Monteverdi's Vespers is an exceptional collection of sacred music, both in the inventiveness of the compositions that it contains and in the debate that it has provoked over its use in the seventeenth century and over Monteverdi's intentions in publishing it. This handbook provides all the information that the reader needs for an in-depth appreciation of the musical settings themselves, of the debate that surrounds the original intention of the volume and of the problems of performing the music today. The book includes the texts and plainsongs used by Monteverdi, and a discography.

The book examines from various viewpoints Britten's War Requiem, written in 1962 to celebrate the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral and uniting the famous anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen with the Latin Requiem Mass. Britten's and Owen's pacifist beliefs are compared, and the chronology of the compositional process unraveled from documentary and manuscript sources. The musical language is analyzed in detail, and the fluctuating critical responses to the score are assessed.

The German Requiem is Brahms' largest work, written for orchestra, chorus and two soloists. It made Brahms an international name, and the scope and technique of the composition brought him not only a new audience but also comparison with Bach and Beethoven. In the past fifty years it has found new critical support as an original and progressive work. This detailed study examines its history and controversial reception, analyzes its textual and musical structure, and discusses performing traditions from Brahms' time until the present.

Verdi's Requiem is one of the most frequently performed works of the choral repertoire, and one of Verdi's most important nonoperatic works. In this new handbook, David Rosen discusses the work's composition and performance history, and analyzes each of the seven movements, considering Verdi's interpretation of the liturgical text, with reference to settings by Mozart and Cherubini. Rosen also considers the work's coherence and the controversial issue of its generic status--the degree to which it is "operatic."

A well researched account of gospel blues that encompasses the broader cultural and religious histories of the African-American experience between the late 1890s and the 1930s. Harris skilfully contextualizes sacred and secular music styles within African-American religious history and significant social developments of the period.

Agostino Agazzari (c. 1580-c. 1642) has long been recognized as one of the most prominent theorists of the early Baroque. The enduring fame of his 1607 treatise on the basso continuo has, however, overshadowed his equally significant contributions as a composer. And for all his renown, relatively little has been written about his professional career in Siena. This book not only provides the first comprehensive study of his life and sacred works, it also opens a window on musical culture in Siena during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Through the use of archival materials, the author documents Agazzari's long association with the Sienese Cathedral and furnishes valuable information on the personnel, repertory, and performance practices there. She argues for a reassessment of the influences that shaped the composer's style and challenges the generally held view that Sienese culture stagnated after the fall of the Republic in 1555. The book contributes significantly to our knowledge of musical life in the Tuscan 'City of the Virgin'.

This collection of essays, written to commemorate their centenary, celebrates the work of the Plainsong and Mediaeval Music Society. Founded in 1888, the Society quickly established two areas of activity: the propagation of information on medieval music and the revitalization of the Anglican liturgy with the riches of the plainchant of the Roman Rite.

Of the two sides of the Society's activities, the scholarly and the practical, this collection represents the former. The essays reflect the founders' interest in medieval music, both monophonic and polyphonic, and, particularly, their concern with chant. The contributors to this volume are among the most distinguished scholars of medieval music of recent years.

Contributors: David Hiley, Ritva Jacobsson, Michel Huglo, Susan Rankin, Wulf Arlt, Ruth Steiner, David Chadd, Andrew Hughes, John Caldwell, Frank Ll. Harrison, Nick Sandon.

This--the performers' edition of the massive New Oxford Book of Carols--is a selection of 120 carols in 173 different settings. The music, which is divided into composed carols and traditional carols, covers nine centuries of Christmas music from around the world. Popular and unknown material is included: the settings are straightforward and each carol is accompanied by a note on historical background. The emphasis is on the fresh approach to the carol, and the editors have cleared away the accretions of years to recapture the original spirit and vigor of the music. Selections from the book are featured on EMI Classic's recordings "The Carol Album," "The Christmas Album," and "Carol Album 2," performed by the Taverner Consort, Choir, and Players under the direction of Andrew Parrott.

Hymnologische Forschung ist per se interdisziplinar und uberkonfessionell. So gehoeren zwar Psalmen, Hymnen, Sequenzen, Kirchenlieder und Neue Geistliche Lieder in das Gebiet der Praktischen Theologie, genauer: der Liturgiewissenschaft. Reflexionen aus Literatur-, Sprach- und Musikwissenschaft sind jedoch nicht nur Beigabe zur theologischen Untersuchung, sondern fuhren aus je eigenem Blickwinkel zu eigenstandigen hymnologischen Erkenntnissen. Dies und ein wachsendes oeffentliches Interesse an der wissenschaftlichen Beschaftigung mit dem religioesen Liedgut moegen dazu beigetragen haben, dass recht schnell eine Neuauflage des Sammelbandes notwendig geworden ist. Er vereinigt AufsNeuauflage des Sammelbandes notwendig geworden ist. Er vereinigt Aufsatze, die auf der Grundlage von Vortragen und wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten im Kontext des interdisziplinaren Forschungsschwerpunktes "Hymnologie" (Arbeitskreis Gesangbuchforschung, Gesangbuch-Archiv, Graduiertenkolleg) an der Universitat Mainz entstanden sind. Grundfragen der Hymnologie (Mentalitats- und Bedeutungswandel sowie Liedbearbeitung) werden eingehend reflektiert. Mittels ausgewahlter Liedstudien sind daruber hinaus Einblicke in die hymnologische Detailarbeit moeglich.

For all that has been written about Renaissance Florence we know relatively little about its musical life, its religious life, and the aspirations of its average citizens. This book contributes significantly to all understanding of all of these by documenting and interpreting the corporate patronage of an important Florentine musical repertory over a period of some 200 years. From the late thirteenth to the early sixteenth centuries at least twelve lay confraternities sponsored a widespread musical activity involving a specialized network of singers and instrumentalists. The meticulous records kept by these companies reveal a wealth of information about the musicians' conditions and patterns of activity, the central role of music in the companies' vernacular liturgy (especially as conditioned by bequests), and vital performance practice issues such as the role of instruments in vocal performance, the shift from monophonic to polyphonic practice, and the interaction of written and unwritten musical traditions. Because the companies were, in many respects, both a microcosm and characteristic manifestation of this remarkable Renaissance city, the author also seeks to explain how mendicant spirituality, guild society, and devotional images and imagination provide the essential context for understanding the function and significance of laudesi practice and repertoire. This book well be welcomed not only by musicologists, but by Italianists and late medieval and early modern scholars in general.

This is the first volume of a magisterial survey of English music that charts its development from its beginnings in the early monastic institutions to the rise of 17th-century opera and masque and instrumental music, culminating in the genius of Henry Purcell.

This delightful set of practical miniature arrangements of hymn tunes for organ is useful throughout the church year and is accessible to the average church organist. These short pieces not only enhance church services, but also prove invaluable to the church musician looking for something fresh to use during services. The styles of miniatures, which last anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute in duration, are sufficiently varied to maintain interest: some settings are meditative, while others are fanfares, and they can be used during various parts of the service. The book includes a preface that discusses practical usage of the miniatures, citing some examples from te Velde's own experience. It also includes a liturgical index and an index of first lines for the convenience of the organist.

The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis was founded in honour of Dionysius, one of seven missionaries sent from Rome to Gaul around 250. It grew to be one of the most powerful monasteries in western Christendom and enjoyed a central position in French history as the first Gothic abbey, royal necropolis, and place of origin of the chronicles of the kings. This is a study of the music and ritual at Saint-Denis from the sixth to the sixteenth century. It is based on an examination of the liturgical books and archival sources relating to the abbey, in particular the surviving service-books, which tell us much about the history of the music and of the Divine Office at Saint-Denis. Anne Robertson also looks at the tropes and sequences proper to the office for Saint-Denis, provides information on the performance practices, instruments, musicians, and liturgists from the abbey, and offers an account of the history of the liturgy from the Council of Tours in 567 to the pillage of the abbey by the Huguenots in 1567, thus explicating the extant liturgical codices from Saint-Denis. For the author the ritual and history of the abbey is also inextricably linked to the reconstruction of its various buildings, the decorations of the church, even the monks' ambitions. This is a fascinating and wide-ranging study of this extraordinary institution.

This book is an edition, with commentary, of Handel's exercises for continuo playing, which he wrote for the daughters of George II. The exercises, which until now have not been readily available, are supplemented by clear and concise commentary. Remaining faithful to his source, Ledbetter, who lectures in keyboard studies, has prepared an edition that will prove invaluable to students and performers of the music of Handel and his contemporaries.

for SATB choir, cor anglais (or clarinet in A or viola) and organ This reflective setting of verses from Psalm 139 opens with a folk-like melody from the cor anglais. The work grows in intensity with sombre choral harmonies, leading to anome ecstatic climax as the psalmist contemplates the awesomence power of God; it then gently subsides, tailing into silences with a return to the opening cor anglais melody. The work is a highly effective Lenten or contemplative anthem.

Assist Our Song combines accessible teaching about the theology and shape of worship with essential information about the forms of music used, including congregational hymns, songs, canticles and psalm chant, and music performed by choirs and musicians. It explores the range of resources available, how to extend repertoire, blending the old with the new, changing patterns of church life, and other practical issues. Its aims are the heightening of the profile of music within the church, increasing the skills and understanding on the part of musicians and choirs, assisting leaders of worship and empowering congregations to see themselves also as 'ministers of music' It offers practical assistance for the 'delivery' of music - choosing music, making the most of choirs and working with musicians. It will be welcomed by all who lead, provide or curate music in worship, as well as clergy and ordinands who lack musical expertise or confidence.

Gregorian Chant offers a detailed tutorial in the history and liturgy of Gregorian chant for musicians and musicologists, clergy and liturgists, passionate participants, and others who are interested in the revival of chant in the church, today.

This compilation includes favourites such as "Away In A Manger", "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Once In Royal David's City". The book is complete with background notes and a host of playing hints and tips. The songs include: "Deck The Halls"; "The First Noel"; "Good King Wenceslas"; "The Holly And The Ivy"; "Jingle Bells"; "Joy To The World"; "O Christmas Tree"; "Silent Night".

"The Complete Book of Hymns" brings to life the stories behind more than 600 hymns and worship songs. With background on the composer, the inspiration behind the lyrics, scriptural references for devotional consideration, and a sampling of the song lyrics, this book brings forth the message of these great songs of the faith like never before!

This book is the most thorough and extensive history of English parish church music ever published, covering the period from the late middle ages to the present day. Through the ages English parish churches have resounded to all manner of music, ranging from the rich choral polyphony of Henry VIII's or Victoria's reigns to the bare unaccompanied psalm tunes of the seventeenth century. Temperley has found in this neglected field a wealth of fascinating music, as well as a host of intellectual problems to intrigue the scholar. A recurring theme of the book is the conflict between two incompatible goals for Protestant parish church music: artistic performance and popular expression. Professor Temperley suggests that the Elizabethan metrical psalm tunes were survivors of a mode of popular music that preceded the familiar corpus of ballad tunes. Passed on by oral transmission through several generations of unregulated singing, these once lively tunes changed gradually into very slow, quavering chants. This later style, which came to be called 'the old way of singing', is fully described and explained here for the first time. Temperley guides the reader through the complex social, theological and aesthetic movements that played their part in the formation of the late Victorian ideal of the surpliced choir in every chancel, and he makes a fresh assessment of that old bugbear, the Victorian hymn tune. His findings show that the radical liturgical experiments of the last few years have not dislodged the Victorian model for the music of the English parish church.

The venerable Dixie Hummingbirds stand at the top of the black gospel music pantheon as artists who not only significantly shaped that genre but, in the process, also profoundly influenced emerging American pop music genres from Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop to Rock 'n' Roll, Soul, and Hip-Hop. Great God A'Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds shows how, in a career spanning more than nine decades, they pointed the way from pure a cappella harmony to guitar-driven soul to pop-stardom crossover, collaborating with artists like Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon along the way. Drawing on interviews with founding and quintessential members as well as many of the pop luminaries influenced by the Hummingbirds, author Jerry Zolten tells their story from rising up and out of the segregated South in the twenties and thirties to success on Philadelphia radio and the New York City stage in the forties to grueling tours in the fifties and over the long haul a brilliant recording career that carried well over into the 21st century. The story of the Dixie Hummingbirds is a tale of determined young men who navigated the troubled waters of racial division and the cutthroat business of music on the strength of raw talent, vision, character, and perseverance, and made an indelible name for themselves in American cultural history. This heavily edited 2nd edition features brand new photographs, expanded historical context, and a full new chapter on the Hummigbirds' trajectory up to the 21st century.

The first exhaustive treatment of Eastern European Jewish music tracing its roots from biblical times through its zenith in the nineteenth century to its decline in the late twentieth century. Sholom Kalib has taken on the crucial task of collecting, analyzing, and systematically presenting in over 160 examples a magnificent tradition to future generations of cantors, scholars of Jewish music, and music enthusiasts worldwide. Traditionally, this body of music was a source of great strength, stability, and inspiration to Eastern European Jews amid the uncertainties and upheavals of their everyday lives. With this volume the author reacquaints acculturated Jews with a vital and largely unknown part of their heritage. Comprehensive in breadth and scope, the book will serve as a standard scholarly reference for musicians, cantors, and musicologists.

This hardbound full score is presented in a slip-case embellished with William Walton's signature in gold. William Walton signed the title pages of 350 copies, of which only a handful are still left in OUP's stock. An oratorio for baritone soloist, mixed chorus, and orchestra, using text from the Bible selected by Osbert Sitwell Orchestral material is available on hire