Summa Musice by Christopher Page
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.
"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 Journal
"...the Summa Musicae will interest all students of medieval music." Brad Walton, Continuo
"...provides a refreshing view of medieval sacred music." Choral Journal
Page, Christopher: - Christopher Page is a Fellow of the British Academy, Professor of Medieval Music and Literature at the University of Cambridge, and from October 2014 Gresham Professor of Music at Gresham College, London for three years. He holds the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association awarded for outstanding services to musicology. In 1981 he founded the professional vocal ensemble Gothic Voices, which now has twenty-five CDs in the catalogue, three of which won the coveted Gramophone Early Music Record of the Year award. In 2012, he was a founder member of the Consortium for Guitar Research at Sidney Sussex College, an affiliate of the Royal Musical Association. He has published many books and articles on early music, most recently a major study, The Christian West and its Singers: The First Thousand Years (2010).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780521404204 |
| ISBN 10 | 0521404207 |
| Title | Summa Musice |
| Author | Christopher Page |
| Series | Cambridge Musical Texts And Monographs |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year published | 1991-08-30 |
| Number of pages | 294 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |