Do you know any good early polyphonic music?

[H. C. Bukowski]

I enjoy Perotin, Desprez, and Bach. I'm particularly interested in motets (particularly the medieval motet), organa, and counterpoint for the keyboard.

[Andrew Bonner]

Another prolific and gorgeous composer was Orlando di Lasso.

If you delight in the somewhat alien nature of Renaissance music and it's distance from our own tonality, it doesn't get much more bizarre than Gesualdo ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Gesualdo ).

Of course, for my money the most gorgeous writing (especially the most accessible to modern ears) is Palestrina.

One recommendation: go to a nearby university library (or maybe even a good public library) and get hold of one of the listening anthologies that goes with a music history textbook like the Norton one by Burkholder et al, or Bonds'. Listen (and read) through the early sections. Then branch out and explore the composers you like best. If you look up their entries in the Grove music encyclopedia, you can often find who they studied with or taught, and might enjoy their work too. You might also find rewarding recordings by following artists you enjoy. And of course, if you have any early music performance groups near you, go to their concerts and you might find new surprises (most of them are so desperate for audience members that their concerts are free). At the most extreme, you could consider auditing a course on early music!

Good luck!

[wvculturallover]

I did a search on Amazon.com for you and located the following medieval selections. You can listen to samples for several of the CD selections so you can decide which ones to purchase. Enjoy!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Apopular%2Ck%3Amedieval+music&ke ywords=medieval+music&ie=UTF8&qid=1310046597#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=medieval+motets&rh=n%3A5174%2Ck%3Amedieva l+motets

[del_icious_manager]

Machaut wrote over 30 motets. Some are monophonic, while others reach varying levels of polyphonic complexity. They are all beautiful. Also try Machaut's Italian contemporary Landini.

There is very little (I can't think of ANY) music specified for the keyboard from this time. Composers often weren't specific about which instruments might have been expected to play certain of the various forms of music without words attached to them.

Some Machaut motets:
Fine amour http://youtu.be/T1PiMx8ovmU
Quant en moy http://youtu.be/bZxAqWV7a0A
De bon espoir http://youtu.be/oA_7wAA94cU

Puis qu'en oubli (polyphonic chanson) http://youtu.be/0yi2MMtIimY
Ros, lis, printemps (one of Machaut's best-known chansons) http://youtu.be/RPQjqZm6q0Q

And make sure you check-out Machaut's 'Messe de Notre Dame' - the first independently-composed mass by any composer and full of polyphonic riches.

Some Landini:
Non avra ma' pietà questa mia Donna http://youtu.be/vzloIi9UtVU
Ecco la primavera (Landini's best-known composition) http://youtu.be/fTJMsC_x9lQ

A little later than Machaut and Landini, you need to look at the astonishing music of Guillaume Dufay. You will find he provides the perfect link between medieval music and that of Josquin Desprez.