"All practising musicians with an interest in the baroque owe it tothemselves to be exposed to the ideas contained in this book." --Continuo

"This is a book from an excellent musician in theearly field who turns out also to be a most persistent scholar... " -- EarlyMusic

..". the book offers a vast quantity of data from awide range of sources.... George Houle is to be congratulated for his honestpresentation of the entire spectrum." -- Music EducatorsJournal

The treatment of meter in performance has evolveddramatically since 1600. Here is a practical guide for the performer, with manyquotations from early manuals and treatises, and abundant examples.

..". one of those rare publications which succeeds equally as a scholarly edition for study and as a practical edition for performance." Musick

..". a clear, easily grasped transcription of this work, suitable for performance or study." Notes

..". a clear rendition of the original notation into its modern counterpart.... Houle has produced an edition that is a model of scholarship and performance clarity and is of value to any musician, scholar or performer, who wishes to acquire familiarity and experience with 15th-century contrapuntal style." American Recorder

This is the first comprehensive edition of Ockeghem s "mass in any mode," which has fascinated musicians, historians, and theorists since the fifteenth century. Missa cuiusvis toni offers singers brilliant counterpoint, a masterful exercise in solmization, and experience in musica ficta. The singers parts appear in mensural notation, but Houle also provides full scores and parts in modern notation for the Phrygian, Mixolydian, Lydian, and Dorian modes."

The chanson Doulce memoire, by Pierre Regnault, "dit Sandrin" (ca. 1490-1561), is a simple melody elegantly wedded to poetry that evokes nostalgia for something everyone has experienced a consuming, passionate love that exists only in bittersweet memory. This chanson was so popular that it was frequently reprinted and arranged in a variety of settings for singers and instrumentalists.

From 36 known arrangements, George Houle has selected 24 versions that require from one to six performers. Lutenists will find intabulations of varying difficulty, and the keyboard pieces range from teh very simple to an elaborate fantasy by Hernando de Cabezon. There are virtuosic arrangements for solo viola da gamba as well as duos and trios for many combinations of voices and instruments.

These settings, coupled with Houle's informative text, illustrate the ways Doulce memoire was performed by Renaissance musicians. Some versions show the players conforming to the ideas of the musical theorists of the day, while others demonstrate how much freedom an individual could exercise. For today's musicians, the anthology provides invaluable information on musica ficta and ornamentation.

Houle's performing edition in modern notation includes both scores and parts, the latter ingeniously laid out so that pages simulataneously required by two performers are never back to back. Thus this appealing music is immediately accessible and in a format that is convenient to use."