
Summa Musice
A Thirteenth-Century Manual for Singers
Christopher Page(Editor)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 31. May 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-0-521-03602-3 (ISBN)
Description
How did medieval musicians learn to perform? How did they compose? What was their sense of the history and purpose of music? The Summa musice, a treatise on practical music from c.1200, sheds light on all these questions. It is a manual for young singers who are learning Gregorian chant for the first time, and provides a compact but comprehensive introduction to notation, performance and composition, written in a mixture of Latin prose and verse. More than that, however, it is also an introduction to medieval culture: what educated people believed to be worth knowing about music, how they reasoned when they discussed musical questions, the nature of musical thought and how it was expressed. Christopher Page's 1991 book provides an edition of the Latin text taken from the only surviving original copy, together with an English translation. Both texts are copiously annotated and introduced by an authoritative and illuminating editorial commentary.
Reviews / Votes
"This admirably executed volume provides the student of medieval music with the text and translation of a previously neglected theoretical treatise, one that proves to be of considerable interest, if not overwhelming importance...an elegantly wrought exemplar of insight, learning, and technique; it should stand as a model for subsequent editions and translations of medieval musical writings." Notes "...the Summa Musicae will interest all students of medieval music." Brad Walton, Continuo "...provides a refreshing view of medieval sacred music." Choral JournalMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
484 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-03602-3 (9780521036023)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
Preface; Abbreviations; Intervallic notation in the Summa musice; 1. The authorship of the treatise; 2. The scope and character of the treatise; 3. Sources and metrics; 4. The text and the edition; Summa musice: the translation; Summa musice: the text; Textual notes and rejected readings; Sources, parallels, citations and allusions; Appendix; Bibliography; Annotated catalogue of chants; Index auctorum.