Favorite Period of Early Music

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Several hundred years of music here, with many distinct styles and periods. The choices above are rough and disputable, but they give you some idea.

For me, Option 4 (Late Renaissance / Early Baroque) comes at the top. It's an obvious transitional period, with many great composers doing a wide variety of different things. You get the beginnings of instrumental ensemble music as a serious genre, as well as keyboard music and opera.

The Renaissance is great too, but it doesn't seem to have nearly as much diversity in terms of styles and genres. At least, that's my impression.

[Karl Henning]

I'm going to say Renaissance, because I always find it fulfilling to sing the rich choral tradition of that epoch.

[Drasko]

I find it difficult to split it clean chronologically. Here's what I seem to like most:

- Byzantine and western pre-Gregorian chant

- 1420-1520 (roughly) Franco-Flemish polyphony, first three generations, from Burgundian school to death of Josquin.

- Late 16th century Venetian polychoral style (Gabrielis et al)

- Late 16th century mannerist madrigals - Marenzio, Gesualdo, Mazzocchi, first 4 books of Monteverdi

- Early 17th century - Seconda pratica, the birth of opera - Monteverdi, Cavalli, Caccini, Peri ...

which would imply choosing option 4, but 'main line' of late Renaissance polyphony, fourth and fifth generation of Franco-Flemish and Roman Schools (Lassus, Willaert, Rore, Vaet, Palestrina and many others) leave me almost completely cold.

and most of 14th century (apart from Machaut) like ars nova and ars subtilior I'm still trying to crack properly.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

- 1420-1520 (roughly) Franco-Flemish polyphony, first three generations, from Burgundian school to death of Josquin.

Definitely a high point, but there are only so many masses and motets I can take.

- Late 16th century Venetian polychoral style (Gabrielis et al)

Yes, great stuff.

- Late 16th century mannerist madrigals - Marenzio, Gesualdo, Mazzocchi, first 4 books of Monteverdi

- Early 17th century - Seconda pratica, the birth of opera - Monteverdi, Cavalli, Caccini, Peri ...

I'm not too familiar with this material, though I like what I've heard. What really attracts me are the early keyboardists (Byrd, Sweelinck, Gibbons, Frescobaldi), some other material by these same composers, other English stuff (Dowland, Tallis), a few works by Lassus and Palestrina, and the first generation of significant German composers (Schein, Schuetz, Scheidt, Praetorius).

[Drasko]

Definitely a high point, but there are only so many masses and motets I can take.

I can listen to masses till tomorrow. Franco-Flemish masses were my entry point to early music. For me, with no knowledge of theory who can't tell inverted canon from inverted comma structure of the mass and always the same pre-set text were, and still are, immensely helpful. Kind of anchor.

I'm not too familiar with this material, though I like what I've heard.

For madrigals having (printed) texts is the key, absolutely essential.

[The new erato]

Franco-Flemish repertoire anno ca 1500 + early opera.