This period seems to me transitional, maybe I've been over generous in giving it 100 years - what I have in mind is the transition from Renaissance style to Baroque.
Anyway, here's a thread to post ideas about it. Maybe it'll come to nothing, maybe it'll be a valuable catalogue of a really creative time in European music history.
And I'll kick it off with everyone's favourite Scottish mercenary composer callant, Tobias Hume
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiNzk2OTQ2MS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6MzAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0MDE5ODI1NTd9)
What a voice Suzie Le Blanc has! Magnificent. And I think the two viol players are much much better here than on their Naxos Hume integral.
Are the dates meant to cover birthdates for composers or composition dates of works?
Music composed in this 100 year period I think. Biber, Reincken, Blow - they're streng verboten.
Monteverdi was OK.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/41DxlxnuDTL._SY425_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/71oIOozxJxL._SY425_.jpg)
Yes thinking about what happens in Monteverdi Book V is what prompted this thread in fact. It seems to start off Renaissance style and end thoroughly baroque. Written in the last decade of the 16th century I think.
Trabaci is another good one to think about - I'd argue that his Bk 1 is Renaissance style and his Bk 2 is baroque.
Another easy pick from the period: Gesualdo.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/51LuqL-tjZL._AC_UY425_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/A1lHTp-BH3L._AC_UY425_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/91BWJtplOUL._AC_UY425_.jpg)
Another really easy one, and one of the best piano recordings of the century, even if it is anachronistic:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51aNT851-xS._UX425_FMwebp_QL85_.jpg)
This period is dear to me, because it marks the emergence of both solo keyboard music and ensemble instrumental music as distinct genres.
One mover and shaker in instrumental music from this period was Antonio Valente - he was a publisher of anthologies certainly, and maybe a composer in his own right too. Paola Erdas has been keen to explore the music he championed on record, this was released last year
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODkxNTYxOC4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE2NDczNjA0NTN9)
An earlier recording explored music coming out of the court of Gesualdo - there's some overlap, different instruments, the musician 10 years younger - that makes it all the more interesting I think
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODA3NDgxNC4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6MzAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0Njg4NDE4NDN9)
(http://www.glossamusic.com/glossa/files/References/241/GCD_920919_HD.jpg)
(http://faculty.fiu.edu/~dolatad/Il%20Furioso%20Web%20Page/Images/TOCC-0081-Castaldi%20smallest%20copy.jpg)
(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODgyMDQzNi4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE1OTkxNDM5MjF9)
Reviewing a list of other composers who cranked out works in the defined period, it does indeed end up a disproportionate favorite of mine. Another great composer who wrote quite a bit in the defined period was Heinrich Schütz. The Rademann set is a handy way to hear all of it. Some highlights:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/51guNerHWWL._AC_UY350_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/713cDH+rGfL._AC_UY350_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/81GT+BFIO7L._AC_UY350_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/71sTXDKgUJL._AC_UY350_.jpg)
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/WEBP_402378-T1/images/I/71wYVctJhcL._AC_UY350_.jpg)
Definiyely agree on Schutz - sorry about the lack of umlauts.
A composer that fits perfectly in the designated time period is Tomás Luis de Victoria. In addition to a few other discs, this handy-dandy set has served me well for over a decade now:
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YbVKgKPjL._SY425_.jpg)