Anthology of Medieval Music

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 177 pages
• Published by: W. W. Norton & Company May 1978
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0393090809
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393090802
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 10.4 ounces

Reader Reviews
This anthology is to go along with Richard Hoppin's textbook, Medieval Music. The anthology contains 71 excerpts, all of which are referred to and explained in Hoppin's text. This anthology is not meant to stand alone-it would not be very effective for this purpose. Aside from the first excerpt, all the music is written in modern notation. Hoppin explains some of the shortcoming of modern notation and makes it clear in the text why and how some of the examples don't really "fit" into our modern concept of musical notation. That being said, the purpose of this anthology is for education, and it would be too challenging even for a graduate student to try to analyze such works using "old" notation. The anthology also gives English translations of the texts. Although Hoppin wants the texts to come to life, I don't like how the translations aren't written next to the text. In reading the text, I have to sort of guess where each section is being sung. Since there is almost no word painting in medieval music, however, this isn't too much of a problem. One aspect about Norton's 20th Century Anthology was that there were concise analytical comments about each excerpt. I found that to be extremely helpful, and wish this had the same. There really isn't too much more to say. If you are reading Hoppin's book, get this anthology if you can-you'll be grateful. If you're reading some other book on medieval music, then this book is worth knowing about. Otherwise, I don't think this is the book for you. Comment | | (Report this)