Resources for medieval vocal music
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 11:33 pmI thought all the comments in General Mayhem about the crappy bardic competition were interesting. I tried searching the threads for medieval music, but just ran into a lot of the metal threads.
Does anyone have a source for period vocal music? I am looking for drinking songs, epic songs, traditional songs, harvest songs, marriage/funeral songs...etc. Google searches for medieval music usually end up with history lessons, medieval music theory, or instrumental music. I am looking for something with printed words/sheet music.
I have had some luck with Slavic music, but the songs are mostly played on a one-stringed instrument and are unpleasant to listen to, if you are used to western harmonic music.
There are several traditional songs that have lyrics from the late 19th to early 20th century, like Londonderry Air (O Danny Boy), that seem too modern for what we are doing. The Welsh song Suo-Gan also falls into this category. I found a good Bulgarian and Russian song that fall into the same category: old tunes with fairly modern lyrics.
On the other side of the spectrum are songs with period lyrics, but modern tunes. Religious songs in Latin/English fall into this category, like Non Nobis Domine, and David's Lamentation. Sigh No More, from the film adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing is similar to these.
I guess any of these would be more period than telling dirty stories or just rambling, but some nice sounding, authentic music would be a great way to relax after a night of fighting.
Anyway, I was just wondering if there were any vocal music enthusiasts out there that had a good source.
Jug
Does anyone have a source for period vocal music? I am looking for drinking songs, epic songs, traditional songs, harvest songs, marriage/funeral songs...etc. Google searches for medieval music usually end up with history lessons, medieval music theory, or instrumental music. I am looking for something with printed words/sheet music.
I have had some luck with Slavic music, but the songs are mostly played on a one-stringed instrument and are unpleasant to listen to, if you are used to western harmonic music.
There are several traditional songs that have lyrics from the late 19th to early 20th century, like Londonderry Air (O Danny Boy), that seem too modern for what we are doing. The Welsh song Suo-Gan also falls into this category. I found a good Bulgarian and Russian song that fall into the same category: old tunes with fairly modern lyrics.
On the other side of the spectrum are songs with period lyrics, but modern tunes. Religious songs in Latin/English fall into this category, like Non Nobis Domine, and David's Lamentation. Sigh No More, from the film adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing is similar to these.
I guess any of these would be more period than telling dirty stories or just rambling, but some nice sounding, authentic music would be a great way to relax after a night of fighting.
Anyway, I was just wondering if there were any vocal music enthusiasts out there that had a good source.
Jug