# Recommendations of Renaissance music for a new listener?



## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

I've heard just enough bits & pieces of Renaissance music to pique my interest; I think it might be something I could really enjoy. But where to start!? It is a huge & confusing period, (at least to this listener!  ) ~ I'm hoping that some of TC's early music buffs could recommend a few of their favorite (specific) CDs that you think would be a good introduction for beginners?

Thanks! :tiphat:


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Do you think you're mainly interested in instrumental music, or vocal? Or do you not mind? 

If the former do you have any instruments which you really don't or do like? And if the latter, do you have any objection to religious music like masses?


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> Do you think you're mainly interested in instrumental music, or vocal? Or do you not mind?
> 
> If the former do you have any instruments which you really don't or do like? And if the latter, do you have any objection to religious music like masses?


Hmm.... well, mainly instrumental; in later music I usually don't care for vocals (especially opera), but possibly the earlier singing style is different enough that I might like it? (no problem with religious music). And my ignorance of what instruments were used in that time period is slightly embarrassing (  ! ) but in more modern music I prefer strings over anything else, & in non-classical I like guitar, mandolin, santur, etc. I'm not real big on harpsichord-like sounds, but I don't_ hate _it ...


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

The album that single-handedly began my love of Renaissance music was the Christ Church Cathedral Choir's recording of Palestrina's Missa O Sacrum Convivium. Here is the Kyrie:






More generally, pretty much any Renaissance recording performed by Stephen Darlington and his choir is bound to be excellent.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

One of my fav pieces of music of all time is Victoria's Requiem. Pure perfection.


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## Mad Cat (May 3, 2018)

I highly recommend Praetorius' "Dances from Terpsichore". Tons of fun!


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## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

laurie said:


> Hmm.... well, mainly instrumental; in later music I usually don't care for vocals (especially opera), but possibly the earlier singing style is different enough that I might like it? (no problem with religious music). And my ignorance of what instruments were used in that time period is slightly embarrassing (  ! ) but in more modern music I prefer strings over anything else, & in non-classical I like guitar, mandolin, santur, etc. I'm not real big on harpsichord-like sounds, but I don't_ hate _it ...


Sounds like you'd enjoy the viol music of William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons and others, plus the lute music of John Dowland.






If you want to get into the vocal music of the period perhaps take a look at the chansons before sacred music, it usually being accompanied by strings rather than unaccompanied in the case of the latter.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

laurie said:


> Hmm.... well, mainly instrumental; in later music I usually don't care for vocals (especially opera), but possibly the earlier singing style is different enough that I might like it? (no problem with religious music). And my ignorance of what instruments were used in that time period is slightly embarrassing (  ! ) but in more modern music I prefer strings over anything else, & in non-classical I like guitar, mandolin, santur, etc. I'm not real big on harpsichord-like sounds, but I don't_ hate _it ...


Try Jordi Savall and Anthony Lawrence King playing music by Lluis de Mila on Astrée.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

A couple of years ago we did a Recommended List of pre-1700 works.

Full list: The TC Top 100+ Recommended Pre-1700 Works List

In chronological order, to help you focus on the Renaissance: The TC Top 100+ Recommended Pre-1700 Works List


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

There is a nice list of works by century, from the 1100s through the 1600s, all with Youtube links, here.

https://sites.google.com/site/kenocstuff/ama/best-works-by-decade


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

The best advice is use youtube to explore and find out what you like, and then buy the CD. I myself have explored only very little of medieval/renassaince/baroque, but here are some composers I like
Johannes Ciconia




https://www.amazon.com/Johannes-Ciconia-1370-1412-Madrigals-Francesca/dp/B0000260S8

Alessandro Striggio - Mass for 40 and 60 voices





Allegri - Miserere mei Deus


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

*Dufay* (the most important composer in the transition from Medieval to Renaissance music)

Nuper rosarum flores: 



Lamentatio sanctae matris ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae: 



Rite majorem Jacobus: 




*Ockeghem:* (probably Josquin's teacher)

Deo gratias: 



Déploration sur la mort de Binchois: 




*Josquin:* (He is a must-- the Mozart or Beethoven of Renaissance music. Some of the works below have doubtful authorship)

Stabat mater dolorosa: 



Ave Maria: 



De profundis clamavi: 



Abasalon, fili mi: 



Nymphes des bois: 



Qui habitat: 



Miserere mei Deus: 



Missa Pange lingua _"et incarnatus est"_: 



Missa L´Homme Armé Sexti Toni, _"Agnus Dei"_: 



Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae, _"Sanctus"_: 




*Gombert* (probably Josquin's student)

In Te Domine Speravi: 



Media Vita: 



Regina Coeli: 



Musea lovis: 




*Isaac* (Anton Webern's favorite composer)

Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen: 



Virgo prudentissima: 




*Tallis*

Spem in Alium: 



If ye love me: 



Magnificat: 



Lamentations of Jeremiah: 



O Nata Lux: 




*Byrd*:

Ave verum corpus: 



Tristitia et Anxietas: 



Emendemus in melius: 



Mass for 3 voices: 



Mass for 4 voices: 



Mass for 5 voices: 




Byrd's wonderful oeuvre of virginal music would also serve as the great start point to explore Renaissance instrumental music, something like this:





I will post some other high and late Renaissance later.

The Renaissance period is such a rich and immense period of talents and creativity. It was said that when Beethoven composed the _Missa Solemnis_, he looked back to the Franco-Flemish masters in awe. Brahms and Bruckner studied Palestrina and German Renaissance composers for counterpoint and the art of choral writings. Webern adored Heinrich Isaac, and Stravinsky later discovered Gesualdo.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

silentio said:


> *Dufay* (the most important composer in the transition from Medieval to Renaissance music)
> 
> Nuper rosarum flores:
> 
> ...


But I think he's not so attracted to voices!


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> But I think he's not so attracted to voices!


He said "maybe the earlier singing style is different enough that I might like it?". I thought I should recommend these choral works because they are a world different from the later operatic, bel canto singing style...


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

silentio said:


> He said "maybe the earlier singing style is different enough that I might like it?". I thought I should recommend these choral works because they are a world different from the later operatic, bel canto singing style...


Ah well, in that case he should listen to Cappella Pratensis singing Ockeghem's Missa Mi Mi :devil:


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> Ah well, in that case he should listen to Cappella Pratensis singing Ockeghem's Missa Mi Mi :devil:


I need to thank you for the recommendation too. Just check out some excerpts on youtube, and the missa sounds great. Ockeghem is so underrated.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

silentio said:


> I need to thank you for the recommendation too. Just check out some excerpts on youtube, and the missa sounds great. Ockeghem is so underrated.


I plan on doing a survey of all Ockeghem mass recordings over the next few months. Missa Mi Mi is certainly a high point. The way the Cappella Pratensis sing is so original - almost medieval and IMO very expressive. It is, I think, one of the really great early music recordings. But the style is unexpected and disorienting. (In some ways I think it stands to renaissance music as Leonhardt's DHM Art of Fugue stands to baroque music.)



silentio said:


> Ockeghem is so underrated.


In Krenek's book on Ockeghem, he looks at the reception history and shows that many people in the 19th and early 20th century who wrote that Ockeghem is a cold and academic composer could not have possibly had access to the music.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Since nobody mentioned Orlando di Lasso, I will mention Orlande de Lassus. I recommend Lagrime de San Pietro, Psalmes and others by Philippe Herreweghe especially. It's all vocal music. I prefer (late) renaissance vocal music to opera type singing. Lute music by Italian and English composers are nice too, and vihuela music from Spain.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> I plan on doing a survey of all Ockeghem mass recordings over the next few months. Missa Mi Mi is certainly a high point. The way the Cappella Pratensis sing is so original - almost medieval and IMO very expressive. It is, I think, one of the really great early music recordings. But the style is unexpected and disorienting. (In some ways I think it stands to renaissance music as Leonhardt's DHM Art of Fugue stands to baroque music.)
> 
> In Krenek's book on Ockeghem, he looks at the reception history and shows that many people in the 19th and early 20th century who wrote that Ockeghem is a cold and academic composer could not have possibly had access to the music.


Another great composer that has been wrongfully neglected is Obrecht, Josquin's contemporary.

What do you think about Pierre de la Rue? The "Josquin" famous motet _"Absalom, fili mi"_ is being re-accredited to him. That motet was so beautiful.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

silentio said:


> Another great composer that has been wrongfully neglected is Obrecht, Josquin's contemporary.
> 
> What do you think about Pierre de la Rue? The "Josquin" famous motet _"Absalom, fili mi"_ is being re-accredited to him. That motet was so beautiful.


Obrecht's Missa Maria Zart is being performed in Leipzig and Antwerp this year - I plan on going to both! I know nothing about Pierre de la Rue - there's just so many Renaissance mass and motet composers that I've decided to limit myself to Dufay, Ockeghem, Josquin, Obrecht - it's already a lot of music!


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Mandryka said:


> Obrecht's Missa Maria Zart is being performed in Leipzig and Antwerp this year - I plan on going to both! I know nothing about Pierre de la Rue - there's just so many Renaissance mass and motet composers that I've decided to limit myself to Dufay, Ockeghem, Josquin, Obrecht - it's already a lot of music!


This is another gem from de la Rue:






Yes, I felt incredibly blessed and enriched to finally "crack into" this period. A year before, my impression was like "whatever, they all sound the same and just as bland as water." But now I have begun to develop the ability to recognize the unique types and varieties among the composers, and it feels like entering the world of fine wine.

We all need to be thankful for the commitments of various ensembles and the serious scholarships of musicologists who are bringing the Renaissance to the Renaissance masters.

P/S: my favorites at the moment are Dufay, Josquin, Gombert and Tallis. Didn't even have time to explore the late Renaissance, aka Palestrina, Victoria, Lasso, Byrd and Gabrielli yet!


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## Ras (Oct 6, 2017)

laurie said:


> I've heard just enough bits & pieces of Renaissance music to pique my interest; I think it might be something I could really enjoy. But where to start!? It is a huge & confusing period, (at least to this listener!  ) ~ I'm hoping that some of TC's early music buffs could recommend a few of their favorite (specific) CDs that you think would be a good introduction for beginners?
> 
> Thanks! :tiphat:


My favorite Renaissance albums of all time:

*Giovanni Gabrieli:* Music for Brass and Organ - Lucas Vis with Berliner Dom on Pentatone:
https://www.amazon.com/Gabrieli-Mus...1525871871&sr=8-1&keywords=gabrieli+lucas+vis

*Anthony Rooley's complete John Dowland box* is a good way to get started with Dowland - Songs - Lute music - consort music and the famous and unbeatable "Lachrima".:
https://www.amazon.com/Dowland-Coll...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1525872068&sr=1-1
*
If you just want the lute music i*t's cheap to get *Jakob Lindberg on Brilliant (o*riginally on Bis):
https://www.amazon.com/Dowland-Comp...d=1525872479&sr=1-1&keywords=lindberg+dowland

*Paul O'dette is also excellent in lute music by Dowland:*
https://www.amazon.com/Dowland-Comp...id=1525872329&sr=1-3&keywords=dowland+o'dette

It looks like O'dette is out of print but you can probably hear it on *www.spotify.com*

Another favorite that is out of print from *Hyperion: Dowland's "Lachrimae" with Paul O'Dette and the Parley of Instruments -* if you hurry you can get it for 4 dollars used here:
https://www.amazon.com/Dowland-Lach...=1525872536&sr=1-6&keywords=dowland+lachrimae

*Anthony Holbourne is also worth seeking out : Holborne: The Teares of the Muses, 1599 Elizabethan Consort - Jordi Savall's recording:
*https://www.amazon.com/Holborne-Tea...72773&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=anthony+holbourne

*Savall also recorded Dowland's Lachrimae:* 
https://www.amazon.com/Dowland-Lach...qid=1525873008&sr=1-1&keywords=savall+dowland

*And Savall recorded this anthology: Elizabethan Consort Music 1558-1603:*
https://www.amazon.com/Elizabethan-...rd_wg=l0xQ0&psc=1&refRID=VB9WMEA9JPJG4NDSMQXR

Everything I have mentioned here except the Hyperion album can probably be streamed on *www.spotify.com* or similar services. A huge advantage of using streaming services is that they are pretty good at recommending music similar to what you have been playing on their site - and they also give information about brand new recordings of similar music.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Wer ich eyn falck - Invicto regi jubilo by Heinrich Finck


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