Renaissance music ensemble, directed by Dominique Vellard.
  • Ensemble Claude-Gervaise - The French-Canadian early music ensemble, directed by Gilles Plante.
  • Ensemble Organum (f.1982) - The innovative French plainchant & organum specialists, directed by Marcel Pérès.
  • Ensemble Tre Fontane (f.1985) - The French medieval music ensemble.
  • Ferrara Ensemble (f.1983) - The international late medieval ensemble.
  • Gothic Voices (f.1980) - The English vocally-oriented medieval music ensemble, directed by Christopher Page.
  • Hilliard Ensemble (f.c.1977) - The world-famous all-male English choral ensemble, specializing in early & modern works.
    • Supplement: Recordings at INA
  • Huelgas Ensemble (f.1971) - The European medieval & Renaissance vocal & instrumental ensemble, directed by Paul Van Nevel.
  • Maria Cristina Kiehr - A very incomplete discography of this famous soprano, not presently being maintained.
  • London Early Music Group - One successor to Munrow in the 70s, directed by James Tyler.
  • I Madrigalisti di Genova - Italian early music ensemble from the 70s.
  • Medieval Ensemble of London - A discography of this short-lived, but significant medieval music ensemble from the early 80s.
  • Les Menestrels (f.1963) - The long-lived Austrian early music ensemble.
  • Les Menestriers (1970-1980) - The French popular-medieval fusion group.
  • David Munrow (1942-1976) - The popular recorder player and founder of the Early Music Consort of London.
  • Musica Antiqua Köln (f.c.1975) - The German Baroque music ensemble, directed by Reinhard Goebel.
  • Musica Reservata - The English from the 60s and 70s, directed by Michael Morrow and John Beckett.
  • Les Musiciens de Provence (c.1973-c.1984) - The lively early music ensemble from Provence.
  • New York Pro Musica (f.1952) - The pioneering American early music ensemble, founded by Noah Greenberg.
  • Russell Oberlin (b.1928) - The pioneering early countertenor and sometime member of NYPM.
  • Orlando Consort (f.1988) - The four-man English vocal ensemble.
  • Ensemble Perceval - The French troubadour and chanson ensemble, directed by Guy Robert and Katia Caré, plus a supplementary discography of Guy Robert as a lutenist.
  • Purcell Consort of Voices - The English vocal ensemble from the 60s and 70s, directed by Grayston Burgess.
  • Red Byrd - This page was constructed from information as sent by John Potter.
  • Scott Ross (1951-1989) - The famous Baroque keyboardist.
  • Konrad Ruhland - An incomplete, yet extensive, listing of recordings directed by this medieval and Renaissance pioneer.
  • St. George's Canzona - The English traditional ensemble from the 1970s, directed by John Sothcott.
  • René Saorgin (b.1928) - The French organist.
  • Jordi Savall (b.1941) - The Catalunian viol player, and founder of important early music ensembles Hespèrion XX, La Capella Reial de Catalunya & Le Concert des Nations.
  • Schola Discantus (f.1992) - The American choir devoted to Franco-Flemish polyphony, directed by Kevin Moll.
  • Schola Hungarica - The Hungarian chant specialists, directed by Laszlo Dobszay and Janka Szendrei.
  • Sequentia (f.1977) - The ground-breaking American medieval music evangelist ensemble, founded by Benjamin Bagby and the late Barbara Thornton.
  • The Sound and the Fury - The Austrian ensemble specializing in Franco-Flemish masses.
  • Stile Antico - The young British singers.
  • Stevie Wishart - The Australian medieval fiddle player and vocalist, director of Sinfonye.
  • Other items:
    • Countertenors of the World - This page was written by Eric Betthauser, and is hosted on his behalf. It has not been updated in years.
    • Emma Kirkby Discography - As written by Kehila Amnon (mirrored). Also not updated in years.

• Concert Listings - We host some pages sent by some concert organizations or individuals, and are happy to host others.

  • France - The listing compiled by Bruno Cornec.
  • New England Early Music Calendar - The listing compiled by Sheila Beardslee.
  • Thames Valley Early Music Forum - The important UK-based organization. This listing was housed here for some years, but now the page will direct to their own new site.
  • Terzo convegno-laboratorio e concorso internazionale Luca Marenzio - A convention & contest near Brescia.
  • Concert Map - A graphical index which will show available concert listings near the point on which one clicks. The possible listings are those available as links to websites, many of which are coming online.
    • US Detail Map - A supplement to the full world listing, for more precise clicking.
    • Europe Detail Map - A supplement to the full world listing, for more precise clicking.
    • Notes on the Concert Map - A brief discussion of how the programming behind map works and how it was made, including credits.

• Chord structure in medieval music - An introductory discussion of the basic philosophy behind the way medieval composers & theorists viewed chords and vertical relations.

  • Thirteenth-Century Polyphony - A Quick Guide to Combinations and Cadences - A fairly lengthy & technical discussion of the way 13th century polyphony cadences for different numbers of voices.
    • [The five remaining parts of this document] - These are indexed and cross-referenced.
  • Pythagorean Tuning and Medieval Polyphony - A lengthy technical discussion of Pythagorean tuning, how it was used, and what some of its implications may be.
    • [The five remaining parts of this document] - These are indexed and cross-referenced.
    • Some experimental tuning discussions based in medieval ideas -
      • What is HEP?: Historically Educated Performance as dialogue - A more specialized look at what it might mean to learn about historical music without necessarily being bound by the same constraints.
      • Xenharmonic Excursion to Padua, 1318: Marchettus, the cadential diesis, and neo-Gothic tunings - A discussion of the unusual tuning ideas of Marchettus, and how they might be creatively applied today.
  • Hexachords, solmization, and musica ficta - A lengthy technical discussion of hexachords, how they were used in the medieval era, and how they affect such performance decisions as unwritten accidentals.
    • Foreword: Why learn hexachords? - The foreword for this project, written in an effort to frame the relevance of the main sections of the document.
    • [The five major parts of this document] - These are indexed and cross-referenced.
  • Landini cadence - An explanation of this theory term.
  • Triads - A discussion of the music theory term "triad" and how it might or might not apply to medieval and/or Renaissance music.
  • The Tritone - A discussion of how this much-misunderstood interval was used in the medieval era.

• Diverse topical questions - These are only some of many discussions which can be included here, and the list will slowly grow.

  • Medieval & Renaissance Music: A Brief Survey - A discussion of important pieces and trends from the earliest surviving medieval music through the 1500s. This is not a recording-oriented listing, but rather a denser prose overview.
    • Michael Praetorius - Terpsichore Index - An index of the dances found in the famous & popular Terpsichore collection.
  • Why is chant called Gregorian? - The story of the Pope and chant.
  • What do the different voice names mean? - This is primarily a discussion of the historical differences between such high voice terms as alto, countertenor, etc.
  • What is monophony, polyphony, homophony, monody etc.? - A discussion of these different designations for music and its constituent parts.
  • What is basso continuo? - A brief description and discussion of the standard Baroque practice of bass accompaniment to include improvised harmony or counterpoint.
  • What was the first opera? - A look at the origin of these popular music dramas.
  • What were the 12 modes? - The modes and a little of their history.
  • When did modal music give way to the modern key system? - Both the most straight-forward answer and a bit of discussion about what such a question might really mean.
  • How were musicians trained? - A briefy survey of theoretical remarks from the medieval & Renaissance periods on training musicians.
  • Who were the fumeurs? - A discussion of the nature of these late 14th century French poets & musicians.
  • What Renaissance works had an extended performance history? - A look at some counter-examples to the general trend of music not being performed in public for very long after it was written during these early eras.
  • Do early music interpretations improve? - A general discussion of "progress" in interpreting early music, plus an acknowledgement of the continued worth of less accurate but pioneering performances.
  • Tous les matins du monde - A discussion of the popular movie about composer Marin Marais.
    • Une Jeune Fillette - Versions of the lyrics of this popular Renaissance & Baroque tune.
    • Genre of the Tombeau - A very short list of compositions in this genre.
  • Farinelli - A translation of the description of how the vocal timbre of this famous castrato was generated for the movie on his life.
  • Genre of the Lamentation - A description of the text & music to these Biblical settings, as well as a listing of compositions in the form. This page could use an update.

• Mirrors - Copies of other sites hosted here as a service to their owners and to our readers.

  • Zarlino: Justesse a cappella à la Renaissance - A site designed to illustrate Zarlino's 16th century ideas on tuning, by Yves Ouvrard, Jean-Pierre Vidal & Olivier Bettens. An English translation is in preparation.
  • Musique renaissance: une découverte! - An enthusiastic amateur look at Renaissance music by Alain Naigeon, including discussion of how to interpret mensuration symbols and ligatures.

• Recording information - This page primarily indexes some links and items previously described, in addition to the following other resources.

  • Unrecorded Medieval Secular Music - A database of unrecorded medieval works as compiled by Rodney Stenlake.
  • New EM recordings - The list of new releases compiled by Peter Berg for Early Music magazine.
  • Digest of CD Reviews from French Magazines - The popular list as compiled monthly by Bruno Cornec.
  • Remarks on Recent CDs - Some editorializing on notable recent releases, updated once a month.
    • (Past) Remarks on Recent CDs - Archive for the above.
  • Links to CD labels & distributors - This page also includes some useful information on who distributes whom.

• Early Music newsgroup & mailing list - A description and instructions for using our associated discussion forum.

  • Information on the origin & charter of the newsgroup - Some archival information, presented for your inspection.
  • Beginner's Kit and Etiquette File - A discussion of the way the newsgroup & mailing work, as well as what is considered appropriate behavior.
  • Other Early Music Mailing Lists - A list of other mailing lists, including subscription instructions and related information.

• Early Music FAQ - The index to this subsection of the www.medieval.org website.

  • Link Index - A convenient entry point to our more than 2000 links to other web sites.
  • New at the FAQ - A listing of some recently added pages.
    • Pages modified in the past week - A convenient automatic mechanism to assess which pages have been recently updated.
  • Mission Statement - This page describes some of our goals and philosophies, as well as solicits more volunteers.
  • Author & Contact Information - A listing of email addresses for various FAQ authors. Please refer to this page if you want to contact anyone who volunteers with us.
  • Copyright - A statement that these web pages are protected by copyright law.

For those pages containing our extensive compilation of links to other web sites, please see the Link Index whose contents have not been duplicated here. The present listing gives only those pages containing local content.

To Early Music FAQ