Medieval folk rock
Encyclopedia
Medieval folk rock, medieval rock or medieval folk is a musical sub-genre that emerged in the early 1970s in England and Germany which combined elements of early music
with rock music
. It grew out of the electric folk
and progressive folk movements of the later 1960s. Despite the name, the term was used indiscriminately to categorise performers who incorporated elements of medieval
, renaissance
and baroque music
into their work and sometimes to describe groups who used few, or no electric instruments. This sub-genre reached its height towards the middle of the 1970s when it achieved some mainstream success in Britain, but within a few years most groups had either disbanded, or were absorbed into the wider movements of progressive folk and progressive rock
. Nevertheless, the genre had a considerable impact within progressive rock where early music and medievalism
in general, was a major influence and through that in the development of heavy metal
. More recently medieval folk rock has revived in popularity along with other forms of medieval inspired music such as dark wave orientated neo-medieval music
and medieval metal.
. An interest in fusing the sounds of medieval and renaissance music with more popular forms was first evident in the British progressive folk movement of the late 1960s. This was particularly clear in the important work of the Incredible String Band
from their 1967 album The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
(1967), which introduced both medieval and world music
elements into their music. These continued in the highly influential The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
(1968).
Also part of the progressive folk movement was guitarist John Renbourn
, whose 1968 album Sir John Alot of Merry Englandes Musyk Thynge and ye Grene Knyghte began to display his interest in the medieval, containing a number of versions of early music songs, which would be dominant on The Lady and the Unicorn (1970). From 1967 Redbourn was a member of the folk group Pentangle
, and he took his interest in early music into the mix of influences (including blues, jazz, bluegrass, world music and traditional folk song) in the band. Coming from the more traditional end of the folk spectrum were Shirley
and Dolly Collins
. They were the first artists to produce a complete album, Anthems in Eden
(1969), that combined traditional folk songs with early music instruments, utilizing David Munrow
’s Early Music Consort, and early music remained a major preoccupation of their careers. Also from 1969 Third Ear Band
made use of medieval instruments alongside classical and eastern influences.
What laid the foundation for the transformation of these trends into a form of rock music was the release in 1969 of the London-based folk rock band Fairport Convention
’s album Liege and Lief, which saw the clear inception of electric folk
as fusion between electric rock music and traditional folk songs and styles. Fairport Convention occasionally incorporated elements of early music into their repertoire. However, their fusion of English folk music
with rock instrumentation was mostly focused on early modern and nineteenth-century ballads and dance music
. In contrast, the band formed by former Fairport member Ashley Hutchings
as Steeleye Span
in 1969, tended to explore a wider range of period music ranging back into the Middle Ages. They also utilized more diverse instruments, including mandolins, recorders and oboes, besides electric guitars
, bass
and later drums. This was exemplified by their 1972 album Below the Salt
, which contained several early music songs and from which they released the a cappella
single of the sixteenth-century carol
"Gaudete
", which reached number fourteen in the UK singles chart, arguably the greatest mainstream success for medieval folk rock, as the band were occasionally described.
, Third Ear Band, who from 1972 introduced electric guitars, basses and drums and, from 1976, with the release of Amaranth, Dolly Collins produced an early music album for her sister Shirley that used both electric and traditional instruments.
In contrast to Pentangle, Amazing Blondel
, formed in 1969 and who composed their own music in a renaissance style, did not electrify. Nevertheless, because of their approach and use of original compositions, they are often described as medieval rock. Very similar in tone were bands like Forest, who from 1969 recorded their own compositions with modern acoustic and medieval instruments.
At the same time in Germany there were similar developments. Because of the association of folk music with Nazism
, Ougenweide
, originally formed in 1970 as an acoustic folk group, although inspired by Fairport Convention and Pentangle, opted to draw exclusively on High German medieval music when they electrified, setting the agenda for future German electric folk. Several bands followed suit, including Parzival from 1971.
The growth of interest in early music in the academic and classical worlds were significant for the expansion of medieval folk rock. Gryphon
, arguably the archetypal British band in the genre, was formed in 1971 by Richard Harvey
and Brian Gulland, both graduates of the Royal Academy of Music
. Gryphon were originally an acoustic ensemble performing folk and medieval tunes. However, with the addition of guitarist Graeme Taylor
and drummer Dave Oberlé, by the time of their first eponymously titled album in 1973 they had become an electric folk band that incorporated bassoons and krumhorns into their sound and were being marketed as ‘medieval rock’. The same year saw other experiments that combined early music with rock instruments, including the one-off project Giles Farnaby's Dream Band
.
Often classified with Gryphon were Gentle Giant
whose multi-instrumental members added clavichord
, harpsichord
, violin
and recorder
to the mix from their second album Acquiring the Taste
(1971), but this was all combined with classical and jazz elements and can be already considered as progressive rock
. In 1971, the year that Gryphon and Gentle Giant were founded, medieval music was one of the prevailing fashions in rock music, as evidenced by probably the most successful band of the moment Led Zeppelin
in their amalgamation of blues-based rock with recorders and mandolins together with medieval themes on Led Zeppelin IV
, most notably on ‘Stairway to Heaven
’.
The first half of the 1970s was a short-lived peak in popularity for medieval folk rock. Gryphon enjoyed some mainstream success when they played the National theatre
and Old Vic
and supported Yes
on tour. However, with line-up changes from about 1975 they began to drop their distinctive medieval sound and became increasingly a mainstream progressive rock band, before they dissolved in 1977. Similarly despite retaining elements of medieval music, bands like Gentle Giant rapidly moved off into further experimentation and were soon being classified under the more general category of progressive rock.
The only places where medieval folk rock was growing in the late 1970s were France and the Netherlands. In France, particularly from Brittany
, there were bands like Ripaille, formed for a highly regarded eponymous album in 1977, and Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock in 1979. In the same period the most enduring French electric folk band Tri Yann
also moved into medieval territory. There were also a handful of bands in other European counties, including Thomas Flinter from the Netherlands from 1978-80. However, although starting later most of these groups had disbanded or moved on at the start of the 1980s.
If surviving medieval folk rock bands shifted towards more mainstream progressive rock, progressive rock bands often included early music among their influences. Despite emerging from the British blues
boom, the vocal style of Ian Anderson
of Jethro Tull
was often compared with a medieval troubadour
, while the signature sound of his flute
, later combined with the keyboard and stringed instrumental skills of the band, lent itself to a medieval element of the music. This emerged most clearly with the album Minstrel in the Gallery
(1975) and later in the folk inspired Songs from the Wood
(1977). Medieval images and sounds are so prominent in the band's career that they have occasionally been classified as 'medieval progressive rock'. Yes
took occasional flights into medievalism, perhaps because of their highly talented keyboard player Rick Wakeman
, who in 1975 produced the rock opera
album The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
.
It is argued that progressive rock obtained its distinctive sound of modal harmony from medieval music. It was probably through progressive rock that early music influences found their way into early heavy metal
, for example in the modal keys employed by Black Sabbath
from 1970 and in the Renaissance inspired songs of bands like the Richie Blackmore founded Rainbow
from 1974.
However, early music was only one of a range of influences on these bands, including classical
, jazz
and world music
, from which progressive groups selected and adapted. As the popularity of progressive rock declined in the face of punk rock
, new wave and electronic rock in the second half of the 1970s, early music tended to disappear as a major musical influence in rock, and while medieval and fantasy themes remained a feature of developing genre of heavy metal, there was little conscious attempt to replicate early music.
, who from 1985 sang lyrics in medieval German and Latin, and members of which went on to found Qntal
in 1991. Neither of these bands used guitars and both avoided the 'medieval rock' label. They are often associated with the neo-medieval music
of dark wave gothic subculture that flourished in the 1980s, producing acts including the Australian duo Dead Can Dance
and from America Faith and the Muse
. This genre is extremely difficult to classify, but is usually characterised by reliance on electronic music and (particularly female) voices mixed with medieval acoustic instruments.
Important in the revival of hybrid genres of early music was the rise of interest in medievalism
in general and medieval re-enactment
, medieval markets and renaissance fair
s in particular, from the late 1980s in Germany and America. This period saw the creation of a number of acoustic medieval folk bands, particularly in Germany, many of which played markets and fairs. These included Corvus Corax
, from 1989, and In Extremo
from 1995.
Corvus Corax began the metal side project Tanzwut
from 1996 and from 1998 In Extremo moved from acoustic to a heavy metal sound. Together with hard rock
and heavy metal outfit Subway to Sally
, who shifted from folk towards German medieval music in 1995, these bands are usually seen as the founders of the German medieval metal sub-genre.
While these bands moved off into heavy metal music, in roughly the same period a number of performers emerged who mixed early music and acoustic instruments with soft
or hard rock, relying heavily on the network of medieval markets and renaissance fairs. Ritchie Blackmore
, having dropped musical clues to his interest in early music throughout his career, took the surprising step of forming the renaissance focused rock band Blackmore's Night
with vocalist Candice Night
in 1997. Blackmore is usually careful to describe his music as ‘renaissance rock’, which is more accurate as a description of the source of his inspiration, but also distinguishes it from other forms of medieval based music. Other performers who produce medieval electric music include the California based Avalon Rising and Circulus
from England, both of which describe their music, among other things, as medieval folk rock.
There was a revival of medieval folk rock of sorts in England in the late 1980s but the wider acceptance for these performers had to wait until the 'folk resurgence' of the 1990s. More recently there have been indications of a return to an interest in medieval folk rock among established electric folk musicians. Since 1986 Maddy Prior
, formally of Steeleye Span, has toured and recorded with the acoustic early music group The Carnival Band
. Guitarist Richard Thompson joined recorder player Philip Pickett
for an album of early music mixed with rock, The Bones of All Men
(1998), and has toured with his show 1000 Years of Popular Music
(2003) which included thirteenth-century rounds and baroque versions of modern pop songs.
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
with rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. It grew out of the electric folk
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
and progressive folk movements of the later 1960s. Despite the name, the term was used indiscriminately to categorise performers who incorporated elements of medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
, renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
and baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
into their work and sometimes to describe groups who used few, or no electric instruments. This sub-genre reached its height towards the middle of the 1970s when it achieved some mainstream success in Britain, but within a few years most groups had either disbanded, or were absorbed into the wider movements of progressive folk and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. Nevertheless, the genre had a considerable impact within progressive rock where early music and medievalism
Medievalism
Medievalism is the system of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vehicles of popular culture.Since the 18th century, a...
in general, was a major influence and through that in the development of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. More recently medieval folk rock has revived in popularity along with other forms of medieval inspired music such as dark wave orientated neo-medieval music
Neo-Medieval music
Neo-Medieval music is a term used to describe a variety of styles within modern popular music. A common characteristic of these styles is that they contain elements of Medieval music and early music in general...
and medieval metal.
Characteristics
Medieval folk rock is characterised by three major elements used in various combinations. First, the playing of extant early music involving rock instrumentation. Second, the creation of original music that incorporates compositional features of early music, such as musical modes. Third, the incorporation of the sounds of early music into rock songs, through vocal techniques, the use of additional instruments that characterise early music, or the simulation of early music sounds on rock instruments (for example, the use of a drone sound on an electric guitar). A final element that does not affect the nature of the music, but often accompanies it, is the adoption of perceived elements of ‘medievalism’ in lyrics, actions, dress or artwork.Origins
Musicologists have noted an attempt to fuse popular music with elements of early classical music from the mid 1960s in Britain and America, which they refer to as baroque rock or baroque popBaroque pop
Baroque pop, Baroque rock, or English baroque, often used interchangeably with chamber pop/rock, is a pop and rock music subgenre which originated in the mid-1960s in the United Kingdom and United States...
. An interest in fusing the sounds of medieval and renaissance music with more popular forms was first evident in the British progressive folk movement of the late 1960s. This was particularly clear in the important work of the Incredible String Band
Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974...
from their 1967 album The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
-Personnel:* Robin Williamson - Vocals, guitar, mandolin, oud, bowed and bass gimbri, flute, percussion * Mike Heron - Vocals, guitar, harmonica* Licorice McKechnie - Vocals, percussion* Danny Thompson - Double bass* John Hopkins - Piano...
(1967), which introduced both medieval and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
elements into their music. These continued in the highly influential The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
-Personnel:*Robin Williamson - vocals, guitar, gimbri, penny whistle, percussion, pan pipe, piano, oud, mandolin, jaw harp, chahanai, water harp, harmonica*Mike Heron - vocals, sitar, Hammond organ, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord...
(1968).
Also part of the progressive folk movement was guitarist John Renbourn
John Renbourn
John Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
, whose 1968 album Sir John Alot of Merry Englandes Musyk Thynge and ye Grene Knyghte began to display his interest in the medieval, containing a number of versions of early music songs, which would be dominant on The Lady and the Unicorn (1970). From 1967 Redbourn was a member of the folk group Pentangle
Pentangle (band)
Pentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...
, and he took his interest in early music into the mix of influences (including blues, jazz, bluegrass, world music and traditional folk song) in the band. Coming from the more traditional end of the folk spectrum were Shirley
Shirley Collins
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is a British folksinger who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s...
and Dolly Collins
Dolly Collins
Dorothy Ann Collins, known as Dolly Collins , was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins....
. They were the first artists to produce a complete album, Anthems in Eden
Anthems in Eden
Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus 7 other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these 8 pieces...
(1969), that combined traditional folk songs with early music instruments, utilizing David Munrow
David Munrow
David Munrow was a British musician and early music historian.- Biography and career :Munrow was born in Birmingham and was the son of Birmingham University dance teacher Hilda Norman Munrow and Albert Davis 'Dave' Munrow, a Birmingham University lecturer and physical education instructor who...
’s Early Music Consort, and early music remained a major preoccupation of their careers. Also from 1969 Third Ear Band
Third Ear Band
Third Ear Band evolved within the London alternative and free-music scene of the mid 1960s.-History:Members came from The Giant Sun Trolley and The People Band to create an improvised music drawing on Eastern raga forms, European folk, experimental and medieval influences...
made use of medieval instruments alongside classical and eastern influences.
What laid the foundation for the transformation of these trends into a form of rock music was the release in 1969 of the London-based folk rock band Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
’s album Liege and Lief, which saw the clear inception of electric folk
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
as fusion between electric rock music and traditional folk songs and styles. Fairport Convention occasionally incorporated elements of early music into their repertoire. However, their fusion of English folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
with rock instrumentation was mostly focused on early modern and nineteenth-century ballads and dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
. In contrast, the band formed by former Fairport member Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
as Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
in 1969, tended to explore a wider range of period music ranging back into the Middle Ages. They also utilized more diverse instruments, including mandolins, recorders and oboes, besides electric guitars
Electric Guitars
Electric Guitars were formed early in 1980 by Neil Davenport and Richard Hall who were both studying English at Bristol University. The band soon increased to a five-man line-up, with Andy Saunders , Matt Salt and Dick Truscott , they also later added two backing singers: Sara and Wendy...
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and later drums. This was exemplified by their 1972 album Below the Salt
Below the Salt
Below the Salt is a 1972 album by Steeleye Span, and considered by many fans to be one of their best. The album has a slightly medieval theme, most notably in the artwork and title...
, which contained several early music songs and from which they released the a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
single of the sixteenth-century carol
Carol (music)
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character....
"Gaudete
Gaudete
Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582...
", which reached number fourteen in the UK singles chart, arguably the greatest mainstream success for medieval folk rock, as the band were occasionally described.
The heyday of medieval folk rock 1970–75
The process of ‘electrification’ set off by Fairport in the folk world, by which existing acts adopted a model of rock instrumentation, meant that several progressive folk performers of early music now joined a growing number of medieval folk rock bands. These included Pentangle, who electrified in 1970 for the album Cruel SisterCruel Sister
Cruel Sister was an album recorded in 1970 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the most folk-based of the albums recorded by the band, with all the tracks being versions of traditional songs...
, Third Ear Band, who from 1972 introduced electric guitars, basses and drums and, from 1976, with the release of Amaranth, Dolly Collins produced an early music album for her sister Shirley that used both electric and traditional instruments.
In contrast to Pentangle, Amazing Blondel
Amazing Blondel
Amazing Blondel are an English acoustic progressive folk band, consisting of Eddie Baird, John Gladwin, and Terry Wincott. They released a number of LPs for Island Records in the early 1970s...
, formed in 1969 and who composed their own music in a renaissance style, did not electrify. Nevertheless, because of their approach and use of original compositions, they are often described as medieval rock. Very similar in tone were bands like Forest, who from 1969 recorded their own compositions with modern acoustic and medieval instruments.
At the same time in Germany there were similar developments. Because of the association of folk music with Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, Ougenweide
Ougenweide
Ougenweide is a progressive rock band from Germany. They are notable for being pioneers of the medieval folk rock subgenre. The name comes from Middle High German ougenweide .- The beginning :...
, originally formed in 1970 as an acoustic folk group, although inspired by Fairport Convention and Pentangle, opted to draw exclusively on High German medieval music when they electrified, setting the agenda for future German electric folk. Several bands followed suit, including Parzival from 1971.
The growth of interest in early music in the academic and classical worlds were significant for the expansion of medieval folk rock. Gryphon
Gryphon (band)
Gryphon were a British progressive rock band of the 1970s, best known for their unusual Medieval sound and instrumentation.-Career:Multi-instrumentalist Richard Harvey and his fellow Royal College of Music graduate Brian Gulland, a woodwind player, began the group as an all-acoustic ensemble that...
, arguably the archetypal British band in the genre, was formed in 1971 by Richard Harvey
Richard Harvey
Richard Harvey is a BAFTA Award–winning British musician and composer. He is best known for his film and television soundtracks...
and Brian Gulland, both graduates of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. Gryphon were originally an acoustic ensemble performing folk and medieval tunes. However, with the addition of guitarist Graeme Taylor
Graeme Taylor
Graeme Taylor is a British electric guitarist.Taylor played lead guitar with 1970s medieval/rock band Gryphon, and leading folk rock bands including the Albion Band and Home Service...
and drummer Dave Oberlé, by the time of their first eponymously titled album in 1973 they had become an electric folk band that incorporated bassoons and krumhorns into their sound and were being marketed as ‘medieval rock’. The same year saw other experiments that combined early music with rock instruments, including the one-off project Giles Farnaby's Dream Band
Giles Farnaby's Dream Band
Giles Farnaby's Dream Band was a collaboration between the early music ensemble St. George’s Canzona, Derby-based folk group The Druids, and Trevor Crozier’s 'Broken Consort'...
.
Often classified with Gryphon were Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
whose multi-instrumental members added clavichord
Clavichord
The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was widely used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces...
, harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
to the mix from their second album Acquiring the Taste
Acquiring the Taste
Acquiring the Taste was the second album of English progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1971.This was a departure from the blues and soul styles found on their self titled debut. It was more experimental, more discordant, and with more varied instrumentation...
(1971), but this was all combined with classical and jazz elements and can be already considered as progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. In 1971, the year that Gryphon and Gentle Giant were founded, medieval music was one of the prevailing fashions in rock music, as evidenced by probably the most successful band of the moment Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
in their amalgamation of blues-based rock with recorders and mandolins together with medieval themes on Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin IV
The fourth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. No title is printed on the album, so it is generally referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, following the naming standard used by the band's first three studio albums...
, most notably on ‘Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...
’.
Decline and diffusion 1976–80
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
and Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
and supported Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
on tour. However, with line-up changes from about 1975 they began to drop their distinctive medieval sound and became increasingly a mainstream progressive rock band, before they dissolved in 1977. Similarly despite retaining elements of medieval music, bands like Gentle Giant rapidly moved off into further experimentation and were soon being classified under the more general category of progressive rock.
The only places where medieval folk rock was growing in the late 1970s were France and the Netherlands. In France, particularly from Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, there were bands like Ripaille, formed for a highly regarded eponymous album in 1977, and Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock in 1979. In the same period the most enduring French electric folk band Tri Yann
Tri Yann
Tri Yann is a French band from Nantes , who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads.The band was founded in 1970 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remain members – hence the suggested name of Tri Yann an Naoned , Jean and Yann being...
also moved into medieval territory. There were also a handful of bands in other European counties, including Thomas Flinter from the Netherlands from 1978-80. However, although starting later most of these groups had disbanded or moved on at the start of the 1980s.
If surviving medieval folk rock bands shifted towards more mainstream progressive rock, progressive rock bands often included early music among their influences. Despite emerging from the British blues
British blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
boom, the vocal style of Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson (musician)
Ian Scott Anderson, MBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.-Early life:...
of Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
was often compared with a medieval troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
, while the signature sound of his flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, later combined with the keyboard and stringed instrumental skills of the band, lent itself to a medieval element of the music. This emerged most clearly with the album Minstrel in the Gallery
Minstrel in the Gallery
Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975.Ian Anderson's lyrics and subject matter show an introspective and cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from first wife Jennie Franks and the pressures of touring,...
(1975) and later in the folk inspired Songs from the Wood
Songs from the Wood
Songs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by Jethro Tull and is considered to be the first of a trio of folk rock albums despite the fact that folk music elements are present in the work of Jethro Tull both before and after this trilogy...
(1977). Medieval images and sounds are so prominent in the band's career that they have occasionally been classified as 'medieval progressive rock'. Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
took occasional flights into medievalism, perhaps because of their highly talented keyboard player Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, who in 1975 produced the rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
album The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is the second studio album from the English keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman...
.
It is argued that progressive rock obtained its distinctive sound of modal harmony from medieval music. It was probably through progressive rock that early music influences found their way into early heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, for example in the modal keys employed by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
from 1970 and in the Renaissance inspired songs of bands like the Richie Blackmore founded Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
from 1974.
However, early music was only one of a range of influences on these bands, including classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, from which progressive groups selected and adapted. As the popularity of progressive rock declined in the face of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, new wave and electronic rock in the second half of the 1970s, early music tended to disappear as a major musical influence in rock, and while medieval and fantasy themes remained a feature of developing genre of heavy metal, there was little conscious attempt to replicate early music.
Renaissance 1980s to the present
Medieval folk rock virtually disappeared in the early 1980s. Some rock performers did continue to produce medieval style music, particularly groups emerging from the German electronic Kosmische movement, including EstampieEstampie (band)
Estampie is a German music group, founded in 1985 by Sigrid Hausen , Michael Popp and Ernst Schwindl. The band plays primarily medieval music, with some modern influences from world and minimalist music.-Members:...
, who from 1985 sang lyrics in medieval German and Latin, and members of which went on to found Qntal
Qntal
Qntal is a German "electro-medieval" band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp and Ernst Horn. They later added vocalist Syrah to complete the band. It has roots in Estampie, a band of similar genre but different style; Michael Popp and Syrah are the principal members. Horn left the group in 1999, to...
in 1991. Neither of these bands used guitars and both avoided the 'medieval rock' label. They are often associated with the neo-medieval music
Neo-Medieval music
Neo-Medieval music is a term used to describe a variety of styles within modern popular music. A common characteristic of these styles is that they contain elements of Medieval music and early music in general...
of dark wave gothic subculture that flourished in the 1980s, producing acts including the Australian duo Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
and from America Faith and the Muse
Faith and the Muse
Faith and the Muse is an American, underground gothic/darkwave band composed of two musicians, Monica Richards and William Faith. They are well regarded in the gothic music scene as innovators and icons. Their music encompasses many genres, from folk-style songs to darker compositions. Richards is...
. This genre is extremely difficult to classify, but is usually characterised by reliance on electronic music and (particularly female) voices mixed with medieval acoustic instruments.
Important in the revival of hybrid genres of early music was the rise of interest in medievalism
Medievalism
Medievalism is the system of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vehicles of popular culture.Since the 18th century, a...
in general and medieval re-enactment
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
, medieval markets and renaissance fair
Renaissance Fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are...
s in particular, from the late 1980s in Germany and America. This period saw the creation of a number of acoustic medieval folk bands, particularly in Germany, many of which played markets and fairs. These included Corvus Corax
Corvus Corax (band)
Corvus Corax is a German band known for playing Neo-Medieval music using an abundance of authentic instruments. Their name is the latin name for the Common Raven. The band was formed in 1989 by Castus Rabensang, Wim and Meister Selbfried in East Germany...
, from 1989, and In Extremo
In Extremo
In Extremo is a German medieval metal band originating from Berlin. The band's musical style combines metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instruments with historical instruments...
from 1995.
Corvus Corax began the metal side project Tanzwut
Tanzwut
Tanzwut is a German Neue Deutsche Härte and medieval metal band which originated as a sideproject of Corvus Corax-members.- History :Their name is the German term for "dancing mania", but is directly translated with "dance-rage". Tanzwut are known for their heavy use of bagpipes, an unusual...
from 1996 and from 1998 In Extremo moved from acoustic to a heavy metal sound. Together with hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and heavy metal outfit Subway to Sally
Subway to Sally
Subway to Sally was founded in Potsdam, Germany, in the early 1990s. It is a rock band with clear folk and medieval influences, later also with gothic and metal elements added to the mix...
, who shifted from folk towards German medieval music in 1995, these bands are usually seen as the founders of the German medieval metal sub-genre.
While these bands moved off into heavy metal music, in roughly the same period a number of performers emerged who mixed early music and acoustic instruments with soft
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
or hard rock, relying heavily on the network of medieval markets and renaissance fairs. Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, having dropped musical clues to his interest in early music throughout his career, took the surprising step of forming the renaissance focused rock band Blackmore's Night
Blackmore's Night
Blackmore's Night is an English-American traditional folk rock duo led by Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night .-Early:...
with vocalist Candice Night
Candice Night
Candice Night is an American vocalist/songwriter and the musical partner of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. She is the lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and lyricist for the traditional folk rock project, Blackmore's Night since its origins in 1997.-Biography:Born in Hauppauge, Long Island, New...
in 1997. Blackmore is usually careful to describe his music as ‘renaissance rock’, which is more accurate as a description of the source of his inspiration, but also distinguishes it from other forms of medieval based music. Other performers who produce medieval electric music include the California based Avalon Rising and Circulus
Circulus
Circulus are a psychedelic folk/progressive rock band from South London, England, founded by vocalist Michael Tyack.The band uses a mix of modern and medieval instruments, such as the lute, cittern, crumhorn and rauschpfeife, along with the moog synthesizer, bass and electric guitars...
from England, both of which describe their music, among other things, as medieval folk rock.
There was a revival of medieval folk rock of sorts in England in the late 1980s but the wider acceptance for these performers had to wait until the 'folk resurgence' of the 1990s. More recently there have been indications of a return to an interest in medieval folk rock among established electric folk musicians. Since 1986 Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
, formally of Steeleye Span, has toured and recorded with the acoustic early music group The Carnival Band
The Carnival Band (folk group)
The Carnival Band is an English early music group. Their broad repertoire focuses on popular music fromthe 16th and 17th centuries, and traditional music from around the world. Presentation is informal and humorous, and in the spirit of medieval and renaissance Carnival...
. Guitarist Richard Thompson joined recorder player Philip Pickett
Philip Pickett
Philip Pickett is an English musician, recorder player and director of early music ensembles, notably The New London Consort.- Student days :...
for an album of early music mixed with rock, The Bones of All Men
The Bones of All Men
The Bones of All Men is an album by Philip Pickett.The exact credits on the front of the album are "Mr Philip Pickett with Mr Richard Thompson and the Fairport Rhythm Section" - giving a mock-formality to the event, as if it were a classical music concert. All of the tracks on this album are...
(1998), and has toured with his show 1000 Years of Popular Music
1000 Years of Popular Music
1000 Years of Popular Music is a live album by Richard Thompson.The album was originally conceived after Thompson was ignored by Playboy magazine; initially meant simply as a list to be printed by the magazine, it was subsequently published into CD format. The songs comprising the tracklist cover a...
(2003) which included thirteenth-century rounds and baroque versions of modern pop songs.