Early Music Revival

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In the late 1950s to the mid-1970s a new focus and importance was given to old music by what became known as the Early Music Revival. It was centred primarily on London, although some other European centres and New York were important too. It had far-reaching and important effects for the way that people listen to classical music and the way it is taught, performed, sponsored and sold. Few people involved in the classical music industry today would not acknowledge the breadth and depth of the impact that this movement has had. As much as any other force in the period, the protagonists of the Early Music Revival were opponents of cultural values that, in the late 1950s, seemed virtually unquestionable. The revival of interest in music from earlier periods didn't just affect the classical scene, but also infiltrated other areas, such as folk and popular music.

The Early Music Revival changed the listening habits of classical music audiences by introducing them to a range of music which most of them had not encountered before. In the long term, the performance methods and values of the early music revivalist, particularly what became known as a quest for 'authenticity' had a permanent effect not only on the performers of early music but on performers of much later music too.

Most interest was centred on the medieval and renaissance periods, and to a certain extent, the first part of the baroque period. However, it could be misleading to think of this revival simply in chronological terms, because early music performers soon extended their interests to later periods. It was about the way music was performed. It was not just what was performed, but the way in which it was performed.

At this time established pioneers of early music such as the English counter-tenor Alfred Deller were joined by a new wave of specialist groups such as Musica Reservata and the Early Music Consort. The music they played, and the way it was performed, appeared new in comparison to the sounds that most people were used to from classical music; it seemed fresh and exotic.

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