The Old Hall Manuscript, compiled over some years ending around the 1420s, is the main source of late medieval and early Renaissance English polyphony. It takes its name from St. Edmunds College, Old Hall Green, in Hertfordshire, where it was once owned. It is hardly a household name, and the commercial success of this Linn Records release may seem surprising, but it's worth checking out for several reasons. One is that the idea of recording a survey of a medieval manuscript tells listeners a lot about the music. One doesn ...
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The Old Hall Manuscript, compiled over some years ending around the 1420s, is the main source of late medieval and early Renaissance English polyphony. It takes its name from St. Edmunds College, Old Hall Green, in Hertfordshire, where it was once owned. It is hardly a household name, and the commercial success of this Linn Records release may seem surprising, but it's worth checking out for several reasons. One is that the idea of recording a survey of a medieval manuscript tells listeners a lot about the music. One doesn't have to speculate about what hearers of the time considered important, for here, the selections made by the scribes themselves, who may have included the composers of some of the music. The contents capture the fascinating interchange between English and the Continent (mostly Burgundy and the Low Countries), with influences going in both directions. The evolution of the interval of a third into a consonance, forming the center of what became modern major and minor chords, was the...
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