Book Review
Jun. 29th, 2015 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Cambridge Companion to Medieval Music
by Mark Everist
With its chapters written by a wide variety of musicologists, this book covers quite a lot of depth and breadth concerning its topic. It covers repertory, what was going on musically in different geographical areas, various compositional styles and techniques, and other issues such as liturgy and reception. I especially enjoyed the in-depth discussions of Gregorian Chant, how it works, and how it changed over the centuries. I was very fascinated by the discussions of the development of polyphony and the focus on its earliest forms starting from the 9th century. I was also happy to see a look at music in eastern Europe and Spain. The only thing that was missing was a substantial discussion of medieval instruments and the music they played.
by Mark Everist
With its chapters written by a wide variety of musicologists, this book covers quite a lot of depth and breadth concerning its topic. It covers repertory, what was going on musically in different geographical areas, various compositional styles and techniques, and other issues such as liturgy and reception. I especially enjoyed the in-depth discussions of Gregorian Chant, how it works, and how it changed over the centuries. I was very fascinated by the discussions of the development of polyphony and the focus on its earliest forms starting from the 9th century. I was also happy to see a look at music in eastern Europe and Spain. The only thing that was missing was a substantial discussion of medieval instruments and the music they played.
