All the articles on earlymusicmuse.com are written by medieval and renaissance music performer and researcher Ian Pittaway. This page includes Ian’s performance videos across this site, all on one page. Each video is presented in the following format:
Title of music (composer)
Date of music
Instrument(s) played
Live blue links to article(s) in which the video appears
Video picture – click on the picture to go to the video.
Videos appear in date order, according to when the main article featuring the video was posted, newest at the top of the page, oldest at the bottom.
You may also wish to watch/hear one of the themed video playlists, as follows (click on the blue link to go the playlist):
medieval music … harp … citole … gittern … estampies … Cantigas de Santa Maria … renaissance music … lute, orpharion, vihuela/viola da mano … guitar … folk / traditional music … baroque music
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Mariam Matrem Virginem attolite (anonymous)
1396-99
bray lute, harp, citole, bray harp, gittern.
How reliable is medieval music iconography? Part 1/3: Understanding medieval art
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Sellenger’s Round (traditional)
1595-1646
koboz (kobza, cobza)
The Elbląg ‘gittern’: a case of mistaken identity. Part 2/2: Identifying the koboz.
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Angelus ad virginem missus (anonymous)
late 15th century
koboz (kobza, cobza)
The Elbląg ‘gittern’: a case of mistaken identity. Part 1/2: Why the koboz was misidentified.
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fantasia del quarto Tono (Luys de Narváez)
1538
vihuela/viola da mano
The vihuela and viola da mano: siblings of the lute
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Ductia(?), British Library Harley 978, folio 8v-9r (anonymous)
1261–65
citole, gittern
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 2/2: Medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique.
“the verray develes officeres”: minstrels and the medieval church
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
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La Uitime estampie Real (anonymous)
c. 1300
citole, gittern
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 1/2: Medieval plectrum materials and manufacture.
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 2/2: Medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique.
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Miro genere (By a wondrous birth)
Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars)
Mater dei (Mother of God)
(all anonymous)
c. 1200
2 and 3 voices, harp, citole, gittern
Polyphonic treasure in Lambeth Palace: three unique pieces from MS 457, c. 1200
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 1/2: Medieval plectrum materials and manufacture.
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 2/2: Medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique.
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
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La septime estampie Real (anonymous)
c. 1300
citole
The citole: from confusion to clarity. Part 2/2: playing style and repertoire
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 1/2: Medieval plectrum materials and manufacture.
Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 2/2: Medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique.
Alliterative animals making medieval music in Saint Mary’s Church, Cogges (14th century)
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.
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La seconde Estampie Royal (anonymous)
c. 1300
citole
The citole: from confusion to clarity. Part 1/2: What is a citole?
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.
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La quinte estampie Real (anonymous)
c. 1300
harp
The medieval harp (3/3): performance practice
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La Sexte estampie Real (anonymous)
c. 1300
harp
The medieval harp (2/3): harp symbolism
Alliterative animals making medieval music in Saint Mary’s Church, Cogges (14th century)
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
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La quarte Estampie Royal (anonymous)
c. 1300
harp
This video appears in The medieval harp (1/3): origins and development
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.
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La prime Estampie Royal (anonymous, completed by Ian Pittaway)
c. 1300
gittern
La prime Estampie Royal: completing the fragment of a medieval melody
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.
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willie and peggie (anonymous tribute to Richard Tarlton)
1588
lute, voice
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16th century
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Tarleton’s resurrection (John Dowland)
c. 1595
orpharion
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters
Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 2/4: Tarleton the player and playwright
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion
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Almande: La mon amy (anonymous)
1551
4 course guitar
The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day
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Sumer is icumen in (anonymous)
c. 1250
6 voices
Sumer is icumen in / Perspice Christicola: silencing the cuckoo
Performing medieval music. Part 2/3: Turning monophony into polyphony
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.
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Lully, lulla, thow littell tiné child = Coventry Carol (traditional)
manuscript dated 1591, music from possibly 100 years before
lute, recorder, 2 voices
Coventry Carol: the power of a song
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La giloxia (Domenico da Piacenza)
c. 1450
lute, recorder
The first dancing master’s manual: Domenico da Piacenza and the art of dance
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Foweles in þe frith (anonymous)
c. 1270
harp, voices, gittern, citole
Foweles in þe frith (birds in the wood): mystery and beauty in a 13th century song
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bryd one brere (bird on a briar) (anonymous, missing lead voice constructed by Ian Pittaway) – gymel, contrary motion, mixolydian versions
c. 1290–1320
2 voices
Bird on a briar (bryd one brere): constructing the missing voice
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untitled estampie, Douce 139 (anonymous)
late 13th to mid 14th century
citole
The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune
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La Volta (traditional)
1635/1612
4 course guitar, timbrel, crumhorn
The scandalous la volta: “such a lewd and unchaste dance”
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Drive the cold Winter away (anonymous)
c. 1601–1640
bray harp, recorder, vocal
Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17th century seasonal song
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Mirie it is while sumer ilast (anonymous)
c. 1225
voice, harp
Mirie it is while sumer ilast: decoding the earliest surviving secular song in English
Medieval music: a quick guide to the middle ages
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ductia or nota, Harley 978, folio 9 (anonymous)
1250–1275
gittern, fiddle
Performing medieval music. Part 2/3: Turning monophony into polyphony
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Cantiga 344: The miraculous night of peace (music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
harp
Performing medieval music. Part 2/3: Turning monophony into polyphony
“Infidels”, “traitors” and “that ugly bearded crew”: fear and loathing in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 5/6)
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Cantiga 42: A Virgen mui grorïosa ~ or ~ The jilted statue Cantiga (words Alfonso X, music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
fiddle, voice
Surprising songs of sentient statues: the Virgin, Venus, and Jason and the Argonauts (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 6/6)
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.
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Cantiga 159: The pilgrims and the stolen chop (words Alfonso X, music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
harp, voice
The animated chop of meat (and other miraculous marvels): pilgrimage songs in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 4/6)
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Cantiga de Santa Maria 173: The blessings of Maria ~ or ~ The kidney stone Cantiga (words Alfonso X, music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
harp, fiddle, voice
The Virgin’s vengeance and Regina’s rewards: the surprising character of Mary in the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 3/6)
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In dulci jubilo (Heinrich Suso)
1328
harp
Nails, needles, chains and angels: the pain and joy of ‘In dulci jubilo’
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Cantiga de Santa Maria 363: The troubadour in chains (words Alfonso X, music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
harp, voice
“I wish from this day forth to be her troubadour”: the composition of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (CSM article 2/6)
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A Preludium A H
A Ground A Holb
(Anthony Holborne)
c. 1590-95
bandora
Wired for sound: the bandora and orpharion
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Cantiga de Santa Maria 260: Tell me, O you troubadours (words Alfonso X, music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
harp, voice
“Why do you not praise her?”: the Virgin Mary and the troubadours (Cantigas de Santa Maria article 1/6)
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Kalenda maya (Raimbaut de Vaqueiras)
c. 1185
gittern
Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music
The gittern: a short history
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.
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Westron wynde (traditional)
c. 1520
bray harp, voice
Westron wynde: a beautiful fragment of longing
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The Cuckold’s Lamentacion = Delilah (Barry Mason & Les Reed)
1967
shawm, lute, 2 voices
The song Shakespeare stole from: a discovery from the 16th century
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.
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Angelus ad virginem / Gabriel fram evene king (traditional)
versions from late 13th to mid-16th century
harp
Angelus ad virginem: why early music and traditional music share the same gene pool
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Belle qui tiens ma vie (Beauty who holds my life) (traditional)
Written down in Orchésographie, 1588, published 1589, music from the author’s youth, c. 1540s
lute, voice
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: ‘Belle qui tiens ma vie’ and Arbeau’s ‘Orchésographie’ (1589)
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French renaissance dance:
Belle qui tiens ma vie
branle des lavandières
branle des hermites
(all traditional)
Written down in Orchésographie, 1588, published 1589, music from the author’s youth, c. 1540s
lute, 4 course guitar, cittern
The pavan, the priest and the pseudonym: ‘Belle qui tiens ma vie’ and Arbeau’s ‘Orchésographie’ (1589)
Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour
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the salutacyon
Bryng us in good ale
(anonymous)
c. 1460-90
bray harp, voice
One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph
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L’homme armé (anonymous)
c. 1450
lute
L’homme armé / The armed man: the remarkable life of a 15th century song and its contemporary resonance
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My Lady and her Mayd (William Ellis)
1652
2 voices
A brief history of farting in early music and literature
Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music
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Tourdion: Quand je bois du vin clairet (When I’m drinking claret) (traditional)
1530
crumhorn, lute, 2 voices
The crumhorn: a short history
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Rob. mason, builder, his galiard To playe vpon the lutt w. Wendy = Bob the builder, his galliard (Paul K. Joyce and Ian Pittaway)
2000, 2016
2 lutes
NEW DISCOVERY! Rob. mason, builder, his galiard
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When that I was and a little tiny boy (traditional)
c. 1600
lute, voice
Playing Shakespeare: the music of the Bard
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Hold thy peace
Three merry men
(traditional)
c. 1600
2 voices, cittern, recorder
Playing Shakespeare: the music of the Bard
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It was a lover and his lass (Thomas Morley)
1600
2 voices, 4 course guitar
Playing Shakespeare: the music of the Bard
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The trees they do grow high (traditional)
1776-1914
harp, voice
The trees they do grow high: a ballad of medieval arranged marriage?
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Lyke-Wake Dirge (traditional)
words notated 1686-87, music after 1895
harp, voice
The Lyke-Wake Dirge: the revival of an Elizabethan song of the afterlife
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Comoedians Maske
I longe for your virginitie
Ioy to the personne
(all traditional)
John Skene mandore book, 1625-35
mandore
The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 3 of 3: Creating a new mandore inspired by the ‘Boissart’ design
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There comes a ship a sailing (traditional)
The first two verses are from a manuscript dated 1470-80, now in the Royal Library, Berlin; the remaining verses are from Jan Suderman, Gesange (Song), 1626; and the melody is that given for it in Andernach Gesangbuch (Andernach Songbook), Köln, 1608.
psaltery, gittern, voice
The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.
The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.
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bryd one brere (bird on a briar) (anonymous)
c. 1290–1320
harp, voice
Bird on a briar: interpreting medieval notation, with a HIP harp arrangement
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Quhat mightie motione (words Captain Alexander Montgomery; music anonymous, partbooks of Thomas Wode)
words Captain Alexander Montgomery, 1540?-1610?; music partbooks of Thomas Wode written c. 1562-1590
bray harp, voice
The bray harp: getting a buzz from early music
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A dance on Cantiga 353: Quen a omagen da Virgen (music anonymous)
Cantigas de Santa Maria, 1257-83
oud, bagpipe
The oud: a short guide to a long history
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Greensleeves (anonymous)
1580
lute, voice
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 1 of 3: Mythology
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History
Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 3 of 3: Music
