music2-lnks – 9/8/04

A set of web links to information on medieval European music by Dame Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon.

NOTE: See also the files: music-msg, music-bib, music-lnks, P-Polit-Songs-art, p-songs-msg, instruments-msg, harps-msg, song-sources-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: Aoife
Subject: Links: Online Medieval Music--LONG
Date: September 8, 2004 12:07:57 PM CDT
To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com, 

Greetings everyone!

By request, here's a  Links List of online Medieval and Renaissance music,
some written, some lyrics, some filk, and some MP3's or .WAV's. This list
will cover music for voice, instrument, and dance. Obviously we can't be
comprehensive, but there is so much great stuff on the 'net that this list is
VERY long. Please dig in and enjoy, even if you are only a listener, as am I.
Unfortunately since this list is so long, I concentrated mostly on European music. If there is a request out there otherwise, I could try another culture at a later date.

Several folks have requested a reprise of a musical Links List, not the
least of which is my own revoltingly musically talented little brother and
his nefarious acquaintances, so here you go, Willum! Research to your heart's
content! There are, of course, many musicians and musical performers I'd
also like to thank in this manner.Gwendolyn the Graceful, Brion en kazi,
Erwilliam Bardo and company, the talented and ever-ready musicians of
BMDL (what's in the water there that so many hugely talented people live in
one place?), and others have all melodically enriched my life, and so Ithank
you. There are many more, too many to name. So on behalf of the rest of us,
who aren't musical, thank you all those who filk, those who try, those who
listen with educated ears, those whose standards of acceptable music have
made them SCA legends, those who spread the word that Medieval Music
is terrific (and you can dance to it), those whose ensembles
and corps of musicians enrich our world. What you do for the rest of us is
one of the great things that makes the SCA seem like the real thing.

As always, please forward this wherever it will come in handy, but please
strip it of my address before you do so. There's some nasty bugs out there,
and if I get them, the Links Lists cease operation! So be kind, be
considerate, and strip my *email* bare, before sending it on.

Cheers

Aoife

Dame Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon
Now Known as: D2 the Terror Continues!
from the autumnal Canton of Riverouge,
in the mountainous Barony of the Endless Hills,
in the majestic Sylvan Kingdom of Aethelmearc.

Music resources:

Music Publisher's Association
Music Copyright Information
http://host.mpa.org/

Stefan's Florilegium
http://www.florilegium.org/
Click on performance Art, then pick a  topic! Several song-books, guides to
story telling and musical instruments, bardic arts, etc are included here.

Legio Drakonis's Aoife Files--aw shucks! (the previous Musical Links
List is right here--Thanks Guys :)
http://www.legiodraconis.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1713

Choral Public Domain Library
http://www.cpdl.org/
Free Choral Sheet Music Archive

Sheet Music Plus--Medieval Sheet Music
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/enter.html?s=overture00&t=Medieval&e=c&k=medieval+music
I don't normally list retailers, but this one has books of medieval sheet
music starting at $5.00. Sounds like a bargain to me! Music is available for
guitar, recorder, voice, piano, etc. and there are 106 selection in the
Medieval Music category.

Early Music FAQ
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/
SEE also:
Chord structure in medieval music
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/chords.html
(Site Excerpt) For many musicians, especially those more familiar with other
styles, a fundamental early question concerns the chords of medieval music.
While a description of chords can become rather technical, the interested
amateur will find it fascinating when supplemented by recorded examples, and
when considered in small pieces. The following discussion is written in an
open and inclusive manner, and should remain approachable for the careful
reader.
SEE also:
A Selection of Medieval Music
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/beginlst/medieval.htm
(Site Excerpt) Although the Medieval era stretches back centuries, and
indeed plainchant repertories go back much farther, the starting point for
this survey will be the early polyphonic music and contemporaneous
monophonic songs of the 12th century. This is the time at which the medieval
repertory can really be said to begin.
SEE also:
Midi and Sound Files
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/scores/sounds.html
Approx. 40 sound files to choose from.

SCA Medieval and Renaissance Music Homepage
by Gregory Blount of Isenfir (Greg Lindahl)
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/music.html
(Site Excerpt) Western European music in the SCA period has long been
studied under the name `early music.' There are many groups which perform
such music and many sources should be available in a good library. In
addition, there is Usenet newsgroup, rec.music.early, which covers this
topic. You may also obtain this newsgroup via a mailing list.

SCA Minstrel Homepage
by Gregory Blount of Isenfir (Greg Lindahl)
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/minstrel.html
(Site Excerpt) This is a homepage for the performing arts as practiced in
the Society for Creative Anachronism. The arts include songs, filk (new
words to an existing tune), story-telling, and juggling, but generally don't
include consort music. The SCA covers (theoretically) mostly Western Europe
from the fall of Rome until 1600.

A Singer's Guide to
Bibliographic Resources for
Medieval and Renaissance Music
Kirsti S. Thomas/Esther Mendes
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/singbib.html
(Site Excerpt) In keeping with the selective nature of this bibliography, I
have attempted to keep primarily to general sources, as opposed to sources
which deal solely with a specific time period or geographic location. At the
same time, I have I have also tried to avoid works which are very scholarly
in nature, or which assume an extensive background in music history or
theory. Given that English is the primary language of the intended audience
of this bibliography, there are some exceptions regarding works which deal
with English song and/or language.

A collection of music from the Middle Ages (In French)
http://perso.club-internet.fr/brassy/PartMed/Partmed.html

The Early Music Web Ring
http://g.webring.com/hub?ring=earlymusic
Contains 97 sites, mainly of musical groups. Other good stuff is there,
too.

Early Music Facsimiles webring
http://j.webring.com/hub?ring=earlymusicfacsim

Free Sheetmusic webring
http://m.webring.com/hub?ring=freesheetmusic

Sixteenth Century Ballads: A work in progress...
by Gregory Blount of Isenfir (Greg Lindahl)
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ballads/ballads.html
(Site Excerpt) Much attention is paid to post-1600 ballads, both traditional
and broadsides, but only a few sixteenth century ballads are known. Of the
ones which are known, most are not printed with the lyrics and tunes
together, so are not very accessible to the casual reader. The goal of this
project is to produce a collection of "interesting" ballads from before
1600, containing sheet music and lyrics, both in their original form, and in
a form intelligible to a modern listener.
SEE also:
Ballads from Non-English Cultures
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ballads/other_cultures.html
SEE Also
Joseph Lilly's "A Collection of Seventy-Nine Black-letter Ballads and
Broadsides"
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ballads/lilly.html

Does it *sound* period?
From Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: andrew at ........(Andrew Draskoy) email masked
Subject: Re: Authenticity & Analogy
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1992 19:39:57 GMT
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/period_singing.html
(Site Excerpt) When I learn a new piece, I look at it's elements to see if
they are period, blatantly non-period, or somewhere in between. I also check
my overall impression of the piece, since quantitative analysis only works
so well on an abstract artistic object. If *any* element is obviously
non-period to my perception (being vaguely knowledgable about it) then I
won't sing it at an event, though I might consider it at a post-revel.
Period english songs are unfortunately rare, so I think it's valid to flesh
out a repertoire with pieces that still maintain a period feel.

Dance Music:

University of Waterloo SCA Web Server
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/
Scroll down a good bit to find the Music links.
SEE also:
Lady Phaedria d'Aurillac's Music Arrangements
http://tirannon.tky.hut.fi/dance/sca_mp3/extra/phaedria/index.htm
SEE also:
Eric Praetzel's music that's easy to learn on recorder:
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel/melodies/
SEE also:
The SCA Dance Music of Alaric MacConnal (Robert Smith)
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel/alaric/
SEE also:
The SCA Dance Music of Mistress Ellisif Flakkari
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel/ellisif.html
SEE also:
Arianna of Wynthrope's Music Arrangements
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Arianna/
SEE also:
Kathy Van Stone's Music Arrangements (Note: aka Elsbeth Ann Roth)
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Elsbeth/

The classical Midi Collection
http://www.classicalmidiconnection.com/cmc/renaissa.html
Click on a title to hear the music

Misc. Historical Music Information:

Regia Anglorum: Music and Verse in Anglo Saxon and Viking Times
http://www.regia.org/music.htm
(Site Excerpt) In Saxon England there were professional storytellers, called
'scops', who would travel from village to village telling tales in return
for food, lodging and money. A good scop was a respected member of the
community and could be well rewarded for his skill. A scop could also use
music to emphasise parts of the story, or as 'background music'. Indeed,
another word for a poet or storyteller was 'hearpere' (harper), implying the
use of this instrument (or the lyre it developed from) for this person.

Cantaria: A Learning Library of Bardic Music
http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/
(Site Excerpt) Cantaria is a library of "bardic" folk songs, mostly from
Ireland, Scotland, and England, intended to be an educational tool for
propagating the living song tradition through passing on folk songs (old and
new) in a medium where far-flung singers can share songs as easily as if we
were all circled up around a fire. So, come join us; there is always room
for one more singer and always time for one more song. Cantaria is unique
among lyric web sites because almost every song in our archive has an
accompanying recording of the song being performed. The library currently
contains lyrics for over 225 songs, contributed by a variety of singers,
including Andy Irvine and Andy M Stewart.

Labrynth: Medieval Music
(Note that Labrynth no longer maintains it's pages. Navigate links with
caution)
http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/subjects/music/music.html

Music in Medieval Jewish Spain
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/8636/Music.html
(Site Excerpt) Many Ladino folksongs have been preserved through the
Sephardic tradition after the expulsion. Most have been passed down orally
from mother to daughter, who may have continued to speak in Ladino while the
men, who worked outside the home, learned the local language of their
non-Jewish countrymen. It is thus hard to tell which ones can actually be
traced to Spain. However, the same songs can be found in the Sephardic
communities of Morocco, Greece, Turkey, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Israel, which
implies that the songs are from before 1492. Many of these songs were sung
unaccompanied.

The Music of Henry VIII
http://tudors.crispen.org/music/

Early Child Ballads
Dani of the Seven Wells
mka Dani Zweig
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/ballads/early_child/
(Site Excerpt) A ballad is a story, distilled to its essence and set to
song. The song itself tends to be unpretentious - usually a simple verse
form set to a modal melody - but an unpretentious song can still be lovely,
as many ballads are. It is probable that simplicity has had much to do with
the ballad's continued survival and popularity: Ballads have been passed
down through the centuries, changing to suit the tastes of the singers,
borrowing from the music of the day, borrowing from each other. Every few
decades the ballad seems to undergo a revival, with old books and
manuscripts being searched for old ballads and new inspiration. The result
is a living musical tradition whose roots can be traced back over half a
millenium.

Legends, Ballads, and Broadsides
http://legends.dm.net/ballads/
This site is a series of links and bibliographies on the subject.

The Contemplator's Short History of
Broadside Ballads
http://www.contemplator.com/history/broadside.html
(Site Excerpt)
Folk music is viewed primarily as a rural tradition where songs are passed
down by word of mouth. In fact, printed folk music was extremely popular for
more than four hundred years, beginning in the sixteenth century. Words to
popular songs were printed on sheets of varying lengths. They came to be
known as broadsides. Broadsides originally had no music but a note that the
words were sung to a well known tune. Broadsides were popular in Britain,
Holland, France, Italy, Spain and Germany and later in America.
Interestingly, many early scholars distinguished between traditional ballads
and broadsides, considering broadsides "bad representations of the
original." (1)

Filks and Songbooks:

On Filks And Music In The SCA
Sarra Graeham
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/filk.and.the.sca.html
(Site Excerpt) Previously, I argued that the major problem with encouraging
modern tunes (say 17th C. "traditional" and onwards) for SCA songs on the
grounds that our ears hear those tunes as familiar, and therefore the effect
on the listener is authentic, is that medieval and Renaissance music takes
some listening-to to get used to, and if we are continually offering up OOP
music, the less educated ears among us will never get the opportunity to
become more educated. The effect of this is to have what we have now, a
Society where most SCA members hear "traditional" music as "period", because
it's old, or at least older than the Billy-Joel-tune filks that are not
uncommon enough. (My suggested fix, BTW, is *not* to make an attempt to ban
all music written after 1600, but rather to sing some of the more tuneful
pieces written before then in the most casual of circumstances, like during
feast or at bardic circles, so that people become educated in spite of
themselves.)

The Known World Virtual Songbook
http://www.goldgryph.com/songbook/
(Site Excerpt) Welcome to the Lochac Virtual Songbook! This undertaking was
commissioned by His Occidental Majesty Fabian King of the West in AS XXXV,
and was prepared by Master Dafydd of the Glens with the technological
assistance of Mistress Yseult de Lacy, OL, and too many other singers and
musicians to relate, but thanks are due especially to Hey Nonny-Nonnymous in
the Barony of St Florians. You guys rock! To listen to and download music
from this site, you will need Noteworthy, which is the generally accepted
music program in the Kingdom of Lochac. It runs perfectly on Windows, is no
trouble to anybody and (best of all) takes up very little bandwidth. It is
now available from the web at www.ntworthy.com

The Music of Darklands
http://www.darklands.net/dl_music.html

Medieval Melodies for Filking
A collection assembled by Vladislav the Purple
lst edition, July A.S. XXXI
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/vladislav/filk/
(Site Excerpt) One of the defenses for performing modern folksongs in an SCA
context runs as follows: since almost no Scadians understand Provencal, Old
French, or Latin, it is pointless to prepare songs in those languages for
performance; modern folksongs in English, on the other hand, are accessible
to the audience. However, the practice of filking, of taking an existing
melody and providing new, usually topical and/or satirical, lyrics, is in
fact the direct counterpart of the Medieval practice of writing contrafacta.
Following a suggestion by Duke Sir Cariadoc of the Bow and Mistress
Elizabeth Dendermonde, this collection provides a selection of authentic
Medieval and Renaissance tunes for which one can write new lyrics,
SCA-specific or not as one prefers. (note: files appear in .giff, .tiff,
compressed .tiff, midi and .gzipped postscript)

SCA Songs
http://www.dnaco.net/~mobrien/filk/scalink.html
(Site Excerpt) Darn near all the SCA filks on the Web (plus some period
songs and related stuff). Last updated December 9, 2001. (Note that some of
these sites are no longer up).

Kestrel's House of Poetry and Song
http://kestrel.hawk.org/house.html
(Site Excerpt) Kestrel's house is a game I play where in medieval times you
would have a central place to go to if you wanted a song or poem.  I collect
the songs and poems from all over.
I will look at and read anyone's poem or song.  Often times I will add it to
my personal collection.  Items that I find
on the web will have links placed here.  Items that I am sent via email may
find their way to this page as a zip file. This page is a central location
for links that I find and poems and songs that I have permission to post on
the web.
In some cases I will link directly to a file on another site.  Usually I
just link to the page.

Katriana's Song Book
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/tomes2/songbook.html

The Bards of Northsheild (and their works)
http://www.northshield.org/bards/

Ioseph of Loxsley Songbook Website (by Joe Bethancourt)
(Warning: graphics and silliness intense--not for those in a hurry or in a
bad mood)
http://www.whitetreeaz.com/vintage/bdaysong.htm
about 2/3 OOP content, but some good SCA-related material as well. Scroll,
click
and confuse your way through this site, where you will find, among other
things:
The Mongol Birthday Song linked above, which includes these verses unknown
to me:
*Raise your cup of bitter cheer,
Make the barman eat his ear
*Fear and gloom and darkness but
no one found out YOU KNOW WHAT
*You're a period cook, its true
ask the beetles in the stew
*Now your jail-bait days are done
let's go out and have some fun!
*You must marry very soon
baby's due the next full moon

Database: Songs Sung in Ealdormere
http://ealdormere.sca.org/songs/
Includes three songbooks as well as lyrics pages

The Unofficial College of St. Golias Songbook
http://www.nmt.edu/~atrivitt/songbook/songbook.htm
(Site Excerpt) Several of our singers came up with a bright idea of putting
the songbook online, whereas I had gotten the idea of putting Lady Lill of
the Vanishing Woods' (aka Mom aka Lill Kracke) songbook on the computer. I
got the task of typing/scanning, formating, organizing, and maintaining the
songbook. There are currently over 300 songs in our songbook. Then I got the
bright idea of putting it online in time for the fall event season, silly
silly me. So here it is for better or worse.

College of Sainte Katherine Songbook (West Kingdom)
http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~jsu100/songbook.html
(Site Excerpt) This is the offical site for the Kates Songbook. This song
book is free to download, and print. You may also distibute copies to
individuals provided that you do so free of any charge.

Mot's Songbook
http://www.geocities.com/mot at swbell.net/msb.html

The Charric Van der Vliet Songbooks
(C) 2001 by C. A. Powers - All Rights Reserved
http://sgtc.20megsfree.com/songbook.html
(Please note that this site is filk at it's most massive: huge and
comprehensive---and it makes my screen freeze).

SCA-Lochac Bardic Links
http://www.sca.org.au/bardic/bardic_links_page.htm

Ana'a Crafts: Making Music
http://www21.brinkster.com/annascrafts/play.htm
A massive list of links to Music sites.

Yahoogroups:
SCA_Bards
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCA_BARDS/
SCA Songbook
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCA_songbook/

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