Early Music: A Very Short IntroductionFrom Gregorian chant to Bach's Brandenburg Concerti, the music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods is both beautiful and intriguing, expanding our horizons as it nourishes our souls. In this Very Short Introduction, Thomas Forrest Kelly provides not only a compact overview of the music itself, but also a lively look at the many attempts over the last two centuries to revive it. Kelly shows that the early-music revival has long been grounded in the idea of spontaneity, of excitement, and of recapturing experiences otherwise lost to us--either the rediscovery of little-known repertories or the recovery of lost performing styles, with the conviction that, with the right performance, the music will come to life anew. Blending musical and social history, he shows how the Early Music movement in the 1960s took on political overtones, fueled by a rebellion against received wisdom and enforced conformity. Kelly also discusses ongoing debates about authenticity, the desirability of period instruments, and the relationship of mainstream opera companies and symphony orchestras to music that they often ignore, or play in modern fashion. |
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Contents
1 What does early music mean? | 1 |
Medieval | 16 |
Renaissance | 30 |
Baroque | 49 |
5 Performing issues | 69 |
6 The modern earlymusic revival | 94 |
123 | |
125 | |
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accompaniment additional voices amateur aria aspect audience authentic Bach Bach’s Baroque music Baroque Orchestra basse danse builders called cantatas cantus firmus cathedral choirs choral chords church composers concerts conductor Consort continuing culture dance Dolmetsch early music early-music early-music movement early-music performers early-music revival eighteenth-century enormous ensembles equal temperament estampie founded French Gregorian chant Handel’s Messiah harpsichord hear Historical Performance imitation improvisation instrumental music Italian John keyboard Laurence Dreyfus Leonhardt listeners lute Machaut madrigal mass medieval music melody Michael Middle Ages Monteverdi motets musicians nineteenth century notation notes opera organ organist Palestrina past Paul Hillier performing styles perhaps pieces pitch play players polyphonic professional Rameau recitative recordings Renaissance music repertories rhythm ritornello sacred music seventeenth shawm singers singing solo soloists sometimes song sort sound standard strings summer workshops sung surviving symphony techniques temperament tradition tuning variety vibrato viol virtuosity Vivaldi vocal music