The subject of this list is early keyboard music, and the survey will be concentrated primarily on Italy and England. These are the two principal Renaissance keyboard schools, and each has definite independent merit. The list will be relatively brief and probably does more to relate my own repertory preferences than anything about early keyboard performance per se.
This is a genre of high interest to me, but as in the general instrumental list, my tastes are rather more idiosyncratic here. Many of the most famous Baroque keyboard pieces have limited appeal, while I am very interested in the Renaissance styles. The volume of these repertories also tends to be fairly small, and closely intertwined with the general instrumental list. As composers seem to be more concerned with virtuosity, I become less attracted to their music. Hopefully this list will still be useful.
The English repertory flowered over a very brief period, initiated and dominated by Byrd. His keyboard music speaks volumes to me, and deserves to be far better known. Other English composers carried on his style for a while, but it is a rather small total output, so this list has little opportunity to grow.
Spanish keyboard music in the Renaissance style is even more dominated by the work of a single composer, Cabezón. Like Byrd, Cabezón was also exceptionally talented in this developing instrumental genre. Unlike Byrd, his music has not been so widely performed.
The Italian school is related to the Spanish in many ways, especially through their contacts in Naples. Here we begin with the early Venetian efforts of Willaert, and then move on to Frescobaldi at the threshold of the Baroque. The intervening periods actually show an unusual variety of style, especially as compared to Europe in general at the time, but I recently made the decision to shorten this sublisting.
If a recording in this genre is not listed here, either I haven't been able to obtain a copy (perhaps out of print), I don't know about it at all, I felt that it is substantially duplicated by a recording I like better, or I didn't care for it enough to give it one star. Please feel free to inquire, especially if you know a recording I probably don't.
I will try to keep this page up to date as new releases appear. In many ways, this listing must be viewed as an appendix to the instrumental consort list.
Todd M. McComb Updated: 29 March 2005