Uniquely among histories of mediaeval music, this book is specifically devoted to the vast repertory of monophonic music. Too often treated as a preamble to polyphony, this music forms the basis of Europe's musical tradition. (A companion volume by F. A. Gallo, forthcoming in English translation, covers polyphonic music of the Middle Ages.) Giulio Cattin outlines the birth and evolution of Christian chant in the early centuries of the Church and describes a number of partly independent Byzantine and Western chant traditions. Fr Cattin's own background in the Church gives a particular authority to his writing on liturgical music, and he presents the latest original research without being too technical. In addition to offshoots of the main liturgical tradition such as tropes, metrical offices and liturigical drama, Fr Cattin covers the birth of secular music, first in Latin monody, and then in a growing variety of music in vernacular languages - the Italian laude and the lyrics of the Provençal troubadours, the French trouvères and the German Minnesinger. Chapters on early instrumental music and on the philosopher's view of the ars musica complete the book.
Uniquely among histories of mediaeval music, this book is specifically devoted to the vast repertory of monophonic music. Too often treated as a preamble to polyphony, this music forms the basis of Europe's musical tradition. (A companion volume by F. A. Gallo, forthcoming in English translation, covers polyphonic music of the Middle Ages.) Giulio Cattin outlines the birth and evolution of Christian chant in the early centuries of the Church and describes a number of partly independent Byzantine and Western chant traditions. Fr Cattin's own background in the Church gives a particular authority to his writing on liturgical music, and he presents the latest original research without being too technical. In addition to offshoots of the main liturgical tradition such as tropes, metrical offices and liturigical drama, Fr Cattin covers the birth of secular music, first in Latin monody, and then in a growing variety of music in vernacular languages - the Italian laude and the lyrics of the Provençal troubadours, the French trouvères and the German Minnesinger. Chapters on early instrumental music and on the philosopher's view of the ars musica complete the book.
This new and illuminating study of medieval polyphony examines the links between music and contemporary political, civil and religious events. The period from the second half of the twelfth century to the second half of the fifteenth is of great historical interest since it marks the development of polyphonic forms and the birth of mensural music. There is also the earliest evidence of individual composers, from Léonin and Pérotin to Machaut, Landini and Dufay. Alberto Gallo pays particular attention to the elaboration of refined techniques of composing, often drawing a parallel with the techniques of rhetoric and poetry. The writing down of music and also theory are shown to be essential stages of composition. Professor Gallo also describes the birth of the professional composer and the flowering of those permanent institutions within which musicians worked and which for centuries characterized European music. Professor Gallo has taken the opportunity of this first English edition to update the text, and to add notes.
This book offers a fascinating overview of the challenges posed by the world’s new geostrategic order and likely future directions. It opens with an unconventional view of the Arab Spring, identifying its origins in the relative US withdrawal from the Middle East caused by both the need for military disengagement for economic reasons and the discovery of shale gas and tight oil in the heart of the North American continent. The rise in the geostrategic importance of Putin’s Russia is explored in this context. The implications of the worldwide economic crisis are analyzed in depth: the author’s interpretation is that the world is entering a phase of unstable growth generated by hyper financialization and deflation. Against this background, the book explores the US attempt to trigger growth through the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (based on the US-Australia military alliance) in restraining China’s advance, and the potential for Africa to become the driver of the world’s economic future if it can resist Chinese penetration and continue the nation-building process.
Seeing ourselves through others' eyes is often instructive...[Prime Minister Giulio] Andreotti, a fixture of postwar Italian government, brings [to this examination of U.S. politics] a keen mind and the perspective of a political system in which charisma is suspect..." —Foreign Affairs "Rich, not only in the usual anecdotes of the author's encounters with famous Americans, but also in reflections on the moments that molded the extraordinary relationship between Italy and the U.S... [Andreotti] will be judged by historians to be, warts and all, one of Italy's, and Europe's, truly remarkable statesmen." —Choice
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