What makes French Baroque music sound so distinct from anything else? Without writing an entire dissertation, one feature is this particular chord!
Contrafacta
Have you ever heard a song and thought "I know this one, but with different words"? Welcome to the world of contrafacta! Early Music Sources explains the tradition of having multiple texts to the same tune (sometimes in translation, but not always)! Plus, do you know where Morley found "Now is the month of Maying"?
Galant Style
Melody, melody, more melody, turnips, and cabbages! ... or, what came after the high Baroque (and Bach). Things had become too complex (apparently) so the pendulum swung back toward something simpler to listen to and understand. Early Music Sources explains how that worked!
Composing from scratch
My favorite part of doing engraving work is seeing the tiny details of how composers crafted their pieces! Early Music Sources takes you through this process in their new video!
Misconceptions about nuns
What was the best way to be a female musician in 16th-17th-century Italy? What would give you stability, an education, and ensure your compositions and performances could be heard by the world? Become a nun! Early Music Sources explores what life was really like for musician-nuns in this great video!
A Ground Bass AND Polyphony?
Ok... but HOW? Early Music Sources does a fantastic job of explaining how William Byrd not only wrote beautiful polyphony, but also did so above a ground bass!
Period Composition
Is imitation the highest form of flattery? What about forgery? Early Music Sources takes on period composition with some GREAT stories of scandal and deliberate misattribution, as well as previews of some current composers worth exploring!
Editions
Why sing from an edition when you could sing from a source? What makes a good edition? Thanks to Early Music Sources for explaining why editions matter in this fantastic video!
P.S. One exception: if there were neumes, sing from neumes. Otherwise I'm all for using a good edition!
Gaudete!
Just in time for Christmas - Early Music Sources digs into the story behind Gaudete (and why I sang two different versions of the verse tune in concerts this December)!
Why bad performances are bad
What makes a "good" performance?
- stand as close to each other as possible
- no diminutions!
- only perform occasionally
- parts (and performers) should be in their best range
For other historical opinions about "good" or "bad" performances, check out this video from Early Music Sources! (The "good" part starts ~17:00).