Monteverdi: Vespers (1610)

by John Whenham

Overview

Monteverdi's Vespers is an exceptional collection of sacred music, both in the inventiveness of the compositions that it contains and in the debate that it has provoked over its use in the seventeenth century and over Monteverdi's intentions in publishing it. This handbook provides all the information that the reader needs for an in-depth appreciation of the musical settings themselves, of the debate that surrounds the original intention of the volume and of the problems of performing the music today. The book includes the texts and plainsongs used by Monteverdi, and a discography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521453776
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/25/1997
Series:	Cambridge Music Handbooks
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	5.63(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.55(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. The 1610 settings and the liturgy of Vespers; 3. The 1610 print and Monteverdi's career; 4. 'Suited to the chapels or chambers of princes'; 5. 'And all on a cantus firmus'; 6. Issues of performance; Appendices; Notes; Select bibliography; Discography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'John Whenham approaches his task with an appropriately passionate sobriety, his impeccable scholarship presents all the evidence … his speculations always command respect.' The Musical Times

'John Whenham gives an amazingly full, instructive and inspirational picture of The Vespers; this is something that can rarely be said of most manuals - this one, however, is the exception.' Canor

From the Publisher