Synopsis
Written by a highly-respected scholar in the field, "The Crisis of Music in Early Modern Europe" is a study in the history of musical aesthetics and sociology and examines a major change in sensibility and mentality that took place in European musical culture in the 1470s: the gradual introduction of polyphony. Drawing on a wide range of little-known texts, Rob C. Wegman tells the story of this cultural upheaval - the impact of which was still felt over a century later - and takes the reader on a compelling and eventful journey through early modern Europe and the implications and consequences of this change: how it rocked the Church, resulting in several prohibitions banning polyphony to hold back the change in the musical tide; the effect it had on music of the period; how composers such as Obrecht, Isaac and Josquin had refined their art, musicians and listeners had to contend with a vehement backlash against the same art; and how the argument over what makes 'good' music was never fully resolved. "The Crisis of Music in Early Modern Europe" is the first serious study of this conflict.
It illuminates a key period of change in Western musical history and will fascinate students of Medieval and Renaissance music, as well as a broader audience of musicologists and students of cultural history.
