Anthology of Renaissance Music

by Allan W. Atlas (Editor)

In this carefully selected anthology―the author of Renaissance Music presents full scores for all the music highlighted in the companion text―a total of 102 works of complete movements by some 75 composers. Spanning the period from the early fifteenth century to the late sixteenth, the anthology features all of the era’s important forms and many minor ones, including carols, motets, Mass movements, Anglican services, a Magnificat setting, chansons, frottole, Lieder, madrigals, and others. For each selection, the best available edition has been reproduced; where no satisfactory edition existed, the piece has been specially set for this volume. Inclusive and practical, the Anthology of Renaissance Music is a remarkable tool for students and teachers, for use with or without its companion text.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Art

550 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Allan Atlas is Distinguished Professor of Music at the Graduate Center, where he is Director of The Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments; his interests range from music of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries to Giacomo Puccini, free-reed instruments (especially the English concertina, which he plays), music as represented in Victorian literature, and Astor Piazzolla. His book Renaissance Music has become the standard textbook on the subject. He is currently working on Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Reviews

[Alan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very clear and did not assume much prior knowledge. It also explained how a historian establishes facts from the period and even how to read the scores.

[Valentín Serrano García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seguramente el mejor libro de la editorial Akal (música), así como (seguramente) el mejor libro panorámico sobre la música renacentista: muy bien escrito, dotado de la cantidad justa de información obras y autores y evitando ser repetitivo, académico y/o vacuamente divulgativo. No cae en ninguno de esos tres vicios.

Esta valoración se debe a la gran capacidad didáctica del autor, pedagógica incluso; a su capacidad de síntesis, magistral en el uso de viñetas y ejemplos para ofrendar una panorámica completísima; en su fusión de análisis modal-armónico con interpretación semántica, y un largo etcétera. Basta leerlo para saber que no es sólo el conocimiento lo que se ha dado cita aquí, sino una gran capacidad de elegir y seleccionar lo importante y significativo.

Además, con gran honestidad, el autor no busca sentar cátedra sino promover la duda y la reflexión, así como incentivar la escucha y el deseo por esta música tan polifacética y original. No abruma ni cansa, y funciona tanto como manual como ensayo para ser disfrutado transversalmente.