Anonymous
Biography
The majority of compositions written through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance are by people long forgotten, and attribution often remains a problem. In fact, it is not known who was responsible for the foundation works of Western classical music. Also unknown are the composers of many later songs, dance tunes, and marches that were integral to daily life and now also count as "classical." Early sacred music represented the official doctrine and aesthetics of the church; a composer's personal expression simply didn't count once the music was adopted for liturgical use, and, in many cases, it would have seemed presumptuous for an individual to take credit for a piece of sacred music. So although a very few specific medieval church composers, such as Hildegard of Bingen, are known, most early sacred music is the work of intentionally anonymous musician employed by the Catholic Church. In the realm of early secular music, a village musician might piece together a dance tune that became popular. Taken up by other players, the tune would pass by ear from village to village, and from generation to generation. The dance's origin would become obscure, even within the composer's lifetime.
I like the above article about the work of history's most prolific composer, and this is a lovely piece, but I can't imagine why Pandora thinks it is similar to Sarum chant, which is from before the Renaissance, or the music of Blondel de Nesle, from the very early Renaissance. Aside, of course, from all the music being good ...
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Well... I personally rate "Anonymous's " overall incredible volume of lifework -both musical and literary, of course- along with that other most-celebra t e d , prolific inventor of all time, "Pat Pending"!!!
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...claim remains of an exceedingly dubious nature. Perhaps it would be best to withhold poorly-worde d , spurious claims in the future.
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User kellyvan88, "Anonymous" is not a single composer, but is a term to indicate the composer is unknown. It is therefore illogical to propose "Anonymous" is the "best ((singular)) composer ((sic)) evaarrrr!!", given it is legion, but if "Anonymous" is taken as a collective then perhaps the claim is reasonable given the range and bulk of the work. However, much Anonymous work is not of comparable quality to the best-regarde d known composers, so this
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