| Contents |
The development of the central musical language of the Renaissance in France, the Low Countries, and Italy. Social background in Burgundy (1363-1477) and in the French crown lands (reign of Charles VI) -- French music between Machaut and Dufay -- Italian music of the early Quattrocento -- Composers, mainly of Northern France, in the period of Dufay -- Music of France and the Low Countries in the period of Busnois and Ockeghem; an outpost at Naples -- The Frottolists and their contemporaries in northern and central Italy -- Josquin des Prez and his contemporaries from France and the Low Countries, in particular Obrecht, Agricola, Isaac, Compere, Brumel, Pierre de la Rue, and Mouton -- Secular vocal music of the post-Josquin period: Claudin, Janequin, Gombert, and their contemporaries as writers of polyphonic chansons -- Verdelot, Festa, Arcadelt, Willaert, Rore, and their contemporaries as writers of Italian madrigals -- Sacred vocal music of the post-Josquin period: Gombert, Clemens non Papa, Willaert, and their contemporaries -- Secular vocal music of the late Renaissance: Arcadelt, Le Jeune, Lassus, Sweelinck, and their contemporaries as writers of polyphonic chansons -- Palestrina, Monte, Monteverdi, and their contemporaries as writers of Italian madrigals -- Sacred vocal music of the late Renaissance: Italian composers, including Palestrina at Rome and the Gabrielis at Venice -- French and Netherlandish composers, including Goudimel in his relation to the Genevan Psalter and Lassus at Antwerp -- Instrumental music of the 16th century: the Italian production, including the lute-books printed by Petrucci and those written by Francesco da Milano, Galilei, and Molinaro, the keyboard works of the Cavazzonis, Merulo, and Andrea Gabrieli, and the ensemble compositions of Giovanni Gabrieli -- The French and Netherlandish production, including the lute-books of Le Roy and Besard and the keyboard and ensemble collections printed by Attaignant -- Music in the 16th-century theater -- The diffusion and development of the musical language of the Renaissance in the Hispanic peninsula, Germany, Eastern Europe, and England. Spain and Portugal: the musicians of the 15th century, including those of Ferdinand and Isabella -- The 16th-century polyphonists, including Morales, Guerrero, and Victoria -- The writers of 16th-century instrumental music, including the six great Vihuelistas and Cabezon -- Germany: pre-reformation vocal polyphony, including the Lochamer, Glogauer, and other miscellaneous liederbucher, the Franco-Netherlandish element as represented by Isaac, and the music of Heinrich Finck -- Monophony - the meistersinger -- Instrumental music through the 16th century, including the keyboard works of Paumann, Schlick, and Hofhaimer and the lute pieces of the newsidlers -- Germany: music of the reformation, including the collections of Walter, Rhaw (1544), and Eccard -- 16th-century catholic polyphony from about 1520, including the music of Senfl and the Franco-Netherlandish influence as represented by Lassus and Monte -- Secular polyphony, including the Ott and Forster liederbucher and the collections of Hassler -- Music in Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, and the Adriatic coastal areas of the southern Slavs -- England: music from c. 1450 to c. 1535, including the carols and the works of Fayrfax and taverner -- The composers of sacred music with Latin text from c. 1535 to c. 1635, including Tallis, Byrd, and Philips -- Sacred music with English text from c. 1535 to c. 1635, including the booke of common praier noted, the early psalters, and the anthems of Tomkins and Gibbons -- England (c. 1535 to 1635): the madrigals, including those of Morley, Weelkes, and Wilbye -- The ayre -- Instrumental music, including the lute works of Dowland, the keyboard works of Byrd, Bull, and Farnaby, and the ensemble compositions of Tye, Morley, and Gibbons -- Music in the theater. |
| Abstract |
This book is a comprehensive account of the music produced in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The music of the period covered in this volume exhibited a brilliance and richness fully equal to the parallel achievements of Renaissance literature and art. The author deals with the varied and complex strands of musical development through these years in a masterly way. He describes how a dominant new music style arose in northern France with Dufay, how it was developed in that region and in the Low Countries by such masters as Ockeghem, Obrecht, Josquin des Prez, Gombert, and Lassus, and how it was adopted and adapted by the Italians to yield the brilliant productions of the madrigalists and the sacred masterpieces of Palestrina. He then shows how this style was diffused throughout Europe - in Spain, Germany, Eastern Europe and Britain. He discusses separately the character of the music produced in country after country, and its expression in different forms: sacred and secular vocal polyphony, music for the organ, lute and viol, the Spanish keyboard music, the German meistersinger, the Elizabethan madrigal, the works for the clavecin and the virginal. Throughout this book the emphasis is on the analysis of musical styles, but reference is frequently made to historical events, the influence of the great Renaissance courts, and the individualities of the prominent figures. This book, the most complete one-volume study of Renaissance music in the English language, is here brought up to date. The author has incorporated the essential new material that has appeared during recent years, revising both the text and bibliographical references throughout. |
