# Who is the earliest composer you listen to regularly?



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

I have listened to Josquin, Palestrina, Machaut and even Hildegaard. But I don't usually venture into composers before Bach.

I just don't connect with early music enough to just put it on and relax. I still have to work hard at it.

What about you?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Who I listen to somewhat regularly, I think the earliest is Dufay. Or at least that I wish I had _time_ to listen to regularly. I seem to be taking a lot of time recently chasing down things I haven't heard yet instead of relaxing with what I already know.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Ockeghem and Josquin for me. I often listen to late renaissance music. Favorites are Lassus and Victoria.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Probably Purcell.


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

For me it is Mozart. Sometimes I hear music earlier than Mozart on the radio but I never choose to play it myself.


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

Claudio Monteverdi. 1567-1643


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Generally, Bach is the earliest one I seek out. Sometimes, I get in a Domenico Scarlatti mood.


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

Actually I screwed up and meant to post something else, but this is kind of an interesting answer too.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

*"Ravel had insomnia, so I guess it's him."

*


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## Myriadi (Mar 6, 2016)

Machaut. Every now and again I delve into earlier repertoire, but so far none of it has become regular listening to me.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

The earliest music that I generally listen to is from the transitional period between the Renaissance and the Baroque. Some of my favorite composers from this period include Byrd, Monteverdi, Sweelinck and Frescobaldi. It was an exciting time period when the new system of tonality was just starting to take shape, and much of the music offers an interesting combination of the older modal styles and the emerging tonal techniques. The harmonies are often pretty wild and crazy as a result of these two different systems interacting in unpredictable ways.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Machaut. I like lots of late medieval and renaissance music.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

I suppose it depends on what your definitions of "regular" and "early" are. I rarely listen to pre-Baroque music since most of it is vocal music and that's not my cup of tea.

Within my top 100 list of composers listened to, I have: 

*J.S. Bach* (1685, #1)
*Jean-Philippe Rameau* (1683, #40)
*Domenico Scarlatti* (1685, #41)
*Georg Frideric Handel *(1685, #43)
*Antonio Vivaldi* (1678, #44)
*Georg Philipp Telemann* (1681, #63)
*Arcangelo Corelli* (1653, #73)
*Henry Purcell* (1659, #87)
Apparently "Anonymous" is ranked #96, but I think it would be best to ignore that entry.

Based on this, I think the best answer I have is J.S. Bach.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I probably listen to J.S. Bach the most, especially the works for solo keyboard, violin and cello - I haven't any interest in music which pre-dates the 18th century and apart from Bach, Handel and Vivaldi I don't have all that much music from the late Baroque era either.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

de Cabezon would be the earliest composer I listen to regularly; born around 1510.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

elgars ghost said:


> I probably listen to J.S. Bach the most, especially the works for solo keyboard, violin and cello - I haven't any interest in music which pre-dates the 18th century and apart from Bach, Handel and Vivaldi I don't have all that much music from the late Baroque era either.


Have you tried Rameau?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> *"Ravel had insomnia, so I guess it's him."
> 
> *


That really Stang me, Arnold!!


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Music before Beethoven has never really clicked for me (and that includes Mozart, for the most part). I'm trying to learn to appreciate earlier composers though.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Lassus, Machaut, Dufay, Gesualdo, Josquin and Ockeghem are some of my favorite composers of *all *time. Some weeks, they're all I listen to. Not only that, but theoretically I have an endless fascination with their polyphony :tiphat:


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Ravel, Debussy and Stravinsky from the early 20th century.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Monteverdi from the back of my head, specially his Maria Vespers


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Hildegard von Bingen for me.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I don't know. I am an unconditional fan of Marcel Pérès, and a lot of what he does is both anonymous and very early indeed.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I listen to such a variety of music that even some of my favourite composers don't get heard _regularly_. Depends on how you want to define it. But of the composers who have as good a chance as any of being heard, then I suppose it's Hildegard.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

Nereffid said:


> I listen to such a variety of music that even some of my favourite composers don't get heard _regularly_. Depends on how you want to define it. But of the composers who have as good a chance as any of being heard, then I suppose it's Hildegard.


I have over 76 days of music on my computer it is hard to just listen to one person regularly.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The earliest music I regularly listen to is a selection of dances from Praetorius's Terpsichore, ca. 1612. I first had this on an Archiv sampler LP many many years ago, and it captivated me. Still does.


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## Guest (Jul 26, 2017)

Who _do _I listen to - on a regular basis - Haydn.

Who _have _I listened to (and whose work I've liked enough to buy) - Bach and Vivaldi.


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## Fugue Meister (Jul 5, 2014)

Byrd, Gibbons, Gesualdo, & Purcell are all on my weekly musical intake..


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## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

Probably that famous composer Anonymous, from the earliest period of medieval music. They composed loads of music! lol But seriously, 10th century plainchant I think, Carmina Burana stuff like that.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Fugue Meister said:


> Byrd, Gibbons, Gesualdo, & Purcell are all on my weekly musical intake..


All awesome composers! :tiphat:


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## Rob (Apr 20, 2010)

J.S. Bach and Silvius Leopold Weiss.

Music written pre-1700 still tends to bore me, and the biggest reason might be that I can't relate emotionally with the overall "feel" of it, so to speak. Ten minutes, then I feel detached. Years and years of Mahler and his contemporaries can spoil your ears...

I'm guessing this will change in time, though; five years ago I felt the same detachment listening to some of Bach's works, and now I enjoy his music more than probably anything.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

On a regular basis: Vivaldi.

Occasionally: Byrd, Gabrieli, Pretorius.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

After some digging I found Gregorio Allegri is the " earliest" composer I do have something on record.
Miserere performed by the Tallis Scholars.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Chronochromie said:


> Have you tried Rameau?


No, but I appreciate how significant a figure he was. I'm not into Baroque opera at all so the only output of Rameau's that might be of interest would be his harpsichord pieces.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

I regularly listen to reneissance vocal polyphonic music. Very powerful, and scary stuff. I try to stay away from it, but sometimes I can't resist! Josquin and Lassus are my favourites.


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## Guest (Jul 26, 2017)

classical yorkist said:


> But seriously, 10th century plainchant I think, Carmina Burana stuff like that.


Hang on - that was composed in the 1930s!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Schoenberg.*

*Kidding!

J.S. Bach, of course!!


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

I love early music.

My earliest early listening is Hildegard von Bingen and Machaut.


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

Pugg said:


> After some digging I found Gregorio Allegri is the " earliest" composer I do have something on record.
> Miserere performed by the Tallis Scholars.


That is a beautiful recording.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

On a extreme regular basis: JS Bach
On a very regular basis: from Sweelinck to Buxtehude
On a less regular basis: Ockeghem/Josquin

On a very less regular basis: everything after Beethoven.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I do love early music, but I don't listen in a regular way to 'composers', just as tunes take my fancy - particularly dance music.

To answer the question - Hildegard of Bingen is the earliest composer I'm likely to listen to, though there's also the slightly earlier Godric of Finchale, who has always interested me, as we used to live near Finchale Abbey and I studied the text of his songs at university:





I do listen quite a lot to Elizabethan music, particularly Byrd and Dowland, and songs by a variety of others. But more regularly to Baroque composers - Handel, Lully & Vivaldi, mostly.


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

Guillaume de Machaut (1300-77). Genius!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

KenOC said:


> The earliest music I regularly listen to is a selection of dances from Praetorius's Terpsichore, ca. 1612. I first had this on an Archiv sampler LP many many years ago, and it captivated me. Still does.


Gosh, yes - Praetorius *rocks*! :tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

MacLeod said:


> Hang on - that was composed in the 1930s!


That's the other Carmina Burana.


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## mathisdermaler (Mar 29, 2017)

Palestrina with 15 characters


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> No, but I appreciate how significant a figure he was. I'm not into Baroque opera at all so the only output of Rameau's that might be of interest would be his harpsichord pieces.


Give it a shot. I prefer Rameau's keyboard music to his operas; some great music to explore.


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## lextune (Nov 25, 2016)

Regularly? Beethoven.

Occasionally I will visit the great Bach keyboard works, but my playing, (and for the most part my listening), starts at Beethoven...

Beethoven
Chopin
Liszt
Debussy
Scriabin


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Beethoven is as early as I regularly listen.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Bach is the earliest for me.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Tchaikov6 said:


> Bach is the earliest for me.


*has Lully as avatar*


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

For me it is Dufay. His isorhythmic motets are among my stable regular listening. 

However, I am beginning to appreciate Machaut. If we "clicked", the position will be shifted back to Machaut


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Joaquin and other composers of his time. I will occasionally listen to earlier music, but not that often.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Probably Machaut, but not that regularly....Josquin, Lasso, Susato, fairly often....definitely Monteverdi, he's a regualr


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Delicious Manager said:


> Guillaume de Machaut (1300-77). Genius!


The one and only! <3


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Early music is all that matters to me at the moment, nothing effects me as strong.

Medieval music balances between the groovy and the mystical.
Renaissance is a surreal cloud of moving harmonies, that you get lost in and bury your mind in.

The Ars Nova, futurism of the medieval ages! 
The Franco-Flemish school, the rise of the most significant polyphony ever written (regardless of what Bach and the future modernists wrote)

I could name composer after composer and what they mean to me but early music, just like modernism is a way of life, it absorbs you and immerses you deeper into an incredible mystical world of endless possibilities....and is simply entertaining to listen to, too! :cheers:


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

ST4 said:


> The one and only! <3


It's simply mindblowing.. to the extent that one wonders can this be original. With modern instrumentation and some other little tweaks this could be written in 20th century.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Lenny said:


> It's simply mindblowing.. to the extent that one wonders can this be original. With modern instrumentation and some other little tweaks this could be written in 20th century.


There is a lot of Medieval and Renaissance music that shares similarities with modern music, it's an amazing aspect to the way music has evolved and fed off itself over time. Maybe the next century of classical music will be a modern equivalent to the baroque? who knows, but music evolution is cyclic in layers (if that makes sense).

Have you heard Gesualdo, Lassus or Ockeghem? they all have many strikingly modern-sounding works. Very awesome stuff!! :cheers:


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

It's a shame that early music lovers (like contemporary music fans) seems to be in the minority on this forum. Why aren't there people tripping over eachother to hear the Flemish or the Ars Nova? Why is medieval music so neglected?


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

ST4 said:


> There is a lot of Medieval and Renaissance music that shares similarities with modern music, it's an amazing aspect to the way music has evolved and fed off itself over time. Maybe the next century of classical music will be a modern equivalent to the baroque? who knows, but music evolution is cyclic in layers (if that makes sense).
> 
> Have you heard Gesualdo, Lassus or Ockeghem? they all have many strikingly modern-sounding works. Very awesome stuff!! :cheers:


Gesualdo and Lassus are familiar, but Ockeghem not so much.

But the _Ars Nova_ is something I really need to dig deeper. Very interesting indeed.


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## Lenny (Jul 19, 2016)

ST4 said:


> It's a shame that early music lovers (like contemporary music fans) seems to be in the minority on this forum. Why aren't there people tripping over eachother to hear the Flemish or the Ars Nova? Why is medieval music so neglected?


Because mediaval is *dark age*, just like post modern! Just kidding, I think most people on this forum like all music.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

I think that a lot of people don't like it (or like it as much) because so much Medieval and Renaissance music (except for songs) isn't melody based. There are chants too but they're not exactly repeating patterns of pitches, it's essentially a long paragraph without any full-stops. Renaissance music tends to be hyper-contrapuntal but unlike Bach, not so much fugal or canonical on a easily recognizable melody or motif (in the commonly understood sense).

So much Renaissance music (just like Debussy, Webern or Ligeti) is a constant flow of material, like waves going in and out. There is something on those lines, that people likely struggle with (which is often the same for composers like Xenakis or Stockhausen too, disregarding dissonance) 

The comparisons are really interesting and they are intentionally there. The 20th century seemed to have seen a more mystical revival of ancient ideas and of course looking back that far in history is going to give the modern man new ideas. :tiphat:


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

Even as an early music enthusiast (admittedly self-proclaimed, I still have _much_ to learn), I would say currently Guillaume de Machaut. There are a fair number of compositions from centuries earlier than him that I enjoy, but the composers of them are unfortunately unknown.


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## Lever Du Jour (Dec 12, 2019)

Dietrich Buxtehude, that man was a genius among geniuses, I remember when I discovered his music not too long ago, it was truly a divine revelation!


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## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

Ockeghem, probably. Not a huge fan of the 'spiky' Medieval aesthetic, even isorhythmic Dufay is a bit too close to that for my liking. But with Ockeghem something like modern music takes shape for the first time, at least how I see it.

Plus Ockeghem was an absolutely genius composer, of course, arguably the greatest of the entire Renaissance period.


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