early music

American  

noun

1. music of the medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque periods, especially revived and played on period instruments; European music after ancient music and before the classical music era, from the beginning of the Middle Ages to about 1750.

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early music British  

noun

1. music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, sometimes also including music of the baroque and early classical periods

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1. of or denoting an approach to musical performance emphasizing the use of period instruments and historically researched scores and playing techniques

   the early-music movement

Other Word Forms

• early musician
  noun
• early-music
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of early music

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

early music

Spears had phenomenal early music success with late 1990s hits like "...Baby One More Time" but has largely stepped back from music in recent years.

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

So yeah — you end up writing from a more protected place, whereas in your early music, you’re not as protected and you’re writing whatever.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025

Her brother, who was a tour director for the pop star and danced in her early music videos including Lucky Star, died from cancer on Friday in Michigan.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2024

Indeed, Amsterdam’s transformative new music and early music scenes developed in part as a rebellion to the stodgy Concertgebouw and all it stood for.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024

Kassia’s haunting music has recendy been recorded for the first time in a thousand years, and it rather gracefully refutes the assumption that the development of early music is exclusively the handiwork of men.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall