What are your favorite early music pieces? Do you think music lovers from a couple of centuries ago found them just as appealing? This hour, we’ll explore collections of British songs and dances made by lovers of early music in the 18th century. They didn’t have playlists or mixtapes, but they transcribed and often published collections of their favorite Medieval and Renaissance works to share with their friends and London’s music-loving public. We’ll think about how early music, or “Ancient Music,” as it was often called, was defined in 18th-century Britain and how it helped to define British musical taste.
PLAYLIST
Purcell: The Tempest
Aradia Baroque Ensemble, Kevin Mallon
Naxos 2000 / 8.554262
Henry Purcell
Tr.13 Neptune’s Masque Act V no.13 (recitative and air) (4:23)
Segment A:
Deo gratias Anglia: polyphonies sacrées: chansons anglaises de la Guerre de Cent Ans.
Ensemble Céladon
Aeon 2012 / AECD1218
Anon.
Tr.1 Agincourt carol (4:58)
Miri it is: songs and instrumental music from medieval England
Dufay Collective
Chandos 1995 / CHAN9396
Anon.
Tr.20 Sumer is icumen in (Summer is come) [13th century] (4:37)
Echoes of an old hall: music from the Old Hall manuscript
Gothic Voices
Linn Records 2021 / CKD644
Leonel Power
Tr.20 Ave regina coelorum (2:14)
A gentill Jhesu music from the Fayrfax Manuscript and Henry VIII's book
Pro Cantione Antiqua
Hyperion 1985 / A66152
Master Sheryngham (c1500)
Side 1, Tr.4 Sheryngham, Ah, Gentle Jesu (03:28)
Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal
:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Harp collection: on original instruments
Frances Kelly
Amon Ra Records 1989 / CDSAR36
Edward Jones, arr.
Tr. 8 Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards: Rhyban Morfydd - Merch Megan - Glan Feddwdod myyn - Blodeu'r Grug - Confet Gruffydd ap Cynan - Rhyban Morfydd (excerpt of 6:11)
Segment B:
Two worlds of the Welsh harp
William Taylor
Dorian Recordings 1999 / DOR 90260
Anon. [Robert ap Huw Manuscript]
Tr.14 Robert ap Huw ms.: Kaingk Dafydd Broffwyd/Cainc of David the Prophet (01:21)
Anon. [Arr. Edward Jones]
Tr.15 Edward Jones, 1802: Caingc Dafydd Brophwyd/Cainc of David the Prophet (08:08)
Auld Scottish Sangs
Scottish Early Music Consort
Chandos 1988 / CHAN0581
James Oswald
Tr.4 Rory Dall’s Port (2:32)
Love is the Cause: Scottish Tunes for Viola da Gamba and Baroque Guitar
Jonathan Dunford & Rob MacKillop
Alpha 2009 / ALPHA530
Traditional [pub. Orpheus Caledonius]
Tr.3 Mary Scot (2:47)
Featured Release:
Indiscretion
The Curious Bards
harmonia mundi musique 2023 / HMM 905327
James Oswald
Tr.7 Tears of Scotland (4:01)
Turlough O’Carolan
Tr.10 Miss Noble (6:19)
Anon.
Tr.13 Reels [The Honorable Miss Rollo’s Reel, Drunken Friday, Kelo House (3:05)