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

Their early music, often represented by their first full album Dark & Wild in 2014, leaned heavily on hip-hop, set to the tune of intense beats.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

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

Half of the reason y’all early music was cracking is because of us dancing down and making it viral every time.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

His probing interpretations bring a fresh perspective to the vast early music harpsichord repertoire.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 3, 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