
Composers at Work
The Craft of Musical Composition 1450-1600
Owens(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 1. April 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-0-19-512904-5 (ISBN)
Description
Composers at Work discusses a problem that has fascinated scholars for a long time: how did Renaissance composers write their complex vocal polyphony? Twentieth-century scholars are so accustomed to scoring music, carefully lining up the vertical simultaneities, and carefully aligning the bar lines in order to study and perform music, that the idea that a composer could create elaborate polyphony, even in eight parts, without the aid of a score, seems incomprehensible. How then did sixteenth-century composers write their music, and what evidence exists to document this compositional process?
Using sketches and other documentary evidence, long a matter of intense study in later centuries, Professor Owens' study is the first full-length investigation of the topic in Renaissance music. It sets out the indispensable background to an inquiry and into the fundamental processes of Renaissance composition.
Using sketches and other documentary evidence, long a matter of intense study in later centuries, Professor Owens' study is the first full-length investigation of the topic in Renaissance music. It sets out the indispensable background to an inquiry and into the fundamental processes of Renaissance composition.
Reviews / Votes
Composers at Work: The Craft of Musical Composition 1450-1600 sets out the substance of Owens' investigations, offering clear and elegant insights into how budding 16th century composers were taught. * Andrew Stewart, Early Music Today, April/May 1998 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
numerous halftones, music examples, tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
597 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-512904-5 (9780195129045)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/1998
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€37.99
Available for download