Dunstaple John – Early Music Muse

Edi beo þu heuene quene: a love song by any name

Ian Pittaway church modes, citole, Corpus Christi carol, Down In Yon Forest, Dunstaple John, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, gittern, Glarean Heinrich, Glareanus Heinrich, gymel, Hill Richard, modes, Monachus Guilielmus, Nobilis humilis, Virgin Mary 4th February 20264th February 2026 0 Comment

Edi beo þu heuene quene is a 13^th century song in praise of the Virgin Mary, written in Middle English. It expresses loving familiarity with Mary, using the language of romantic attachment; and the two part vocal harmony sounds remarkably modern. This article explores why this is so, placing this beautiful song in its three contexts – poetic, musical and historical – followed by a reflection on singing medieval religious songs in a modern secular context.

This is a revised and expanded version of an article first published in January 2018, with new material and a new video performance of Edi, both polyphonic vocal lines sung, introduced by an instrumental verse on gittern and citole.

York Minster: 900 years of music iconography. Part 2 of 2: The instruments of the magnificent pulpitum or Kings Screen, 1473–1500.

Ian Pittaway Agricola Martin, bagpipes, bray harp, broken consort, Bruegel Pieter the Elder, clavicembalum, clavichord, clavicimbalum, clavicymbalum, clavicytherium, clavisimbalum, clavisymbalum, consort, cymbals, double recorder, drum, Dunstaple John, English consort, farting, fiddle, Fight Between Carnival and Lent by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, flute, fools, gittern, harp, harpsichord, iconography, lute, mixed consort, monochord, nakers, organ, organistrum, Pavel Žídek of Prague, portative organ, positive organ, Praetorius Michael, psaltery, recorder, rommelpot, rota, rote, rothe, rotta, sampogna, shawm, simfonia, sinfonye, spinet, symfenyge, symphonia, symphonie, transverse flute, triangle, tromba marina, trumpet, viella, vielle, Virdung Sebastian, virginal, York Minster 17th September 202528th October 2025 4 Comments

In the first article about York Minster, we spanned nearly 900 years of music iconography from circa 1030 to 1915, with an actual 11^th century oliphant in the crypt, and carvings of a pipe and tabor, harps, trumpets, gitterns, lutes, nakers, violin, timbrel, and portative organ.

This second article is dedicated to one outstanding feature of York Minster, the pulpitum or Kings Screen, with 56 carvings of instruments from 1473–1500: shawms, bagpipes, trumpets, transverse flute, recorder, double recorder, lutes, bray harps, gitterns, rotas, fiddles, symphonie, tromba marina, portative organs, positive organ, clavicimbalum, cymbals, fool’s percussion, triangle, nakers, and singers.

This article therefore acts as a survey of instruments played in England in the last quarter of the 15^th century, including some of the instruments lesser-known in the modern early music revival: the rota, the tromba marina, and the clavicimbalum.

Each carving of an instrument is photographed and described, accompanied by a video of each instrument playing music from the time.

Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour

Ian Pittaway baroque, broadside ballads, dance, Dowland John, Dunstaple John, early instruments, early music, lute, mediaeval, medieval, renaissance, renaissance dance 15th July 20159th September 2025 0 Comment

The renaissance marked a turning point for European culture. Beginning in Italy in the 14^th century, its influence spread across Europe, affecting all aspects of culture, including music. But it was in England that the sound of the renaissance first developed, spreading out to Burgundy, Italy, and then back to England in new forms. The invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy profoundly affected music-making, with musicians in households now able to write down music, use the new printed songbooks of composers such as John Dowland, and sing from broadside ballad sheets sold in the street. The spread of printing and literacy also affects our own knowledge of the period, with surviving instructions for dances and a wealth of music. Includes 15 active links in blue to videos of musical examples, illustrating the text.