The Musical Shape of the Liturgy
The Musical Shape of the Liturgy

Author: William Peter Mahrt

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 455

ISBN-13: 9780984865208

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"Professor William Mahrt of Santford Univeristy and the Church Music Association of America has written a sweeping book--one that it is at once scholarly and practical--on that most controversial topic of music and the liturgy. He provides an over-whelming argument that every parish must have high standrads for liturgical music and he makes the full case for Gregorian chant as the model and the ideal of that liturgical music." - back cover

Writing Sounds in Carolingian Europe
Writing Sounds in Carolingian Europe

Author: Susan Rankin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-11-08

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1108381782

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Musical notation has not always existed: in the West, musical traditions have often depended on transmission from mouth to ear, and ear to mouth. Although the Ancient Greeks had a form of musical notation, it was not passed on to the medieval Latin West. This comprehensive study investigates the breadth of use of musical notation in Carolingian Europe, including many examples previously unknown in studies of notation, to deliver a crucial foundational model for the understanding of later Western notations. An overview of the study of neumatic notations from the French monastic scholar Dom Jean Mabillon (1632–1707) up to the present day precedes an examination of the function and potential of writing in support of a musical practice which continued to depend on trained memory. Later chapters examine passages of notation to reveal those ways in which scripts were shaped by contemporary rationalizations of musical sound. Finally, the new scripts are situated in the cultural and social contexts in which they emerged.

Western Plainchant
Western Plainchant

Author: David Hiley

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 764

ISBN-13: 9780198165729

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Plainchant is the oldest substantial body of music that has been preserved in any shape or form. It was first written down in Western Europe in the eighth to ninth centuries. Many thousands of chants have been sung at different times or places in a multitude of forms and styles, responding to the differing needs of the church through the ages. This book provides a clear and concise introduction, designed both for those to whom the subject is new and those who require a reference work for advanced study. It begins with an explanation of the liturgies that plainchant was designed to serve. It describes all the chief genres of chant, different types of liturgical book, and plainchant notations. After an exposition of early medieval theoretical writing on plainchant, Hiley provides a historical survey that traces the constantly changing nature of the repertory. He also discusses important musicians and centers of composition. Copiously illustrated with over 200 musical examples, this book highlights the diversity of practice and richness of the chant repertory in the Middle Ages. It will be an indispensable introduction and reference source on this important music for many years to come.