''Early Music'' is a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

specialising in the study of

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

. It was established in 1973 by John M. Thomson during the

early music revival An early music revival is a renewed interest in music from ancient history or prehistory. The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when Eu ...

, and is published quarterly by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. The co-editors are Alan Howard, Elizabeth Eva Leach and Stephen Rose. The journal has been described as "successfully disseminat ngvaluable information to all members of the early music community: scholars, performers, informed amateurs, and instrument makers and collectors".

Overview

''Early Music'' broadly covers topics relating to its namesake period, namely the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

periods. Less often, topics from the Classical and Romantic periods are including as well. The journal publishes quarterly, featuring 5–10 articles, alongside reviews of books, music and recordings. The librarian Alan Karass notes that the "articles are scholarly but not academic in nature". He further remarks that "a distinguishing feature of ''Early Music'' is its extraordinary visual beauty"; the journal frequently includes a variety of

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

to accompany its topics.

History

''Early Music'' was founded in 1973 by the New Zealand musicologist John Mansfield Thomson, who worked for many decades in London. He was a leading figure in the emerging

, and aimed to aimed to unite early music scholarship with mainstream musical acts such as David Munrow. Published by

(OUP), Thomson worked alongside the OUP's Alan Franks, but characterized his relationship with the OUP as uneasy, he described control of the magazine by the music department as "spiritual death". The journal has devoted issues to specific topics, such as the composers

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

(5.4) and

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

(13.2), as well as Baroque theatre (both 17.4 and 18.1) and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

(26.2). Thomson was the founding editor, followed by Nicholas Kenyon and Tess Knighton. The current co-editors are Alan Howard, Elizabeth Eva Leach and Stephen Rose.

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

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Issues
of ''Early Music'' on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Profile
on Duotrope {{portal bar, Classical music, Music English-language journals Quarterly journals Music journals Academic journals established in 1973 Oxford University Press academic journals