Music 341: Music History to 1600: Books

The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instrumentsis the definitive guide to over 12,000 musical instruments from around the world. It encompasses western, non-western, and developing-world cultures, and includes classical, folk, and popular music. It also covers instruments of all ages--from the ancient water organ to the synthesizer. TheDictionarydescribes each instrument individually and in the context of instrument families. It charts the history, development, musical function, and inter-cultural links of each instrument as well as its construction, performance practice and technique. The New Grove Dictionaryalso explores the cultures and societies that have created these instruments and the various non-musical functions of certain instruments. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instrumentsincludes: Unprecedented coverage of Western musical instruments--from early European instruments, to the development of the organ and the violin, and continuing into the twentieth century with computers and synthesizers 6,000 articles on non-western developing-world and folk instruments Detailed catalogs of the world's private and public instrument collections, a survey of forgery, and a study of restoration and maintenance techniques Articles on performance practice and technique--such as tuning, ornamentation, fingering and improvisation Biographies of instrument makers--from the Greek inventor Ctesibius to the violin makers of Italy to today's manufacturing giants

Ancient and Oriental music

Early medieval music up to 1300.

Ars nova and the Renaissance, 1300-1540.

The age of humanism, 1540-1630.

The Oxford History of Western Musicis a magisterial survey of the traditions of Western music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time. This text illuminates, through a representative sampling of masterworks, those themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to each musical age. Taking a critical perspective, this text sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history. Written by an authoritative, opinionated, and controversial figure in musicology,The Oxford History of Western Musicprovides a critical aesthetic position with respect to individual works, a context in which each composition may be evaluated and remembered. Taruskin combines an emphasis on structure and form with a discussion of relevant theoretical concepts in each age, to illustrate how the music itself works, and how contemporaries heard and understood it. It also describes how the context of each stylistic period--key cultural, historical, social, economic, and scientific events--influenced and directed compositional choices.

This succinct overview of the development of Western music can help students of all levels understand the evolution of musical styles. Although the text is only half the size of most music histories, it is enhanced by the many cross-references to the best anthologies and recordings for further information and examples.

"The Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music is a fascinating new survey of the music and culture of Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to 1600. With almost 50 essays on the social, historical, theoretical, and performance contexts of the music and musicians of the period, prepared by 45 contributors, including such internationally known scholars and performers as Reinhold Strohm, Christopher Page, Margaret Bent, Bruno Turner, Thomas Binkley, and Paul Hillier, the Companion offers fresh perspectives on the musical styles, research sources, and performance practices of the medieval and Renaissance eras." "The book is divided into six parts. Part I, "The Music of the Past and the Modern Ear," examines the quality of medieval and Renaissance compositions, the English a cappella heresy, medieval recording history, medieval performance practices, and fundamental questions of authenticity. Part II, "Aspects of Music and Society," discusses mainstream and provincial music and the dissemination of ideas in the Middle Ages, the critical role of endowments in the flourishing of sacred polyphony, women's history and early music, and the medieval conception of the "true musician." Part III, "Questions of Form and Style," covers vocal and instrumental genres, and techniques of composition; it includes striking essays on chant, monophonic song, early Western polyphony, mass polyphony, polyphonic song, keyboard music of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the medieval fiddle, and Renaissance wind ensembles. Part IV, "Using the Evidence," explores medieval music iconography, music in Italian Renaissance painting, archival research, and the challenge of orally transmitted music. Part V, "Pre-Performance Decisions," examines the medieval modal system; the role of the editor; and Renaissance pitch, underlay, and pronunciation. Part VI, "Performance Techniques," discusses such performance problems as vernacular pronunciation, tuning, tempo, reconstructing lost voices, and instrumental accompaniment. The Companion also features an extensive glossary, a chronology, end-of-chapter bibliographies, and 50 illustrations."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The book will prove interesting and helpful to the increasing number of amateurs who, through both live and recorded performances, have come to know and love the strangely beguiling qualities of medieval music. Perhaps, in addition, it may contribute to a wider realization that the Middle Ages produced music worthy of the same careful study and admiration long accorded to its masterpieces of literature, art, and architecture.

Music and Ideas in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries shows Claude Palisca--a paragon of music scholarship and education--at the height of his powers, discussing the relationships between musical style and intellectual history, the influence of humanism on the revival of music theory, and competing notions of style. This essential summation of Palisca's life work was nearly finished by his death in 2001, and was brought to completion by Thomas J. Mathiesen.

A history of Renaissance music focused on the music itself and the social and institutional contexts that shaped musical genres and performance.   This book provides a complete overview of music in the 15th and 16th Centuries.  It explains the most significant features of the music and the distinguishing characteristics of Renaissance composers (in Europe and the New World).  It includes a large integrated anthology of 94 musical examples, as well as illustrations of musical instruments, notation, and ensembles.

Focused foremost on the music and then on the social, political, and economic forces that combined to produce it, this book is the ideal undergraduate textbook for music history classes covering the period from c. 1400 to c. 1600. Atlas’s graceful, accessible prose illuminates musical concepts and historical details. A clear format and comprehensive content make Renaissance Music a true teaching and learning text, crafted to meet the needs of today’s students discovering this music and its history for the first time.

This short history of music from the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century provides a detailed description of the most important composers of each period.

This work studies the development of musical notation from the ninth to the fifteenth century, and contains sixty-two fascimiles. Originally published in 1957, this has long been the only concise study of the subject in English. For the Pendragon edition corrigenda and addenda have been incorporated into the text.

Features 50 first-rate musical compositions from the early Middle Ages to the middle of the 18th century. Among the selections are a Gregorian hymn, an English lute piece, operatic arias, instrumental and vocal motets, a French ballad, as well as works by Vivaldi, Telemann, Pergolesi, Scarlatti, and others. Includes commentary.