Attitudes toward early music have changed markedly from past centuries to the present. In the eighteenth century and before, listeners expected to hear music of their day. By the nineteenth century, a radically different phenomenon arose. In 1829, Felix Mendelssohn initiated a Bach revival by planning and conducting a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion for the German public. Previous to his efforts, it was entirely out of fashion and had not been heard for many years.

This concert created a sensation, and it had widespread repercussions. For instance, in 1850, an edition of Bach’s complete works was published. Other complete works would soon follow. Editors or performers sometimes sought to “improve” Bach and other earlier composers to match contemporaneous taste, but such an attitude would change dramatically in the 20th century.

In the early 20th century, pioneers such as Arnold Dolmetsch sought and performed early music that had not been noticed in a long time. Groups such as the Deller Consort and the Academy of Ancient Music followed, and they espoused the value of historically informed performance, that is, seeking to perform the music as close to the way it would have been heard in its composers’ time.

Today there are countless ensembles devoted to early music, and historically informed performance is highly valued.

In our collections are many recordings of early music on LPs (vinyl) and CDs; they are available for checkout. You can search them in our online catalog: discover.library.unt.edu

Also, we subscribe to streaming audio databases, especially Naxos Music Library, which have hundreds of recordings of early music. Any UNT students or staff members can use them anywhere they have internet access.

YouTube is another great source, but content can sometimes change or disappear, so it is good to be aware of what we have in our collections that will not change.