English Choral Practice, 1400–1650

These nine essays consider for the first time the day-to-day performing practice of English composers of choral music of the period 1440–1650.

John Morehen (Edited by)

9780521544085, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 October 2003

264 pages, 2 b/w illus. 22 tables 50 music examples
24.7 x 18.9 x 1.6 cm, 0.485 kg

'... it is useful indeed to have so much information gathered into one volume.' Musical Times

This is the first book to survey the performing practices in English choral music in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including the period of the English Reformation. The essays, all written by specialists in the field, consider in depth such areas as the growth and development of the 'church' choir, related issues of vocal tessitura, performing pitch, the systems of pronunciation appropriate for Latin- and English-texted music, and the day-to-day training of choristers. There is also an investigation of the local circumstances under which many of the important manuscripts of the period were compiled, which reveals an unsuspectedly close interrelationship between domestic music and music for the church. In addition, a study of surviving sources reveals that they give little more than a general guide as to their composers' and copyists' intentions.

1. To chorus from quartet: the performing resource for English church polyphony, c. 1390–1559
2. Editing and performing musica speculativa
3. The sound of Latin in England before and after the Reformation
4. English pronunciation c. 1500–c. 1625
5. Byrd, Tallis and Ferrabosco
6. John Baldwin and changing concepts of text underlay
7. Sacred songs in the chamber
8. The education of choristers in England during the sixteenth century
9. The 'burden of proof': the editor as detective.

Subject Areas: Choral music [AVGC8]