- Early Music FAQ – comprehensive information on Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music; Repertory Overview, extensive information on CD recordings, many other topics, plus lots of links
- The ap Huw Manuscript – Facsimile and other information about this Welsh collection of harp tablature dating from the late 16th and early 17th century.
- Cantigas de Santa Maria – Facsimile, illuminations, and other information about this collection of 13th-century songs praising the Virgin Mary.
- Early Music Iconography – Period images of early music performance.
- Early Music Institute – (at University of Indiana) Course, concert, and library information.
- Early Music Network – international Web based organization providing information about early music and historical performance all over the world and offering helpful services for musicians and organizations
- Early Music News – concerts, events & festivals in the UK – Early Music News UK: events listings, concerts, & festivals for Baroque, Choral, Renaissance, and early music generally
- Early MusiChicago – This is a web portal to the Early Music scene in the greater Chicago Metropolitan Area and adjoining region. The site covers «all things early music.»
- Graphical Index of Early Music Concerts – Graphical Concert Index – a clickable world map with links for early music performing groups and festivals
- Here Of A Sunday Morning – Extensive historical and biographical resources and playlists for Chris Whent’s WBAI radio program.
- Li gieus de Robin et Marion – Adam da la Halle’s «Le jeu de Robin et Marion». Complete edition of text and music with introduction and glossary.
- Medieval Music of Cypress – Describes what happened to influence the culture and music on this island.
- New Renaissance – New Renaissance is a network of sites devoted to Early Music in the UK, including the renowned Chapelle du Roi and Signum Records.
- Renaissance and Baroque Music – Course resources by Gordon J. Callon at McGill University.
- Baroque Music Club – Features a specialist Bach and Baroque Music CDs Catalog, over 60 titles featuring the major baroque composers.
- Callisto – Classical Recording label with focus on Early music. Website offers music to download.
- Chacra Music – Timeless and inspiring music encompassing Medieval Renaissance, Celtic, World, Healing, Relaxation and other enlightening music for the path.
- Gimell Records – Specializes in Renaissance sacred music performed by The Tallis Scholars, under their director Peter Phillips.
- Herald AV Publications – Herald is an exciting recording Company with a proven track record. We have worked with many prestigious artists in a number of famous locations. Our recording equipment is state-of-the-art, and we continue to win accolades from the classical music press.
- Lyrichord Early Music – Catalog; new releases; essays and reviews.
- MDG CD Classical Music – A German label specializing in Classical and Early music. Artist biographies, discographies and pictures. News, links, distributors lists, and contact information.
- Naxos – An international label for Classical and Early Music.
Early music is European classical music before the Classical music era and after Ancient music. The common range given is from the end of Ancient music to the beginning of the Baroque era in about 1600, and so roughly corresponds with the European Middle Ages period.
The term «early music» is closely associated with the concept of authentic performance. The authentic performance movement began with the performance of early music, and in general, the earlier the music, the more likely it is that its performers will show an interest in authentic performance as it becomes more difficult for the reason listed below and others.
According to Margaret Bent (1998), Early music notation, «is under-prescriptive by our standards; when translated into modern form it acquires a prescriptive weight that overspecifies and distorts its original openness.» Before about 1600, written music did not consistently state which instruments are used when. A century earlier, people who wrote down music did not always specify whether lines of polyphony were to be sung or played on an instrument. Similarly, the notation frequently does not indicate what key to play the music in, if any. Accidentals were not necessary. Notations for rhythm go back only to about 1200. There is thus a speculative element to all modern performances of Medieval and Renaissance music. However, Renaissance musicians would have been highly trained in dyadic counterpoint and thus possessed this and other information necessary to read a score, «what modern notation [now] requires [accidentals] would then have been perfectly apparent without notation to a singer versed in counterpoint» (ibid). See the article on Renaissance music and its section on notation and performance.
