Author : John Stevens
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 514 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)
Book Synopsis Music and Poetry in the Early Tudor Court by : John Stevens
Download or read book Music and Poetry in the Early Tudor Court written by John Stevens and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the music of the Elizabethans is widely known, that of the early Tudors is still mostly unpublished. Dr. Stevens provides a scholarly study of this un-accountably neglected subject, and gives the first full description of three song-books which contain virtually all that remains of English secular song from 1480-1530. Beginning with a detailed description of the song-books, he goes on to discuss the relationship between music and poetry during the period before the Reformation. This is followed by a description of the tradition of the 'courtly makers' from Chaucer to Wyatt, including an important section on the social manifestations of courtly love, and he deals thoroughly with the role of the musician and the quality of musical life at the time. This is a book which for the first time provides the relevant musical and social information on which a fresh assessment of the poetry of the early Tudors can be based. Dr. Stevens's conclusions lead him to question the prevailing view that there was an idealized union of poetry and music in early Tudor England which led up to and culminated in the great Elizabethans. The literary text of the songs in the three song-books is given in an appendix, together with a commentary, a first-line index of some 370 songs, and a list of sources.