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| Polyphonic revival | |
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| Name | Polyphonic revival |
Polyphonic revival is a term describing renewed interest in multipart vocal and instrumental composition and performance during various periods of musical history. It encompasses scholarly rediscovery, pedagogical reform, and public performance initiatives that brought earlier polyphonic repertories and techniques back into prominence. The movement interacted with institutional patrons, liturgical centers, conservatories, and media institutions to reshape repertory, repertory transmission, and concert practice.
The polyphonic revival refers to organized efforts in places such as Venice, Paris, Rome, London, Vienna, Prague, Lisbon, and Seville to recover works by composers including Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Heinrich Schütz, William Byrd, J.S. Bach, and Claudio Monteverdi while also integrating scholarship from institutions like the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Vatican Library, the British Library, the Archivio di Stato di Venezia, and the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. Projects often involved performers associated with ensembles such as the Courtauld Choir, the English Concert, the Monteverdi Choir, the Tallinn Chamber Choir, the Ton Koopman Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and the Hilliard Ensemble, as well as academic centers like the Royal College of Music, the Conservatoire de Paris, the Julliard School, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and Universität Wien.
Early precedents can be traced to revivals in the late 19th century under patrons including Pope Pius IX, collectors linked to the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and national movements in Germany and France driven by figures associated with the Wagner movement and the Cambridge Camden Society. The 20th-century resurgence incorporated work from bibliophiles and editors at the Early Music Revival circles, publishers such as Breitkopf & Härtel, Novello & Co, and Éditions Durand, and scholars linked to the International Musicological Society, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, and the Medici Archive Project. Renewals in different regions intersected with institutions like the Royal Danish Library, the National Library of Spain, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and festivals such as the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Salzburg Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival.
Prominent advocates included editors and conductors such as Alfred Einstein (musicologist), August Wenzinger, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, John Eliot Gardiner, Christopher Hogwood, Paul McCreesh, Masaaki Suzuki, and Jordi Savall, alongside musicologists like Edward Lowinsky, David Fallows, Manfred Bukofzer, Susan McClary, Grove (Sir George Grove) affiliates, and professors at institutions such as King's College London. Movements included the Historically Informed Performance movement, editorial enterprises like the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, and national projects led by the Royal Musical Association, the American Musicological Society, and the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève.
Revivalists reconstructed techniques including fauxbourdon, cantus firmus procedures, mensural notation interpretation, and proportional rhythm practices drawn from treatises by Guido of Arezzo, Johannes Tinctoris, Franco of Cologne, Jean de Ockeghem, and Gioseffo Zarlino. Recovered repertory ranged from motets and masses by Palestrina and Josquin des Prez to madrigals by Monteverdi and chanson by Clément Janequin, alongside sacred polyphony by Tomás Luis de Victoria and German works by Heinrich Schütz and Samuel Scheidt. Editions from Henle Verlag, the RISM catalogues, and the Monuments of Music of the 16th Century series facilitated performance of repertoires cultivated at venues such as St Mark's Basilica, Venice, Notre-Dame de Paris, Westminster Abbey, and the Sistine Chapel.
Performance practice debates engaged specialists in period instruments like the viol consort associated with Marin Marais tradition, theorbo continuo typical of Francesco Cavalli opera, organ traditions linked to builders such as Arp Schnitger, and wind consorts reflecting repertories preserved in the Bodleian Library. Ensembles employed instruments from workshops such as Moeck, Hohner, and luthiers connected to Stradivari lore in historically informed rebuilds. Interpretations drew on treatises by Michael Praetorius, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Andreas Werckmeister, and Cesare Bendinelli to inform ornamentation, articulation, tuning systems (meantone, well temperaments), and dynamics used in reconstructions at venues like St. Thomas Church, Leipzig and institutions such as the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella.
The polyphonic revival influenced repertoire programming at media outlets such as BBC Radio 3, NPR Classical, and Radio France, shaped recordings on labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi, Archiv Produktion, Glossa Music, Signum Classics, and Sony Classical, and affected pedagogy at conservatories like the Royal Academy of Music and universities such as Yale University and Oxford University. Contemporary composers including Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Olivier Messiaen, Gavin Bryars, and John Rutter have interacted with revived polyphonic practices, while festivals like the Early Music Festival Utrecht and initiatives by organizations such as Europa Galante and the European Capital of Culture programs continue to promote research, performance, and recording projects. The movement remains active through digital archives maintained by IMSLP, RISM, and national libraries, as well as conservation efforts by the International Council on Archives and grant programs from entities like the European Commission and national arts councils.
Category:Music revivals