Within the last couple of centuries, the piano (or piano-like instruments such as the harpsichord) seem to have been the "standard" instrument. Prior to that, it was the lute. The lute evolved from the oud, an instrument brought into Europe by the Moors. The word "lute" comes from al ud, meaning literally "the wood." Instruments in themselves have a strong influence on the kind of music that gets played on them.

Also, the harmonic minor scale (which wasn't called "harmonic minor" back in those days) has a characteristically Middle Eastern sound. Arabic influence is probably most noticeable in the music of Spain (classic, and especially Flamenco), where there was a strong Moorish presence until Ferdinand and Isabella and that stiff-lipped crowd drove them out.

Don Firth