History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Music of the Troubadours (Music: Scholarship and Performance)

Average customer rating:

Very useful
Dealing with music

The Music of the Troubadours (Music: Scholarship and Performance)
Elizabeth Aubrey
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0253213894

Customer Reviews:

Very useful.......2006-11-05

This book is very useful. Mainly I was looking for a book that contained the score of trobadours songs: I found it. Inside I found most of the songs I was looking for.

Dealing with music.......2003-11-05

I liked very much this book because of its scholarly yet plain approach to the troubaudor's music (not trouvères). It deals with every important aspect of troubaudor music; history, biographies, sources, influence of oral tradition, philological problems (notation, rythm, textual variants, etc.), genres, musical analysis, form, theoretical writtings, performance, etc.

There should be more books like this!! Muy recomendable!!

Average customer rating:

I'm enthusiast!

Begin here

Sheep guts, neumes, and poetic imagination

A Performer's Guide to Medieval Music (Music-Scholarship and Performance)

Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Instruction & Study | Theory, Composition & Performance | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Medieval | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music--Scholarship and Performance)

Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music

Performance Practice: Music Before 1600 (Norton/Grove Handbooks in Music)

Shakespeare's Songbook

Playing with History: The Historical Approach to Musical Performance (Musical Performance and Reception)

ASIN: 0253215331

Book Description

Concise essays by 29 performers and musicologists give solid guidance on various vocal repertories, instruments, and performance-practice issues. Contributors include Alejandro Planchart, Benjamin Bagby, and Herbert W. Myers.

Customer Reviews:

I'm enthusiast!.......2006-06-28

This book is really useful: I play the medieval lute and the 'ud and I found very interesting and helpful the chapters about improvisation and basic theory of the modes.

I really recommend it!

Begin here.......2003-06-26

I agree with the other review of this book, the
Bagby article is wonderful in its insight and also
its discouraging the adoption of riffs from contemporary
cultures (a la "world music") while finding inspiration and advice in them. Non-western musical traditions have has its own genius and integrity witout insulting them by pasting them onto western practice. They should be studied for their own worth.
The articles about theory and practice in this book are the most practical I've ever seen in a book on the subject. Following Margriet Tindemans' advice in chapter 34 will definitely get you somewhere.
If you are going to buy only one book on the subject it should be this one. If you are going to buy several, this one should be the first.

Sheep guts, neumes, and poetic imagination.......2001-01-05

This collection of essays attempts to give a fairly complete overview of things we need to know to do a credible job of recreating medieval music, including poetic and dramatic forms, modes, tunings, the ever-elusive question of notation, and specifics about the instruments. This last is particularly helpful when one is moving sideways out of one's own area of expertise (eg, singers wanting to know more about how to direct the instrumentalists in suitable accompaniment textures, lutenists seeking to create a repertoire out of 14th and 15th c vocal forms, sensible people curious about the hurdy gurdy's fall from grace, etc.). Within any given essay are plenty of challenges to commonly received knowledge, with abundant references and citations. Illustrations, though sparing, manage to make departures from the ones usually given. In all, this book is bound to serve as a standard reference for years to come.

For a taste now, if nothing else, anyone involved in recreating medieval music simply must read Benjamin Bagby's essay "Imagining the Early Medieval Harp." He presents a quest, and captures many hints to point to a truly passionate and organic reconstruction of authentic performance practice. Why do we go to such efforts to assemble these hints and scraps of the past? Why would we even think of limiting ourselves to musical instruments barely exceeding an octave? Imagine, with Mr Bagby, the legend of Tristan with his 8-10 stringed harp, described in a 13th c account as "playing such sweet tones and striking the harp so perfecly... that many who stood or sat nearby forgot their own names." This is a possible ideal even today: Read on!

Even more is given in the late Barbara Thornton's interview "The Voice," wherein very specific techniques are shared for cultivating a medieval imagination. Like a language itself, this imagination is also a receptivity to many emotional nuances and inflections that are simply not communicated by any other kind of music.

Book Description

A remarkable work that recovers the songs Shakespeare's audiences actually heard and brings them to life through performance.

Shakespeare lovers have long lamented that so few songs in his plays survive with original music; of about sixty song lyrics, only a handful have come down to us with musical settings. For over 150 years, scholars have aspired—without success—to fill that gap. In Shakespeare's Songbook, Ross W. Duffin does just that.

Eight years in the making, Shakespeare's Songbook is a meticulously researched collection of 160 songs—ballads and narratives, drinking songs, love songs, and rounds—that appear in, are quoted in, or alluded to in Shakespeare's plays. Drawing substantially on the unmatched resources of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Duffin brings complete lyrics (many newly recovered) and music notation together for the first time, and in the process sheds new light on Shakespeare's dramatic art. With performances by leading early-music singers and instrumentalists, the accompanying audio CD brings the songbook to life. Shakespeare's Songbook is the perfect gift for lovers of Shakespeare and an invaluable reference for singers, actors, directors, and scholars. 49 illustrations, 500 music examples.

Customer Reviews:

Listening for the Music in Shakespeare's Plays.......2006-06-21

It is with pleasure that I recommend Ross Duffin's Shakespeare's Songbook. Foregrounding the musical allusions in Shakespeare's plays, Duffin asks us to radically re-conceive our understanding of the Elizabethan experience of attending plays. By demonstrating how Shakespeare at times cites, at other times extracts the popular music of his time, Duffin makes a compelling case for Shakespearean plays as multimedia events. While we think of a play as a series of acts comprised solely of spoken dialogue, Duffin shows us how Shakespeare uses musical excerpts and allusions to ballads and other "pop music" of his day in order to amplify his meaning. Duffin's findings suggest that the Elizabethan experience of going to a play would be akin to our experience of watching a film like Moulin Rouge, which cuts and pastes our pop music into a narrative. (Except, of course, that Shakespeare did it so much better!) Part of what makes this book so amazing is that Duffin has reconstructed tunes and songs to which Shakespeare only alludes! The companion CD allows us to get a taste of what the music would have sounded like--performed, I might add, on period instruments!

I do want to clarify something mentioned in the previous review. The writer ends by noting, "the authors have definitely opened the book on the subject of Shakespeare's music." Perhaps this is a typo, but there are no authors (plural). Ross Duffin is the author. Perhaps the reviewer doesn't understand that someone (in this case, Stephen Orgel) could write the foreword for a book without being its author. At any rate, clarification is in order.

This book has changed how I think about and teach Shakespeare. I hope that directors and actors take it up, so that they can return at least some of the music to Shakespeare's plays.

Great sourcebook--with a grain of salt.......2004-05-03

Ross Duffin has performed a mighty feat--coming up with pre-composed music for all the Shakespeare lyrics--including some never before published. This is a wonderful resource and a great starting point for anyone who wants to understand the musical references in Shakespeare's plays, and also for anyone who wants to use period music for actual productions.

That said, there are many traps for the unwary. Duffin has, at the same time, cast his net too widely and too narrowly. He has taken the reasonable step of starting by looking for printed ballads with similar verse patterns to Shakespeare lyrics and then finding which of those ballad tunes that seems to fit the Shakespeare verse the best. This can make for anomalies, however: so often, the best fit is either "Robin Goodfellow," also known as "Dulcina," or "Goddesses." This in spite of the fact that both these tunes seem to originate rather late for the purpose: the first surviving example of "Dulcina," and also the first written record of its existence, dates from 1615, five years after Shakespeare retired from the theather, and "Goddesses" dates from 1650 or thereabouts. Duffin generously acknowledge these facts in each individual case. But he uses both these tunes far too often in the collection as a whole, given their tenuous existence in Shakespeare's own day. Some other suggested tunes also seem to date from much later.

The idea that most of these verses would have been sung to ballad tunes also seems far too simplistic, given what we know of the variety of theatrical songs in general that survive from this period, songs such as the anonymous "Have you seen but the white lily grow," as well as the works of Robert Johnson and theatrical viol consort songs such as "The dark is my delight." It seems extremely unlikely, for example, that several lines before singing Robert Johnson's setting of "Full fathom five" at the opening of _The Tempest_, that Ariel would have sung "Come unto these yellow sands" to a ballad tune instead of to another song by Robert Johnson that happens not to survive. Or that "Full fathom five" would be used three different times in one play, never mind that it's hard to imagine that a character who is enough of a lowlife to sing "The captain, the swabber, the boatswain and I" would even know such a refined and sophisticated melody to to which to set it. My personal suggestions would be "Heigh ho the cramp" for "I shall no more to sea" and "Sellenger's Round" for "The captain, the swabber. . ."

Duffin was occasionally guilty of picking tunes that fit the words awkwardly at best, such as "While you here do snoring lie" from _The Tempest_ to "The Hunt is Up," or using primarily instrumental tunes such as "Nutmings and Ginger," which contain awkward rhythms for singing English, creating word patterns that resembl neither pre-composed vocal music nore surviving folk song. And at least once, he failed to read the stage directions closely, which resulted in actually ommitting text from the song--in this case, Caliban's song in _The Tempest_, which he begins with the words "No more dams I'll lay for fish." According to the stage directions, the song actually begins with the line, "Farewell, master, farewell, farewell." With the first line restored, the song fits very well to another tune known as "Night piece, or "The Shaking of the Sheets." (For anyone interested to hunt up this one, see _The British Broadside Ballad and its Music_ by Claude M. Simpson or _Old English Popular Music_ by William Chappell.) Granted, the first line is not italicised in the First Folio, but neither is the first line of the "Farewell, dear heart" sequence from _Tweltfh Night_, which is obviously meant to be sung, since it is the first line of the tune that the drunkards use for their banter.

Also, Duffin suggests "Where griping griefs" as a tune for a couple of songs aside from the original in _Romeo and Juliet_, but offers no written-out accompaniment, which renders the tune impractical. It contains leaps of a dminished octave, which would be rather awkward for actors who haven't had extensive musical training (or even many singers who have) to manage alone.

To sum up, the authors have definitely opened the book on the subject of Shakespeare's music--but they haven't closed it.

Theories of Fugue from the Age of Josquin to the Age of Bach (Eastman Studies in Music)

Average customer rating:

Theories of Fugue from the Age of Josquin to the Age of Bach (Eastman Studies in Music)
Paul Mark Walker
Manufacturer: University of Rochester Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1580461506

Book Description

This is a fine and valuable book, encyclopaedic in its coverage of the subject, and the only treatment (in any language) of the entire field. It is an extraordinary achievement. MUSIC & LETTERS Lucidly and engagingly written...this book is an outstanding contribution to scholarship and a definitive work, indispensable for the historical study of fugue. THE AMERICAN ORGANIST Few bodies of Western music are as widely respected, studied, and emulated as the fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach. Despite the esteem which Bach's contributions brought to the genre, however, the origin and early history of the fugue remain poorly understood. Theories of Fugue from the Age of Josquin to the Age of Bach addresses both the history and methodology of the pre-Bach fugue (from roughly 1500 to 1700), and, of greatest significance to the literature, it seeks to present a way out of the methodological dilemma of uncertainty which has plagued previous scholarly attempts by considering what musicians of the time had to say about the fugue: what it was, what it was not, how important it was, and where and how a composer should (or shouldn't) use it. Eastman Studies in Music, Volume 13. PAUL MARK WALKER is director of the Early Music Ensemble at the University of Virginia and an expert on the history of the fugue.

William Byrd's Modal Practice (Medieval and Renaissance Music)

Average customer rating:

William Byrd's Modal Practice (Medieval and Renaissance Music)
John Harley
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0754634418

Average customer rating:

The Sounds of Milan, 1585-1650
Robert L. Kendrick
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

History | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0195135377

Book Description

In this book, a follow-up to his 1996 monograph Celestial Sirens, Robert Kendrick examines the cultural contexts of music in early-modern Milan. This book describes the churches and palaces that served as performance spaces in Milan, analyzes the power structures in the city, discusses the devotional rites of the Milanese, and explores the connections among city politics, city-scape, and music.

Authenticity and Early Music: A Symposium

Average customer rating:

Authenticity and Early Music: A Symposium

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0198161530

Book Description

No change has had a more profound influence on the development of music-making over the last two decades than the growth of the historical performance movement. The notion that we can - and indeed should - perform music in the manner its composers intended has led to a search for original methods and styles of performance. At first this was the pursuit of a small coterie, but in recent years the explosion of popular interest in what has been called the 'authenticity' movement has led to a sea-change in our listening habits. Performances on period instruments are now supplanting those on modern instruments in some central areas of the classical repertory, and by many this is perceived as a threat. For the first time, this book explores the thinking behind the search for so-called authenticity in musical performance, and questions some of the received opinions about its worth and purpose. The contributors include critics Nicholas Kenyon of Early Music and Will Crutchfield of the New York Times, alongside Howard Mayer Brown, Philip Brett, Robert P. Morgan, Richard Taruskin, and Gary Tomlinson, all of them experts in their field. The variety of views expressed is sure to provoke wide discussion and to stimulate new thought among both scholars and performers about the future of the historical performance movement.

Average customer rating:

Species counterpoint with all the details
Comprehensive introduction to Renaissance-style counterpoint

Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style
Peter Schubert
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Entertainment | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0195109120

Book Description

An exceptional text for undergraduate and graduate music students, Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style uses a wide variety of carefully graded exercises to present guidelines for writing and analyzing 16th-century music. The only species counterpoint text that draws directly on Renaissance treatises, it provides a conceptual framework to guide students through composition and analysis as it teaches them general structural principles. With stylistically diverse examples including not only motets and mass movements but also French chansons, German chorale settings, English canzonets, Italian madrigals, and Spanish organ hymns, villancicos, and ricercars, the book gives students a "real-life" feel for the subject. It distinguishes between technical requirements ("hard" rules) and stylistic guidelines ("soft" rules), and includes coordinated exercises that allow students to develop their skills systematically. The concluding chapters provide the formal and conceptual building blocks for longer pieces and encourage students to understand analysis and composition as complementary activities. By the end of the book, they are writing real compositions, not just drill exercises. Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style features carefully chosen contemporaneous musical examples, progressively graded exercises, historical asides that explain important topics and issues of the period, and a set of notes to the instructor. Combining the historical accuracy of "style-oriented" texts with the more systematic species counterpoint approach, this book offers a unique alternative to other methods.

Customer Reviews:

Species counterpoint with all the details.......2006-07-11

MCRS is the most comprehensive textbook in print (as of 2006) that teaches 16th century counterpoint in terms of species. (The Jeppesen counterpoint book also deals with species, but has only c.f. exercises, and is not organized in a student-friendly way.) Schubert's music examples are drawn primarily from Renaissance music treatises rather than repertoire, in order to illustrate the various species; the relatively small number of repertoire examples includes more French chansons than excerpts from Palestrina or Lassus. There are considerably more exercises and assignments--from preparatory "warmups" through analyses and error detections to c.f. fragments and complete cf's--than can be covered in a 15- week course. Canon and invertible counterpoint are recurring topics. My students found the organization of "hard" and "soft" rules helpful. The exercises can be time-consuming, so teachers considering adopting this book as a course text should allow ample time to go through it in advance to decide which exercises to use and to actually write out their solutions.

Comprehensive introduction to Renaissance-style counterpoint.......2004-09-14

Peter Schubert is on the faculty of McGill University. As a first-time teacher of species counterpoint I am impressed by this book's organization, clarity of explanation and vast quantity of practice exercises. For the sake of the beginner student fine nuances of style are skipped, especially in the early chapters, in favor of a thorough grounding in rules, divided into "hard" and "soft" categories. The former are regarded as unyielding benchmarks of correctness, while the latter have to do more with stylistic ease and euphony. The sheer quantity of rules may overwhelm some students; careful explanation by the instructor is necessary to avoid glazed-over eyes and discouragement. At least in my edition there is as yet no attempt to put some of the examples and exercises in audio form, as do many theory texts today. I also think answer keys for some of the shorter exercises would make this book even more useful, though of course such things tempt some students to peek.

Still, the organization of the material and the obvious expertise of the author make this textbook a most impressive entry in the music theory teaching sweepstakes.

Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer's Guide

Average customer rating:

Great reference for performers
A Performer's Companion

Medieval and Renaissance Music: A Performer's Guide
Timothy J. McGee
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Reference | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0802067298

Book Description

Over the past twenty-five years Europe and North America have witnessed an enormous revival of interest in early music. Since the late 1950s numerous professional and amateur ensembles have delighted audiences with the vocal and instrumental music of the twelffth to the sixteenth centuries, while scholars have addressed themselves to the many problems involved in its authentic re-creation. This book unites the two fields; it is both a summary of the most recent scholarly investigations into the subject and a practical guide to the performance of early music based on the experience of the author and others who have performed a sizable portion of the early repertory.

McGee lays out clearly the foundation and background of each of the performance problems, presenting the most recent research and pointing out areas of incomplete knowledge and controversy, and then introduces practical solutions based on the scholarship.

All the topics necessary for a historical performance of early music are discussed: tempo, rhythmic flow, instrumentation, ornamentation, articulation, improvisation, style, and singing technique, along with some practical hints for selecting a program and shoosing substitute instruments. The final chapters is a reference guide to modern editions of the music and an introduction to the scholarly literature on early music performances.

At the time of publication, this book was the first to address the problem of how to perform medieval and Renaissance music. It is intended for both the amateur performing musician and the serious student.

Customer Reviews:

Great reference for performers.......2001-07-13

Timothy McGee's Performer's Guide was recommended to me by Therese Honey, who performs, records, and teaches medieval harp technique. I am very impressed with it and greatly appreciate her recommendation. This is a practical book, and could be used by someone new to early music as well as someone with a deeper background. A good index makes it possible to pick out sections related to a particular instrument. Good writing by a knowledgeable author makes it enjoyable to read the whole book.

A Performer's Companion.......2000-06-28

Renaissance music was a key aspect of my high school experience as I sang under the direction of a man who has received his Masters Degree in its components and has a compelling love of its applications. From sacred to secular and serious to silly, Renaissance music covered a breadth of ideas and ideals, many of which modern performers without depth of knowledge or experience cannot relate or understand. This book serves to quell those absences of information on such an important period of musical history. I think of this as a necessary tool for any performer in studying the intricacies of this period's collaborative parts. Notice the title does not mention EXPERIENCED performer's guide to Renaissance music. This is a tool for any musical performer to enhance themsleves as musicians and as people. It is for the layman and the scholar to enjoy, and enjoy they will. Renaissance music established a firm foundation for all modern methods of musical ideology. It is only reasonable to presume that the modern musical mind should want to discover its artistic roots through such a resource as this.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books