Renaissance Polyphony

This engaging study introduces Renaissance polyphony to a modern audience, balancing the listening experience with what lies beyond the notes.

List of contents

1. Introducing Renaissance Polyphony; 2. Making Polyphony: Sources and Practice; 3. Makers of Polyphony; 4. Pitch: An Overview; 5. Voice-names, Ranges, and Functions; 6. Mensural Notation, Duration, and Meter; 7. Genre, Texts, Form; 8. 'Cantus magnus': Music for the Mass; 9. 'Cantus mediocris': The Motet; 10. 'Cantus parvus': Secular Music; 11. Scoring, Texture, Scale; 12. Understanding Musical Borrowing; 13. Canons, Puzzles, Games; 14. Performance Practice: A Brief Introduction.

About the author

Fabrice Fitch is a composer and musicologist specializing in Renaissance polyphony and its performance. His monograph Johannes Ockeghem: Masses and Models remains the only full-length monograph in English on the composer, and he has published widely on Obrecht, Agricola, other composers of that generation, and the Eton Choirbook. His compositions have been performed by leading soloists and chamber ensembles and broadcast internationally. He has been a reviewer with Gramophone for over 25 years.

Summary

This engaging study introduces Renaissance polyphony to a modern audience. Combining a detailed, nuanced appreciation of musical style and practice and a sense of what lies beyond the notes, be they playful or profound. It will enhance the listening experience of students and listeners at all levels of expertise.

Product details

• Authors: Fabrice Fitch, Fabrice (University of Durham) Fitch, Fitch Fabrice
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2020
• EAN: 9780521899338
• ISBN: 978-0-521-89933-8
• No. of pages: 292
• Series: Cambridge Introductions to Music; Cambridge Introductions to Mus
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; MUSIC / General, Music reviews & criticism, Renaissance style, Music reviews and criticism, Art music, orchestral and formal music, Medieval & Renaissance music (c 1000 to c 1600), Medieval style