Actually, I was going to suggest that term for the broader category (in the context of a "what is Bach?" poll I'm considering making), despite the fact that I too thought, "You mean like hippies?" when I first heard the phrase some thirty years ago.
First time I heard it, there weren't any hippies yet. I don't think the Beatles had moved onto our charts yet.
Have you looked at, say, A Hard Day's Night recently? Those were regarded as unkempt mop-tops.
Then the really scruffy ones arrived. Then we started growing our own.
Just call it quote classical closequote. After all, the radio stations playing all of it, early to post-romantic, call themselves "classical" stations.
I think I heard Belle Qui or one of the other Arbeau pieces on the radio this morning. That's about the earliest I can get and actually give a number on the age.
Although "Sumer is A-Coumin In" has words about Chaucerian, I don't know the tune's age. (Or probably the right spelling of the song.)
You heard "Belle Qui" on the radio? I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm used to the Classical stations going no earlier than Bach/Vivaldi. If they're reaching earlier, I'll have to start tuning in again. If you catch "Douce Dame Jolie" or "La Brosse" on the radio I'll be absolutely amazed. (OTOH, for a while the goths (ooooh what a confusing label in this discussion -- I mean the 20th C. goths) were listening to a 12th C. saltarello, but not on the classical radio stations: Dead Can Dance did a low-energy cover of it. But that tune really wants to bounce and rock.)
As for "Sumer Is Icumen In", yes, it's definitely ME, so it's gotta predate Arbeau by at least a century (I'm guessing more; 13th C.), but I'm not sure that one really counts any more than really old Christmas carols do -- it's transcended its period and become timeless. (Hey, I hear "Riu Riu Chiu" (mid-1500s) mixed in with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" during the Christmas season.)
Oh wow. My brain just went in a jazz direction with "Sumer Is Icumen In". Somebody with better jazz chops than I've got has to do that, if it hasn't already been done. ... And there goes my train of thought. So much for editing this comment into coherence tonight.
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(Falls over laughing.)
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Have you looked at, say, A Hard Day's Night recently? Those were regarded as unkempt mop-tops.
Then the really scruffy ones arrived. Then we started growing our own.
Just call it quote classical closequote. After all, the radio stations playing all of it, early to post-romantic, call themselves "classical" stations.
I think I heard Belle Qui or one of the other Arbeau pieces on the radio this morning. That's about the earliest I can get and actually give a number on the age.
Although "Sumer is A-Coumin In" has words about Chaucerian, I don't know the tune's age. (Or probably the right spelling of the song.)
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As for "Sumer Is Icumen In", yes, it's definitely ME, so it's gotta predate Arbeau by at least a century (I'm guessing more; 13th C.), but I'm not sure that one really counts any more than really old Christmas carols do -- it's transcended its period and become timeless. (Hey, I hear "Riu Riu Chiu" (mid-1500s) mixed in with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" during the Christmas season.)
Oh wow. My brain just went in a jazz direction with "Sumer Is Icumen In". Somebody with better jazz chops than I've got has to do that, if it hasn't already been done. ... And there goes my train of thought. So much for editing this comment into coherence tonight.