Early Music Muse is intended to appeal to both beginners and specialists in medieval and renaissance music. To be notified when new articles appear, click here.
This site is written by Ian Pittaway, singer and player of medieval, renaissance and early baroque music on period instruments – medieval harp, gittern, citole, symphonie/organistrum, medieval and renaissance lutes, bray harp, 4 course guitar, mandore, and koboz. Most articles on Early Music Muse have an accompanying performance video. These videos are also collected on one page here.
The content of articles on Early Music Muse and Ian Pittaway’s performance videos are © Ian Pittaway. They are not to be reproduced elsewhere without written permission.
The purpose of Early Music Muse is:
• a starting point for those new to the subject, with entries, for example, on historical periods of music – medieval, renaissance and baroque – and their associated instruments, such as the citole, gittern, medieval harp, portative organ, psaltery, vielle/viella or medieval fiddle, rebec, lute, orpharion, bandora, vihuela and viola da mano, guitar, and bray harp.
• to present new research and analysis, with entries, for example, on the stunningly crafted (and never before analysed, as far as I know) Boissart mandore in the V&A; a series about the 13th century Cantigas de Santa Maria; a three part series on the evidence for how to arrange and perform medieval music in an historically informed way; a series about Elizabethan clown and taborer Richard Tarleton; an article with a recording of 3 polyphonic songs from c. 1200, 2 of which have not been previously recorded; a series about the neglected and magnificent 14th century stone carvings of minstrels in Beverley Minster; a re-examination of the 14th century ‘gittern’ found in Elbląg, Poland, which is really a koboz; 3 articles about music and musical instruments in the paintings of Jheronimus Bosch; the work of Jehan Tabourot (under the pen name Thoinot Arbeau) to preserve 16th century French dances; and a series of 3 articles about how to interpret medieval iconography of musical instruments.
• to link early music to its musical, historical and cultural context through an examination of individual songs and tunes, returning to manuscripts and prints to interpret medieval and renaissance music from the source, such as the 12th century Kalenda maya and its relation to traditional music; the meaning and music of the 13th century English songs, Mirie it is while sumer ilast, Sumer is icumen in, Foweles in þe frith and Edi beo þu heuene quene; an explanation of the meaning of bryd one brere, c. 1290–1320, and historically-informed constructions of its missing polyphonic voice; an analysis of the untitled English estampie from the 13th–14th century manuscript, Douce 139; and of all 8 French estampies from c. 1300; Angelus ad virginem, preserved in 6 manuscripts from the late 13th to mid 16th century in England, France and Ireland; the sad story of In dulci jubilo, which first appeared in the 14th century; an explanation of Me lykyþ ever þe lenger þe bet by Wyngestyr þat joly syte, from a manuscript dated 1395–1401; an examination of the modern claim that The trees they do grow high has medieval origins; the background to the mid-15th century L’homme armé; the meaning of the early 16th century song fragment, Westron wynde; a 16th century song survival from a mystery play, Coventry Carol; the recent discoveries Rob. mason, builder, his galiard, 1589, and The Cuckold’s Lamentaction, 1574; the meaning of the mid-16th century Lyke Wake Dirge; the scandal of the 16th century French dance, La Volta; a detailed picking-through of the many myths surrounding Greensleeves; the background to We be Souldiers three, printed in 1609; and the meaning of the quietly profound song first printed in 1611, There were three Ravens;
To view an index of all the articles on this website, click here.
To contact Ian, use the form below.
