Musical Creativity in Restoration England


Book Description

Musical Creativity in Restoration England is the first comprehensive investigation of approaches to creating music in late seventeenth-century England. Understanding creativity during this period is particularly challenging because many of our basic assumptions about composition - such as concepts of originality, inspiration and genius - were not yet fully developed. In adopting a new methodology that takes into account the historical contexts in which sources were produced, Rebecca Herissone challenges current assumptions about compositional processes and offers new interpretations of the relationships between notation, performance, improvisation and musical memory. She uncovers a creative culture that was predominantly communal, and reveals several distinct approaches to composition, determined not by individuals, but by the practical function of the music. Herissone's new and original interpretations pose a fundamental challenge to our preconceptions about what it meant to be a composer in the seventeenth century and raise broader questions about the interpretation of early modern notation.




Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses


Book Description

Presents brief entries describing the gods and goddesses from the mythology and religion of a wide variety of cultures throughout history.







The Early Baroque Era


Book Description




Choral Repertoire


Book Description

"Choral Repertoire is the definitive and comprehensive one-volume presentation of the most significant composers and compositions of choral music from the Western Hemisphere throughout recorded history. The book is designed for multiple uses-as a programming guide for practicing conductors, instructional resource for students and teachers of choral music, historic and stylistic reference for choral singers, and source of information about composers and compositions for choral enthusiasts-and as such, the book intends to further and make accessible important information relevant to the vast scope of choral music. Organized by era (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Modern), Choral Repertoire covers general characteristics of each historical era, trends and styles unique to various countries, biographical sketches of more than six hundred composers, and performance annotations of more than five thousand individual works. Of the composers, there is substantive coverage of women and composers of color, and of the repertoire, there is inclusion of lesser-known works as well as those works that are considered standard"--




Handel and the English Chapel Royal


Book Description

This study of Handel's English church music covers well-known works such as 'Zadok the Priest', but also introduces his Chapel Royal music, the result of a close but changing relationship with Britain's Hanoverian royal family. The story of the political background is complemented by an investigation of the circumstances of Handel's performances.