Revisiting the Music of Medieval France: From Gallican Chant to Dufay (Variorum Collected Studies)

This book presents together a number of path-breaking essays on different aspects of medieval music in France written by Manuel Pedro Ferreira, who is well known for his work on the medieval cantigas and Iberian liturgical sources. The first essay is a tour-de-force of detective work: an odd E-flat in two 16th-century antiphoners leads to the identification of a Gregorian responsory as a Gallican version of a seventh-century Hispanic melody. The second rediscovers a long-forgotten hypothesis concerning the microtonal character of some French 11th-century neumes. In the paper "Is it polyphony?" an even riskier hypothesis is arrived at: Do the origins of Aquitanian free organum lie on the instrumental accompaniment of newly composed devotional versus? The Cistercian attitude towards polyphonic singing, mirrored in musical sources kept in peripheral nunneries, is the subject of the following essay. The intellectual and sociological nature of the Parisian motet is the central concern of the following two essays, which, after a survey of concepts of temporality in the trouvère and polyphonic repertories, establish it as the conceptual foundation of subsequent European schools of composition. It is possible then to assess the real originality of Philippe de Vitry and his Ars nova, which is dealt with in the following chapter. A century later, the role of Guillaume Dufay in establishing a chord-based alternative to contrapuntal writing is laboriously put into evidence. Finally, an informative synthesis is offered concerning the mathematical underpinnings of musical composition in the Middle Ages. This new paperback edition provides a unique examination of theatre in Asia and the Pacific and is written by leading experts from within the countries covered. Its far-reaching scope and broad interpretation of theatre (to include all types of performance) set it apart from any other similar publication. Entries on 33 Asian countries are featured in this volume, preceded by introductory essays on Asian Theatre, Theatre in the Pacific, History and Culture, Cosmology, Music, Dance, Theatre for Young Audiences, Mask Theatre and Puppetry.The volume contains approximately 300,000 words and includes national essays of up to 25,000 words each. The countries include:Afghanistan • Australia • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Brunei • Cambodia • India • Indonesia • Iran • Japan • Kazakhstan •Kirghizia • Laos • Malaysia • Myanmar • Mongolia • Nepal •New Zealand • Pakistan • Papua New Guinea • PhilippinesNew Zealand • Pakistan • Papua New Guinea • Philippines •Singapore • South Korea • South Pacific • Sri Lanka • Tadjikistan • Thailand • Turkmenistan • Vietnam The Lamentation Of Asterix : Conclusit Vias Meas Inimicus -- The Cluny Gradual : Its Notation And Melodic Character -- Is It Polyphony? -- New Light On St. Bernard's Chant Reform : Guido Of Eu And The Earliest Cistercian Choirbooks -- Early Cistercian Polyphony : A Newly-discovered Source -- Mesure Et Temporalité : Vers L'ars Nova -- L'identité Du Motet Parisien -- Compositional Calculation In Philippe De Vitry -- Dufay In Analysis Or Who Invented The Triad? -- Proportions In Ancient And Medieval Music. Manuel Pedro Ferreira. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Eight Essays In English And Two In French. Presents essays on different aspects of medieval music in France. This title offers an odd E-flat in two 16th-century antiphoners that leads to the identification of a Gregorian responsory as a Gallican version of a seventh-century Hispanic melody.