Anthology of Renaissance Music (Norton Introduction to Music History)

In this carefully selected anthology, the author of Renaissance Music presents full scores for all the music highlighted in the companion text -- a total of 102 works for complete movements by some 75 composers. The Anthology of Renaissance Music may also be used independently of the book, as a well-balanced collection for students and teachers of the era's music. The list of works spans the period from the early 15th century to the late 16th. Here we find carols, motets, Mass movements, a Magnificat setting, chansons, frottole, Lieder, madrigals, instrumental canzonas and toccatas, Anglican services -- in short, all the important forms and many of the minor ones. Readers will also be pleased to find examples of the many compositional techniques used by Renaissance composers, as well as music in a variety of styles representing the major European nationality and language areas. For each selection, the best available edition has been reproduced; where no satisfactory edition existed, the piece has been specially set for this volume. English translations are provided for all foreign-language texts. Given the recent surging interest in music of the Renaissance, students, teachers, and music lovers will find this generously designed and practical anthology a most welcome addition to their libraries. - Back cover.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.