Peter Bassano’s story goes back 500 years, when five Bassano brothers were hired by Henry VIII as court musicians. In the late 1960s, Peter joined David Munrow in London’s exploding early-music scene. He describes it as “an electric shock going through me.”
Jan Caeyers’ expertise with both the social history of the composer’s world and the music of the period makes this an important addition to the Beethoven literature. Told with almost operatic drama, the book tells us much that we did not know, adding to our understanding and appreciation of this pivotal figure in musical history.
A Vivid New Life of Beethoven Read More »
With this new publication of François Couperin’s celebrated ‘Pièces de clavecin’ (Book III) together with his ‘Concerts royaux,’ we now have a chance to compare the keyboard composer with the chamber musician in a single volume. The introduction alone is invaluable scholarship on this period of the composer’s life and world.
A New François Couperin Edition, of Music in a Life Read More »
Two damaged fragments of parchment, circa 1300, have an amazing story to tell. The Dorset rotulus, a scroll of music, helps flesh out a 400-year gap in our knowledge, adding new insights into the development of the medieval English motet. And for anyone looking for new early English material available for performance, the book will be an excellent resource.
Book Review: Exploring a Missing Link in Medieval English Motets Read More »
This insightful and well-researched collection of 10 essays shed light on Jewish musical activity in the Italian peninsula from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Unique to this time and place was an efflorescence of musical activity—in the sense of European “high culture”—and the authors point to the many instances of cultural, economic and social connections. There’s a focus on two phenomena: the participation by Jews in European musical culture, and the creation of new Jewish musical artifacts that resulted from a fusion of the two cultures.
Book Review: New Perspectives on Music and Jewish Culture in Italy Read More »
