Early Music

We don’t know that much about music in ancient times. The earliest music that has been preserved in more than fragmentary form are from medieval times.

From the renaissance medieval times were referred to as the dark age. Partly that was so they could describe their own time as one when the new man stepped out into the light of day, but also because the later part of the medieval era really was rather a dark time, with plague, war and starvation.

The medieval era lasted from the fall of the Roman empire until about 1500 AD. That was about a thousand years. In all that time, many important discoveries were made. Perhaps not primarily in science and technology, but certainly in music.

The most famous of all early composers was Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). She was also a writer and a religious visionary. Her interests included medicinal herbs and natural history in general. She must have been a remarkable woman, much before her time. Her music is beautiful, as you might imagine the music of angels.

Naturally most music from medieval times was composed by men. I’ve collected a few examples of medieval music, among others, some pieces by Hildegard.

Agnus Dei
Icumen
Morris
O Rubor

Two of the most famous composers from the renaissance were Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) and Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594).

Below are some examples of renaissance music. The first is by Palestrina, the second is by Orlando di Lasso.

Agnus Dei
Benedictus
Come Away
Tears
Sweet May
Morfeo

The renaissance was a very dynamic era. The word itself means rebirth. What was considered to be reborn was antiquity. Strictly speaking it’s incorrect to refer to the fifteenth and sixteenth century as the renaissance. Modern historians claim that the term can only be applied when it comes to the history of art and music. If so, I feel justified in using the term here. This site will only mention political history in passing, to provide a background to the music history, and in this context art and music can be said to have been born again. However, the ancient times the historians of the renaissance were trying to recreate had very little to do with the era as it really was. Regardless of what the term renaissance means, the music created was unique.

Another term often mentioned is the so called renaissance man. Unfortunately, that referred almost exclusively to men, and hardly ever to a woman. The term was used about a person who was skilled and talented in many different creative areas: art, music, architecture, mechanics and much more. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a typical example of the renaissance man. So was Lorenzo di Medici (1449-1492), Lorenzo il Magnifico. He was a politician and a very powerful man, perhaps not quite as artistic as Leonardo, but on the other hand he was a protector of the arts.