Chromatic Beauty in the Late Medieval Chanson: An Interpretation of Manuscript Accidentals
Cambridge University Press, 11/20/1997
EAN 9780521550512, ISBN10: 0521550513
Hardcover, 242 pages, 25.4 x 17.8 x 1.4 cm
Language: English
This book provides an in-depth study of the late medieval chanson, from Gace Brulé through Guillaume Du Fay. It is largely concerned with interpretation of the way accidentals function, not only at the level of local detail but also as part of the overall design. Thomas Brothers thus explores the way inflections are used by the composer as an expressive tool. The background problem to which this study responds is the conceptual difficulty we have in interpreting pitch syntax in this repertory. Support for this approach comes from reference to causa pulchritudinis ('by reason of beauty'), a justification for chromatic writing first encountered at the beginning of the fourteenth century. In advancing an interpretation of the musical side of the chanson, Thomas Brothers aims to bring standards closer to what has been achieved in study of sister disciplines of art and literature.
Preface
Introduction
Musica ficta, causa pulchritudinis
1. Trouvère manuscript O
2. Machaut's polyphonic songs
3. MSS Chantilly Musée Condé 564 and Oxford, Bodleian Library, Canonici Misc. 213
4. Du Fay
mid-century developments
List of works cited
Index.