Middle Ages Appreciation Thread

I'm a rock/metal fan first and foremost. However, I dig a lot of genres. Great music transcends genres in my opinion. For about three years now I've been listening to middle ages/renaissance music more than anything else. It's no wonder now, that some of the best guitarists out there study the classics.

The real classics!

King Henry the VIII of England is probably best remembered for his six wives, or the Church of England. But did you know in his younger years (before he became a tyrant) one of his hobbies was writing music? Greensleeves is often attributed to him, but I think now scholars know he didn't write it. One of my favorite songs of his though, is called Pastime With Good Company.

Another version from Blackmores Night (Ritchie Blackmore and wife Candice Night) picks up around the three minute mark. For those who don't know who Ritchie is, you've heard his music somewhere, at sometime. Trust me.

It's a shame ole King Henry got fat and crabby, I agree.

So who else was shredding on their lutes and such back then? Alfonso X, the King of Castile, Leon and Galicia from 1252 until his death!

Alfonso X commissioned or co-authored numerous works of music during his reign. These works included Cantigas d'escarnio e maldicer and the vast compilation Cantigas de Santa Maria ("Songs to the Virgin Mary"), which was written in Galician-Portuguese and figures among the most important of his works. The Cantigas form one of the largest collections of vernacular monophonic songs to survive from the Middle Ages. They consist of 420 poems with musical notation. The poems are for the most part on miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary. One of the miracles Alfonso relates is his own healing in Puerto de Santa María.
Wiki

Lend your ears to Cantiga 353

Here are a couple other pieces I enjoy.



Is anyone else a huge fan of music from the middle ages? I'd love to share more of this beautiful music, and I'd love to learn and hear about those I may not know about yet. I've got a Pandora station I've tailored for three years I'd be willing to share if there is a way to do that, that doesn't let people mess with my seeds. Anyway, just wanted to know what people thought before diving in with a massive post of song links. (This one only scratches the surface)



For your time, a fun one from Horrible Histories:

Middle ages guys rock! Now if I can convince my kids that middle aged guys do as well ...

a reply to: countingdown

I originally used medieval ages in the title of this thread, but then changed it to middle ages thinking it was more appropriate. It came to mind that if I used the words "middle ages" I'd get at least one or two comments about middle aged folks lol. Have no worries, unless you're a complete jerk as a father, your kids do appreciate you, even if they don't realize that yet.

Another great piece:

Love this one it actually Greensleeves but we are used to this version.



And of course the version for Cats sung by me .



My Cat likes the first version best

How wonderful that there are others 'out there' that like this music genre too.

I like bawdy songs, I guess because I have quite the collection of them.

Queen Elizabeth's favourite music (1533 - 1603).

...

One of my favourites.

Nice topic!

Some great pieces shared here already! Awesome stuff guys.

Even boymonkey74's version of Greensleeves for his cat made me smile.

I'll be posting some more soon. I want to do a little research so I can share some info about the composers as well.

It looks like my posts are more renaissance than middle ages...oops!

originally posted by: InTheLight
It looks like my posts are more renaissance than middle ages...oops!

Totally acceptable!

Getting into the later 1700s stuff I'd say is the cut off point. Starts getting into your Mozarts and Bachs. Still great but it's to recent for this thread imo.

originally posted by: WakeUpBeer

originally posted by: InTheLight

It looks like my posts are more renaissance than middle ages...oops!

Totally acceptable!

Medieval Instruments Demonstrated by Tapestry of Music:

13th Century Spanish music.

Not music related but a cool series:

The same group has a few other shows too, along the same lines, just different time periods.

OMG... I absolutely looooove medieval/renaissance/celtic style music !!

It's great to see other people appreciate it as well, not too many folks do.




One of my all-time favourite artists is Loreena McKennitt, she's a Canadian from the Maritimes. Her music ranges anywhere from Celtic to Renaissance to Moroccan... with a fantastic mixture of various instruments from all over the world:

This style 12 harp was built by the Lyon & Healy company in 1921 and is the smallest harp that the firm offered. It is strung with fiber core bass wires and gut strings closely matching the original specification when the harp was built.