Medieval

Medieval music took centre stage roughly between the 5th and 15th centuries across Europe, a time when tunefulness was blessedly encouraged, and no one had yet invented the synthesiser. It is predominantly characterised by plainchant and polyphony, which is a fancy way of saying that people enjoyed harmonising while making the rest of us wonder how they managed to stay awake. This genre laid the groundwork for future musical exploits, proving that even in the middle ages, folks liked to revel in a good tune, even if it did involve a lot of lamenting about life’s troubles, often with a side of lute.