Composers at Work

This comprehensive and systematic study of compositional process in Renaissance music draws on documentary, manuscript and theoretical evidence to construct an explanation of how composers actually worked. Through a study of autograph sketches, drafts and fair copies of composers such as Henricus Isaac, Cipriano de Rore, Francesco Corteccia and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, it reveals a process of working in separate parts, line by line, and not in full score, as in modern editions. This dicovery has major implications for the analysis, editorial interpretation, and performance of early music.