Library of Essays on Renaissance Music – serie

This volume unites a collection of articles which illustrate brilliantly the complexity of European cultural history in the Renaissance. On the one hand, scholars of this period were inspired by classical narratives on the sublime effects of music and, on the other hand, were affected by the profound religious upheavals which destroyed the unity of Western Christianity and, in so doing, opened up new avenues in the world of music. These articles offer as broad a vision as possible of the ways of thinking about music which developed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

This volume explores the means and motives for the distribution of music during the Renaissance. Music in the fifteenth century was available almost exclusively through manuscript copies, while the introduction of the printing of polyphonic music at the beginning of the sixteenth century profoundly changed the circulation of music.The essays discuss both the technical side of the production of sources as well as their roles in the society in which they were produced and cover a wide range of issues including: the activities of scribes and the making of manuscripts; the role of politics in the transmission of repertories; the influence of patrons and collectors; the impact of music printing; the nature and effects of both multiple-impression and single-impression techniques; and the financial side of music printing. Taken together, these essays reveal the critical changes wrought by the transition from manuscript to print during this period.

The practice and composition of music require patronage and institutional support, and they require it in a different fashion from that found in other forms of art. This collection of essays brings together the most recent and important contributions by leading scholars in the field to this crucial aspect of Renaissance musical culture. The articles approach the topic from a number of perspectives and consider the institutions and individuals engaged in supporting music; the systems of employment, benefices and sponsorship put in place to facilitate the support; and where, how and why music was sung and played. Taken together, these articles enable conclusions to be drawn about the interests of patrons and about the social and artistic status of musicians and composers within the courtly and urban context.

This book presents one author's view of the range and depth of recent scholarly study of sacred and liturgical music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as represented in a range of nineteen articles published in the last twenty or so years. It reprints, and contextualises, groups of articles on music of the French and Flemish Low Countries, Italy, Germany, England and Spain. Spanning a broad range of scholarly approaches, the anthology aims to inform aspiring scholars in the field, and to stimulate future studies in these and related areas.

Secular music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries encompasses an extraordinarily wide range of works and practices: courtly love songs, music for civic festivities, instrumental music, entertainments provided by minstrels, the unwritten traditions of solo singing, and much else. This collection of essays addresses many of these practices, with a focus on polyphonic settings of vernacular texts, examining their historical and stylistic contexts, their transmission in written and printed sources, questions of performance, and composers’ approaches to text setting. Essays have been selected to reflect the wide range of topics that have occupied scholars in recent decades, and taken together, they point to the more general significance of secular music within a broad complex of cultural practices and institutions.

Secular music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries encompasses an extraordinarily wide range of works and practices: courtly love songs, music for civic festivities, instrumental music, entertainments provided by minstrels, the unwritten traditions of solo singing, and much else. This collection of essays addresses many of these practices, with a focus on polyphonic settings of vernacular texts, examining their historical and stylistic contexts, their transmission in written and printed sources, questions of performance, and composers’ approaches to text setting. Essays have been selected to reflect the wide range of topics that have occupied scholars in recent decades, and taken together, they point to the more general significance of secular music within a broad complex of cultural practices and institutions.

This volume of essays draws together recent work on historical music theory of the Renaissance. The collection spans the major themes addressed by Renaissance writers on music and highlights the differing approaches to this body of work by modern scholars, including: historical and theoretical perspectives; consideration of the broader cultural context for writing about music in the Renaissance; and the dissemination of such work. Selected from a variety of sources ranging from journals, monographs and specialist edited volumes, to critical editions, translations and facsimiles, these previously published articles reflect a broad chronological and geographical span, and consider Renaissance sources that range from the overtly pedagogical to the highly speculative. Taken together, this collection enables consideration of key essays side by side aided by the editor’s introductory essay which highlights ongoing debates and offers a general framework for interpreting past and future directions in the study of historical music theory from the Renaissance.

This volume unites a collection of articles which illustrate brilliantly the complexity of European cultural history in the Renaissance. On the one hand, scholars of this period were inspired by classical narratives on the sublime effects of music and, on the other hand, were affected by the profound religious upheavals which destroyed the unity of Western Christianity and, in so doing, opened up new avenues in the world of music. These articles offer as broad a vision as possible of the ways of thinking about music which developed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

This volume explores the means and motives for the distribution of music during the Renaissance. Music in the fifteenth century was available almost exclusively through manuscript copies, while the introduction of the printing of polyphonic music at the beginning of the sixteenth century profoundly changed the circulation of music.The essays discuss both the technical side of the production of sources as well as their roles in the society in which they were produced and cover a wide range of issues including: the activities of scribes and the making of manuscripts; the role of politics in the transmission of repertories; the influence of patrons and collectors; the impact of music printing; the nature and effects of both multiple-impression and single-impression techniques; and the financial side of music printing. Taken together, these essays reveal the critical changes wrought by the transition from manuscript to print during this period.

This book presents one author's view of the range and depth of recent scholarly study of sacred and liturgical music of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as represented in a range of nineteen articles published in the last twenty or so years. It reprints, and contextualises, groups of articles on music of the French and Flemish Low Countries, Italy, Germany, England and Spain. Spanning a broad range of scholarly approaches, the anthology aims to inform aspiring scholars in the field, and to stimulate future studies in these and related areas.

The practice and composition of music require patronage and institutional support, and they require it in a different fashion from that found in other forms of art. This collection of essays brings together the most recent and important contributions by leading scholars in the field to this crucial aspect of Renaissance musical culture. The articles approach the topic from a number of perspectives and consider the institutions and individuals engaged in supporting music; the systems of employment, benefices and sponsorship put in place to facilitate the support; and where, how and why music was sung and played. Taken together, these articles enable conclusions to be drawn about the interests of patrons and about the social and artistic status of musicians and composers within the courtly and urban context.