Author Description

Nowhere in musical analysis is the tension between the two theoretical positions of considering music in the context of its external circumstances or examining its internal substance so apparent as in the study of the medieval and early repertoire. This volume seeks to bridge the gap between the historical humanistic study of the period's music and the application of analytical techniques more often found in criticism of later music. The chapters investigate a range of musical styles as well as a fair cross section of the ways in which music composed before 1600 is currently being analyzed. The book brings together critics from two historians who seek to explain the nature of medieval and Renaissance music by reference to contemporary contexts, and more abstractly minded analytical scholars. In his introduction Everist explores the possibility of fusing the two approaches.