The Cultural Life of the Early Polyphonic Mass

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-1-108-79489-3
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 297 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 630 g

The 'cyclic' polyphonic Mass has long been seen as the pre-eminent musical genre of the late Middle Ages, spawning some of the most impressive and engrossing musical edifices of the period. Modern study of these compositions has greatly enhanced our appreciation of their construction and aesthetic appeal. Yet close consideration of their meaning – cultural, social, spiritual, personal – for their composers and original users has begun only much more recently. This book considers the genre both as an expression of the needs of the society in which it arose and as a fulfilment of aesthetic priorities that arose in the wake of the Enlightenment. From this dual perspective, it aims to enhance both our appreciation of the genre for today's world, and our awareness of what it is that makes any cultural artefact endure: its susceptibility to fulfil the different evaluative criteria, and social needs, of different times.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kirkman, Andrew

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein Musikkritik
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Geschichte der Musik Geschichte der Musik: Mittelalter & Renaissance

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface; Part I. The Status of the Early Polyphonic Mass: 1. Enlightenment and beyond; 2. Contemporary witnesses; Part II. The Ritual World of the Early Polyphonic Mass: 3. 'Faisant regretz pour ma dolente vie': piety, polyphony and musical borrowing; 4. 'Head of the Church that is His Body': Christological imagery and the Caput Masses; 5. Sounding armour: the sacred meaning of L'homme armé; 6. The profane made sacred: outside texts and music in the Mass; Part III. The Cradle of the Early Polyphonic Mass: 7. The shape of the Mass; 8. Counterpoint of images, counterpoint of sounds; Last things; Appendices: Appendix 5; Appendix 6.1; Appendix 6.2; Bibliography.

Über Autor(innen)

Kirkman, Andrew
Andrew Kirkman is Associate Professor of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Jersey.