Or:
Objectives of the class:
1. Briefly
survey 16th century theoretical and lyrical conventions
2. Identify
modern theoretical and lyrical conventions which are inappropriate to music
“in a period style”
3. Compose a
tune(and perhaps harmony) to pre-existing 16th century English text
or
3. Write a 16th
century poem to be set to a 16th century tune
or
3. Set a 16th
century poem to a 16th century tune
What we are NOT going to do:
1. Delve into
white mensural notation, chant notation, or any other intensive subject.
No theoretical knowledge is required to participate.
Further
Reading:
I have included books relevant to all three of my classes on this list for several reasons. Items in bold are books I own. If you are interested in reading one of the books and can’t find it, please let me know.
Atlas,
Alan. 1998:
Anthology of Renaissance Music. New
York: Norton.
This
is a great anthology of renaissance music and is not terribly expensive.
Ault,
Norman. 1949:
Elizabethan Lyrics: From the
Original Texts. New York:
Capricorn Books. This
book is a great, inexpensive resource if you are interested in looking at what
texts are available for you to set or to compare to your writings.
Ault also released a book of secular lyrics which may have been
“inappropriate” to the audience he intended for the book (high school and
college literature/poetry students).
Bogin,
Meg. 1980.
The Women Troubadours. New
York: Norton.
This is a neat book but it does
have an “agenda”
Boyd,
Morrison Comegys. 1962:
Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism.
Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
This book is rather difficult to read but
the information within is essential to understanding ‘why’ Elizabethan music
is Elizabethan music.
Brown,
Howard Mayer. 1976:
Embellishing Sixteenth-Century Music.
London: Oxford Press.
The examples in this book are a
really wonderful way to a) spice up 16th century music. B) create new
music with 16th century motifs.
Fenlon,
Iain. 1989:
The Renaissance: From the
1470s to the End of the 16th Century.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice
Hall. This
book is a good survey of Renaissance music and is quite readable.
Grout,
Donald. 1960(and six more
versions). A History of Western Music. New
York: Norton.
My
mother used this book, I use this book, my daughter will use this book.
The definitive history of Western Music.
Well written, annotated, and easy to use.
Hoppin,
Richard. 1978:
Anthology of Medieval Music. New
York: Norton. This
is a wonderful anthology of early music which (after about 1200) spends a
significant amount of time on secular music.
Kite-Powell,
Jeffery T. 1989:
A Practical Guide to Historical Performance:
The Renaissance. New York:
Early Music America.
This was the trial run for the 1994
publication and is typewritten and comb-bound.
Kite-Powell,
Jeffery T. 1994:
A Performer’s Guide to Renaissance Music.
New York: Schirmer Books.
This book contains several new
essays, including several new ones on vocal techniques.
McGee,
Timothy J. 1985:
Medieval and Renaissance Music: A
Performer’s Guide. Hants,
England: Scolar Press.
This book is full of wonderful information
such as a timeline which details what instruments were used when and how often
they were used.
McGee,
Timothy J. 1996:
Singing Early Music: The
Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana
University Press. This
book is by far the best resource I have seen for the early singer.
A CD is available with readings of all the early music texts given in IPA
in the book.
Palisca, Claude. 1980(and two more versions). Norton Anthology of Western Music : Ancient to Baroque, Volume 1. New York: Norton. While this anthology is heavy on sacred music, if you are seriously interested in Medieval and Renaissance music it is worth considering