Late Renaissance And Baroque Music

This book proposes new ways of exploring vocal and instrumental music in northern and central Italy in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The text focuses on the consolidation of the 'High Renaissance' style of Josquin Desprez and his contemporaries, and the subsequent transformation of this style under the pressure of new aesthetic and functional demands made upon music, and of shifting social, political and cultural circumstances as Italy moved into the period of the Counter-Reformation, and the arts moved through Mannerism into the Baroque. The effects of these changing contexts upon such masters as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Claudio Monteverdi are fully documented here, but this is less a 'great composer' book than a study of secular, sacred and theatrical styles and genres, both within the musical market-place and in relation to music's sister arts. The author also attempts to view music, and indeed all the arts, as essentially political phenomena, conditioned by (but also conditioning) social and cultural constraints. There are copious music examples and an extensive bibliography; considerable space is also devoted to extracts from contemporary documents in translation to allow the reader first-hand experience of one of the most exciting periods in music history.

The Companion to Baroque Music is an illuminating survey of musical life in Europe and the New World from 1600 to 1750. With informative essays on the social, national, geographical, and cultural contexts of the music and musicians of the period by such internationally known scholars as Peter Holman, Louise Stein, Michael Talbot, Julie Anne Sadie, Stanley Sadie, and David Fuller, the Companion offers a fresh perspective on the musical styles and performance practices of the Baroque era. The Companion to Baroque Music is an illuminating survey of musical life in Europe and the New World from 1600 to 1750. With informative essays on the social, national, geographical, and cultural contexts of the music and musicians of the period by such internationally known scholars as Peter Holman, Louise Stein, Michael Talbot, Julie Anne Sadie, Stanley Sadie, and David Fuller, the Companion offers a fresh perspective on the musical styles and performance practices of the Baroque era.

"A History of Baroque Music is a detailed treatment of the music of the Baroque era, with particular focus on the seventeenth century. The author's approach is a history of musical style with an emphasis on musical scores. The book is divided initially by time period into early and later Baroque (1600-1700 and 1700-1750 respectively), and secondarily by country and composer. An introductory chapter discusses stylistic continuity with the late Renaissance and examines the etymology of the term "Baroque." The concluding chapter on the composer Telemann addresses the stylistic shift that led to the end of the Baroque and the transition into the Classical period."--Jacket.