LVBer needs LVBer.

[Enrique]

A friend of mine is fond of medieval music, and as I want to give him a present, I considered one of the CDs in the list I'm attaching would do. But my ignorance on that period, I admit it, is great.

And I have thought the guys at LVB could, perhaps give me a hand. Would you be so kind to choose one for me?

[Peter]

Well I'm afraid your file is a bit of a muddle to read! It's got a huge range of composers hardly any who are medieval - are you sure its Medieval rather than Renaissance composers you are looking for? Medieval is from about 476-1400. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian Chant, was the dominant form until about 1100. Polyphonic (multivoiced) music developed from monophonic chant throughout the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179), Perotin (c.1160-1220), Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) are some of the main composers.
The Renaissance is about 1400–1600, characterized by greater use of instrumentation, multiple melodic lines and by the use of the first bass instruments. Predominant forms are the Madrigal and Motet with composers such as Josquin Desprez (c.1440-1521), Palestrina (c.1525-1594), Victoria and William Byrd (c.1542-1623). If it's music from this era you want then go for a cd with David Munrow who was a specialist in the renaissance.

[Enrique]

Your are right. There's music from all periods there. I must had slept very little. Now the Renaissance in Italy, for instance, does not encompass the same chronological period as the Reanissance in, say England. So that to set limits for Europe as a whole is a difficult task if not impossible. (Middle Age upper limit = Renaissance lower limit.)

On the other hand, if you accept the traditional four period division for the history of civilization in Europe, then you must fit the Renaissance into one of them. The usual thing, if I'm not wrong, is to put it within the modern age. But it actually is a transitional period between two ages, and we could as well make it be a part of the Middle Age.


I always thought my musical horizon is small, because it leaves outside a whole era in the history of music. And if tis does so, it is not a matter of taste, but of little effort to get aquainted with something which, by its little diffusion, is extraneous to us listeners. We are not born liking Beethoven, but our ears get educated through contact with music. At the same time Medieval Music might, perhaps, be considered the infancy of music in the West.

Now adays, the great facilities to reach every kind of music make lack of diffusion an invalid excuse. When reading about Bach's life, I was told of the contrapunctists of northern Germany. Why not have a look there, for example? When I enter a Church in which an organ recital is about to begin, I know beforehand the first piece will be Bach. As I arrive methodically late, I miss the strong dish (meant by the organist be the entrance one). And I always wondered why the organist does not pick up some music predating Bach, when he has so much within this period at his disposal.

You have provided me with a concise Medieval and Renaissance music guide for listeners in two lines, for which I'm in debt.

[Sorrano]

With regards to trends, I need to ask if the various art genres followed the same pattern at the same time, for example, did the classical period for literature occur during the same time period as the classical period for music? The reason for asking this is that it seems to me that one followed the other and that they were offset by so many years.

[Enrique]

I can only say literature has almost always paved the way and the arts have followed suit.

[Peter]

With regards to trends, I need to ask if the various art genres followed the same pattern at the same time, for example, did the classical period for literature occur during the same time period as the classical period for music? The reason for asking this is that it seems to me that one followed the other and that they were offset by so many years.

Generally yes, but as STF92 says literature was always slightly ahead and music was generally the last to respond - for example the Romantic movement in literature is some decades ahead of music - it took the generation of Schumann/Liszt to respond fully to Goethe, Byron and Jean Paul. Painting was also ahead with artists such as Turner, Caspar David Friedrich.