David Dowland presents one of the first analytical accounts of Anglican theological training during its formative period, the nineteenth century. Until this time Oxford and Cambridge had been recognized as the most desirable sources of Anglican clergymen, but there was to be an upsurgence oflittle-known colleges attended by lower-middle-class ordinands which cut across the assumption that the training received at the fashionable colleges was superior. Dowland discusses the official attitudes towards the innovation of training large numbers of middle-class and lower-middle-class menfor the ministry in an industrial age where a shift of power to the lower classes was widespread.
In the 1530s, five Bassano brothers, who were outstanding wind players and instrument makers, emigrated from Venice to England. Dr Lasocki‘s authoritative new book, the first to be devoted to the family, is a minutely researched account of these brothers, their sons (and a daughter) and their grandsons. The first half of the book discusses the everyday affairs of the family - their relationships, religion, property, law suits, finances, and standing in society. Two chapters, one written by Roger Prior, are devoted to Emilia Bassano, whose identification as thedark lady of Shakespeare‘s sonnets is supported by a wealth of evidence. The second half of the book discusses the family‘s musical activities. At the English Court the Bassanos made up a recorder consort that lasted 90 years; they also played in the flute/cornett and shawm/sackbutt consorts. As instrument makers their fame was spread throughout Europe. The book‘s appendixes present information on the Venetian branch of the family and the musical activities of the English branch since 1665.
Compiled by scholars with unrivalled knowledge of the sources, this dictionary provides biographies of all musicians and instrument makers employed by the English court from 1485-1714. A number of the musicians featured here have never previously received a dictionary entry. Coverage of these minor figures helps to flesh out the picture of musical life in the court in a way which individual studies of more major composers cannot. In addition to basic biographical details, entries feature information on: appointments; probate material; family background; heraldry; signatures and holograph documents; subscriptions to books; bibliographic references. A finding-list of variant names, details of the succession of court places assumed by musicians and an index of subjects and place names completes this comprehensive reference work.
Who were the first owners of the music published in England in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries? Who went to ‘the dwelling house of ... T. East, by Paules wharfe’ and bought a copy of Byrd’s Psalmes, sonets, & songs when it appeared in 1588? Who purchased a copy of Dowland’s First booke of songes in 1597? What other books formed part of their music library? In this survey of surviving books of music published before 1640, David Greer has gleaned information about the books’ early and subsequent owners by studying the traces they left in the books themselves: handwritten inscriptions, including names and other marks of ownership - even the scribbles and drawings a child of the family might put into a book left lying about. The result is a treasure trove of information about musical culture in early modern England. From inscriptions and marks of ownership Greer has been able to re-assemble early sets of partbooks, as well as collections of books once bound together. The search has also turned up new music. At a time when paper was expensive, new pieces were copied into blank spaces in printed books. In these jottings we find a ‘hidden repertory’ of music, some of it otherwise undiscovered music by known composers. In other cases, we see owners altering the words of songs, to suit new and personal purposes: a love-song in praise of Daphne becomes a heartfelt song to ‘my Jesus’; and ‘Faire Leonilla’ becomes Ophelia (perhaps the first mention of this character in Hamlet outside the play itself). On a more practical level, the users of the music sometimes made corrections to printing errors, and there are indications that some of these were last-minute corrections made in the printing-house (a useful guide for the modern editor). The temptation to ‘scribble in books’ was as irresistible to some Elizabethans as it is to some of us today. In doing so they left us clues to their identity, how they kept their music, how they used it, and the multifarious ways in which it played a part in their lives.
Elliott Carter (1908-2012) was the foremost composer of classical music in America during the second half of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades, he consistently produced works that critics hailed as creatively daring, intellectually demanding, and emotionally complex. Distancing himself from the various "schools" and movements that grew and waned in popularity during the postwar era, Carter cultivated a deeply personal musical style that he developed and refined up until the very end of his life. This book of the composer springs from author David Schiff's life-long interest in Elliott Carter's music and his close personal connection with the composer which spanned over forty years. This critical overview of Carter's life and work explores aspects of the composer's life about which he was usually reticent--and occasionally misleading--such as his complicated relationships with Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Nicolas Nabokov, and his own parents. Schiff's study of Carter's complete oeuvre--from his politically charged Depression-era ballets to the deeply personal and reflective late works--is based on extensive study of the composer's personal sketches and letters. Featuring an in-depth look at the legacy project of Carter's final decade, seven settings of American modernist poetry by E.E. Cummings, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams, this newest addition to the Master Musicians Series paints with a fine brush the story of America's foremost composer of the second half of the twentieth century.
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